Sonoma County supervisors are deleting their text messages on wildly different timelines — some weekly, some annually, one almost as soon as the next day arrives — and when a reporter went looking for texts tied to a July 2025 county meeting, officials said none could be found. The gap has transparency advocates warning that the county’s approach to electronic communication falls short of what good government requires.
The request centered on a quarterly meeting of the Emergency Medical Care Council, an advisory body that counsels the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors and oversees the county’s emergency medical system, held on July 28, 2025. According to The Press Democrat, committee chair Jeff Schach said remote members could not vote or participate in discussion during that meeting, and board member Steve Herzberg texted Schach about his interest in an agenda item while it was underway. The county attorney had advised committee members not to exchange text messages during the meeting under the Brown Act, but Schach said his own texts were permitted because he was acting as Herzberg’s proxy.
The Press Democrat requested the meeting’s texts and emails six months later. County officials reported that no responsive text messages were found in the possession of board members. No responsive text messages were found, and whether any had existed or what happened to them remains unclear.
Supervisors Set Their Own Deletion Schedules
There is no single county rule governing how long supervisors must hold onto texts, and each has adopted a personal habit. Supervisor Rebecca Hermosillo said she does not conduct county business through text messages at all, and per the same account, she deletes her texts as often as the next day. Supervisor Lynda Hopkins said she deletes messages regularly to save phone memory space, with hers set to clear automatically after 30 days. Supervisor David Rabbitt said he deletes his texts weekly…