Orange County NC Website
26 <br /> 1 3. Review of BOCC Proclamations <br /> 2 The Board reviewed the proclamations that have been approved by the Board of County <br /> 3 Commissioners since 2016. <br /> 4 <br /> 5 BACKGROUND: The Board of County Commissioners requested that staff create a 12-month <br /> 6 calendar of proclamations for possible inclusion on future Business meeting agendas. <br /> 7 <br /> 8 Chair Bedford introduced the item. She said that this stemmed from a request for priority <br /> 9 proclamations to not fall through the cracks and be forgotten. She said that the process for adding <br /> 10 proclamations has fallen to the position of the Chair. She said she would like to discuss the <br /> 11 purpose of proclamations and review the list of proclamations from 2016. She would like to make <br /> 12 sure that the proclamations that are priorities for the Board are added to agendas. She said that <br /> 13 they need to decide if those proclamations should be read aloud at the meeting or be put on <br /> 14 consent. She said they should talk about requests from the public for adding proclamations. She <br /> 15 asked if those who request should reside in Orange County. <br /> 16 Commissioner Richards asked what does it mean for the county to approve a <br /> 17 proclamation. She asked if departments should be part of a proclamation and have planned <br /> 18 activities. She asked what is the purpose of a proclamation. She asked if it would be a useful <br /> 19 activity during the work session to go through the list. <br /> 20 Chair Bedford said she thought they could identify the priority proclamations during the <br /> 21 meeting. <br /> 22 Commissioner Fowler said that if the county has planned activities around a proclamation, <br /> 23 they should be prioritized. <br /> 24 Vice-Chair Greene said that she thought that they should still remain receptive to the <br /> 25 community and their interests. <br /> 26 Chair Bedford thought that some of those proclamations should be on consent, but any of <br /> 27 those could be pulled from consent. <br /> 28 Commissioner Richards said if there are certain proclamations that they will do every year, <br /> 29 they should be planning ahead. <br /> 30 Commissioner Hamilton said the purpose of a proclamation can fall in a couple of <br /> 31 categories. She said a proclamation could fall into an advertisement for a county event or activity, <br /> 32 but that could be done without a proclamation. She said another reason is that a proclamation <br /> 33 might reflect the views of the Board. She said that a third reason is that a proclamation might <br /> 34 recognize a larger community and the importance, or something that's about safety that the <br /> 35 county wants to emphasize. She said that agendas can be long, so they still have to keep some <br /> 36 proclamation items brief. <br /> 37 Chair Bedford said that for some proclamations, it emphasizes how much they value staff. <br /> 38 Commissioner Portie-Ascott said it is good to acknowledge different events. She asked <br /> 39 how the Board approves proclamations being developed. <br /> 40 Chair Bedford said that the Chair and Vice-Chair review each proclamation. She said <br /> 41 there are no standards, and that is the dilemma. <br /> 42 Commissioner McKee said that proclamations can burn up a lot of time during a meeting. <br /> 43 He said proclamations are celebratory and a way for the county position its priorities and publicly <br /> 44 broadcast them. He said the more that they have, the less impactful they are. He suggested it <br /> 45 be pared back to one or two a month. He said he would like to see it tied to department activities <br /> 46 and something the county is specifically doing. <br /> 47 Vice-Chair Greene said that on the next meeting's agenda there will be a proclamation on <br /> 48 family literacy. She said that the county has provided funding to the organization. She said when <br /> 49 there a group that is aligned with the county's mission asks for the proclamation, she supports <br /> 50 that. She said that the requestor wrote a draft and it was refined by the County Manager's Office. <br /> 51 <br />