Susan Peters isn't unfamiliar with what makes Fair Oaks unique, though she may still be getting to know the community.

Up until about 120 days ago Peters said her most notable connection with the community was living in Fair Oaks for a stint in her 20s. Her brother also lived in The Village for about 15 years.

Before Fair Oaks became a part of Sacramento County's District 3 - the result of the county's reshuffling of districts following the 2010 Census - Peters was busy representing the district, which included Carmichael, Arden-Arcade and East Sacramento. She is a former chair on the board of the Sacramento Area Council of Governments. Peters was also recently voted to take on the role of vice-chair on the County Board of Supervisors.

Though she's still getting a feel for the issues Fair Oaks residents hold dear, when she does hear about those issues Peter says it's her job to "observe whether it's a county-wide issue or just in the neighborhood and then bring various departments in and see if they can solve it."

Peters sat down with Fair Oaks Patch to talk about some of those issues, what she is coming to understand about the community and what she hopes to do for the community in the future.

Fair Oaks Patch: Have you had a chance to hear what issues and concerns Fair Oaks residents find to be most important?

Susan Peters: That's the purpose of having a monthly meeting at Dianda's. I've been to the Chamber's installation launch; I've been to the Historical Society's installation; I participated in the Christmas Parade, so you talk to people. I think probably burglary is the foremost thing on people's mind. Because I represent so much unincorporated area, the municipal police services of the Sheriff's department are my highest priority when it comes to budget and communicating with the Sheriff [Scott Jones] about how it's going.

Maximum enforcement program

Peters: Then you have typical neighborhood issues having to do with neighborhood streets - whether there are potholes in the streets, stop signs, speeding. With speeding, my office developed, first in Arden-Arcade, with the California Highway Patrol, the Maximum Enforcement Program which is a two-step program rotated monthly to key roadways to control speeding. The county sets up a speed control system for two weeks and then they put a posse of CHP there to write tickets in an attempt to slow people down. We're going to bring that into Fair Oaks. We know about the chickens. We know about the Fair Oaks Village plan. We're getting $500,000 to start building some improvements in Fair Oaks. The issues aren't a lot different than in most neighborhoods. Fair Oaks has something unique in The Village area where they have a town center and not a lot of neighborhoods have that. I talk with all of those people. I've been helping with the improvements along Bridge Street. There is a committee that built a monument just above the bridge. I went down there and helped them waive some fees - get some fees taken care of with the county.

The proposed flood control center along the American River Parkway

Fair Oaks Patch: Why does the Sacramento Board of Supervisors oppose the proposed flood control center along the American River Parkway?

Peters: Ms. MacGlashan and I have been working on that together. We have been to the Governor's office; we've been to The Department of Water Resources; we're working with county staff to make sure, to the best of our ability, that the building does not get built there [near the Nimbus Fish Hatchery]. First of all, the Parkway general plan does not allow for that type of use. It is land that the Bureau [of Reclamation] owns in the parkway. It's an emergency operations center that would be built in a floodplain. Should we need those emergency operations, that building could potentially be under water. Putting (600) more people right along the parkway at a really difficult intersection doesn't make any sense, so we're just doing the best we can to move that plan to a nearby area that is more appropriate.

Fair Oaks Patch: Have those alternative site discussions taken place?

Peters: The Bureau of Reclamation had several options in its original plan, but they are backing up and looking at it. We're doing our best to bring attention to it. We've gotten letters from both members of Congress, Dan Lungren, R-Gold River, and Doris Matsui, D-Sacramento. We have delivered those letters to the state and Federal side. I think we put together quite a bit of political muscle. Again, the Bureau of Reclamation doesn't have to pay any attention to it, because they own the land. It's probably months away before they make a decision.

The Hazel Expansion Project

Fair Oaks Patch: Can you talk about the process in discussing how the county addresses purchasing back the 44 parcels of land from home owners?

Peters: Appraisals are done. Home owners can have their own appraisals done. It depends on any particular piece of property, whether they're just taking land or a building - mostly it's land. The parties come to an agreement on it. We had a long conversation about this years ago at the County Board of Supervisors if someone would be required to move that they get like property in a like community. We didn't want to say, 'We're taking your land, now you have to move to Woodland.' If that house is required to come out, they need to have a house in Fair Oaks.

The increasing chicken population

Fair Oaks Patch: Can you tell me what people are telling you and how you're reacting to this?

Peters: You'd be surprised at the calls that come in. For me it's trying to determine how big of a problem it is to the neighbors. It seems to be pretty constant that there is some desire to have some chickens there. Then you have different factions within the community who want to know whether the chickens should be left alone, if there are people dumping chickens that they don't want anymore, whether people are stealing chickens. It's not really a controllable issue to a certain extent. Then you probably have domestic animals and wild animals that come in and kill the chickens. I think it's going to be one of those issues that is constantly changing and has a new facet to it. It's not really a problem that's solvable because there's no agreed-upon problem; there's no agreed-upon solution. It's just trying to keep it manageable.

Fair Oaks Patch: Keeping it manageable - Is that something The County is prepared to take on?

Peters: I don't think you can quantify manageable in this case. We don't get a lot of calls on it. You never know what's going to be on the other end of the phone. It's one of those 'Oh, I hadn't thought of that before' type of thing. That's what keeps it interesting. Then you have to look into the county departments that might some ideas about a particular issue. With chickens, we have the animal control people; we have the public health people. You have the people in the community who are pro-chickens and you have the people who anti-chicken and then all the side issues that come with it.

Fair Oaks Patch: Is there an overwhelming majority on either side?

Peters: We honestly don't get that many calls on it.