LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – District 4 Supervisor Anthony Farrington announced Friday that he will not seek reelection this year.

Farrington, 45, currently is in his fourth term on the Board of Supervisors. He served as chair last year.

“It has been an honor and privilege to serve this great community for the past 15 years. I am proud of my record and the service that I have provided to the residents of Lake County,” he said. “I have served my constituents to the best of my ability by being responsive, accessible and honest. I have always done my best in going to bat for them when they had a problem or issue with local, state or the federal governments.”

Farrington said the time has come for him to take a break from public life and focus his attention on his growing law practice, which is now expanding into Mendocino County. “In addition, I am hopeful that taking a break from public life will allow me to pursue some of my personal goals and hobbies like the development of my own private wine label; and the continued restoration of my antique cars.”

He was elected in 2000 and took his oath of office in January 2001. Since then he has spearheaded a number of policies and issues that the Board of Supervisors has supported and approved.

Those include elevating the importance of Clear Lake by pushing for funding needed to complete the first environmental impact report that would allow the harvesting and treatment of lake weeds and the county's filing for surface water rights to Clear Lake. There currently is an application for appropriative water rights pending to secure 5,950 acre feet of water.

In addition, Farrington was the architect behind the attempt to pass a half-cent sales tax for the lake in order to secure local funding to invest in Clear Lake and its watershed, and protect the lake from invasive mussels.

He supported efforts to purchase the Lucerne Castle and solicit proposals for colleges such as Marymount California University. He currently serves on the Marymount Long Range Planning Committee.

He received approval from his colleagues to adopt an ordinance contrary to state law that would require cold medications containing pseudoephedrine to be placed behind store counters, and require personal identification and information before the purchaser could make a purchase of limited quantities. Pseudoephedrine is a necessary ingredient in the manufacturing of methamphetamine. This is now a federal law.

Farrington has been a staunch opponent to the city of Lakeport’s proposal to annex the South Main Street and Soda Bay corridor. “The annexation of this corridor is a disservice to city residents who already receive limited public services. The city’s annexation of this corridor will result in the taking of precious financial resources from the county, in turn resulting in less service to the public in the unincorporated areas of the county.”

During his years of service Farrington was a major proponent in the development of a water resources element and agriculture element that created a blueprint for the county general plan to preserve and protect precious water resources and agriculture. These efforts preserved the 40-acre minimum parcel limit and open space preventing the development of five-acre mini ranches.

Farrington also has been a support of the development and expansion of vineyard development and wineries in the community. In particular, Farrington said, “I am most proud of my advocacy in standing up for Jim Fetzer and his development of Ceago in Nice, and Kaj Ahlmann, and his family’s development of Six Sigma in Lower Lake. Both projects were vehemently opposed by local neighbors.”

Throughout his career he has served on a number of committees regarding the safety, health and welfare of children; natural resources; public defender oversight; mental health advisory board; and marijuana cultivation committees.

He has represented the county at the state level serving on the California State Association of Counties and Rural County Representatives of California. Farrington secured local funding for the Court Appointed Special Advocate program for abused children and spearheaded efforts to form an animal advisory committee where he championed a mandatory spay and neutering ordinance and a new animal shelter.

Farrington was the first chair to bring animals into the board chambers each Tuesday at the beginning of each board meeting so that the animals could get maximum exposure for adoption.

He has been a proponent of social programs including bringing back family planning services to Lake County due to Lake County’s high teen pregnancy rates, needle exchange programs for drug addicts, and substance abuse treatment and mental health programs.

He also has a record on siding with the local tribes when it comes to development in areas near sacred sites. Farrington helped negotiate local memorandums of understanding with Big Valley, Habematolel and Robinson tribes in the development of their casinos.

Fiscally, he has been a conservative working to keep local rates for water and sewer down, and pushing for a balanced county budget. One year, Farrington stood alone and voted against a budget that was not structurally balanced. This position received national attention when Fox Business News featured a story that included Farrington and Governor Chris Christie from New Jersey. Fox called Farrington a “fiscal hawk.”

Farrington’s family has deep roots in Lake County. His family first located in Lake County in the mid 1800s. His great-great-grandfather George Major Hanson, a senator from Illinois who served in the state legislature with Abraham Lincoln, packed up his eight children and headed west. George Major was one of the founding fathers of Pacific University (now University of Pacific), and later served President Lincoln working for the Department of Indian Affairs.

Farrington says he plans on staying in Lake County, and stands ready to assist his successor in completing the programs and projects that he has initiated.

In particular, Farrington wants to see the county move forward with the development of a veteran’s homeless shelter on county-owned property in the city of Clearlake, a proposal the board approved when Farrington presented it last year.

He also wants to see his successor make the lake a priority; continue to search for local, state and federal funding to grow existing programs; launch a methamphetamine education program to deter local youth from using the drug; stand against the South Main Street/Soda Bay annexation; support the implementation of Lake County’s community choice aggregation program, which would result in lower utility rates; reduced consumptions of fossil fuels; and set Lake County up to be a net exporter of green energy.