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Delta Queen Margit Aramburu
Certainly heading up the Delta Protection Commission is no walk in the park, what with having to work diplomatically with dozens of stakeholders with diverse ideas about the Delta's future. But according to Margit Aramburu, who has been Executive Director since the Commission's inception in 1993, those challenges pale next to the interview for the job itself.
"There was a public interview at a public meeting, and a public vote on my appointment," she recalls. "It was awful." Her performance in that interview got her the job, says Commission Chair Pat McCarty. "I thought that her confident, positive attitude and the way she conducts herself were very appropriate for working with the kinds of interests we were trying to bring together. I've certainly never regretted the decision to hire her."
Increasing development pressures on Delta farmland led to the creation of the Commission. The new agency was charged with developing a regional land use and resource management plan to balance the key land uses of agriculture, wildlife habitat and recreation in the "heart" of the Delta, which encompasses parts of Solano, Yolo, Sacramento, San Joaquin and Contra Costa counties. To carry out its mission, the Commission has appeal authority over local government actions.
Aramburu joined the Commission after 15 years at the S.F. Bay Conservation and Development Commission, where she worked on several land and water use planning efforts, including the Suisun Marsh Plan and the Richardson Bay Special Area Plan. "She always had good insight on how to do projects well," remembers the Bay Commission's Jeff Blanchfield, who also enjoyed her "infectious sense of fun."
A Bay Area native, Aramburu "had never even been to the Delta" when she took the job, so initially she spent "a lot of time just talking to people" and getting to know the area and the issues. Today she loves the Delta Commission's Walnut Grove location. "Working in a small, rural community is wonderful, like a step back in time," she says, adding that she particularly enjoys watching the Sacramento River roll by. "There's always agricultural equipment and other interesting things floating past on barges. It's better than that Dr Seuss book, To Think It Could Happen on Mulberry Street."
Aramburu says she was somewhat daunted by the task facing her at the Commission. "How do you put together a land use plan for a 450,000-acre region with a commission of 19 individuals with different backgrounds, ideas and visions for the Delta? At first I didn't think it was ever going to work," she says. Aramburu based her approach to the Delta plan on the Suisun Marsh Plan, which included developing background reports on nine key issues, with input from state and local experts and a citizens advisory committee. "All of the commissioners really care about the health of the Delta, and by going through the process step by step together they developed a consensus approach to identifying and solving problems," she recalls.
McCarty credits much of the Commission's success to Aramburu's personal style."She's very supportive, very inclusive, almost like a coach or a teacher. She never leaves anybody behind or writes anybody off. As a result, most of our votes have been unanimous," he says. The Commission adopted its plan in early 1995, and forwarded it to local governments for incorporation into their General Plans.
The Commission is currently scheduled to sunset at the end of this year, although pending legislation would extend its life for another decade. "The Commission is concerned about not continuing past the time when there is a need for it," says Aramburu, "but at this point the Delta is still under a lot of pressure and there is a continuing need for the Commission to have land use oversight."
Contact: Margit Aramburu (916)776-2290
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