Emma Murphy, PRESS DEMOCRAT
After leading Sonoma County’s permitting and planning department on an interim basis since late July, Scott Orr has been named its permanent director.
Orr, 40, succeeds former director Tennis Wick who retired that month, citing the job’s demands, including long hours.
The department, known as Permit Sonoma, issues building permits, oversees zoning and code enforcement, and implements land-use policy in the county’s unincorporated areas at the direction of the Board of Supervisors. Those responsibilities often place the department and its director at the center of political fights, lawsuits and public debates.