Contra Costa County Seeks Park Advisory Committee Representative for East Bay Regional Parks

The Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors initiated public recruitment on Wednesday for a county representative on the East Bay Regional Park District Park Advisory Committee, seeking community leaders to help guide policy for the nation's largest regional park system. The selected volunteer appointee will serve a two-year term commencing on January 1, 2027, advising park district directors on land acquisition, trail maintenance, ecological conservation, and public recreation access.

The 21-member Park Advisory Committee includes delegates appointed by Contra Costa and Alameda counties alongside municipal representatives from major cities across the East Bay. Committee members review capital improvement budgets, evaluate regional master trail connection proposals, and recommend environmental stewardship initiatives across 73 regional parks spanning more than 126,000 acres. Supervisors emphasized that prospective candidates should demonstrate active involvement in environmental conservation, active recreation, or community open space advocacy.

County supervisors underscored that the upcoming two-year advisory cycle coincides with critical regional park priorities, including wildfire fuel reduction along Mount Diablo and East Bay ridgelines, ADA accessibility retrofits on popular paved corridors, and restoration of sensitive wetland habitats along the Carquinez Strait. The advisory body meets monthly at park district headquarters in Oakland and conducts periodic field inspections of park infrastructure, providing a direct conduit for local resident feedback to park district administrative leadership.

Civic leaders throughout the Diablo Valley encouraged qualified residents from diverse professional backgrounds to submit applications, pointing out that regional parks have experienced record attendance since trail expansions connected suburban downtowns to regional open space reserves. Park advocates noted that advisory board members play an instrumental role in ensuring that capital bond revenues support neighborhood park access in both suburban valleys and underserved urban corridors across Contra Costa County.

Interested Contra Costa County residents can download official application forms through the Clerk of the Board portal at contracosta.ca.gov or by visiting the county administration building in Martinez. The formal application deadline is Monday, November 9, 2026, at 5:00 p.m., with the Board of Supervisors scheduled to conduct virtual public interviews on Monday, November 23, before confirming the final appointment.