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<br />APPROVED 11/14/2006 <br />MINUTES <br />ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS <br />REGULAR MEETING <br />October 3, 2006 <br />7:00 p.m. <br />The Orange County Board of Commissioners met in regular session on Tuesday, October <br />3, 2006 at 7:00 p.m. in the F. Gordon Battle Courtroom in Hillsborough, North Carolina. <br />COUNTY COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Chair Barry Jacobs and Commissioners Moses <br />Carey, Jr., Valerie P. Foushee, Alice M. Gordon, and Stephen Halkiotis <br />COUNTY ATTORNEYS PRESENT: Geoffrey Gledhill <br />COUNTY STAFF PRESENT: Interim County Manager Rod Visser, Assistant County <br />Manager Gwen Harvey, and Clerk to the Board Donna S. Baker (All other staff members will be <br />identified appropriately below} <br />NOTE: ALL DOCUMENTS REFERRED TO IN THESE MINUTES ARE IN THE PERMANENT <br />AGENDA FILE IN THE CLERK'S OFFICE. ALL RECORDINGS OF THE MEETING WILL BE <br />KEPT FOR 5 YEARS. <br />Chair Jacobs called the meeting to order at 7:05 p.m. The two candidates for Orange <br />County Manager spoke before the regular meeting. He thanked everyone from the public that <br />came to the reception to meet the two candidates. <br />Laura Blackmon is from Osceola County, Florida and has been the Deputy and Assistant <br />County Manager. She went to the University of Florida where she received a bachelor's and <br />master's degree in Public Administration. She was then a public school teacher for seven <br />years. She moved from public teaching into public administration. She was with the City of <br />Kissimmee for 15 years. She has experience with all aspects of county government. Some of <br />her current projects include completely automating agendas, historic preservation, strategic <br />planning, activity in professional organizations, and professional management. She believes in <br />open communication in government and she is proactive and dedicated to being a public <br />servant. <br />Mike Nelson asked her to talk about going from teaching to public administration. Laura <br />Blackmon said that it was more her professional development. She was very involved in <br />student government as a teacher and she really enjoyed this aspect. <br />Tom Robinson from Rockingham County introduced his wife. They have three grown <br />children. He has two degrees from Georgia Tech - an undergraduate degree in Industrial <br />Management and a graduate degree in City and Regional Planning. He never intended to <br />become a city manager, but was going to pursue real estate development. When he was in <br />Cabarrus County, he was sent to UNC's Institute of Government to the County Administration <br />course. After that experience, he realized that he liked county management. He gave some <br />history of his management experience. He said that he has been impressed with the Board of <br />County Commissioners' commitment to education and its willingness to champion diversity and <br />openness. He said that he is noted for being a visionary and extremely creative. He also has <br />very strong managerial skills and is good with budgeting. <br />Mike Nelson asked Tom Robinson about his vision about how to better use technology <br />in Orange County in rural parts of the County and in County government. Tom Robinson said <br />that first, the County will need cellular coverage. In Rockingham County, a Homeland Security <br />grant was secured for $2.$ million to build three 390-foot towers across the county and a fourth <br />