California
Association of
Local Agency
Formation
Commissions
BIOGRAPHY
William S. Chiat
Executive Director
Bill Chiat (pronounced shy-at) is the Executive Director of the
California Association of Local Agency Formation Commissions.
He was appointed in September, 2004. CALAFCO provides
support and coordination services to the LAFCo agencies in each
county as well as serves as an educational resource to the
legislature and other state agencies on issues related to growth,
governance, effective delivery of local services, and preservation of
agricultural and open space lands.
Previously Bill served as Chief Executive Officer of Napa County, Director of
Organizational Effectiveness in Santa Barbara County, and assistant city
manager in Oxnard. Bill also served as Planning and Development Director for
the Ventura Regional Sanitation District. At the state level, Bill served under
Arizona Governor Fife Symington as the Executive Director of the Governor’s
Office for Excellence in Government.
Among his accomplishments are the agreements for incorporating the City of
Goleta and the landmark housing allocation sharing agreements in Napa
County. In addition to his work with CALAFCO, Bill also consults with a
number of local governments in organizational development.
Bill has a bachelor of science from the University of Minnesota and a masters
of science from the University of Michigan. He is a graduate of the Senior
Executives in State and Local Government program from the Kennedy School
at Harvard University. Bill lives in Napa County where he has become a
recognized connoisseur of California wine!
LAFCO’s exist in every county and are responsible for coordinating logical and timely
changes in local governmental boundaries, conducting special studies that review ways to
reorganize, simplify, and streamline governmental structure and preparing a sphere of
influence for each city and special district within each county.
801 12th Street, Suite 611, Sacramento, CA 95814  916/442-6536  www.calafco.org