Minutes - 19990116 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Chair Gordon feels that it is important that everyone agree on a process for developing and distributing news releases. INNOVATION AND EFFICIENCY Chair Gordon made reference to "Sustainable County Government" and said that this refers to ways to make County government more efficient. She referred to her memorandum on the subject which is incorporated into these minutes by reference. This would take a review of our County organization as recommended in the ME report. Commissioner Jacobs suggested that we reconstitute the Innovation and Efficiency Committee and review their recommendations. He specifically would like to review how County government works and proceed on some of the recommendations from that report. Commissioner Carey feels it may be timely to reactivate this committee and review its charge. The employees doing the work know most about how to do things and it would be best to have them create ways to do things more efficiently. The County Commissioners may want to think about ways to motivate the staff to encourage them to give us ideas on how things can be done more efficiently. Commissioner Halkiotis would like to have the I&E committee reactivated. He feels we need to look at the charge to be sure it is what we intend. He suggested adding to the charge funding for schools, childcare services, etc. He feels it is very important to keep thinking of ways to collocate functions. Commissioner Carey said that this revolves around the most efficient use of the taxpayers' money. The biggest cost for childcare is facilities. Orange County daycare fees are among the highest in the state. Commissioner Jacobs agrees that the County Commissioners should set the parameters. He feels we have a very good County staff and efficient government but knows there is always room for improvement. He feels that the County staff can come up with ways to be more efficient. There needs to be a process of openness so ideas can be expressed in a way that is positive. He would like to see childcare offered at schools. Also, he supports value engineering for all of our building projects. Chair Gordon reiterated ideas expressed above including (1) encouraging County staff to look at efficiency and innovations in their jobs, (2) using value engineering and construction management for building projects, and (3) reconstituting the I & E Committee or another committee with a similar purpose. Commissioner Halkiotis said that it might be interesting to have a presentation from a construction manager from another county so the County Commissioners can be educated and informed. John Link asked that the County Commissioners add another item to take into consideration when approving new staff resources and that is the standard of service delivery which is acceptable from certain areas of services. What this means is an acceptable turnaround time to do inspections, etc. and what is reasonable. This is important because when requests for new staff are presented, these standards can be used to help make those decisions. Commissioner Brown wants to see the County go ahead and work on getting the meetings televised. She suggested having someone attend the meetings and videotape them so they can be shown on public TV the following day. IMPACTS OF GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT Commissioner Brown said that adequate public facilities are being discussed by Chapel Hill, and Carrboro will discuss this issue at its goal setting retreat later this month. She feels we need to look at other places that have ordinances and develop a base of information. It will probably take an ordinance and maybe a joint ordinance with Chapel Hill, Carrboro and Hillsborough to put something like this into practice. Commissioners Halkiotis and Jacobs feels that the County needs to start a dialogue with Chapel Hill and see how all of this fits in with regional cooperation.