San Joaquin supervisors adopt six strategic priorities to guide next three years

San Joaquin County’s Board of Supervisors on Oct. 1 adopted six strategic priority headings to guide the county’s work over the next three years, approving a process for county staff to translate those headings into measurable SMART goals and action items.

The board’s agreed headings are: fiscal responsibility and optimization; organizational innovation; public safety, health and quality of life; homelessness; water management; and economic development. County Administrator Sandy Regardo told the board the CAO’s office would refine the wording and work with department directors to develop the SMART goals tied to each priority.

The priorities were the outcome of a full‑day workshop led by facilitator Dan Hawkinson of Hawkinson Consulting. Hawkinson framed the day around team cohesion and clarity. “Culture eats strategy for breakfast,” he said during his remarks, urging supervisors to focus on the organizational behaviors that allow strategy to be executed.

Why this matters: supervisors and department leaders said the refresh was needed to ensure limited county resources are directed toward the highest priorities. During the workshop department directors described persistent operational pressures — staffing shortages, aging facilities, technology backlogs and unfunded state mandates — that informed the board’s decision to emphasize both fiscal stewardship and organizational capacity.

What’s next: Regardo’s office will take the six headings and work with departments to develop timebound, measurable SMART goals and performance indicators. The CAO proposed adding a short header on future board agenda items indicating which priority a given item advances, to make alignment and resource tradeoffs clearer.

A vote at the workshop: supervisors recorded their assent to the priorities during the session. The board asked the CAO to return with refined language and the SMART goals for board approval.

The meeting included department presentations from the agricultural commissioner, airport, public works, health care services, human resources, information systems and others. Directors highlighted concrete projects and gaps — from an airport improvement program to a county‑wide Workday financial implementation — that the board said will shape action plans under the adopted priorities.

The board adjourned the workshop after assigning the CAO’s office to draft and return the SMART goals and related action items for the board’s review and approval.