VIDEO: Efren Carrillo's statement to the Board of Supervisors

In a dead-quiet room, he began by acknowledging the wide criticism of his behavior, conduct that he said had let his constituents, his county colleagues and his family down.

"The hurt that I have caused ripples out in so many directions," he said. "To each and all whom I hurt, I apologize."

He acknowledged the reported victim in his case, a female neighbor who made two predawn 911 calls to report a man, later identified as the 32-year-old county supervisor, who police said had tried to enter the woman's home through a bedroom window.

While not detailing his specific actions, he suggested his behavior had undermined the woman's "absolute right to enjoy the peace and quiet of her home."

Carrillo said he had moved away from the west Santa Rosa neighborhood "so as to not cause her any further discomfort."

Carrillo's comments from the dais came after he met individually with two fellow supervisors before the 8:30 meeting. His colleagues had learned about his return late Monday.

Supervisor Susan Gorin, who criticized the last-minute notice, said she "was not interested in talking with him beforehand," but nonetheless spoke with Carrillo briefly.

"I expressed my disappointment ... and said that the short meeting was not sufficient to discuss the issues we are dealing with," Gorin said.

Supervisor Mike McGuire said Carrillo echoed many of the comments in his prepared statement and shared a personal apology.

Board Chairman David Rabbitt spoke with Carrillo over the phone Monday but did not meet with him before Tuesday's meeting. Supervisor Shirlee Zane, who was out of the state on family business, did not attend the meeting.

Through an aide, Carrillo declined requests for an interview. His district director, Susan Upchurch, said he would not be granting interviews or making public appearances, limiting his work in the short term to Board of Supervisors meetings and other internal county business.

The pattern mirrors a similar response after Carrillo's Labor Day arrest last year in San Diego following a street brawl outside a downtown nightclub. That time, he issued a written statement, then disappeared from public view, joining a local delegation on a nine-day trip to Russia. In both instances he initially responded only by prepared statement and declined interviews about the arrests, saying the legal process had to play out.

"Since the legal process is largely transparent, people will get information as it becomes available, and I will respond as is appropriate," he said Tuesday.

Carrillo described what he said has been a longtime problem with "binge drinking," that he had largely ignored before his recent arrest.

"Were I to say that this last episode was an isolated incident, I would be denying reality," he said. "I regret that it took the absurdity of my behavior on July 13 to end any question about the depth of my problem."

He said his closest friends had for some time "begged" him to stop drinking. He acknowledged for the first time that he had been under the influence of alcohol last year in San Diego, when a fight he was involved in left an Arizona man unconscious.

Carrillo said he had come to the defense of a group of women he and his friends were with who were being harassed by "rowdies." Prosecutors later dropped battery and disturbing the peace charges against him.