Salute to county leaders: James Gore

Key Takeaways

James Gore got into local government as supervisor in his native Sonoma County, Calif. following service in the Peace Corps in Bolivia and a tour of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. He chaired NACo’s Resilient Counties Advisory Committee shortly before devastating wildfires struck Sonoma County, which galvanized his focus for the rest of his three terms as supervisor, including as NACo president in 2024-2025. 

At home, he drove modernization of the county’s emergency response infrastructure. Nationally, he made federal disaster reform his priority during his presidency, forming the Intergovernmental Disaster Reform Task Force to strengthen our nation’s disaster mitigation, response and recovery capabilities and build a stronger relationship between county and federal government on disaster response. In 2026, a new law required the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to publish a publicly accessible, interactive dashboard tracking all Public Assistance reimbursement requests, giving counties unprecedented visibility into disaster recovery funding.

How did you know that county government was your calling? 

When I learned that it was the epitome of “other duties as assigned.” Even if you have a department for almost everything, if somebody comes in and says, “Somebody dumped a couch on the side of my road,” you have to figure out how to clean up the road. Something happens and county government has to respond. I feel this thrill, because I knew I had to rise or fall with the occasion when people are depending on you.

What were your proudest achievements in Sonoma County? 

Leaving things better than I found them. Knowing that our disaster response was good, and now it’s one of the best in the nation. We’re more resilient on water management than we were 12 years ago, we’ve consolidated fire districts, we have a more transparent and formal budget process. And in each of those achievements, we had county staff, residents and leaders working together. 

How did you change as a county leader over your tenure? 

I have given up any sense of ego that I might have had. I don’t need my name in the newspaper. I don’t need to take credit for things. I don’t have that young, burning energy to prove myself. 

I used to want to be a part of everything, inside every pothole and reading every permit. Now I want to focus on big problems that seem to be intractable, sticking my head into them and working on them. I want to address the big, messy things and just go after them.

What kind of advice do you have for other county officials who want to do more for their counties? 

Don’t wait for the perfect moment to get involved. Most of the world talks about problems and talks about why they’re not being fixed.  If you don’t like that one of the committees isn’t talking about something, bring it up, volunteer your concerns. We want you on committees; we want to hear your voice. 

I’m not calling people out, I’m calling them in. The reality is the people who are empowered through NACo, it’s because they’ve decided to raise their hand to get involved. 

Why are you optimistic about county government?

I’m an eternal optimist, but I don’t have to be optimistic about this because we were the first form of government out here because it was necessary. We’ll be the last form of government on the ground because it’s necessary. I’m optimistic that the work is always there, and we’re the ones to do it.