First person of color to serve as county executive, he is son of immigrants from India, Iran

James R. Williams

By Staff Report

James R. Williams stepped into the top leadership role of Santa Clara County, starting his new job July 10. As the county executive, he replaces the retiring Jeff Smith.

Now the CEO of the largest county in Northern California, Williams is in charge of an annual operating budget of $11.5 billion and more than 23,000 employees who provide services to nearly two million residents. The Board of Supervisors selected him in November after Dr. Smith announced he would be retiring in July after 42 years of public service.

Williams, 39, served previously as the county counsel, a position he held since 2016. Before that he served as the deputy county executive.

“Under the board’s direction, the county not only delivers vital health and safety services to our residents, but it is also a national leader in advancing equity and social justice,” Williams said in a press release. “I look forward to working with the board and the county’s many dedicated public servants as we build upon the good work of the past to meet future challenges.”

Williams must traverse a difficult road ahead with various contentious issues impacting the county government. Among them is the need for a new county jail, a looming budget deficit, a shortage of mental health services for residents and ongoing staff vacancies throughout the county’s various departments.

The CEO is a first-generation American, the son of immigrants from Iran and India. He was raised by a single mother and is the first person of color to serve as county executive.  He received his law degree from Stanford Law School and graduated summa cum laude from Princeton University with a bachelor of arts degree in public and international affairs. As a student, he was awarded the M. Taylor Pyne Honor Prize — Princeton’s highest undergraduate distinction.

Under Williams’s leadership, the county counsel’s office has earned a reputation for excellence and has been nationally recognized as one of the country’s leading public law offices, receiving the American Bar Association’s Hodson Award in 2019.

During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Williams led the county’s executive team to guide the county through uncharted legal arenas. He served as one of the directors of the Emergency Operations Center, earning the county national acclaim for its pandemic response.

As the county counsel, Williams served as the chief legal advisor not only to the Board of Supervisors and the county executive, but also to the civil grand jury, county elected officials and department heads.  He and his department of more than 250 attorneys and staff defend the county in all litigation filed against it, its officers and its employees, and bring affirmative cases on behalf of the county and the people of California.

“James has dedicated his career to public service, the past 12 years to our county,” Supervisor Susan Ellenberg said in a press release. “This is key to ensuring that urgent initiatives and pending projects are not stalled, and community benefits aren’t delayed. James is a person of great integrity and intelligence and will be an outstanding executive in service to Santa Clara County.”

“James’s background and work reflects the best of our diverse community — a child of a South Asian immigrant family who worked his way to the best schools in the country and then devoted his life to public service,” Supervisor Otto Lee said in a press release.  “I look forward to his leadership and bringing new energy to the challenges we face in mental health, homelessness and strengthening the public safety net.”

“Mr. Williams is an exceptionally talented individual. His experience in our county is both deep and wide-ranging. His appointment helps us ensure a smooth transition,” Supervisor Joe Simitian said in a press release.

Prior to his appointment as the county counsel in 2016, Williams served as a deputy county executive, providing oversight and executive management of dozens of departments, including Procurement, County Fire, 9-1-1 County Communications and Risk Management.  He was also responsible for policy oversight of more than $2.5 billion in county contracting annually.  Williams supervised several functions in the County Executive’s Office, including the Office of Emergency Management, the Office of Countywide Contracting Management, Redevelopment Dissolution, and the Bail and Release Project.

Williams began his career with the County in 2010 as a Social Justice & Impact Litigation Fellow — and later a Deputy County Counsel — in the Office of the County Counsel.  He helped lead the county’s successful litigation and administrative strategy on redevelopment dissolution, which resulted in the dissolution of the state’s more than 400 redevelopment agencies, returning billions of dollars each year to local schools and local governments for critical public services.

Williams has received numerous honors, including the 2022 Daniel J. Curtin Young Public Lawyer Award from the International Municipal Lawyers Association, Daily Journal’s California Lawyer of the Year awards in 2021 and 2018, and County Counsels’ Association Recognition Award in 2018. He was named a “Lawyer on the Fast Track” by The Recorder newspaper in 2012.  Williams is a Harry S. Truman Scholar and Paul & Daisy Soros Fellow.

Williams and his wife reside in the county and are parents to four children.

This story was rewritten from a Santa Clara County press release.