
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — Lake County’s District 4 supervisor has gotten right to work, filling up his schedule and considering how to achieve the many goals he’s laid out for his tenure.
In his first week as the supervisor for District 4, Brad Rasmussen attended 12 meetings and was appointed to 17 out of more than 60 committees that govern various aspects of the county’s matters.
“It’s been a very busy week,” Rasmussen told Lake County News last Friday, after he was sworn into office on Tuesday, Jan. 7.
Over that first week, Rasmussen went to meetings, filled up his onboarding paperwork, and set up his office, computer and county cell phone.
While managing all of those tasks, Rasmussen said he had also spent the week trying to figure out “a good system” to efficiently track his work and get things done.
Rasmussen planned to work during the weekend too — preparing for the next Board of Supervisors’ meeting, which he expected to be a lengthy, all-day meeting.
There is also "constituent work” — responding to concerns from his district constituents and helping them navigate issues, Rasmussen said.
“This is more than a 40-hour-a-week job,” he added.
Rasmussen is well acquainted with jobs that require long hours. Last year, he retired as Lakeport longtime police chief, a position that often saw him working patrol along with his staff.
For the next few months, Rasmussen said he is planning to meet with department heads to learn about the 28 county departments.
His early goal in the job, Rasmussen said, is to “start building relationships and getting comfortable in the job and settled.”
Some of the committees Rasmussen was appointed to include the Airport Land Use Committee, Blue Ribbon Committee for the Rehabilitation of Clear Lake, the Continuum of Care Committee and the Children's Council.
As his district includes the city of Lakeport, Rasmussen said he was also going to “voluntarily” attend city meetings as much as possible such as the Lakeport City Council — where he was a fixture during his police chief tenure — as well as the fire district and school district meetings, besides the committees and municipal advisory councils of which he is a part.

Goals and priorities
One of Rasmussen’s top priorities is public safety. For him, it does not only encompass law enforcement, but also fire prevention and mitigation, disaster responses and recoveries.
When it comes to public safety, Rasmussen said he wants to “Make sure that we're prepared to respond to any further disasters and to mitigate them and to do the best we can for the public.”
Rasmussen also said he aims to take care of Clear Lake, preserving the cultural history and keeping away invasive mussels.
“The lake is a huge economic drive for our county — it’s used extensively for recreation,” said Rasmussen. “It'd be devastating not only for the wildlife, but it would also be detrimental to our economy.”
Rasmussen said he wanted to “keep the rural aspect of Lake County” with recreation opportunities that a lot of people live here and come here for while keeping up with the development that is needed.
Also standing atop Rasmussen’s goals is to “set the stage” for transparency and accountability, starting from the Board of Supervisors.
“We need to hold ourselves accountable and expect the same accountability all the way down through the ranks,” he said. “We need to hold ourselves to the highest accountability before we can expect others to do it.”
Rasmussen said providing as much information to the community as possible, motivating the public to be more involved, and keeping citizens recruited to sit on various committees will be key.
First elected position
District supervisor is not Rasmussen’s first public service job.
In August, Rasmussen retired after serving 35 years at the Lakeport Police Department — 14 of them as chief.
Yet, this is his first elected position.
So how does being elected feel?
“It feels good,” Rasmussen said. “I feel like people voted for me because they trusted me to be knowledgeable and be able to handle this extensive position.”
Comparing the role as a supervisor to that of a police chief, Rasmussen said the difference lies in who he works for.
When he ran the police department, “I worked for the city manager. I made the decisions on how the police department operated, but they’re still working for a director,” Rasmussen said. “And in this case, I’m working for the people.”
“I want to work hard to exceed the expectations of the people; that’s my goal,” said Rasmussen.
At the board meeting on Jan. 7, after the swearing-in of the new supervisors, newly elected District 1 Supervisor Helen Owen nominated Rasmussen to serve as the board’s vice chair for 2025.
The nomination was immediately challenged by re-elected District 5 Supervisor Jessica Pyska, who pointed to a board policy requiring at least one year of experience for supervisors to be eligible for chair or vice chair roles.
County Counsel Lloyd Guintivano reviewed the policy and clarified that the one-year prerequisite applies solely to the chair position, not the vice chair. However, he added that the vice chair’s responsibility to act as chair in their absence could raise concerns about potential conflicts with the policy’s intent.
Despite the debate, with no other nominations brought forward, the board elected Rasmussen as vice chair.
When asked his thoughts on this short episode, Rasmussen seemed unbothered.
“I’ve read it a couple times,” Rasmussen said. “The intent [of the policy] is more that you just can’t be the chair.”
“I was comfortable accepting the vice chair position with the way the policy’s written,” he added.
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