Lucas Frerichs was sworn into the Yolo County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday, while five other county officials took their oaths as well during a ceremony at the county administration building in Woodland.
Frerichs, who spent 10 years on the Davis City Council, succeeds Don Saylor, who retired after decades of service in public office as the county supervisor for the Winters area.
Joining Frerichs for another term on the board is Supervisor Gary Sandy of Woodland, who also took his oath Tuesday, as did four re-elected incumbents who serve in countywide offices — District Attorney Jeff Reisig, Sheriff Tom Lopez, Superintendent of Schools Garth Lewis and Clerk-Recorder/Assessor/Registrar of Voters Jesse Salinas.
Frerichs, Sandy, Lewis and Salinas will serve four-year terms, while Reisig and Lopez will serve six-year terms, thanks to a new state law (AB 759) signed by the governor in October that moved elections for county district attorneys and sheriffs to presidential election years.
Under the new law, any district attorney or sheriff elected in 2022 (as Reisig and Lopez were) will serve a six-year term with the next election for those offices occurring during the 2028 presidential primary.
Noting the new law, Lopez quipped that “those of you who voted for me, you got an extra two years. For those of you that didn’t vote for me, that gives me an extra two years to prove to you that I am more than worthy …”
Frerichs was sworn into the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday by former Supervisor Helen Thomson and he thanked her, as well as former supervisors Lois Wolk and Don Saylor, for their support and mentorship over the years.
He also noted that he was following in the footsteps of his grandfather, who served as a county supervisor for 20 years in rural New York “where the population was 30,000 people and 75,000 cows,” said Frerichs. His grandfather, who turns 87 this week, was able to watch the swearing-in via a Facebook live stream provided by the elections office.
In addition to Frerichs and Sandy, the Board of Supervisors for the next two years will also include Supervisors Jim Provenza of Davis; Oscar Villegas of West Sacramento; and Angel Barajas of the rural Fifth District. The latter three will be up for election again in March 2024, while Frerichs and Sandy won’t be up for re-election until 2026.
