Manfree named chair of Napa County supervisors
Amber Manfree is the new chairwoman for the Napa County Board of Supervisors for the next 12 months.
The elected supervisors rotate chairs every year. Liz Alessio, a former Napa city councilwoman, is vice chair.
Manfree, who has a doctorate in geography from UC Davis, was elected in 2024 to the Board of Supervisors, along with Alessio.
Mike Hackett of Angwin, a retired airline pilot and longtime environmental activist from Angwin, congratulated Manfree with whom he worked for years on a range of issues, including the Measure C. The initiative, which failed at the ballot in June 2018, would have restricted vineyard development in the hills above the Napa Valley floor.
“I don’t want to get teary-eyed, but I’m very proud,” Hackett told the supervisors. He also congratulated Supervisor Anne Cotrell for a “great year.”
Napa County’s environmental activists are “responsible, without doubt, in electing all five of you. I don’t think you could have done it without us, and you’ve started to listen to us,” Hackett said.
“I used to think that things were way too biased for the wine industry, and also I was really concerned that we had a pro-development board. I think we have a very fair and equal-minded board now, which is what I had always hoped for.”
Hackett said the “pro-development” boards have led to too many wineries.
Under county rules, members of the public can speak for up to three minutes, and Hackett joked he would like to talk more than three minutes “so I can see if Amber will gavel me off.”
He didn’t.
Jim Wilson, another longtime environmental activist, addressed climate change, another topic before the supervisors.
Besides wine industry, climate change and other environmental issues, the supervisors’ legislative agenda for 2026 is expected to include addressing budget deficits, economic uncertainty and unfunded state mandates. They will also be negotiating with federal officials over flight paths over residential neighborhoods like Alta Heights; working with PG&E and California Public Utilities Commission on rate increases and managing agricultural preservation, public safety and disaster resilience.
