Agenda Item 1a - Proposal from the Dispute Settlement Center

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Donna Baker Clerk to the Board Board of County Commissioners Orange County March 15, 2019 Dear Ms. Baker, Thank you for the opportunity to present a possible approach for the potential local government collaborative for Orange County and its municipalities including Chapel Hill, Carrboro, Hillsborough and perhaps Mebane. This collaborative would be modeled on the successful Orange County Schools Collaborative, which has been facilitated by the Dispute Settlement Center (DSC) since the group was founded in 2004. I joined the DSC in January 2019 as their director of group facilitation after 15 years consulting with teams in the public and private sectors to improve collaboration and communication. Please see my enclosed bio for more information about my background. The overarching purpose for this group would be to strengthen collaboration among the county and municipalities in Orange County. Stronger collaboration among local government entities would benefit residents of Orange County. The recommendation is for a one-year pilot for this group, meeting 3-4 times. At the end of the pilot phase, we would assess the collaboration to identify outcomes, successes, other benefits, as well as what didn’t work and what to change. As facilitator of the initiative, I would be responsible for: • Coordinating meetings and agendas • Facilitating meetings • Summarizing meetings via notes • Leading the evaluation of the meetings and pilot phase Design and facilitation with the group would begin be establishing the framework for work together, including: • Establishing the group’s role • Clarifying how members will work together • Defining what collaboration means to them • Identifying what success looks like and the metrics that will be used to determine if it is reaching its success • Agreeing to the scope