She’s taken on the job of CEO of Santa Barbara County’s second largest employer, the organization that’s charged with keeping the county’s 440,000 plus residents safe and healthy.
It's the first full week on the job for Jana Petersen, Santa Barbara County’s new Chief Executive Officer.
Petersen said she's excited about her new role but knows she’s facing major challenges. Significant changes in federal policies, as well as federal and state funding cuts, mean doing more with less.
"All local governments are facing significant challenges," said Petersen. 'When you look at the constellation of events that's impacting local government in particular, federal changes are happening, revenue shortfalls are happening, the changing dynamics of what's needed in the community to make sure services are accessible and equitable for all people, those are some really big challenges."
Petersen came to Santa Barbara from Colorado, where she served as County Administrator for Boulder County for more than five years.
She was always interested in public service but didn’t start out in government. After getting a bachelor’s degree from the University of Nebraska in journalism, she worked as a newspaper reporter. Her career change began when she and her husband moved to Colorado because he had graduated from law school and received a job offer.
"I got into journalism because I was very interested in the public good. I looked for a job in newspapering. Denver was experiencing a lot of shrinking of newspapers at the time, and I wasn't able to find a job in journalism."
But she heard about an opportunity in local government as a public information officer.
She worked as a PIO for three years with Boulder County. Then, Petersen spent six years with the City of Boulder in executive roles, including Assistant City Manager. In 2005, she returned to Boulder County and rose through the ranks to become County Administrator. Peterson has spent three decades working in local government.
Before Petersen’s arrival, Santa Barbara County adopted a $1.66 billion budget for the 2026-27 fiscal year. It’s a 1.7% decrease that included program cuts and more than 30 layoffs. It reflects major federal and state funding cuts. County officials had originally said they would need to make more than 200 layoffs, but through belt-tightening and employee shifts, they reduced the number of layoffs actually needed by more than 80%.
Petersen said the challenge in the future is maintaining and improving key programs and services while not knowing what funding the federal and state governments might cut next.
"One of the things that's really important in the role of leading local government is to deliver. Part of what I pay attention to is how are we following up on the direction we receive from the County Board of Supervisors, and making sure we can put into place projects community members want."
She talked about what she sees as some county priorities. "Climate change and equity and inclusion are two," said Petersen. She noted that the county has made those areas priorities, which made the job attractive to her because they rank high on her list.
Petersen took over the post from Mona Miyasato, who retired earlier this month after more than 12 years on the job.
Miyasato said that while the financial challenges were tough, the most difficult thing she faced was a string of disasters ranging from the Thomas Fire and Montecito debris flow to the 2015 Gaviota oil spill.
Petersen is well-versed in dealing with disasters. In 2021, Boulder County was hit by the Marshall Fire, which forced nearly 40,000 evacuations and led to the loss of more than 1,000 structures.
Petersen hopes her communications background will help her and the county keep the community informed about government. She's also prioritizing issues related to oil development.
With the county already having an adopted budget for the current fiscal year, Peterson will have a chance to settle in before facing some potentially tough decisions down the road.
