NEVADA COUNTY — Long-time Nevada County (NevCo) District 2 Supervisor Ed Scofield will yield his seat January 1 to incoming Supervisor Robb Tucker. Scofield recently took time to reflect on his sixteen years (four terms) in office. Recurring themes included deep respect for the voters he worked for, gratitude for collegial relationships among the Supervisors, (even when they disagree with each other significantly), and profound appreciation of County staff.
Scofield praised NevCo as one of the best-run rural counties in the state, partly because “so many exceptional people” on staff work together as a genuine team. Longevity of service is another real plus, which he attributed primarily to a supportive team environment and the genuine opportunities for upward job mobility. He commented that although some nearby counties pay a bit more, the “joy of working for Nevada County” helps retain top-notch employees.
Reminiscing about his early days on the job, Scofield remembered that, when he was elected to his first term in a November runoff, he had less than two months to get oriented to the complexity of local government.
He has a vivid memory of the two-inch binder he received, packed cover to cover with daunting detail of the County budget. Despite his years of experience running the Nevada County Fairgrounds, when he settled in to study the information he was responsible for as a supervisor, he realized what a task faced him. While the multi-page summary at the front of the budget was moderately straight-forward, he knew he was going to need a lot of staff support to absorb the massive amount of information in the rest of that binder!
In addition to the budget, many other areas of public policy required informed attention – and his first public meeting was looming!
In the last couple years, Scofield has especially enjoyed working with NevCo’s Youth Commission, created in 2023 to highlight the perspective of local young people. He finds it encouraging that high schoolers are interested in the issues facing the Board of Supervisors, asking thoughtful questions, and making constructive suggestions.
Going forward, he believes the most serious issues facing Nevada County residents are homelessness/housing, mental health/public health and, of course, fire.
Looking back, Scofield reflected on challenging issues that have concerned county voters since 2009, including the developing cannabis industry, the pandemic, and the proposed re-opening of the Idaho-Maryland mine.
At times, he has seen increasing divisiveness within the county’s population, occasionally reflected in an unusual level of “nastiness” at public meetings. However, faced with difficult issues, he appreciated that behavior at Board meetings remains, though sometimes passionate, mostly civil.
Scofield noted that his successor, Robb Tucker, (elected in March and not facing a runoff) has a total of nine months to learn the ropes before taking his seat in January 2025. The first year in office, Scofield says, is a steep learning curve, so the longer apprenticeship is a real plus.
He also pointed out that no one supervisor can become deeply knowledgeable about every aspect of county government. Discerning early in their tenure where their greatest interest lies can help a new supervisor focus constructively.
Scofield emphasized the importance of strong listening skills, getting to know what constituents are concerned about. If what they need/want is not within a supervisor’s power, he nevertheless urged thoughtful listening.
Scofield also encouraged his successor to actively support continued professional respect among Board members.