SAN DIEGO -- Bill Horn is expected to become the official voice and face of the San Diego County Board of Supervisors for 2006 on Tuesday when the board meets for the first time this year and chooses a new chairperson.

Horn said last week that he plans to use the position first and foremost to try to create new regional discussion about security issues.

That includes the need for local governments and residents to "be more vigilant than ever before," as well as the need to "secure" the county's border with Mexico and to review the region's disaster-preparedness.

Horn -- whose 5th District encompasses most of North County, stretching from Oceanside to Pauma Valley -- said he plans to outline the other big issues he believes the region faces in 2006 when he delivers the annual "State of the County" address at 6 p.m., Feb. 7 at the California Center for the Arts, Escondido.

Meanwhile, Horn and Supervisor Pam Slater-Price, who served as board chairwoman in 2005, said that while the county chair position is perceived by many as largely ceremonial, the position holds real power to set the county's agenda and create regional discussion about issues.

The board chairperson does not receive any extra voting power. And the chairperson's principal duties are to act as the board's official spokesperson, ride herd over the board's meetings, and appoint individual supervisors to board committees.

Horn and Slater-Price, the board's other North County representative, said the chairperson also helps set the agenda for the county -- a government with a $4 billion annual budget that pays for law enforcement, criminal prosecution, pothole repairs, parks and libraries, welfare, and state-mandated health and social programs countywide.

Command central

Horn and Slater-Price said the chairperson helps create the list of things the county hopes to accomplish for the upcoming year by serving as the "command central" for the other supervisors, their staff members, and the county's chief administrative officer, who traditionally seek advice on issues that could come before the board.

"It's more like you're steering the boat," Slater-Price said.

In addition, the county chairperson:

• Serves as the board's representative to the San Diego Association of Governments, the region's transportation planning and funding agency representing the county and its 18 cities.

• Chairs the Unified Disaster Council, composed of emergency preparedness officials from the county and the county's 18 cities.

• Helps manage the county's Emergency Operations Center -- the state-recognized, regional command post to coordinate services and disseminate information during disasters -- when catastrophes such as the 2003 wildfires strike.

• Writes all letters to the governor promoting state legislation the county supports.

A big voice

Horn and Slater-Price said the biggest additional power the county's chairperson wields is as the county's official voice.

That includes being the spokesperson on day-to-day issues.

But it also includes the power to call for and arrange board conferences -- calling together officials from local cities, school districts, health agencies, and other non-county groups -- to discuss regional issues the county often has little, or no, jurisdiction over.

Last year, Slater-Price convened a countywide "school food summit" to publicize the issue and dangers of childhood obesity.

She called a conference of business and transportation leaders to talk about beating back traffic gridlock problems through freeway projects, carpooling, staggered work and school hours and lowering housing prices.

And she held a regional conference of coastal experts to talk about how to preserve the coastlines and beaches that have made the region famous by building seawalls and replenishing sand.

Horn's agenda

Horn, meanwhile, said he has already decided he will call for a disaster preparedness conference in March. Horn, who last served as board chairman in 2001 -- the year U.S. citizens were jolted by the 9/11 terrorist attacks in New York, Virginia and Pennsylvania -- said regional officials need to thoroughly review how prepared they are to deal with natural and terrorist disasters should they occur.

"That will be one of our first (conferences)," he said. "People have questioned, 'What are our evacuation routes?' 'What would we do?' "

However, Horn, who has traditionally held his own "State of the North County" address in the years he has not been board chairman, said he would also "hammer" many of the issues in 2006 that he's talked about in past years.

Those issues include continuing to criticize regional transportation planners for not having finished widening and improving Highway 76 -- a project that was supposed to be completed years ago.

In addition, Horn said he would also use the county's "bully pulpit" this year to talk about securing San Diego County's border along Mexico, and about the lack of security's effects on illegal immigration, gang violence, and drug trafficking around the county.

Horn has been deeply involved in trying to boost programs to fight increased gang activity in Oceanside in recent years. He said -- and local gang task force leaders agreed -- that increased gang activity is being fueled by gang members from Mexico who are in San Diego County illegally.

Meanwhile, Horn said the issue of securing the county's border was a perfect example of an issue the county has no governmental jurisdiction to control -- border security being a federal responsibility. But, he said, it is an issue where the county's "bully pulpit" could create enough public heat to push federal officials into action.

"These are serious problems," he said. "How do we turn the rudder? Well, a lot of it involves Washington, D.C. But I think this (chairmanship) is a bully pulpit. And I can't ignore the issue.

"It's the voice," he said. "I think the public needs to know we are vigilant, and we are listening to their concerns."

Contact staff writer Gig Conaughton at (760) 739-6696 or gconaughton@nctimes.com.