A former Yuba Community College District trustee, Woodland mayor and current Yolo County Supervisor, Gary Sandy more than deserves recognition as an Eagles of Excellence honoree at Woodland Community College.

Sandy is being recognized for his decades of public contributions which have spanned higher education and regional politics.

Sandy just started his second four-year term as a county supervisor representing District 3. He previously served on the Woodland council and as Woodland mayor before retiring in 1996. He was then elected to the Yuba Community College Board in 2012 and served for two terms before being elected to the Board of Supervisors in 2018.

He was also appointed to the Yolo County Fair Board, where he served from 2001 to 2004.

During an interview with The Daily Democrat in late 2022, he said Yolo County needs people who are problem solvers, who can “see both sides of an issue and chart a course forward.”

“I am a pragmatic person and a listener,” he told the newspaper. “I believe that preserving the many wonderful aspects of our communities is a vitally important task. Most importantly, we need people in public office who will seek ways of drawing people back together for a common purpose and put the divisiveness and rancor of the past years behind us as we all endeavor to move forward — together.”

In addition to his time of service on the council, board of education and county board, he served as a policy consultant and press secretary in the state Legislature and worked as director of Local Government Relations at UC Davis and various posts with the Office of the Chancellor.

Sandy is a longtime resident of Woodland with his wife and children. He graduated from Sonoma State University “With Distinction”. In 1985 he was awarded a Coro Foundation Fellowship in Public Affairs and later earned a master’s degree in Organizational Development from the University of San Francisco and completed the UC Davis Executive Program.

In terms of his most recent priorities for Yolo County, Sandy is an advocate of better water-use planning and serves as the board’s representative to the Yolo County Water Resources Association and the Yolo Subbasin Groundwater Agency.

He has also been an advocate for improved technological infrastructure across the county, and improved mental health services in local schools, including the “Crisis Now” program that diverts people with mental health issues to receive the resources needed for care.

His current primary policy interests revolve around addressing the issues of homelessness, mental health, ag land preservation, preserving water and air quality and exploring avenues for economic development that are compatible with our way of life and community values.

Woodland Community College will hold its inaugural Eagles of Excellence Celebration on Friday, April 28, honoring those who have been of service to the school.

The celebration is scheduled to begin at 4:30 p.m., in the Community Room of Building 800 at the campus, located at 2300 E. Gibson Road. It will feature heavy hors d’oeuvres, beer and wine as well as a silent auction.

Formerly known as Founders Day, the Eagles of Excellence Celebration will recognize Sandy and three other people, and one community organization which have been important in the development and success of the college.