[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 160 (Tuesday, December 7, 2010)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2074]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                      HONORING STEVEN M. WOODSIDE

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. MIKE THOMPSON

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, December 7, 2010

  Mr. THOMPSON of California. Madam Speaker, I rise today, with my 
colleague, Congresswoman Lynn Woolsey, to recognize Steven M. Woodside 
who is retiring after 11 years as Sonoma County Counsel.
  The 43-person County Counsel office, provides legal services to 
county departments, more than 25 special districts, as well as to the 
Board of Supervisors, the Grand Jury, Agricultural Preservation and 
Open Space District, Sonoma Marin Area Rail Transit District (SMART), 
Sonoma County Water Agency (SCWA), Sonoma County Retirement Association 
(SCERA), Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO), and the Sonoma 
County Transportation Authority (SCTA).
  County Counsel attorneys regularly appear in court on behalf of 
County departments on such matters as juvenile dependency cases, code 
enforcement actions, bail recovery, and mental health competency 
hearings.
  During his tenure, Mr. Woodside reduced his department's operating 
costs and dependency on county general funds and organized the office 
into four practice teams, Land Use, Health and Human Services, 
Litigation and Justice, and Infrastructure. He encouraged his staff to 
become involved in state-wide issues and many of his team are now 
recognized leaden and experts in child dependency issues, land use and 
energy independence programs, endangered species and natural resource 
protection.
  Mr. Woodside has served as a member and Chair of the Statewide County 
Litigation Coordination Committee from 1992 through the present and in 
this capacity, helped coordinate the participation of California's 58 
counties in litigation of statewide significance. As Chair of the State 
Assessed Property Tax Committee of the California Association of 
Counties, he was the chief negotiator on a successful billion dollar 
property tax settlement action.
  His other professional affiliations include serving as President and 
member of the Board of Directors of the County Counsels' Association of 
California and Adjunct Professor of Law and member of the Board of 
Visitors at Santa Clara University School of Law.
  Mr. Woodside has a dual Bachelor of Arts Degree from the University 
of California, Davis and Santa Cruz and a Juris Doctor from University 
of California at Berkeley School of Law (Hoak Hall). Upon graduation 
from law school, he joined the Santa Clara County Counsel's office and 
eventually was named head of the department.
  Madam Speaker, Steven Woodside has spent most of his career in public 
service to the people of the State of California. It is therefore 
appropriate that we recognize and honor him today and wish him well in 
his retirement.

                          ____________________