Yolo mourns after unexpected death of longtime Woodland leader, supervisor Gary Sandy, 68

Gary Sandy, a Yolo County supervisor and former mayor of Woodland, died from complications following treatment for liver cancer on Thursday. He was 68.

Sandy — who had served as chairman and, this year, as vice chair on the Board of Supervisors, representing parts of Woodland and West Sacramento — succumbed to a viral infection following a liver transplant in June, according to the county. The county said he died in his sleep surrounded by family.

“Supervisor Sandy’s untimely departure has left the Yolo County community and beyond in profound sorrow,” county officials said. “His legacy of dedication, leadership and community service will forever resonate in the hearts of those he touched.”

His widow, Mary Vixie Sandy, said that the outpouring of support her family has received is a testament to her husband’s decades of public service.

“He loved the people he was deeply honored to represent,” said Vixie Sandy, who is the executive director of the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing. “He was an extraordinary human. ... He had an endless depth of heart for this community.”

Vixie Sandy said whenever the family would venture out for dinner or events, Gary Sandy would make time — sometimes to the consternation of his three children — to talk to constituents and neighbors about their lives and the issues affecting them.

“He always wanted to know how they were and how their families were,” she said. “There’s no question (public service) was his life’s work.”

After battling cancer for more than a year, Sandy had been planning to return to work Sept. 1.

Sandy remembered as a Yolo County leader

His unexpected passing left many in the Yolo political community grieving for a public servant who dedicated the majority of his life to Woodland through leadership and community service.

“Right up to the end, he was so excited about coming back to work again,” said Dotty Pritchard, Sandy’s longtime chief of staff. “That was his thing, right up until the end.”

“We are deeply saddened by the sudden loss of Supervisor Gary Sandy, whose unwavering dedication to our community and tireless efforts to drive positive change have left an indelible mark,” Supervisor Oscar Villegas, who is the current chair of the board, said in a statement. “His leadership and commitment to fostering collaboration were instrumental in creating a stronger and more united Yolo County. Supervisor Sandy’s legacy will continue to inspire us as we strive to uphold the values he held dear.”

Jim Provenza, who served on the board with Sandy for many years, called him a tireless advocate for the people of Woodland and Yolo County. He told the Woodland Daily Democrat on Friday that Sandy’s passing was “a very sad day” for the community.

“I will never forget his calm and professional leadership as board chair during the pandemic or his advice and counsel during some very difficult times,” Provenza told the newspaper. “Gary was a nice guy with a great sense of humor. He will long be remembered for his many contributions to our county. I will miss him.”

Before entering politics — first as a city councilman then mayor of the county seat before taking on roles as a community college trustee and a supervisor — Sandy worked as an analyst in the Assembly and a policy expert at UC Davis, as well as a spokesman for Woodland Memorial Hospital.

Sandy had a keen interest in water and environmental issues, and was closely involved with matters involving the Yolo Bypass, Pritchard said. In May, he held a regional forum on water issues, which Pritchard described as a big success — one he had hoped to continue annually or even twice a year.

Pritchard said hundreds of people reached out to her Friday to offer condolences and pay respects to Sandy.

“He was quite beloved in the Woodland community, and he will be sorely missed,” she said. “We have quite a void upon his passing, but we know he’s looking over us.”

Matt Rexroad, who worked closely with Sandy as a supervisor, said, “He set a phenomenal example for how you behave as an elected official, for how you serve your community.”

“There’s just so many things to point to in this community that he’s been a part of,” Rexroad said. “Woodland should be grateful for his service.”

A life spent in public service

Gary Alan Sandy was born Oct. 27, 1954, in Escondido to Gayle and Gilbert Sandy, and was raised on a ranch between Vacaville and Winters before his parents moved to Davis in the 1960s. He graduated from Sonoma State University before setting out in legislative analysis, policy consulting and communications. In 1985, he was awarded a Coro Foundation Fellowship in public affairs and went on to obtain a master’s degree in organizational development from the University of San Francisco.

After working for several years analyzing and writing legislation for the Assembly’s Committee on Aging and serving on the Woodland parks commission, Sandy won a March 1989 special election for a seat on the Woodland City Council that had been vacated by a councilman who left the state.

“It feels great,” Sandy said the night of that election. “We put a heck of a lot of work into this campaign and apparently we got our message across, which is that Woodland is facing some serious challenges, and that we need a council that will get down to business and face those challenges.”

Among those challenges: Maintaining city parks, revitalizing downtown and helping city services keep up with a city that doubled in size to over 60,000 residents from less than 40,000 when Sandy was first elected.

As reported in The Sacramento Bee, opponents and some longtime residents challenged the notion of the 34-year-old’s candidacy since he had only lived in Woodland for two years — not long enough to be a good representative, critics said.

“I was definitely the dark-horse candidate. That’s what really spurred us on and made us work harder,” he said on election night. Vixie Sandy said her husband was “a focused and gentle but a compelling, thoughtful person that people responded to across all political parties.”

“He was profoundly committed to democracy,” she said. “He wanted to meet the people where they were,” adding that Sandy didn’t approach politics as a fight against all comers but a chance to learn about different policies and perspectives to get a better understanding of issues.

The Sandy family made Woodland their home for the next 33 years, and Sandy was re-elected in 1992 and served as mayor from 1994 to 1996. He went on to serve on the Yolo fair board before being elected to the Yuba Community College District in 2010. During that time, he worked as UC Davis’ director of local government relations before becoming a project manager in the chancellor’s office.

In 2018, Sandy threw his hat into the race for 3rd District supervisor to replace Rexroad, a former colleague from the Woodland City Council who decided not to run for a fourth term. Beyond water and agricultural land preservation, Sandy had a keen focus on addressing the issues of homelessness, mental health and economic development. Sandy was re-elected without opposition in 2022.

Commitment to environment, homelessness

Wixie Sandy said her husband’s work spoke to the idea that “policy is the place in which you could make the kind of lasting changes to create infrastructure and support the community.”

That included efforts as a college trustee to secure funding for Woodland Community College. Vixie Sandy said pointed to his “instrumental work to secure funding that built out the community college here into this gorgeous and wonderful campus.”

She also spoke of his work on issues of homelessness in Yolo County: “He really had a heart for how can we provide services that support the homeless” through initiatives like 60 recently constructed small homes that provide permanent supportive housing in Woodland to wraparound services throughout the county.

Sandy had a “deep abiding commitment” to the preservation of native habitats and wetland ecosystems, and environmental issues in general, Vixie Sandy said. He taught to his children to appreciate wetlands and nature through fishing, even if that meant everyone but him caught fish, she said.

The county said that throughout his tenure, Sandy’s work to preserve native habitats and wetland ecosystems left “an indelible mark on the landscape he held so dear.” In lieu of flowers, according to the county, the family encouraged mourners to donate in Sandy’s name to the Yolo Basin Foundation and the Cache Creek Conservancy.

“These organizations were close to Supervisor Sandy’s heart and reflect his passion for environmental conservation,” the county said.

In addition to his wife of 40 years, Sandy is survived by sons Owen Sandy and Grayson Sandy, both of Sacramento; daughter Bayley Sandy Rea of Walla Walla, Washington; two grandchildren with another on the way; and sister Shirley Cox of Chula Vista.

A public memorial service for Sandy is scheduled for 2 p.m. Sept. 9 at the Woodland United Methodist Church, 212 Second St. After the memorial service, a reception will be held at the Yolo County Administration Atrium at 625 Court St.

Pritchard will remember Sandy as a “man of community” who dedicated the last 40 years of his life to Woodland and Yolo County.

“What a good, kind, considerate man he was – that was his legacy,” she said.