San Diego County Supervisor Greg Cox was sworn in earlier this week as the 2018-19 President of the National Association of Counties (NACo).

“I have seen firsthand the ability of county governments to transform lives and communities. When America’s 3,069 counties, parishes and boroughs are united at the national level, we can be an immense force for good. I am honored to lead NACo in this noble effort,” President Cox said in his inaugural speech to the NACo membership.

California Counties had a large delegation on hand for the NACo Annual Conference that culminated in the swearing in of NACo’s new officers.  California County supervisors played an integral role in numerous workshops and meetings throughout the conference.

President Cox’s initiative during the next year will be “Connecting the Unconnected.” The initiative will explore ways that county governments are connecting our residents in the spirit of building healthy, safe and vibrant communities. This initiative builds on NACo’s previous effort, ”Serving the Underserved,” by continuing to inform and illustrate how county government connects our most vulnerable citizens to services that help forge pathways to residents’ self-sufficiency.

“In my own County of San Diego, I have seen how the combination of technology and partnerships has resulted in a state-of-the-art, highly successful 2-1-1 system that is helping our community members efficiently access appropriate services, and provide vital data and trend information for proactive community planning,” President Cox said.

President Cox is joined on the NACo executive team by First Vice President Mary Ann Borgeson, Douglas County, Neb. commissioner; Second Vice President Gary Moore, Boone County, Ky. judge/executive, and Immediate Past President Roy Charles Brooks, Tarrant County, Texas commissioner.

President Cox is currently in his sixth term as a San Diego Supervisor. In 2005, he served as CSAC President, and has long been an active participant in NACo. For the past two years, he has served as a NACo officer.  He is the sixth California Supervisor – and second from San Diego County to serve as NACo President. Others were San Diego County Supervisor David Bird, 1961-62; Kern County Supervisor Vance Webb, 1975-76; Sacramento County Supervisor Sandy Smoley, 1983-84; Merced County Supervisor Ann Klinger, 1989-90; and Sonoma County Supervisor Valerie Brown, 2009-10.