Agenda - 09-20-2022; 8-a - Minutes

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11 1 Commissioner Richards said it is amazing and impressive that there are 10 pages of 2 accomplishments to begin with, and the COVID response by itself crossed over so many areas. 3 She said almost everything is significant. She also commented that she has sometimes 4 struggled to connect an item that comes to the Board with the social justice goal or 5 environmental goal that is listed on the abstract. She said since the goals are from 2016-17, the 6 Board needs a process that includes strategy, goals, and the process to update the goals, and 7 how that ties into the departments in order to update them. 8 Chair Price said there was no strategic plan and there was push back because past 9 boards did not want to do strategic planning, but this Board does. She said by not doing this, 10 interconnectedness is missed. 11 Commissioner Bedford said she was shocked to learn during her orientation that the 12 Board at the time did not have a strategic plan because she is used to having that, including 13 having the community's input. She said strategic planning is expensive and if the strategic plan 14 is only looked at once a year it is a waste of time and money. She said she took a class on 15 strategic planning before the pandemic and heard from other elected officials who use strategic 16 plans and tie it to their long range planning and budgeting to it. She said there are initiatives the 17 county is working on now that a strategic plan would help tie together. She said they need to 18 know how to make it a living document. 19 Bonnie Hammersley said it is correct that there were people opposed to strategic 20 planning on the Board in the past, but when she came to the county, she used a different term 21 and called it goal setting. She said as County Manager, it is important to know what the goals 22 and priorities of the Board are and if some are required by law. She said the goals are helpful 23 and helped accomplish everything that has been accomplished thus far. She also said she 24 budgets based on the goals of the Board. She said the executive team shares what 25 departments' responsibilities are within those goals and how to work towards them. Bonnie 26 Hammersley said she doesn't think the county has been operating blind, but it would be helpful 27 for the Board to regularly review and update the goals. She said the county is still the safety net 28 for the most vulnerable and still has to fund schools, but it would be helpful for additional goals 29 to be updated. She said she thinks this is the proper forum to develop a plan for this update and 30 review. She also shared that each department has a strategic plan to guide how each 31 department administratively functions in order to meet the Board's goals. 32 Commissioner Greene said she appreciates the clarification, because she did not think 33 she was on a board that did not have goals. She said the goals that are in place is how the 34 county has achieved all that it has. She said she is not as heavily invested in the idea that the 35 Board has to have a "strategic plan," as long as they know what their goals are. 36 Commissioner Fowler said she can see both sides. As a realist, she doesn't like wasting 37 time and doesn't want to do something just for branding. She said when seeing the budget, it is 38 clear that the departments have goals, but she thinks it would be helpful for a central set of 39 goals to guide the Board. She said these could be informed by the goals and plans the county 40 already has in place so as to not reinvent the wheel, but said she agrees with Commissioner 41 Bedford's earlier point that community input on the goals and planning is important. 42 Commissioner Hamilton said in her experience, she understands the hesitation of putting 43 in significant time for a strategic plan, but believes goals are not enough. She said the goals are 44 broad and do not show how the board will strategize and prioritize in order to achieve each goal. 45 She gave an example of how school facilities are not meeting the needs of students, but is not 46 listed as a priority. She said strategic planning for her is getting beyond goals that the Board 47 doesn't operationalize because they're broad. She said the Board is at the point now where they 48 are going to have to make trade-offs in decision making. She said they can have an efficient 49 strategic planning process, but believes they need something beyond goals. 50 Commissioner Bedford said it gives the Board the opportunity to apply the GARE 51 principles to the plan, which would help the Board with each of their decisions.