California is a big state with a large, diverse population. So it should not come as a surprise that the local level of government is complicated. Within, and in addition to, the County itself, local governmental services in our county are provided by:  

• 7 cities with elected city councils
• 65 independent special districts with elected governing boards
• 19 dependent special districts run by the Board of Supervisors or their appointees
• 13 public school districts plus an independently-elected board of the County Office of Education
• 2 community college districts (Los Rios CCD and Sierra Joint CCD)  
• 12 joint powers authorities (two or more public agencies that have combined to provide a service within the territorial boundaries of the combined agencies) plus the Local Agency Formation Commission that provided the information in this table, and
• 7 other service providers (regulated utilities including private water purveyors and natural gas supplier PG&E)

That's a lot to keep track of and it can certainly be confusing, Not all of the agencies serve Arden Arcade, yet because the media spotlight shines on just a few agencies, people in our community rarely get the whole picture. With the intent of shedding some light on the subset of these public entities that serve Arden Arcade, it is our hope that the electorate in our community will ultimately become better informed. Details are in our Governance pages.