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Human Services Advisory Commission Minutes — November 19, 2001 Page 3 of 5 <br />Mr. Hurston asked what do we do with the participants' comments? He added that we need to summarize <br />`"gem and comment on them in some way. <br />Ms. Young said she thinks we should be more action - oriented in the Forum. She added that she doesn't think <br />that the small groups went very well. Mr. Block asked what it is that she means. Ms. Young said that instead <br />of the way we do this now, we should set out what the problem is and, in the groups, have them bring up the <br />solutions. She thinks that we are missing the opportunity to come up with solutions to the problem. <br />Mr. Hurston says, in that model, we, as a body, would have to do a lot of homework before the Forum. <br />Ms. Young thinks we could streamline things by a couple of years by having all these team players work on <br />solving them at the forum. <br />Mr. Hurston said we would have to take some action ahead of time to identity the issues before the forum. He <br />said that we haven't lost any time because we could do a follow up round table on the issues that were raised <br />and identified at the forum. <br />Mr. Hurston added that we get more participation when people identify their own issues that they are working <br />on. Mr. Hurston asked how much work can we do without the sanctioning of the Board of County <br />Commissioners? <br />Mr. Hurston suggested that we have a second meeting. We can say to the Board of County Commissioners <br />that we have worked with a host of people but we have also gotten a host of suggestions to solve these <br />problems. He added that the way we give information to the Board of County Commissioners today is that they <br />are fighting with a host of other problems so the one we bring to them is put on the back burner. He asked <br />•thy did the 1989 forum have to be done again? The answer is that there were not enough minds to address <br />.ie problems. <br />Ms. Young says the forums are all very interesting but they are really just info - gathering meetings. She asked <br />wouldn't it be stronger if it wasn't just the HSAC making these recommendations to the Board of County <br />Commissioners, but, instead all these people at the forum? <br />Mr. Hurston said we could make this a two or three year process. <br />Mr. Hurston said that what we have done is to acquire and identify issues and to present them to the decision <br />makers. It is better for them to know about them than not to know about them. He thinks that it is not very <br />practical to present the issues and the solution at the same time. He wanted to know whose responsibility is it <br />to make these recommendations, and whose is it to follow up? <br />Mr. Hurston suggested that there be progress reports to the participants so that we can show that there is <br />progress being made. <br />Ms. Hinton said she was thinking about making a strategic plan for how we address issues. That may be part <br />of the recommendations from this forum to have a strategic plan to work on issues that are most important, <br />and to come up with a menu of issues to present to the Board of County Commissioners. Since we are talking <br />about so many issues and things that are going on in so many directions, a strategic plan shows where we are <br />going. She said we could invite other members of the community to come help tease out this recommendation. <br />Protecting and Preserving People, Resources and Quality of Life <br />Orange County, North Carolina - You Count! <br />Area Code (919) 245 -2125: Fax (919) 644 -0246: EMAIL: npaciga @co.orange.nc.us <br />