Napa County to name top Sonoma County administrator Sheryl Bratton as legal head

Napa County's next county counsel — who leads the county's legal team — is set to be Sonoma County Administrative Officer Sheryl Bratton.

The Napa County Board of Supervisors is scheduled to name Bratton as county counsel at its Tuesday meeting effective Feb. 27. It held closed sessions on the matter on Nov. 21 and Dec. 5.

Bratton in July announced she would step down as Sonoma County's administrator at the end of the year. She oversees a county with 4,181 employees and a $2.14 billion budget, about four times that of Napa County's budget.

"While I prepare to dismount from the ride of my life and hand the reins over to the next county administrator, I look forward to beginning my next adventure, whatever it might be, in 2023," Bratton said in a July press release from Sonoma County.

That next adventure is apparently in Napa. She worked in Sonoma County's county counsel office from 1992 to 2016, when she took the administrator post.

Here she will oversee a county counsel's office with 20 employees and a $5.4 million annual budget.

"Sheryl is excited to return to practicing public sector law and managing a county counsel office after a six-year hiatus," a Napa County report said.

Bratton is to earn $284,000 for her first year and receive a signing bonus of $5,000. The county counsel serves four-year terms.

In her Sonoma County position, Bratton in 2021 earned a total pay of $314,000, not counting benefits, according to Transparent California. Her base pay was $294,000.

Bratton could not be reached for comment Friday morning.

Bratton during her tenure as Sonoma County administrator oversaw the strengthening of the county's financial position, adoption of a five-year strategic plan and creation of the Office of Equity. She also led the county during the pandemic, wildfires and floods, the Sonoma County press release said.

"The county has been incredibly fortunate to have had Sheryl at the helm for these years," Sonoma County Board of Supervisors Chairperson James Gore said in that July press release, citing her "calm and steady leadership."

Napa County Board of Supervisors Chairperson Ryan Gregory said on Friday that Bratton's pending appointment to be Napa County's county counsel has unanimous board support.

"This has been a very hard-to-fill position," Gregory said. "We've been attempting to recruit for this position for just about a year."

As it turned out, the county had several quality applications, he said. He noted Bratton's broad experience and also similarities among issues facing Napa and Sonoma counties.

"They've had fires," he said. "They've had the floods. They have land use issues around ag and hospitality. It just was a perfect fit."

Bratton received a bachelor's in urban planning from UC Berkeley and a juris doctor-MBA degree from the University of San Francisco School of Law.

Napa County will waive the county counsel residency requirement until Aug. 27, 2024 to give her time to relocate, a county report said.

You can reach Barry Eberling at 707-256-2253 or beberling@napanews.com