Agenda - 02-21-2017 - 6-a - Minutes

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33 1 Commissioner Price said what impressed her was that the residents in Mebane met proactively, 2 and repeatedly, and face to face, before any storm was coming, to figure out what to do when 3 any kind of emergency occurred. They even practiced CPR. 4 5 Chair Dorosin said that communications goes in both directions. They need to figure out how to 6 get their message out, and also how to get information from the community. County staff has 7 direct contact with residents, but different Departments have different kinds of interactions with 8 the public. Planning, Emergency Services, Aging, Animal Services, and the Sheriff's Office have 9 direct interactions. They're good resources for getting information back. Commissioner Price's 10 point also is a good one about us getting out there too. They need to be able to say how their 11 work within the County is touching residents, and they need to be able to listen for the things 12 that they are overlooking. 13 Commissioner Rich reiterated that they should be open all the time for what the County might 14 be missing. 15 16 In reply to a question from Commissioner Jacobs, Donna Baker, Clerk to the Board, said the 17 public does not call the Clerk's Office as much as it used to. Also, emails from the public go 18 directly to Commissioners. They get calls about taxes, or an agenda item before a Board 19 meeting, or how do they access the web. David Hunt added that half of the calls are mistakenly 20 for the Clerk of the Court's Office. Donna Baker said the telephone is no longer the public's 21 main source of contact with County government. And the individual Commissioners' 22 accessibility by the public through emails and telephone is much better known now; they have 23 your contact information. They webcast the meetings now, so people know better what is going 24 on; they put so much information on the web that they don't get as many calls as they used to, 25 and many fewer complaints. 26 Commissioner Jacobs noted that the County is doing a much better job at informing the public 27 than it used to, but we don't ever give ourselves credit for that. 28 29 Retreat Wrap Up 30 So that future retreats can be planned and conducted even better than today's retreat, the 31 facilitator asked the group what worked well with regard to this retreat, and what did not work so 32 well. These ideas were raised: 33 34 • Commissioner Burroughs said the retreat was great. The planning group put together an 35 agenda that provided opportunities for substantive conversation. The conversation was at 36 the level they should be working —the policy level. She appreciated having time to think 37 about the goals. And the retreat was facilitated very well. 38 39 • In reply to Commissioner Jacobs asking him, Commissioner Marcoplos said the retreat did 40 indeed meet his needs as an incoming member of the Board. It was a great opportunity to 41 spend time with each other in a relaxed setting. Great topic, great location (four minutes 42 from my house). Great food. 43 44 • Bonnie Hammersley said it is always very helpful for the staff to hear what the 45 Commissioners' think. She said she has a lot of ideas for how they can implement some of 46 the issues they talked about today. They appreciated it very much. 47 48 • Commissioner Marcoplos said it was great that staff had an opportunity to participate. 49 Maybe that can be a bigger part of another retreat. They have such a wealth of knowledge. 50 33