HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - 20070119APPROVED 2/20/2007
MINUTES
ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
ANNUAL PLANNING RETREAT
SOUTHERN HUMAN SERVICES CENTER
JANUARY 19. 2007
9:00 a.m.
The Orange County Board of Commissioners met for its annual Board retreat on
Friday, January 19, 2007 at 9:00 a.m. at the Southern Human Services Center in Chapel
Hill, North Carolina.
COUNTY COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Chair Moses Carey, Jr. and
Commissioners Valerie P. Foushee, Alice M. Gordon, Barry Jacobs, and Mike Nelson
COUNTY ATTORNEY PRESENT: Geoffrey Gledhill and Brian Ferrell
COUNTY STAFF PRESENT: County Manager Laura Blackmon, Assistant County
Manager Gwen Harvey, and Clerk to the Board Donna S. Baker (all other staff members will
be identified appropriately below)
FACILITATOR: Andy Sachs
STAFF IN ATTENDANCE: Purchasing and Central Services Director Pam Jones,
Finance Director Ken Chavious, Personnel Director Tyrone Jackson, Budget Director Donna
Dean, Planning Director Craig Benedict, Economic Development Director Dianne Reid,
Environment and Resource Conservation Director David Stancil, Assistant to the Manager
Greg Wilder, Chief Information Officer Todd Jones, and Management Analyst Alan Dorman
NOTE: ALL DOCUMENTS REFERRED TO IN THESE MINUTES ARE IN THE
PERMANENT AGENDA FILE IN THE CLERK'S OFFICE.
BREAKFAST GATHERING AT 8:30 A.M.
Retreat Discussion & Decision Making Guidelines
• Begin and adjourn on time It's OK to disagree... please do so
• One speaker at a time respectfully
• Stick to task and topic Strive for unanimity, if possible, but
• Listen attentively accept that some decisions will be
• Share the floor made by majority vote
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3 Convene
4 Welcome by the Chair
5 Chair Carey welcomed everyone and introduced Andy Sachs from the Dispute
6 Settlement Center as the moderator.
7 Commissioner Gordon requested that the Board stay with the time schedule, including
8 the adjournment.
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10 Meeting overview by the facilitator
11 Andy Sachs said that he has met individually with the County Commissioners and sent
12 the Desired Outcomes for the retreat ahead of time. He asked for any changes to the Desired
13 Outcomes and there were none. The Board also agreed with the ground rules and there were
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no changes to the agenda. Andy Sachs said that if he thinks that the County Commissioners
are losing sight of the Desired Outcomes or the agenda with the ground rules, he would point
this out respectfully.
Desired Outcomes
• Priority goals for fiscal year 2007-2008
• Shared expectations for how the Board and Manager will identify resources, monitor and
report on progress, and achieve the Board's priorities.
• Commitments from Board members and Manager to steps that would help improve the
Board's work processes.
• Clarification of the process to be used to appoint liaisons to citizen advisory boards and
commissions.
Andy Sachs said that the idea of appreciation has been on his mind as it relates to
elected officials and how they do not get thanked enough. As an icebreaker, he asked the
County Commissioners to write down things that they appreciate about their colleagues. He
said that he would read these out anonymously throughout the retreat. The Board took five
minutes for this exercise.
Board Process Issues
• Discussion to clarify the items identified during individual interviews with the
facilitator (see Part II of "Menu of Board Priorities").
• Selection of one or more of the items for resolution.
• Commitments from Board members and Manager to steps that would help improve
the Board's work processes.
Commissioner Foushee said that one way the Board could start with these issues is to
take a look at how the agenda is arranged and if this is the best way to efficiently and effectively
operate the meeting. She has a concern about how the Board regards citizen presentations.
She would like to arrange the agenda so that it is more considerate of the citizens' time. When
citizens are being recognized, she would hope that these items would be early on an agenda.
Chair Carey said that the Board may need to restate what it has agreed to over the
years as it relates to the Board process, such as work sessions being designated for discussion
only and not decision making. There have been decisions made at work sessions, but if there is
ever disagreement, sometimes there is doubt as to whether it was actually a decision. He
would like to decide how to address this work session issue. He suggested allowing the Board
to make decisions at work sessions, but if it is known ahead of time that a decision might be
made, then it should be designated as such, because a message should be sent to the public.
Commissioner Gordon agreed with Commissioner Foushee and Chair Carey. She said
that she feels that the decision items need to come earlier in the meeting, because they are
usually the most substantive. Since the Board imposed the 10:30 p.m. adjournment time, the
deferred decision items have been moved to work sessions. She would like to leave work
sessions as discussion sessions and leave the regular meetings as the meetings to act on. She
would only like to take decision or emergency items up at a work session agenda on an "as
needed" basis.
Commissioner Nelson concurred with Commissioner Gordon regarding the work
sessions. He does not think that decisions should be made at work sessions. Regarding
Commissioner Foushee's comments about rearranging the meetings, he said that the specific
point that she made in December was moving the Board and Manager Comments to the end of
1 the agenda. He strongly supports this idea. He added that there is a new Manager, and he
2 would like to ask her to look at the structure of meetings and make some suggestions about
3 how to improve the meeting process.
4 Chair Carey clarified that if the Board designates an item at a work session as a decision
5 item, that public input should be allowed.
6 Commissioner Jacobs said that there is nothing that he particularly disagrees with so far.
7 He said that when he joined the Board, he was told, "This is how we do things." He said that he
8 would urge the Board to examine the assumptions that this is how everything has to be done -
9 including the starting time, the automatic adjournment time, having to meet at night, etc. He
10 does not like the 10:30 p.m. automatic adjournment. He would rather start at 7:00 p.m.,
11 because there is always a scramble to have more meetings because there is not enough time to
12 consider everything. He said that this is self-defeating.
13 Commissioner Gordon agreed about examining all assumptions. She likes the agreed
14 upon adjournment time, or anything that would provide discipline to the meeting.
15 Chair Carey agreed that the Board should open up all assumptions and examine them
16 so that everyone can understand why things are done the way they are. He said that the
17 County Commissioners dispensed with daytime meetings in the past due to work obligations.
18 He said that it is tough for people who work to serve on this Board and it is even tougher for
19 them to come to daytime meetings if they have to take time off from work. He cannot agree with
20 having daytime meetings.
21 Andy Sachs clarified that the Board of County Commissioners meets at night because
22 there is an assumption that nighttime meetings are more accessible.
23 Laura Blackmon asked if there is flexibility with the assumptions, such as starting
24 meetings earlier. She said that she does have suggestions for the agenda format.
25 Commissioner Gordon said that they should be flexible. She agreed with Chair Carey
26 about daytime meetings. She said that she can attend day meetings but the County
27 Commissioners that work would have a difficult time attending day meetings. In terms of the
28 start time of meetings, she would not want to start a meeting that would interfere with the family
29 dinner hour. She prefers starting the meeting at 7:30 p.m. She said there needs to be some
30 kind of adjournment time because some people have to get up and work the next day.
31 Commissioner Jacobs suggested to Laura Blackmon to throw out the whole structure of
32 the agenda and look at making a different structure. Regarding the adjournment time, he thinks
33 that it should be a majority and not unanimous. Regarding daytime meetings, he is sensitive
34 that people have to work during the day. He does think that a lot of people cannot come to the
35 meetings because they are at night. He thinks that if there were a meeting at 3:00 p.m., that
36 people would come. He suggested doing this as an experiment.
37 Commissioner Foushee said that she would be willing to consider a 3:00 p.m. work
38 session. She said that this would allow for staff to end their days earlier. She said that it would
39 be difficult for her to attend regular board meetings during the day.
40 Andy Sachs asked for input on any other assumptions.
41 Commissioner Jacobs made reference to meeting presentations, and said that the
42 County does a miserable job of sharing information visually with the public. He thinks that this is
43 just as important as making sure there is an opportunity for the public to speak at meetings. He
44 said that the agenda item is not always read, and the public may not know what the Board is
45 talking about.
46 Commissioner Gordon said that the public and the County Commissioners all need to
47 see the information. She agreed with Commissioner Jacobs on this issue.
48 Andy Sachs said that he was hearing some flexibility with the start times of meetings,
49 perhaps starting at 7:00 p.m. He also heard that some work sessions could be started at 3:00
50 p.m. He also heard that the work session should be reserved for discussion, except for decision
51 items that are clearly designated and included in the agenda packets. Also, improving visuals is
1 a priority. He also heard that the 10:30 p.m. adjournment time be decided by majority instead of
2 unanimity. There was not consensus on this, but he heard it as an issue.
3 Laura Blackmon made reference to ending at 10:30 and said that sometimes there are
4 closed sessions. She said that these could be held prior to the meeting when the public would
5 not be there. The Board might be more willing to extend past 10:30 if there would not be a
6 closed session.
7 Chair Carey said that he likes the automatic adjournment time of 10:30 p.m., and he
8 thinks that this works well. He does not mind having closed sessions before meetings, since
9 they are infrequent.
10 Commissioner Nelson made reference to work sessions and said that there is real value
11 for Boards such as this to have a time to talk about issues without having to make decisions.
12 He would hesitate to open these meetings to the public and he would like to keep work sessions
13 just for the Board of County Commissioners.
14 Chair Carey said that work sessions are public meetings with no public involvement. He
15 said that if the Board decides to include an item for a decision, then the public would be notified
16 about that one item. The meeting could be segmented for that one item and then the rest of the
17 meeting could be used as a work session. The Board agreed with Chair Carey.
18 Commissioner Gordon made reference to daytime meetings and said that she would
19 prefer not to have decision items at day meetings for work sessions.
20 Laura Blackmon said that parameters could be written for work sessions, what types of
21 items would be put on a work session agenda, and what kinds of decisions could be made. Her
22 experience is that work sessions were for giving direction to staff and not making certain
23 decisions. She said that the staff could work out some parameters and definitions for a work
24 session protocol.
25 Andy Sachs asked if there was a general consensus to experiment with regular
26 meetings and move the County Commissioner comments to the end and the Board agreed.
27 Commissioner Gordon suggested that the meetings with ceremonial issues could be
28 started at 7:00 p.m. These items would include resolutions of recognitions, special
29 presentations, etc. The recognitions could happen once a month at 7:00 p.m., for example.
30 Chair Carey said that he does not mind starting at 7:00 p.m. He agrees with moving
31 Board Comments to later in the meeting. He asked what the Board wants to achieve with Board
32 comments, and what the intent is. He knows that it is generally used to update the other County
33 Commissioners on the boards and commissions.
34 Commissioner Nelson said that he would like to hear from Board members when
35 something critical and substantive has come up in one of the boards/commissions. He urged
36 the Commissioners to use email to relay comments. He wants the critical information only.
37 Commissioner Foushee agreed with Commissioner Nelson. She said that the purpose
38 of having a time for comments is generally to alert the other Board members and the public of
39 critical issues that may come before the Board. She attends many board meetings each week,
40 but most of time the board meetings are routine and nothing her colleagues would need or want
41 to know. If it is critical information the County Commissioners need to know, she can tell them
42 at a meeting or by email. She thinks that if a citizen makes something known to one of the
43 County Commissioners, that it should be brought to the Board and the staff.
44 Commissioner Gordon said that she agrees with what has been said about substantive
45 and critical issues. She thinks that the County Commissioners should be careful in Board
46 comments because sometimes things come up in the comments and sometimes the Board has
47 taken action during Board comments. She said that if something comes up in Board comments,
48 then it should be referred to the staff. She said that the Board should use airtime for critical
49 issues and not routine items.
50 Commissioner Jacobs said that he likes to hear from other Commissioners about what
51 went on at other meetings. He said that he receives filtered reports through the media that do
1 not necessarily reflect the meeting. He said that there is so much material that is presented to
2 the Board of County Commissioners, that it is hard to read it all. He said that your colleague
3 could tell you better than anyone else. He said that staff sometimes makes reports to their
4 various boards/commissions, but the Board does not always get these reports. He wants
5 information on issues such as transportation. He said that this is the only part of the meeting
6 that is not regimented. He said that the comments should not be used as showboating, but as
7 an effective time to communicate.
8 Laura Blackmon said that she has forwarded to the Board of County Commissioners
9 some of these reports from the various boards/commissions, and she does have a
10 recommendation for a more formal process for this.
11 Commissioner Jacobs said that there should be a place on the County website where
12 the County Commissioners can see the agendas for the boards/commissions.
13 Commissioner Gordon suggested also putting the minutes from the boards/commissions
14 meetings on the website. Also, the Manager's Memo could be posted.
15 At this time, the Board took a short break. 10:18 a.m.
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17 Substantive Priorities for FY 2007-2008
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19 -Review of Part I, "Menu of Board Priorities for FY 2007-2008"
20 Andy Sachs suggested prioritizing the levels of 26 issues and then zeroing in on the
21 manageable number. The goals could be made from the manageable number of priorities. He
22 asked the County Commissioners to pick a subset and then whichever items get at least three
23 votes will be moved to the next round. This will be done until there is a manageable number.
24 Commissioner Jacobs asked for clarification on whether the issues are to be ones that
25 the County Commissioners are going to focus on or that the County Commissioners want the
26 County government to focus on. Andy Sachs deferred to Laura Blackmon.
27 Laura Blackmon said that the Board needs to set the direction for those things it wants
28 staff to accomplish to improve government and improve services.
29 Commissioner Gordon said that she needs to understand from the staff whether the top
30 commissioner priorities should take into account which departments would do the work, so that
31 certain departments would not be overloaded.
32 Laura Blackmon said that the Board needs to tell her what to focus her attention on and
33 the Board does not need to look at departments, but what the County needs to provide to the
34 citizens. She said that the operational side is her responsibility to manage.
35 Chair Carey said that priorities are synonymous for the Board and the staff. He said that
36 there are some things that are uniquely the work of this Board, such as setting the tax rate.
37 There are also maintenance and function issues that need to be done no matter what the Board
38 decides are the priorities, such as emergency preparedness, public safety, etc. This is part of
39 the health, education, and welfare government function.
40 Laura Blackmon said that there may be a situation where the Board wants these issues
41 maintained at a higher level, such as emergency services. This would become one of the Board
42 priorities.
43 Commissioner Jacobs said that he has struggled with the comprehensive plan. He
44 thinks that things like taxes and sustainability have a wide range of options and require a large
45 amount of thought and work. The comprehensive plan has a rigid schedule, but he does not
46 think it requires the same level of involvement because it is so structured. He said that having
47 the comprehensive plan as one of the priorities could cause the Board to not get as engaged in
48 some other things that require engagement to a greater extent because they are not as clearly
49 defined as the comprehensive plan.
1 Andy Sachs clarified that Commissioner Jacobs would like to identify the things that are
2 not already set in motion. Commissioner Jacobs said that he does not want the comprehensive
3 plan to slide by not putting it as a high priority.
4 Commissioner Foushee said that there are some situations where issues can be
5 grouped, such as school issues, and this would lessen the number of priorities to address.
6 Andy Sachs said that the reason why items such as school issues were not grouped, is
7 that they were all very weighty.
8 Chair Carey said that the issues with the library seem appropriate to go under
9 Space/Facilities/Construction.
10 Commissioner Nelson said that he has been confused about this process from the
11 beginning.
12 Andy Sachs said that he wants the County Commissioners to start from the bottom up
13 and try and stabilize this year.
14 Chair Carey said that it would help to know what the County Commissioners want the
15 product to be at the end of the day. He was hoping to have a list of the priorities and goals at
16 the end of the day that gives the staff some direction.
17 Andy Sachs said that the desired outcome is to wind up with a set of priority issues and
18 then goals underneath that. He asked if there were any other big issues to add to the list.
19 Commissioner Nelson said that, thinking about what Orange County should look like in
20 the next 15-20 years, there should be goals like wanting Orange County to be diverse, just, that
21 jobs be available, etc. He said that he thinks that because they are not starting with the big
22 vision of where the County should go, that they may be missing some priorities such as diversity
23 and justice (i.e., mental health). He does not want to get to the end of day and miss some of the
24 big stuff.
25 Andy Sachs said that there are 28 items on the list now. He asked the County
26 Commissioners to make their own priority lists.
27 Commissioner Gordon said that if there is an item that staff may do anyway, she will not
28 vote for it as a priority.
29 Commissioners Jacobs and Foushee said that they were thinking of sets and subsets
30 and grouped things together.
31 Andy Sachs asked Laura Blackmon and Geof Gledhill to count the votes for each
32 priority.
33 Comprehensive plan: 0
34 Space/Facilities/Construction Project Improvements: Commissioner Jacobs said
35 that he sees this as a subset of Loose Ends/Catching Up. He will vote for Loose Ends/Catching
36 Up with this item in mind. Commissioner Gordon said that Loose Ends/Catching Up does not
37 specify what is in it.
38 Andy Sachs suggested that if an issue is a loose end and it is listed specifically, then the
39 County Commissioners should vote for it.
40 Chair Carey said that the County has to follow through on the things that are already set
41 in motion.
42 Andy Sachs said that it seems to be the consensus that things such as the
43 comprehensive plan did not get a vote because they have already been identified as priorities
44 and have been set in motion. He said that there does not seem to be as much confidence
45 about Space/Facilities/Construction Project Improvements, even though some of it has been set
46 in motion.
47 Laura Blackmon said that even though it is in motion, it still has to be a priority for this
48 year. She said that the staff needs direction from the County Commissioners. She said that
49 there are so many loose ends. This information will also be relayed to the public, so that the
50 citizens know what is important to the Board of County Commissioners. She encouraged the
51 County Commissioners not to discount something that may be in motion already.
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Commissioner Jacobs said that none of the County Commissioners disagree with these
28 issues as being important. Regarding the galaxies of loose ends, he does not want to have
to list them all, but he would like to give staff direction that this is a priority to come back with
some kind of order. He wants a plan to get closure on these loose ends and he wants a matrix
for action.
Andy Sachs said that if all of the Space/Facilities/Construction Project Improvements are
loose ends, then he would say to vote for Loose Ends and Space/Facilities/Construction Project
Improvements will go along with that.
Commissioner Gordon said that she would like to go down the list as Andy Sachs said.
Chair Carey said that he is having problems with this process because the concept of
developing a plan to bring projects to closure is a good idea, but the question is whether to bring
it to closure this year or later. He said that only one person brought up the issue of solid waste
as a priority, but a very important decision must be made on this in the next few months. This
has to be dealt with. He made reference to the comment about diversity and justice and said
that he incorporates that into everything that the County does.
Andy Sachs suggested that the County Commissioners vote for things that they do not
want to fall under the cracks in the first cut.
Space/Facilities/Construction Project Improvements - 3
Taxes - 5
Capital budget - 2
Economic development - 4
Loose Ends/Catching Up - 5
Parks - 2
County Government Efficiency - 2
Emergency Planning - 2
Green Building - 4
Land Preservation - 4
School Facilities - 3
School Funding Equity - 3
Water Quality and Quantity - 2
Affordable Housing - 3
Aging - 0
Agriculture - 2
Air quality - 2
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Energy - 2
Legal - 1
Libraries - 1
Schools/County Collaboration-2
Solid Waste - 1
Sustainability - 1
Technology - 2
Transportation - 1
Justice/Diversity - 5
Mental Health - 1
Andy Sachs asked about any hidden subsets, and why the priorities with only one or two
votes were part of the higher order.
Discussion ensued about Loose Ends.
Commissioner Jacobs said that Energy and Water Quality and Quantity fit under
Sustainability. Also, Parks and Libraries could fit under Space/Facilities/Construction Projects.
Also, Transportation could fit under Sustainability, or Technology could fit under County
Government Efficiency. He said that he did not vote for Solid Waste because the issue about
the transfer station is a loose end to him and it is in the works.
Commissioner Gordon said that it seems that the Capital Budget and
Space/Facilities/Construction Projects go together because one funds the other.
Laura Blackmon said that under Capital Budget there are some specific issues listed.
The following priorities got at least three votes:
Taxes - 5
Loose Ends/Catching up - 5
Justice/Diversity - 5
Economic Development - 4
Green Building - 4
Land Preservation - 4
Space/Facilities/Construction Project Improvements - 3
School Facilities - 3
School Funding Equity - 3
Affordable Housing - 3
Andy Sachs asked the Board if all of these could be done. Chair Carey said that they
need to talk about what is included in each of these priorities and what they want to achieve in
these areas.
Andy Sachs suggested using the list and talking about what is included in each priority
and what should be achieved.
1 Chair Carey said that the issue is to put together a plan to bring closure.
2
3 Discussion of priorities
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5 Taxes
6 Chair Carey said that he would like to limit tax increases to no more than what is needed
7 to pay new debt service.
8 Commissioner Nelson said that he thinks that the Board and the staff, as a team, should
9 really dig down and figure out why the County has had 18 years of tax increases in a row.
10 Commissioner Jacobs said that he agrees with both Chair Carey and Commissioner
11 Nelson. He said that for a couple of years the Board has asked the Manager for scenarios with
12 zero tax increase, and last year the Manager said that he could not do this. He said that this
13 should not be an answer. He would like to challenge the assumptions that some things are
14 inseparable from County government.
15 Commissioner Gordon said that she would like to hold the line on taxes. She thinks that
16 the County residents want to have excellent services. She said that the current debt schedule is
17 at the maximum. She agrees that the County cannot sustain the six-cent increase, which has
18 happened the last two years. It is a difficult issue.
19 Commissioner Jacobs said that one mistake that the County has made is that it enters
20 into things like parks without thinking about the extra staff; that it builds buildings without
21 thinking that they need to be cleaned; etc. He said that this information is not received until
22 after the decision is made.
23 Commissioner Foushee agreed with all and reiterated that, when considerations are not
24 made on the front end, then more is spent just in staffing. She said that budgets for temporary
25 and overtime staff are inefficient. For example, some people are hired for 11.5 months on a
26 temporary basis and not paid benefits, and in other occasions, people are working overtime and
27 being paid time and a half, when one more staff person could have been hired to do the work.
28 She said that this costs greatly.
29 Commissioner Nelson said that he did not vote for County Government Efficiency, but he
30 has an assumption that it is a part of dealing with the tax issue. He said that dealing with this
31 issue of taxes is long term and is the most important component is that it will be a team effort.
32 Chair Carey said that he did not vote for County Government Efficiency because it had
33 several things listed under it that he thought were the responsibility of the County Manager. He
34 said that he has been on the Board for 18 years and he understands why the taxes were raised.
35 He said that it is not cheap to respond to the needs of the County, but this pattern is not
36 sustainable. For this next budget, he would like staff to bring back a tax rate no higher than
37 what is needed to service the debt. He thinks that this is a good place to start.
38 Commissioner Jacobs said that, based on the budget drivers, two things that come to his
39 mind immediately are one cent for new school students and two cents for mandatory salary
40 increases for school employees. He asked if then three cents would be cut out of County
41 operations to accommodate for this. Chair Carey said that he is not saying to take it out of the
42 County operations budget, but the County Commissioners have the responsibility for everyone
43 in this County.
44 Commissioner Gordon suggested setting targets on how much the Board is willing to
45 raise taxes because there will be growth issues. She would rather have a target and let the staff
46 figure out the best ways to cut.
47 Commissioner Jacobs said that the Board does not have a philosophy about taxes and
48 what it is trying to accomplish or not accomplish. He said that Chair Carey is trying to present a
49 framework. He is not sure it is the right framework, but he thinks that a framework is needed.
50 Andy Sachs said that the consensus is that everyone agrees on some type of tax
51 increase.
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Commissioner Jacobs suggested saying to "target" tax increase to no more than debt
service. He could support this.
Commissioner Gordon said that there is already $92 million of proposed debt. She said
that if the increase was no more than the dollar amount for that debt service, she could agree
with it.
Chair Carey said that there is a target for debt service over the years, but the actual cost
may be less because the estimate is conservative. This gives some latitude to pay operational
expenses. In addition to that cushion, there is the normal growth in the tax base that will help.
He thinks that there is a lot of room built into the limit that he would like to agree on, because it
sends the clearest message to the staff, and the staff can work out the details. He does not
care whether the word is "target" or "limit".
Laura Blackmon said that a target will give the staff some flexibility. The County
currently has debt, there is $92 million to issue, and the staff can start with that.
Geof Gledhill asked for clarification on what the Board agreed to regarding taxes.
Andy Sachs said that the Board has consensus on targeting the tax increase to no more
than what is needed for the debt service. The focus is on target rather than limit.
At this time, the Board took a break for lunch. 11:58 a.m.
The Board came back from lunch at 12: 36 p.m.
Loose Ends
Commissioner Gordon made reference to #21 under Loose Ends, which says, "Ask
Manager to identify projects that have fallen behind, and to complete them." She suggested
asking the Manager to identify the loose ends and see if there is agreement.
Commissioner Jacobs said that he circled the items that he would consider loose ends.
Laura Blackmon said that she could do this. There is a list of follow-up items, and staff
should be able to help her identify projects that are loose ends. The staff could bring back the
list for prioritization.
Commissioner Jacobs suggested giving all of the loose ends a timeframe. All of the
issues need a closure date.
Diversity/Justice
Commissioner Foushee said that affordable housing would be first for her, since they
want to maintain diversity in Orange County. She said that most of that is predicated on a
diverse group of people being able to live in Orange County. In order to do that, there must be
affordable housing. Besides that, she would like to continue to work on issues that involve
mental health, childcare, and aging. She would also like to move from living wages to housing
wages.
Commissioner Jacobs said that the County Commissioners had a goal at one time for
the Human Rights and Relations Commission to survey the citizens about social justice, and
this group is supposed to be coming back to the Board with its results in the coming year.
Commissioner Foushee said that she would like to include in the affordable housing
issue is establishing aland-banking program.
Commissioner Jacobs said that there should be a process in place for people in mobile
home communities when a development comes in. There is no strategy for where these people
would go. An example is the mobile home community in the Daniel Boone area.
Andy Sachs asked for more clarification on the mental health issue within this goal.
Commissioner Nelson said that there is a great fear in the community that people are
falling through the cracks with the new mental health reorganization within the state.
Chair Carey said that it would be good to get the Mental Health Director to update the
Board on this issue.
1 Commissioner Jacobs asked about the Kidscope program housed in Hillsborough
2 Elementary School. The Superintendent has proposed displacing this program, and Kidscope
3 does not have a place to go. He suggested bringing this up to the school board.
4 Commissioner Gordon said that, in regards to aging, the Master Aging Plan is coming
5 out and there are categories of issues that will be in there such as access to services and
6 information, access to transportation, etc. She said that sometimes people just do not know
7 about the services or how to access them.
8 Andy Sachs asked about the childcare issue, and Commissioner Foushee said that the
9 County Commissioners should take the opportunity to take recommendations from the
10 Childcare Task Force and see which ones could be implemented.
11 Regarding the living wage to housing wage, Commissioner Foushee said that the
12 County's policy right now is to pay a living wage. There is a discrepancy of about $4 between
13 the living wage and the housing wage. She would like to explore the implications of going to a
14 housing wage.
15 Commissioner Jacobs said that the Board has talked about having a menu of options for
16 staff and incorporating different benefits that are equal but more flexible. He thinks that Orange
17 County could still do a better job at having a workforce that reflects the diversity of the County.
18 Andy Sachs asked if the Board was in agreement with all of the issues stated under
19 Diversity/Justice.
20 Chair Carey made reference to boards and commissions reports and said that the Board
21 accepts a lot of the reports, but that does not mean that the recommendations will be
22 implemented. Laura Blackmon said that the staff is looking at some of these issues right now.
23 Chair Carey suggested having a policy of accepting the report, and then specify the
24 plan. This could be a standard policy.
25 Laura Blackmon said that the Childcare Task Force could be used as a pilot.
26 Commissioner Gordon said she liked the idea of the pilot for the Childcare Task Force.
27 She would like an identifiable process for the reports.
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29 Economic Development
30 Commissioner Nelson said that the two items under Technology could go under
31 Economic Development. He said that businesses will not want to locate where there is no
32 broadband access. This has a negative impact on economic development. The other issue is
33 about partnering with the Town of Hillsborough to do some wireless Internet in downtown
34 Hillsborough.
35 Chair Carey said that #18 and #19 could go under Loose Ends. These are, "Work with
36 staff to publicize the Revolving Loan Fund, and to recruit the first applicants;" and "Assess
37 whether the fund is sufficiently capitalized, and if it is not then address the insufficiency."
38 Commissioner Jacobs said that he would like to include Agriculture under this heading.
39 He said that Dianne Reid did a survey, and the reason that people were unable to obtain
40 employment was lack of transportation. He said that transportation could be related to
41 economic development. Also, all of the issues with the economic development districts,
42 assessments, and the cost of service study for the Efland sewer system need to be addressed.
43 Commissioner Gordon said that the County has afive-year strategic plan and they are
44 through the first year. She would like to reinforce that it is very important to meet the goals of
45 the five-year plan.
46 Commissioner Nelson said to think about energy as an economic development magnet,
47 and that businesses that will be formed and will grow in the next 20 years are businesses that
48 deal with energy -alternative fuels, solar, etc. He thinks that these types of businesses are
49 wanted in Orange County. He wants to become a magnet for these types of businesses.
50 Andy Sachs asked for clarification on transportation as it relates to economic
51 development.
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Commissioner Jacobs said that north of Hillsborough, it is very difficult to get to work if
you do not have a car. He also thinks that transportation will relate more and more to Carolina
North, which will have a huge impact on Orange County. He thinks that Carolina North will be a
job magnet.
Commissioner Gordon said that transportation always comes up because people live
where it is economical, but then they have to get to their job. If transit is an important element,
then people can get to their jobs, medical appointments, etc.
Andy Sachs asked about agriculture and Commissioner Jacobs said that the County
Commissioners have been working to develop a local agricultural economy, recognizing that it is
an industry that already exists in the County that needs help. There is a strong demand for
quality food, and the County has invested money and time in trying to help farmers who are
forced to get out of tobacco into other aspects of agriculture without having to sell their property
for development.
Andy Sachs asked the County Commissioners if they wanted all of these issues under
Economic Development.
Commissioner Gordon suggested getting this information to staff and then have staff
come back with implications and strategies.
Chair Carey said that some of the issues are long-term and some are really short-term.
Laura Blackmon said that some of the issues are in different stages of development and
staff needs to bring these to back to the Board promptly with a timeline.
Green Building
Commissioner Jacobs said that this is a priority both internally and externally. The
external has to do with standards for development. Internally, it relates back to sustainability.
He said that he sees it as including the kinds of fuels, fixtures, vehicles, etc. that the County
uses. He said that with Elementary School #10, the school system is looking to cut
expenditures and is looking to cut out sustainable design.
Commissioner Gordon said that green building costs more up front, and if the County is
serious about it, then there has to be discussion about how to address it. She said that you
could make the argument that the life cycle is what you look at. There needs to be an approach
to address the fact that the upfront costs of a green building could be higher than a conventional
building.
Chair Carey said that this area is kind of like an overlay of all of the County
Commissioners' decisions in the policy of constructing facilities. There is a conflict between the
jurisdictional prerogative and the fact that money is tight. He would like to keep it as an overlay
to all of the policy-making and decision-making.
Commissioner Nelson made reference to the external part of it and said that the
standards for developers could be handled through the comprehensive plan process.
Chair Carey said that he likes the concept of providing incentives (as opposed to
penalties) for developers to comply with.
Commissioner Nelson said that the "carrot" approach could also be used with
developers for other items such as affordable housing.
Commissioner Jacobs said that there is no coordinated strategy to change out fixtures to
energy efficient ones, change out water fixtures, etc. and he does not get the sense that there is
a high priority or a plan to do green things within County government. Also, he thinks that the
County should "buy local" more.
Laura Blackmon said that the staff would have to go back and evaluate how some of
these already fit in with what is already being done, and which ones will be a new direction or
focus. She said that it may be a focus on environmentally friendly issues and not so much with
green building.
1 Land Preservation
2 Chair Carey said that this is one of those areas where bad and good can be done. The
3 County has acquired a lot of land over the past few years, and some of the land that was
4 designated for parks has not been planned out. He thinks that all County Commissioners would
5 like to leave a legacy of land in the County for the benefit of future generations. He thinks that
6 some boundaries should be established around where to go. He said that it could go so far that
7 there is land that only rich people would be able to use in the future, because acquisition will
8 preclude poor people from being able to stay here and pay taxes. There is no doubt that the
9 biggest landowners now are groups that do not pay taxes - OWASA, UNC-Chapel Hill, Duke
10 University, and County government. He said that somebody has to make this up. He wants to
11 establish some boundaries around acquisition and what the goal is. He does not want to get
12 caught up with acquisition because this does not help with social justice.
13 Commissioner Gordon said that the voters have already voted money for the acquisition.
14 In terms of the goals, the County does have a Lands Legacy Action Plan. She said that she
15 feels that it is important to get land while the County can afford it. She said that if you do not
16 have a lot of money, the only place you can go for parks and green space is to public lands.
17 She thinks that it is partly because of social justice and equity concerns that the parks and
18 green spaces should be established. She said that the prime target for the preservation of the
19 green infrastructure and parks is a person that does not have a lot of money because it is the
20 only place that they can go.
21 Commissioner Jacobs said that one way to address this is that the County has a park
22 plan adopted in 1988 and he believes that the County is coming close to acquiring land or
23 agreements for parks in all of the areas that were identified 20 years ago. He suggested
24 thinking about how to go forward from here. He said that having greenways and parks in the
25 community enables people to avail themselves of amenities regardless of income level. He said
26 that Little River Park has been a success beyond anything envisioned, and it was not even part
27 of the plan. He said that there are 30 people in line for conservation easements, and there is
28 not enough money to do this. Some decisions need to be made about this program. Lastly, he
29 said that there is a natural environment here that people are destroying as fast as they can in
30 the name of growth and development. Orange County is fifth in the state for collisions between
31 deer and cars and it is not the fifth largest county and it is not the fifth most populous. He said
32 that there is a tremendous displacement going on that is irreversible and will affect air quality,
33 water quality, etc.
34 Chair Carey said that he hopes that no one has construed his comments to mean that
35 he is against fulfillment of the Lands Legacy goals or that he is against acquisition of properties.
36 He just wants to strike a balance with land acquisition. He just wants the people that cannot
37 afford to go anywhere else to be able to use the property that the County is acquiring because
38 the taxpayers are paying for it.
39 Commissioner Foushee agreed with all points made. She said that when they talk about
40 acquisition of lands for preservation, they also have to talk about what is available for affordable
41 housing, what funds and land are left, and how affordable the rest of the land is going to be,
42 given that the County is acquiring lands for preservation. She said that there does have to be a
43 balance. The County Commissioners have to determine what that balance is.
44 Commissioner Nelson said that it is a good idea with any program to assess what your
45 goals are, which ones have been met, and where you are going. He suggested updating the 20
46 year-old master park plan and Commissioner Gordon said that it is on the list.
47 Andy Sachs asked how soon the County Commissioners would want this on the agenda.
48 Commissioner Jacobs suggested, regarding acquiring conservation easements, that
49 since there is a finite amount of money, the County Commissioners need to decide if they want
50 the program to be maintained without running out of money.
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Laura Blackmon asked if this is something the Board wants before the budget process.
Environment and Resource Conservation Director Dave Stancil said that there is about
$200,000 for conservation easements. Commissioner Jacobs said that within the next two
years they will be out of money.
Commissioner Gordon wants to make sure that the program approved by the voters in
2001 stays intact and that the County Commissioners are talking about allocating more money
beyond this. The Board agreed.
At this time, there was a break. 1: 47 p. m. to 1: 56 p. m.
Space/Facilities/Construction Project Improvements
Commissioner Gordon said that this has to do with a plan that will remedy space needs
and also how to develop the campuses. It is good to cluster the County services (downtown
Hillsborough and Homestead Road), because it can be accessible to transportation.
Commissioner Foushee said that she would like to emphasize #5 under this item, which
is, "Figure out what we want to do with the Homestead Road campus so we can move on with it
and will have a context in which to address IFC's proposal to relocate the men's shelter there."
She said that there is some urgency to siting a shelter and the pressure is being put on the
County to do this. It cannot be done absent a plan for the Homestead campus.
Commissioner Jacobs said that the County Commissioners need to get a grasp on how
much additional operating budget is committed by building these new buildings -senior center,
justice facilities, staff, maintenance, etc. He said that this is the largest construction program in
the history of Orange County and he would like to know what this will mean long term.
Laura Blackmon asked the County Commissioners how long they think the space needs
study will address the County's needs. Commissioner Jacobs said that the studies were based
on it lasting through 2015. Based on this, he would say ten years.
Commissioner Gordon said that she would like the Board to discuss this because she is
not sure that the human services needs are being met in this plan. She said that she is looking
forward to the Manager's analysis of the staff's needs/requests.
Laura Blackmon asked about the expectation of the Board for how long this new
construction will meet the County's needs. She said that nothing is worse than finishing new
buildings and then having to start building other new buildings.
Chair Carey said that this could be clarified at a work session, because he was under
the impression that the vision that was presented to the Board would cover a certain number of
years. He said that all of the buildings would not have to be filled up all at once.
Andy Sachs said that the Board could look at this in depth on January 30tH
Commissioner Gordon said that she would like a vision for 30 years and then a plan for
each of the three ten-year periods included in the 30 year timeframe.
Chair Carey asked about the $92 million that is already committed and how many years
ahead that this addresses the needs.
Commissioner Gordon pointed out that in the space study, there are guidelines that she
thinks that the Board agreed on at one point. She suggested that staff review this.
School Facilities
Commissioner Jacobs said that there was a Land Use Plan kickoff meeting, that there
has been discussion about municipal planners working with the Orange County Planning
Director and the two school systems to identify potential future school sites. He said that there
has been agreement at the Assembly of Governments meetings and the School Collaboration
meetings, but nothing has happened. He said that it seems like it would be smarter to take it to
a bond or just do it than the current ad hoc process.
Chair Carey suggested discussing this at the next AOG meeting.
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Commissioner Gordon said that there was a group called the Schools and Land Use
Council that had all towns, the County Commissioners, and the two school boards represented
and discussing. The completed task was the Schools Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance.
The next task was to identify school sites, but the group was disbanded. There is space for the
next three schools in CHCCS. The needs of the OCS are satisfied at this time. However, she
thinks that there should be a group to address this need.
Commissioner Nelson made reference to the OCS and the perceived need that there will
not be a need for a new school in ten years or so. He said that there are a lot of new
subdivisions, particularly around Mebane, and he does not want to assume that these numbers
are going to play out the way that they are now.
Commissioner Jacobs said that all of the planners should be convened to discuss this,
including construction standards.
Andy Sachs did a recap of issues under this priority -reluctance of jurisdictions and
school systems to join the County in doing this, putting together something with Assembly of
Governments or staff, and creating a group at the planner level.
Commissioner Nelson said that he took a tour of OCS's facilities, and 7 out of 12 of the
schools were built before 1975, and all have original HVAC systems with problems. He would
like to facilitate the replacement of the HVAC systems in these older schools to more energy
efficient and reliable ones.
Commissioner Gordon agreed with Commissioner Nelson and the greater needs of
those older schools versus the newer schools. She would like to have a policy so that older
schools could have some kind of equivalency to the newer schools, including energy efficiency
and safety as well as renovations.
School Funding Equity
Commissioner Foushee said that the County Commissioners need to commit to moving
forward on this, such as looking at ways to provide resources to the districts for issues related to
safety and human services. She said that going outside of the per pupil expenditure, such as
last year, should be done.
Commissioner Gordon reinforced that the County Commissioners tried to do these
things that are listed, and she would like to look at something to do within the per pupil, too.
Andy Sachs asked how the staff should move forward with this.
Commissioner Foushee said that the staff should give it the same consideration in this
budget cycle as it did in last year's budget cycle.
Affordable Housing
This issue was discussed earlier.
Commissioner Jacobs said that Commissioner Nelson referred to standards for
providing affordable housing in developments, and if a developer exceeded them that there
would be some kind of benefit. He said that there is almost no requirement for affordable
housing. There is only a bonus if a developer provides extra affordable housing. He would like
to look at the way in which the development process works so that it can create opportunities for
negotiation. As water and sewer is brought to places like central Efland, there will be some
opportunity.
Commissioner Nelson said that he heard yesterday that with the University Station
project, the developer has written in an automatic real estate transfer tax that would go to
affordable housing, such as 1 %. He said that this kind of thing could be included.
Andy Sachs said that this was all of the issues left in the first cut.
Commissioner Nelson made reference to the Water Quality and Quantity item, which
only got two votes, and said that one of the bullet points under that could go under Social
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Justice, which is, "Develop a plan, for lower-income households not receiving water and sewer
services, to address water pollutants that are below official threshold levels but nevertheless are
problematic as ingredients of a household's water supply."
Andy Sachs asked if the Board agreed with this. Commissioner Jacobs said that he
does not think that there is a solution to this that is within the County's purview. Geof Gledhill
said that this is a legislative issue, and it could be brought to the legislature.
Commissioner Jacobs said that it could be grouped with the bio-solids issue, but this is
beyond their purview. He suggested putting the issue on the legislative agenda.
Commissioner Nelson said that he does not know what the legislative issue is, but one
solution is to have a water fund to help people connect to water and sewer lines. Carrboro has
a fund like this. He said that there may be other solutions. He does not see this as a priority for
this year, but he has heard people talk about it.
Andy Sachs took this item off the list as a priority.
Commissioner Gordon made reference to item #40, "to develop a plan to identify and
address the impacts of various land uses and waste treatment options on the quantity and
quality of the ground and surface water resources of Orange County, so that these resources
can be factored into long-term planning", and said that this might be linked to the
Comprehensive Plan process or loose ends.
How we'll identify resources, monitor progress, and achieve the Board's priorities
• Proposal by the Manager
• Discussion
• Decision
Laura Blackmon said that she will need to take this back to staff, and in many cases
there are things that are in the works, not including loose ends. Some of these may need policy
adjustments, and some have budget implications. She would like to bring this back in a work
session to discuss further. She may be able to present to the County Commissioners where
they are in the process of an item and some may need more discussion. She said that she
does not want to wait too long to bring these back to the Board and a lot of these will have
budget implications. She said that the feedback from the Board is great direction on these
items.
Chair Carey said that by the end of March the Board needs to know the budget
implications of all of the items on the list that was just developed. The Board needs to inform
the public as to what the County can and cannot do.
Laura Blackmon said that the item with the target on the taxes will really set the tone for
how much the County can accomplish. A significant number of the issues are budget related.
Commissioner Jacobs said that he would like a report from the County Manager as to
what she is doing to make the County operations more efficient (before the budget is adopted).
Clarification of the Process for Liaison Appointments
Chair Carey made reference to the yellow sheet and said that the policy statements
were extracted directly from the work session meeting. He thought there was general
consensus on all of this, but it needs to be clarified. He does not understand why this has
consumed so much of the County Commissioners' time each year, but there has to be a policy.
This is an attempt to focus on a policy. He said that Commissioner Nelson is new and cannot
pick his top two because he has never served on anything. He thinks that this is unfair to
Commissioner Nelson.
Commissioner Nelson made reference to the first bullet point, which is "Each BOCC
member shall choose two boards that they currently serve on that cannot be taken away by the
other BOCC members." He said that he has a philosophical disagreement with members who
1 do not want to give up a board no matter what. He does not agree with being able to "rope off"
2 certain boards/commissions.
3 Chair Carey said that he understands this, and to some extent, philosophically, he
4 agrees with this. However, asking the County Commissioners to adopt a policy that requires
5 that they give up everything that they have been serving on is not practical. He said that this
6 first bullet was a compromise between giving up everything and protecting some things.
7 Commissioner Nelson said that he asked other elected officials how they choose
8 liaisons, and no one has a policy to "rope" off a committee. Most organizations have a form to
9 fill out to indicate an interest in keeping a committee. He said that most of the time people
10 behave as adults and can trade.
11 Commissioner Jacobs agreed with Commissioner Nelson.
12 Commissioner Gordon said that it was also a compromise between seniority and
13 opening things up. She said that the Board could follow the first four bullets, and then allow
14 Commissioner Nelson choose two boards that he wants to have, and then he would be on the
15 round robin.
16 Chair Carey clarified that the County Commissioners each would have two boards,
17 including Commissioner Nelson, and the round robin would begin with Commissioner Nelson
18 picking first.
19 Commissioner Nelson said that this does not solve the philosophical issue.
20 Chair Carey asked where to start if the Board adopted this philosophical approach.
21 Andy Sachs asked what the Board would do if all boards and commissions were up for
22 grabs. Commissioner Jacobs said that the newest member could start and pick one and then
23 go through the rest of the Board. If a County Commissioner really wanted a board, then they
24 could speak up. Some boards have the capacity for two County Commissioners.
25 Commissioner Gordon said that attendance and past performance should also come into
26 play in addition to seniority. She said that the point is to have people doing something they
27 want to do and be rewarded for doing a good job. She said that she likes to make along-term
28 contribution to her boards and if the boards are up for grabs each year, she cannot do this.
29 Chair Carey said that he feels that he can make a contribution no matter where he lands,
30 even if it is only for a year. He does not have a problem with putting all up for grabs with the
31 most senior person going first, and there would be no carve outs.
32 Commissioner Nelson said that the problem with the round robin process is that no one
33 knows what others are interested in before the meeting. He said that the benefit with the way
34 the others do it, is that they send out all information and people initial what they like. He said
35 that if it works, then it does not hurt to do it this way. If there is a board that several people
36 want, then the Chair can facilitate the negotiation.
37 Chair Carey said that maybe the Board could consider two-year terms as opposed to
38 one-year terms.
39 Commissioner Nelson said that he could live with doing it the way it is mapped out for
40 this year, and then it could be changed in 2008.
41 Chair Carey suggested doing the policy for two years that the first bullet stays as is, and
42 then the person with the least seniority picks three boards, and then there is a round robin.
43 Andy Sachs clarified that the first bullet stays as it is, and then there is a new second
44 bullet that says that the person with the least seniority chooses three boards, and then there is a
45 round robin in least seniority order.
46 Commissioner Jacobs wants to do what Commissioner Nelson suggested starting next
47 year. He does not want to keep this for two years. If there are two County Commissioners that
48 cannot agree on a board, then the Chair can step in and adjudicate.
49 Commissioner Gordon said that she thought that the Chair would "facilitate" the
50 discussion and not decide. The Board of County Commissioners would decide who would
1 serve. She thinks that the Board decided at the last meeting that it would follow the first four
2 bullets. The last two bullets were not discussed as far as she can remember.
3 Andy Sachs asked about the next to the last bullet, and Chair Carey said that it probably
4 would not happen, so it could be taken out.
5 Regarding the last bullet, Commissioner Gordon said that she thought that there were
6 already procedures for what is done when more than two County Commissioners come to a
7 board/commission meeting. This is in the Volunteer Resolution. She suggested looking at the
8 Volunteer Boards and Commissions Procedures and see if this is covered.
9 Andy Sachs clarified that the Board would do what is proposed on the first four bullets,
10 with a second bullet that says that the County Commissioner with the least seniority
11 (Commissioner Nelson) gets three choices, that the round robin order would go in reverse
12 seniority, and the last two bullets will be taken off. The appointments that are made as a result
13 of this process would be held for one year, and a new policy will be put into place next year with
14 a possible two-year appointment.
15 Commissioner Jacobs made reference to the last bullet and said that the reason that it
16 may have come up is that it was brought up at the work session to advertise task force meetings
17 as meetings of the full Board. The majority said that they did not want to do this. He said that
18 as long as it is clear that the Board is not supposed to advertise task force meetings as
19 meetings of the full Board, then it should not have to be spelled out.
20 Laura Blackmon said that she thought this bullet made it clear that, throughout the year,
21 if the Board decides to create a new task force, that this is how it would be done.
22 Commissioner Gordon suggested asking the Manager to look at the procedures.
23 Commissioner Jacobs suggested asking the Clerk whether the last bullet is incorporated
24 in the procedures for boards and commissions, to make it clear that the boards and
25 commissions have two County Commissioners and no more, and it is not the policy to advertise
26 the meetings as meetings of the full Board of County Commissioners. The Board agreed.
27 This item will be addressed on January 30tH
28
29 Retreat Evaluation
30 Andy Sachs asked for feedback on this retreat process.
31 Commissioner Foushee said that this was her third retreat, and it was the best one to
32 date. She appreciated the productive agenda.
33 Commissioner Jacobs said that it has been a good retreat. He would like to sit closer
34 together. He would hope that staff understands that the County Commissioners highly value the
35 work that they do, and the comments made are in no way meant as personal.
36 Chair Carey said that this process got them to focus. He would encourage the use of
37 less paper.
38 Commissioner Nelson said that the retreat exceeded his expectations. He is glad that
39 the social justice issue was added. For the future, he thinks that they would benefit having a
40 retreat that focuses more on the future.
41 Commissioner Gordon said that it was a great retreat because everyone was focused.
42 She agreed with Commissioner Nelson about visions for the future.
43
44 With no further items to address, the retreat was adjourned at 3:30 p.m.
45
46 Moses Carey, Jr., Chair
47
48 Donna S. Baker
49 Clerk to the Board
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