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2017-02-15 ESC1 ESC Meeting February 15, 2017 8:15 a.m. Present: Commissioner Fund and Commissioner Jackson as well as various electeds, directors, and county employees Recorder: Rieva Lester Commissioner Fund called the meeting to order. Steve Wohld made a motion to approve the January minutes. Sheila Gray seconded the motion. Motion passed. Commissioner Fund gave an overview of a WSAC’s Washington Communities in Crisis handout. Sheriff Rob Snaza discussed his recent state Legislature testimony regarding the 1 percent cap. He said he has asked to have the cap increased to meet inflation. He said more testimony would be presented Feb. 16. Assessor Dianne Dorey discussed what would be needed to increase the funds available. Commissioner Fund said the Legislative Steering Committee would attend the Feb. 16 meeting. She said various topics, such as public disclosure, are being reviewed. She said “any and all” requests are targeting all parts of the county. She said state lawmakers are exempt from those requests. Commissioner Fund said testimony can be submitted electronically. Arny Davis discussed Treasurer-related items going before the state Legislature. He also discussed a possible housing shortage on the horizon. Dianne said the Assessor’s Office has had a hard time when more sales come in than the office can handle. Steve Wohld introduced Megan Sibbert and gave an overview of Project Leap. He said the technology will affect all county employees. He directed the group to LewisCountyLeap.com, which offers information such as FAQs, etc. Steve Wohld said a kick-off meeting for Leap will be held Feb. 23 in the commissioners’ hearing room. Megan emphasized that Leap will be a transformative project that touches many, if not all, aspects of the county. Steve Wohld said it would streamline many of the county’s processes. He asked the group to examine their own operations, such as who has email, who may need it, and whether kiosks may be needed. 2 Commissioner Jackson thanked Dianne Dorey for bringing Strategic Planning to the forefront. He discussed using previous Strategic Plans as a template for a future version. He said he worked with Becky Butler to identify Strategic Plans used in the past. He said those can be modified, rather than starting from scratch. He identified new topics that should be considered, such as Discover Lewis County and the marijuana moratorium. Dianne Dorey said the committees were set up to give everyone a chance to have their voices heard. She said she fears that if it’s done in isolation, it could get hijacked. She said that’s why those committees are important. Commissioner Jackson said each department could submit its specific plan into the Strategic Plan. He discussed using Comp plans, etc. He said the goal was to keep it as simple as possible due to limited resources, etc. Dianne discussed the need to identify funding in the budget. Becky Butler said she agreed with Dianne’s budget concerns. She said the effort would be to come up with a timeline similar to the budget process. She said the hope would be to have committees meet, possibly after ESC meetings. Dianne said all of the departments need to be in this together. Commissioner Jackson said this is the idea phase, the kickoff point. He said the commissioners’ goal is to make it as easy as possible, taking into consideration the lack of finances, resources and manpower. Becky Butler discussed how much time the new finance system will take. She discussed the need for internal and external input. Commissioner Jackson said the county would use the Internet to ask for the public’s input. Commissioner Jackson said his goal is to work on it diligently over the next few months. Dianne left at 8:58 a.m. Commissioner Fund said she’d like to use this as a way to create a dependable email list. She also discussed the need for formatting to be used throughout. Steve Wohld said the county has been using Facebook for job recruitment for the last month or so. He said those posts have increased the county’s ability for outreach. He urged the group to consider using IT to post job openings, etc. Sheriff Snaza asked whether law enforcement could use that tool. He said Facebook offers a great way to attract local talent. Suzette Smith asked if those posts could have PDR implications. Megan Sibbert said she didn’t think shared job postings would be subject to PDRs. 3 Commissioner Fund discussed the creation of a Public Disclosure Manager using Risk funds. Daleyn Coleman said the position is in the process of being scored. Becky Butler said the position would be in charge of PDRs for the county, not just the BOCC. She said the person would be in charge of training, as well as setting policies and procedures. She said the county is in the early stages of considering funding, etc. Sheriff Snaza said the sheriff’s department has found that having a PDR point person is the right way to handle the requests. He said many of the requests are legitimate but that others are requests made by people who are just trying to make money. Janelle Kambich said the Prosecuting Attorney’s Office has fielded 135 requests from one person. She said the county needs to look at having an attorney to go along with the PDR position. Arny Davis asked whether the state is looking into PDRs. Sheriff Snaza said the state is not affected by them and therefore has not made it a priority. He said lawmakers don’t recognize PDRs as a real issue. Arny Davis discussed the frivolous requests. Janelle Kambich said charging for the requests would reduce the number the county is forced to field. Good of the order Steve Mansfield said storm cleanup has topped $800,000. He urged the audience to sign up for Lewis County Alert through the county’s website. Wes Rethwill gave a shout-out to Warren McLeod’s office and complimented Public Works’ response to emergencies. Erik Martin said the Public Works credit goes to the shops. Commissioner Stamper commended Larry Grove for the Auditor Office’s work on the Feb. 14 election. The majority of the audience left at 9:25 a.m., but several directors stayed behind. Steve Mansfield discussed what items should be included in the Strategic Plan. He said each group would need to include two or three items that would affect not just the department but the county as a whole. Commissioner Jackson said the plan would be to identify high-importance topics. He said his core thought is to keep it simple. He said the idea would be to talk about the things the county has accomplished and the things the county wants to accomplish. Tawni Shepherd asked if there could be a general county plan with links to each office’s specific plans. Commissioner Jackson talked about revamping the county’s mission statement. Commissioner Fund suggested crafting a mission statement that’s memorable. 4 Erik Martin suggested defining the mission statement as “what we do” and then creating a vision statement of “where do we want to go.” Carma Oaksmith asked about the logistics of a citizen survey using Survey Monkey. Becky Butler stressed the importance of avoiding language the public won’t understand. The group discussed the ability to do the future survey at a huge savings versus those done in the past. The group discussed surveying internally before taking the survey to the public. Steve Wohld said he would work on a draft. Steve Mansfield said the first effort should be to identify what accomplishments the county wants to see through the use of the survey. Commissioner Jackson said he would work with Becky Butler and Steve Wohld to look at what other counties have done. Commissioner Fund suggested picking Sheila Gray’s brain too. Meeting ended at 9:52 a.m.