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QuickTakesFive States withLowest Percentage of Cigarette Smokers

Five States withLowest Percentage of Cigarette Smokers

U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2007

1 • Utah . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 .72 • California . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 .33 • Connecticut . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 .54 • Massachusetts . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 .45 • Minnesota . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 .5

NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF COUNTIES n WASHINGTON, D.C. VOL. 42, NO. 9 n May 10, 2010

See RAC page 11

See IMMIGRATION page 4

By Erik Johnston

ASSOCIATE LEGISLATIVE DIRECTOR

NACo’s Rural Action Caucus (RAC) conducted its annual fly-in advocacy effort April 27–29 in support of federal funding, legislation and programs critical to rural counties. Twenty-six members of RAC’s steering com-mittee met with Obama adminis-tration officials and 70 members of Congress to highlight the most pressing rural county issues identified by RAC’s members.

This year’s priority issues included:

• support for the Restore the Partnership Act of 2009 (H.R. 3332)

• support for the Local Jobs for America Act (H.R. 4812)

• reauthorization of the high-way bill, especially ensuring rural roads and bridges receive adequate federal funding

• funding for USDA Rural Development Programs that rural communities utilize to im-

RAC fly-in focuses on priorities crucial to NACo’s rural members

By JuliE ufnEr


The U.S. Environmental Protec-tion Agency (EPA) has released a proposed rule on emissions standards for existing and new in-dustrial, commercial or institutional boilers. There is a 45-day comment period on this rule. The EPA is under court order to implement the regulation by December 2010.

The boiler rule will likely have a significant impact on local govern-ments that use boilers or process heaters to produce electricity or heat. It will affect boilers used in county buildings such as court-houses, jails, schools, hospitals, clinics or other institutions that use natural gas, fuel oil, coal, biomass such as wood, refinery fuel or other gas to produce steam.

In the proposed rule, the EPA establishes emission standards for mercury, particulate matter (PM) and carbon monoxide (CO) for both new and existing boilers. The proposed rule breaks the standard down further based on size of the boiler (large or small), design (what

INSIDE >>Arizona county clerks find eyewitness accounts of famous Western gunfight >> Page 4

prove infrastructure and economic opportunities

• support for the County Health Care Costs Act of 2009 (H.R. 2209)

• opposition to legislation that would force local and state govern-ments to abandon long-standing and successful collective bargaining standards for public safety officials (H.R. 413/S. 3194) and

• support for the Livable Com-munities Act (H.R. 4690/S.1619).

“With the difficult economic environment that counties are facing, it is more important than ever to forge new partnerships and emphasize the importance

of adequate federal funding for programs essential to rural coun-ties,” said RAC Chair Keith Lan-genhahn, board chair, Marathon County, Wis. “I believe strongly that the White House and members of Congress need to hear directly from those of us who represent rural communities.”

Key offices visited included Reps. Adrian Smith (R-Neb.) and Travis Childers (D-Miss.), co-chairs of the Congressional Rural Caucus; Senate Finance Commit-tee Chair Max Baucus (D-Mont.)

EPA proposes rules on coal ash, boilers

See BOILERS page 7

By Marilina sanz


Senate leaders unveiled a 26-page immigration reform outline late last month that calls for increased, border enforcement, guest worker programs, and a two-step process for an earned path to legalization for undocumented immigrants.

The proposal aims to secure the nation’s borders first, and sets up eight benchmarks that must be met before an earned legalization program can be implemented. These include increased Border Patrol, and Immi-gration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents and inspectors, and improved technology. The proposal would also authorize the secretary of homeland security to deploy the

Senate Democrats unveil immigration reform plan

National Guard at the borders when needed. The proposal would also prohibit state and local governments from enacting immigration restric-tions and penalties, a response to the recent Arizona legislation.

The outline includes an impact aid program for border counties and cities to mitigate the impact of illegal border crossings. Southern and northern border communities would be treated equally under the proposal. The proposal doesn’t say how much funding would be available for this purpose.

Photo by Matt Fellows

NACo President-elect Glen Whitley (l) and Rural Action Caucus Chair Keith Langenhahn (r) pause for a moment during their visits to Capitol Hill with Rep. Travis Childers (D-Miss.), co-chair of the Congressional Rural Caucus.

Border county sheriffs skeptical about impact of new Arizona immigration law >> Page 2

King County, Wash. gets ready for electric cars >> Page 8

NACo 2010 election credential forms on their way >> 1

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County NewsThis Month in ...

County News celebrates NACo’s 75th Anniversary with a look back at the issues and events that affected counties over the past several decades.

M May M1983

• More than 900 counties were invited to participate in a $50 million emergency food and shelter program, administered by local organizations under the Jobs Stimulus Act (P.L. 98-8). The program, through United Way and Red Cross chapters, alleviated the strain on local voluntary agencies caused by the recession. This program supplemented public and private efforts to feed and shelter those in need.

• Both the House and Senate moved toward the reauthorization of the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) and federal housing programs. Both bills reemphasized benefits to low- and moderate-income people as a primary purpose of the act but each used different approaches. The Senate required that use of funds must benefit low- to moderate-income people over a three-year period. The House required at least 51 percent benefit to low- and moderate-income people annually.

1990• NACo produced a video on county government to gain visibility

and recognition. It touched on areas like the history, structure and future of counties; it emphasized what counties did at the time and how they coped with challenges they faced. It was shot in a docu-mentary style for the general public and copies were given to each member county to show at local community meetings.

• Ventura County, Calif. Supervisor Maggie Erickson, chair-woman of NACo’s Emergency Management Subcommittee, told the House Public Works Subcommittee on Investigations and Oversight that counties want coordination of federal disaster assistance to be under direct White House control.

She told the subcommittee that “FEMA (the Federal Emergency Management Agency) should establish a first response capability — not to replace local government as the first line of defense, but to protect human life and property when the front lines are overwhelmed.”

(This Month in County News is compiled by Charlie Ban, staff writer, and Christopher Johnson, editorial assistant.)

By JEff arnold

DEPUTY LEGISLATIVE DIRECTOR

Legislation has been introduced that would allocate the D-Block 700 megahertz (MHz) spectrum to public safety for the development of a national interoperable broadband network.

The Broadband for First Re-sponders Act of 2010, introduced by Rep. Peter King (R.-N.Y.), would help secure the public’s im-mediate safety and security during large-scale emergency response situations. The bill also asks the FCC to set the standards for the interoperability systems through the National Institute of Standards and Technology, Department of Homeland Security, Department of Justice, and state and local agencies.

King is the ranking member of the House Homeland Security

Legislation would reserve frequencies for public safety

Arizona border counties wince at new immigration law

Committee. “The nation’s counties thank Congressman King for his leadership on this important issue,” said Larry Naake, NACo execu-tive director. “When life, property, infrastructure and natural resources are at risk, it’s critical that coun-ties and all public safety agencies have maximum communications flexibility to respond effectively to emergencies and disasters.”

NACo recently joined the Public Safety Consensus Group and the “Big 7” governmental groups — including the National Governors Association (NGA) and U.S. Con-ference of Mayors (USCM) — in calling for the D-Block allocation and pledged to work with the Con-gress and the administration to see the legislation passed.

The Broadband for First Re-sponders Act (H.R. 5081) has been referred to the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

By CharliE Ban

STAFF WRITER

Arizona’s new law to take illegal immigrants off the streets may end up turning border areas into ghost towns.

Santa Cruz County Super-visor Manny Ruiz is worried that Arizona’s new statewide immigration law will intimidate the 80-percent Hispanic popula-tion to stay home and out of restaurants and stores, for fear of being stopped to confirm their citizenship. The law makes it a crime to be an illegal immigrant in Arizona or to not carry im-migration documents, which

authorities could request at any point without impetus.

“Will people be afraid to go out to dinner because they have to have their papers with them?” he said. “That would add another bruise to our already-hurting economy. It’s another unintended consequence to the bill.”

Gov. Jan Brewer (R) gave local police departments the power and responsibility to investigate and prosecute illegal immigrants when she signed Senate Bill 1070 — the Support Our Law Enforcement and Safe Neighborhoods Act— in April. The law also gives citizens the right to sue their local govern-ments if they feel the law is not

See ARIZONA page 3

being enforced. It also shifts the burden of enforcing immigra-tion laws to the city and county governments, making local police and sheriff ’s deputies de facto im-migration officers.

Elected officials, including most sheriffs, in the state’s Mexican border counties insist the peripheral effects of the law will decimate their budgets.

“Enforcing this law on the county level will add costs in so many ways,” Ruiz said. “Counties will have to pay for jailing, legal services and medical care for pris-oners beyond what we already pay when we arrest illegal immigrants for other crimes.”

“The state government accuses the federal government of shirking its responsibilities for immigration enforcement, “but then the state turns around and passes the buck onto counties.”

Though the law will face various legal challenges, counties are pre-paring to act as though it will take By JaCquElinE ByErs

DIRECTOR OF RESEARCH

The U.S. Supreme Court recently heard oral argument in the City of Ontario v. Quon case. When decided, this case will impact all government employers — and, in all likelihood, influence policies for any employer, public or private, who provides telecommunication devices and computers to its employees.

It will also be the first real attempt to address how the Fourth Amend-ment and its guarantee of privacy apply to new technology.

The case will determine whether employees have an expectation of privacy when using employer-provided electronic devices. The facts of the case are fairly simple and concern an activity that is also quite common. The city of Ontario, Calif. issued new pagers to its SWAT team police officers, including the plaintiff in the case. At the same time, the officers were told that each device had a limited number of characters each month that were paid for by the city. If any of the of-ficers exceeded the limit authorized by the city they were expected to pay for the cost of the overage.

Sometime later, the police chief, in an effort to determine how much business usage was being made of the pagers, requested transcripts of the messages from the provider. In the process of reviewing these mes-sages, the chief found that Officer Quon, had transmitted 450 mes-sages in one month, of which only

57 were business related. The other messages, many of them sexually explicit, were to his wife, girlfriend and another officer.

The police officer, the wife, the girlfriend and the other officer all sued once they found out that the messages had been read, claiming their privacy had been invaded. They based this allegation on the fact that the officer had been informed that the pager could be used for personal messages leading them to their expectation of privacy. The city’s policy, as told to all employ-ees, is that it “reserves the right to monitor and log all network activity including e-mail and Internet use, with or without notice.”

The judges hearing the case in the 9th Circuit were deeply divided, but ultimately they upheld the California appeals court ruling that the police officer had a right to privacy, unless there was a suspicion of wrongdoing. A lengthy dissent called the ruling “contrary to the dictates of reason and common sense.”

For its part, the city in its brief has said “the SWAT team sergeant failed to comport himself as a reasonable officer would have, and he and the other plaintiffs embarrassed themselves through their lack of restraint in using a city-owned pager for personal and highly private communications. The city of Ontario should not have to pay for that.”

The decision is expected before June 30, the end of the term.

High Court considers employee privacy rights

• CountyNews May 10, 2010 3

effect in July. Santa Cruz Sheriff Tony Estrada wonders if simply giving illegal immigrants a citation and releasing them on their own recognizance will satisfy the law.

“We won’t have room to detain everyone,” he said. “If we pick up a van load of people, that’s 10 or 12 people we’ll have to detain and prosecute. We can’t afford that or fit that in our facilities.”

Estrada said that in a border county, it’s fairly easy to tell who is an illegal immigrant.

“If you see someone hiking through the desert with a backpack, it’s not likely he’s out for a walk,” he said. “We stop people like that now and we’ll stop them after July, so the law isn’t going to change the basic way we do things.”

Whether U.S. Customs and Border Protection will continue to take charge of operations in the border counties is unclear.

“We’ll be spending money deal-ing with federal issues, and as far as I can tell, we won’t be seeing any funding for this new responsibility,” Estrada said.

Pima County Sheriff Clarence

Dupnik doesn’t think the law will make it through legal challenges. If it does take effect, he plans to continue to work as his department has before — turning over illegal immigrants to the border patrol and not specifically enforcing the law.

“From our point of view, this new bill is totally unnecessary,” he said. “It sets up situations for law-suits because if we decide to take a squad out to round up illegals, it would be fair to assume there will be illegal racial profiling going on.”

He said Pima County detains and turns over illegal immigrants to border patrol more than any other county.

“If we started to implement this bill, we could fill up our jail and put it in crisis mode overnight,” he said. “It will overrun the criminal justice system, all with unfunded mandates.”

Ruiz agrees with Pima County’s Dupnik that the liabilities will complicate the financial situation.

“Insurance will only cover so

many of these lawsuits against the county,” he said. “Eventually we’ll have no choice but to raise taxes to pay for legal work.”

Cochise County Sheriff Larry Dever, however, welcomes the law.

“We’ve been asking for this kind of tool for some time,” he said. “This will help us get to work. We’ve gotten e-mails from depart-ments all around the county saying ‘God bless your governor.’”

Dever said the immediate change for his department would not be significant.

“For us, on the border, it doesn’t make a big difference,” he said. “We have an advantage here that we have border patrol agents who can help us out with immigration. When you get farther north, they don’t have that resource and police officers are on their own.

“If departments in the north and central parts (of Arizona) can start picking people up for immigration violations in the course of their police work, that will eventually relieve some of the pressure on the border areas and they will become less dangerous,” he said.

Aside from the detainment costs, Yuma County Sheriff Ralph

Referendum failure could mean more stress on county jails

Another challenge to Arizona county jail expenses may material-ize after May 18.

Proposition 100 raises the state sales tax 1 cent, to 6.6 percent per dollar, for three years starting June 1. Its failure would mean funding cuts across many state services and a logistical change for the prison system.

If it fails, effective Oct. 1, prisoners with fewer than 12 months left on their sentences will be housed in county jails.

Manny Ruiz, chairman, Santa Cruz County Board of Supervi-sors, said the change could add about $2.2 million in costs for his county’s jail, without figuring in renovations to the building, to house approximately 50 prisoners.

Ogden sees the added responsibility as drawing away resources from protecting the county.

“It takes officers off of the street, patrolling to enforce our laws,” he said.

Ogden said the situation where two illegal immigrants have U.S.-born citizen children will be more unwieldy when both parents have to be arrested in a domestic violence case.

“What are we going to do with the kids?” he asked. “It’s just one of dozens of problems that come out when you reason through this bill and what it will mean for us. Hopefully the powers that be are going to sit down and look at what they’ve got to fix.”

In the meantime, sheriffs like Estrada will try to figure out how to manage these new responsibili-ties on top of patrolling miles of county, in Santa Cruz’s case 1,200 miles of county. They’ll figure out the dynamics of their relationship with federal border patrols and whether they have to train deputies in immigration law.

“I hope it unconstitutional,” Estrada said. “I can’t see how we’ll manage if it becomes reality.”

Sheriff finds Arizona immigration law ‘totally unnecessary’ARIZONA from page 2


By ChristophEr Johnson

EDITORIAL ASSISTANT

A missing handwritten transcript from a coroner’s inquest, completed after the legendary gunfight at the OK Corral, has been found after sitting in storage for nearly 130 years.

Administrators at the Cochise County, Ariz. courthouse assigned clerks Michelle Garcia and Bon-nie Cook to clean out the old jail storage space in the courthouse that had been collecting dust over the years as a part of the facility’s spring cleaning. While cleaning, the clerks discovered a box tucked in the corner of the room.

“As we sorted files we came across a box with a unique folder marked “Hold: 1881,” Garcia said. “After showing Denise [Lundin] what we had discovered, we knew we had something special.”

Inside the envelope were 36 pages of documents detailing eyewitness and coroner accounts of the legend-

County's spring cleaning uncovers OK Corral papersary gunfight.

The 30-second shootout on Oct. 26, 1881 in Tombstone had Wyatt Earp leading a band that included his two brothers, Virgil and Morgan, along with Doc Holliday. They faced the Clanton and McLaury gang, kill-ing Billy Clanton, Frank McLaury and Tom McLaury. Earp and his allies were charged with murder, but a judge ruled the killings were justified.

The shootout has since been chronicled and embellished in numerous books and movies such as Tombstone and Gunfight at the OK Corral, becoming part of the legend and lore of Tombstone.

“The files are in really good shape for their age,” said Denise Lundin, clerk of Cochise County Superior Court. “I credit Bonnie and Michelle for going through these records thoroughly.”

The historical documents were kept in a manila envelope that caused the papers to yellow from the acids. Also because of folding, some parts

Under the two-step earned le-galization process, undocumented immigrants would first need to register, admit wrong-doing, and pay fees and back taxes. They would receive a new status called Lawful Prospective Immigrant (LPI), which would allow them to work and to travel outside the United States. They would be eligible to apply for Lawful Permanent Resident (LPR) status after eight years.

The idea behind the waiting pe-riod is to clear the visa backlogs first. In order to change to LPR status after eight years, prospective citizens must also meet criteria regarding basic citizenship skills, English language skills, updated background checks, payment of taxes, fees and other penalties, and register for the Selec-tive Service if required.

The outline doesn’t mention a grant program for state and local governments to pay for health and education costs related to guest worker or legalization programs, although Senate staff has indicated to NACo that this provision will be included in the bill. Previous Senate immigration bills contained a guar-anteed funding stream paid for by the fees collected under the legislation.

Under current law, legal immi-grants must wait five years before they are eligible for means-tested programs such as Medicaid, with the exception of children and pregnant women. Undocumented

immigrants are only eligible for emergency services under Medic-aid. The proposal is silent on this issue. It is possible that many who receive the new LPI status would continue to be ineligible for Med-icaid for 13 years.

The proposal would reform the high-skilled immigration system by making green cards immediately available to foreign students with advanced degrees from American universities in science, technology, engineering or mathematics, and who have employment offers in their field.

The proposal would also create a new guest worker program for non-seasonal, non-agricultural workers which would include a three-year visa (known as H-2C) that could be extended to six years. These workers could change their status to LPR. The proposal doesn’t mention how many H-2C visas would be issued annually, but it does say that the cap will be adjusted each year based on unemployment and economic indicators.

Regarding agricultural workers, the proposal would incorporate the Agricultural Job Opportunities, Benefits and Security Act (AgJobs) a long-standing bipartisan bill.

The outline also includes a new employer verification process and a new biometric Social Security card. The Social Security Administration would be required to begin issuing the cards 18 months after enactment of the law. The card is intended to be used only to verify employment eligibility.

The proposal would also set up a new electronic verification system, known as the Biometric, Enroll-ment, Locally-stored Information and Electronic Verification of Em-ployment (BELIEVE) System. The federal government would have to implement the system within three years, and federal contractors would have to do so within four years. The system is estimated to take six years to implement nationwide.

The DREAM Act, which re-instates state authority to provide in-state tuition to undocumented students, would also be part of the bill. The DREAM Act would apply to students who have been in the country prior to their 16th year of age, have been in the country for at least five consecutive years, have graduated from high school or have a high school equivalency diploma, have been accepted to an institution of higher education, are not subject to an order of deportation, and are of good moral character.

NACo’s Board of Directors

passed two resolutions at the Legislative Conference calling on Congress and the president to enact comprehensive immigration reform this year and supporting the DREAM Act.

NACo’s comprehensive immi-gration reform resolution calls for legislation that:

• provides for uniform enforce-ment of all existing laws

• secures the nation’s borders• includes a national strategy for

coordination among federal, state, local and tribal authorities

• establishes a sensible and orderly guest worker program for legal immigrants

• imposes no unfunded man-

The U.S. Department of Transportation has announced that it is soliciting applications for the TIGER II Grant program, a $600 million competitive grant program for surface transportation proj-ects. Pre-applications are required and are due by July 16. Final applications are due by Aug. 23. Counties, MPOs, transit agencies, tribal governments, cities and states are eligible for highway, bridge, transit, rail, port and intermodal project grants.

Grant awards will be in the $10 million to $200 million range and will require a 20 percent match. There is $140 million reserved for rural areas where 100 percent of project costs are eligible and project awards can be as low as $1 million. These grants are likely to be very competitive: The TIGER I program received 1,400 ap-plications totaling $60 billion for $1.5 billion in funds.

For more information, contact: Bob Fogel, 202.942.4217 or [email protected].

of the documents are held together by old-fashioned Scotch tape, which deteriorated some of the ink where it wasn’t removed.

Last touched in 1976, thermofax copies were made of the files during the 1960s. Those copies are difficult to read and margin notes have faded.

Within the next three months, the OK Corral files will be digitized and posted on the Arizona Memory Project website (http://azmemory.lib.az.us) and will be available for view-ing any time, while the yellowed and crackling originals are preserved.

With a discovery this important, the Arizona State Archives in Phoenix will house the original, restored files next to the Arizona State Constitution.

“We are all very happy to be a part of such a historical moment,” Cook added. “This will not only be significant for the county of Cochise but for the world to see true accounts of what happened that day in Octo-ber 1881.”

Immigration bill would introduce new guest worker programIMMIGRATION from page 1 dates on state and local governments

• includes no mandates on counties to enforce immigration laws, and

• provides a sustainable funding stream to counties for immigrant health care funded by fees levied on legalized immigrants.

The outcome of the proposal is uncertain. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) did not say when he planned to take the bill to the floor, indicating that he doesn’t want to bring a bill to the floor without bipartisan backing. Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) has been meeting with several Republican Senators in the hopes of obtaining bipartisan cosponsors.

TIGER II Transportation Grants Funding Announced

SpeedRead »»»

» Stepped up border enforcement called for

» Path to legalization proposed

» Impact aid would be provided for border counties

» States, localities could not enact immigration restrictions

Photo courtesy of Cochise County, Ariz.

Arizona state librarian GladysAnn Wells shows off the original eyewitness account of the gunfight at the OK Corral. The documents from 1881 were recently discovered in a storage closet in the Cochise County Courthouse.


By daria daniEl ASSOCIATE LEGISLATIVE DIRECTOR

Brookings County, S.D. Com-missioner Don Larson spoke on April 30 about rural community benefits from the Livable Com-munities Act, S. 1619, introduced by Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee Chair-man Chris Dodd (D-Conn.).

Speakers including Larson, briefed Senate congressional staff about the benefits of the legislation for rural and smaller communities. Larson chairs NACo’s Agriculture and Rural Affairs Steering Commit-tee and is a member of the NACo Green Government Advisory Board and Rural Action Caucus. During his remarks, he mentioned how funding for sustainable de-velopment is especially important to rural counties in these tough economic times.

The Livable Communities Act provides resources via incentive grants to local communities of all sizes to create more sustain-able futures by developing and implementing locally designed, comprehensive regional plans that incorporate transportation, hous-ing, economic development and environmental needs. The bill also makes the federal government a better partner to local communities through technical assistance and the removal of federal barriers to sustainable development.

Larson discussed a regional partnership his county created with South Dakota State Universi-ty for an Innovation Campus, the first research park developed in the state of South Dakota. The in-novation campus provides a place for people to combine university, business, industry and govern-ment expertise in an environment promoting critical thinking and new ideas. The regional partners include the county and city of Brookings, Brookings Economic Development Corporation, South Dakota State University and a state legislature representative.

The innovation campus com-bines retail and support services, walking, jogging bike trails and open green spaces. To get started, Brookings County provided upfront money, but the project could not have been possible without federal funding support. Other rural communities, Larson said, may want to start planning and implementing sustainable development projects, but lack the resources to do so.

The Livable Communities Act provides such seed money for planning and funds for implemen-

NACo committee chair testifies on Livable Communities Acttation of sustainable development projects.

The U.S. Department of Hous-ing and Urban Development has also taken steps to support com-munities in efforts for sustainable development. The FY10 federal

budget included $150 million for the Sustainable Communities Initiative — that includes a partner-ship between, HUD, Transporta-tion and EPA. Solicitation for up to $100 million in planning grants will be released by HUD this month.

A companion bill, H.R. 4630 was introduced in the House by Rep. Ed Perlmutter (D-Colo.) Dodd plans to hold a hearing and mark-up on the legislation before the May congressional recess.

The Livable Communities Act

has the support of more than 200 national and local organizations, including NACo.

(For more information, contact Daria Daniel at 202.942.4212, [email protected].)


By JiM philipps

MEDIA RELATIONS MANAGER

By all accounts, expanding the national celebration of county gov-ernment to a full month this year was a smashing success. Counties across the country showed enthusiasm, pride and creativity in showcasing their programs and services during April’s National County Govern-ment Month (NCGM).

“I am delighted so many coun-ties showed their pride in county government and helped make this year’s ‘Healthy Counties’ celebra-tion of National County Govern-ment Month the most successful ever,” said NACo President Valerie Brown. “I offer my special praise and appreciation to those individu-als in counties small, medium and large who coordinated the events and got others involved.”

Formerly National County Government Week, the designation was expanded to a full month for the first time this year to offer counties more opportunities to participate. Counties were not expected to hold public awareness activities throughout the month, but were encouraged to schedule activities any time during the month. Many counties, however, filled their entire April calendars with tours of county facilities, health fairs, children’s contests, family-friendly events, addresses to community groups and visits to schools — all in the name of effective county government.

This year’s theme was “Healthy Counties.” Many counties featured NCGM events under this theme by promoting their essential health care services, healthy living and recreation programs, and other county services.

Brown said the theme was especially fitting this year, as the long-awaited national reform of health care was passed by Congress and signed into law by President Obama. She said NACo has created a health law implementation team to help counties better understand how the new law and coming federal regulations will affect counties in the months and years ahead.

While health reform implemen-

tation is a work in progress, NCGM 2010 is complete and many counties celebrated NCGM in innovative ways:

Douglas County, Neb. released a county “Fact of the Day” each day all month long. For example: “Did you know that the Douglas County Health Department inspects more than 5,000 food and drink establish-ments, schools, childcare facilities and manufacturing plants annually to prevent food poisoning?” Well, now we all know.

In Davis County, Utah, different aspects of Healthy Counties were highlighted during the County Commission’s weekly meetings: Week 1 highlighted “Healthy Em-ployees” by focusing on programs aimed at assisting employees to stay healthy; Week 2 dealt with “Healthy People” by reviewing the programs and services offered by the health department for babies, families and seniors; Week 3 featured “Healthy Environment” programs; and Week 4 highlighted “Healthy First Response” to showcase the proven track record of the Sheriff ’s Office’s program of all deputy sheriffs being dual-qualified in both law enforce-ment and paramedic response.

The California State Associa-tion of Counties (CSAC) held a webinar with 26 media representa-tives regarding county government, its role in California and impact of the current economy. CSAC conducted a week-long campaign on its blog, The County Voice, about the importance of county services in everyday life (“Counties Keep It Civilized”). The state association addressed 12 meetings of county Boards of Supervisors and visited 32 counties since mid-March dis-cussing NACo, NCGM and other issues.

“By the middle of May, CSAC staff will have visited all counties in California and will have made presentations to their boards,” said CSAC Executive Director Paul McIntosh.

Calumet County, Wis. kicked off a new county employee wellness program, “Calumet County’s Big-gest Loser Challenge,” a six-week weight loss challenge. Prizes were

awarded mid-program and will be awarded at the end of the program (May 27) to the team with the highest percentage of weight loss or most minutes exercised. About one-third of the county’s employees are participating.

Cochise County, Ariz. coor-dinated special events throughout the month promoting wellness and healthy lifestyles. Events included free blood pressure clinics, a middle school Jog-A-Thon and the “April Pool’s Day” water and swimming pool safety lesson from the fire department.

The Mercer County, Pa. Board of Commissioners held a series of regularly scheduled public meetings at local high schools during school hours, providing real-life civics les-son for students.

DeKalb County, Ga. CEO Burrell Ellis and Heart of DeKalb Youth Fellows participated in youth empowerment sessions. Students in

Counties show creative side during National County Government Month

NATIONAL COUNTYGOVERNMENT MONTH 2010

the Heart of DeKalb program, an academic enrichment partnership between the county and school sys-tem, explored the challenges faced by today’s youth and participated in discussions that focus on body image, self-esteem and education development.

Peoria County, Ill. and the local humane society partnered to feature a “Pet of the Day” to raise awareness about adoptable animals through the animal shelter.

Henderson County, N.C. spon-sored a “Shadow a County Official of the Day” program to allow students to work alongside com-missioners and department heads a K9 Good Manners Challenge and public tours of the county courthouse and health department.

Banks County, Ga. promoted basic techniques for a healthy lifestyle throughout NCGM and held a featured event on April 17 — “Health and Public Safety

Awareness Celebration” — under the theme, “Striding for a Better Banks.”

Resolutions declaring April as NCGM were passed by many counties, including the:

• Rapids Parish, La. Police Jury • Council of the City and

County of Denver • Monterey County, Calif.

Board of Supervisors • Bergen County, N.J. Board of

Chosen Freeholders • Newaygo County, Mich.

Board of Commissioners • Oceana County, Mich. Board

of Commissioners and • Curry County, N.M. Board

of Commissioners. NACo’s thanks all counties for

their participation in NCGM, a national public awareness campaign spearheaded each year by NACo’s Public Affairs Department. Inqui-ries may be sent to Jim Philipps at [email protected].

Photo by Mitch Talley

Whitfield County, Ga. Commission Chairman Mike Babb and Kristi Elrod, deputy chief appraiser, Board of Assessors (r), enjoy a laugh with Valley Point student Tasha Bridges. Babb and Elrod were among 10 county officials who talked about their jobs and answered questions from students and teachers at Valley Point and Westside middle schools as part of Whitfield’s celebration of National County Government Month during April.


� Aiken County, S.C. � Association County Commissioners of Georgia

� Association of Indiana Counties � Athens County, Ohio � Atlantic County, N.J. � Banks County, Ga. � Baxter County, Ark. � Bayfield County, Wis. � Bee County, Texas � Bell County, Texas � Bergen County, N.J. � Cache County, Utah � Calaveras Couty, Calif. � Caldwell County, Texas � California State Association of Counties � Calumet County, Wis. � Cape May County, N.J. � Carroll County, Iowa � Carroll County, Md. � Catawba County, N.C. � Chambers County, Ala. � Charles County, Md. � Chatham County, Ga. � Clarion County, Pa. � Cleveland County, N.C. � Cochise County, Ariz. � Colorado County, Texas � Cooke County, Texas � Council of the City and County of Denver � Cumberalnd County, N.J. � Cumberland County, N.C. � Curry County, N.M.

� Davis County, Utah � Dawson County, Ga. � DeKalb County, Ga. � Dickinson County, Kan. � Douglas County, Neb. � Ector County, Texas � Escambia County, Ala. � Fannin County, Texas � Franklin County, Ala. � Gloucester County, Va. � Hamilton County, Tenn. � Henderson County, N.C. � Henry County, Ill. � Houston County, Texas � Humboldt County, Calif. � Indiana County, Pa. � Iredell County, N.C. � Island County, Wash. � Kerr County, Texas � La Plata County, Colo. � Lake County, Ill. � LaRue County, Ky. � Lauderdale County, Tenn. � Linn County, Iowa � Lowndes County, Miss. �Macomb County, Mich. �Madison County, Texas �Manistee County, Mich. �Marshall County, Ala. �Marshall County, S.D. �Mercer County, Pa. �Monterey County, Calif. �Muskegon County, Mich.

� New Hanover County, N.C. � New York State Association of Counties � Newaygo County, Mich. � Nolan County, Texas � Oceana County, Mich. � Parish Police Jury, Rapides Parish, La. � Peoria County, Ill. � Pinal County, Ariz. � Prince George County, Va. � Prowers County, Colo. � Renville County, N.D. � Rock County, Wis. � Ross County, Ohio � Salano County, Calif. � Salem County, N.J. � Saline County, Kan. � San Diego County, Calif. � Smith County, Texas � Somerset County, N.J. � Sonoma County, Calif. � Spotsylvania County, Pa. � Tarrant County, Texas � Texas Association of Counties � Tom Green County, Texas �Warren County, N.C. �Washington County, Texas �Wheeler County, Ore. �Whitfield County, Ga. �Will County, Ill. � Yadkin County, N.C. � Yolo County, Calif.

type of fuel it burns) and whether it is a new or existing boiler.

For example, a new coal-fired unit would be required to meet emission limits for mercury, PM and CO, while new biomass and oil-fired units would need to meet limits for PM and CO.

For existing units, boiler size — large or small — comes into play. A large boiler is defined as a boiler that has a heat input capacity equal to or greater than 10 million British thermal units per hour. A small boiler has a heat input capacity of less than 10 million Btu per hour.

Existing large boilers would be required to conduct yearly energy audits. Additionally, depending on the type of fuel burned, there would

be associated emission limits.Existing small boilers, on the

other hand, would not be required to meet emission limits. Instead, the small boilers would be subject to a boiler tune-up work standard every two years.

The EPA estimates that this rule will significantly improve both air quality and decrease health costs associated with air pollution.

For more information about this proposed rule, go to: www.epa.gov/airquality/combustion.

Proposed Solid Waste Incinerator Rule

Concurrent with the boiler rule, the EPA is also proposing new emission standards for incinerators, including a definitional change for types of non-hazardous materials

used in these incinerators. This will allow a distinction between types of materials allowed to be used in a boiler compared to a solid waste incinerator. There will also be a 45-day comment period for this rule.

According to the EPA, the proposal discusses the classification for a variety of materials, including: scrap tires (both whole and shred-ded), used oil (both on-spec and off-spec), coal refuse, pulp and paper sludge, resinated wood residuals, sewage sludge, cement kiln dust (CKD), coal combustion residuals (CCR) and foundry sand.

This rule could have implications for counties that use incinerators for disposal of the above materials.

For more information, down-load the document at www.epa.gov/wastes/nonhaz/pdfs/pre-pub-rule.pdf.

New emission standards for incinerators also in the worksBOILERS from page 1 Proposed Coal Ash Rules

EPA proposed the first-ever national rules to ensure the safe disposal and management of coal ash from coal-fired power plants May 4. Coal ash, also known as coal combustion residuals, is the byproduct of combustion at power plants. It contains various elements such as mercury and arsenic that cause contamination and serious health problems.

The question, as posed by this proposal, is how should the EPA regulate coal ash? The proposals range from protective controls over impoundment areas to creating federally enforceable requirements.

At this point, the EPA plans to leave the Bevill exemption in place. The Bevill exemption refers to beneficial uses of coal combus-

tion byproducts such as recycling the byproducts for other uses, rather than disposing the byprod-ucts into a landfill. However, the EPA is clarifying this determina-tion and seeking comment on potential refinements for certain beneficial uses.

This is important for local governments that use coal ash as a major component in road bed construction projects. Byproducts are also heavily used in cement, concrete, brick, roofing materials, agriculture applications, paints, plastics, and snow and ice control.

The public comment period is 90 days from the date the rule is published in the Fed-eral Register. More information about the proposed regulation: www.epa.gov/coalashrule.

NATIONAL COUNTYGOVERNMENT MONTH 2010

Participating Counties ...


Photo courtesy of King County, Wash.

The zero emission Nissan Leaf will be available starting December 2010 in parts of King County, Wash.

By ChristophEr Johnson

EDITORIAL ASSISTANT

As the automotive industry gets ready to hit the market with new electric vehicles, King County, Wash. is planning ahead with the installation of up to 200 charging stations at transit park-and-rides and vanpool lots in the next three years.

In a move aimed at improving regional air quality and reducing greenhouse-gas emissions, the King County Council will set up a three-year pilot program, mostly funded through federal grants, that allows drivers to plug in before get-ting on the bus or vanpool. Charg-ing stations installed in county parking lots and car pools would be open to the public when the county vehicles aren’t using them.

“Electric-powered vehicles can help our region cut global greenhouse-gas emissions while keeping our local skies clean and healthy,” King County Executive Dow Constantine said. “I am proud that King County is leading

The future is now in King County, Wash.this year, King County has been looking to new electric-vehicle technology as a key to energy-efficient transportation and job creation for the coming decade.

Last summer, the council adopted a motion calling on the county executive to establish policies for the development and operation of electric vehicle charg-ing stations located on property owned or leased by the county.

In addition to establishing program policies, the motion defined rules for recovering the costs of operating the program through user fees. Currently, King County pays for electricity at existing stations but the amount equals pennies per day. The charg-ing stations will charge a fee to privately owned vehicles using county-owned charging stations at a rate that will recover 100 percent of the operating costs.

King County has partnered with Nissan USA and eTec, a pri-vate manufacturer of charging sta-tions, to prepare the region for the deployment of the next generation

of electric vehicles. Nissan plans to introduce approximately 1,000 of its new Leaf electric vehicles in the region later this year.

King County’s charging sta-tions will be provided by eTec, which will be investing approxi-mately $20 million in the region to install charging stations that will serve the new electric vehicles.

Chevrolet and Ford also have plans to release electric vehicles over the next few years.

The county will receive more than $1 million in grant funds from various sources for installing charging stations. These funds include:

• $700,000 from a federal En-ergy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant (EECBG)

• a King County-targeted portion of a $700,000 grant to its region through the Clean Cities Association, and

• a portion of a $20 million grant awarded to eTec to provide a limited number of free charg-ing stations to public and private purchasers of a Nissan Leaf.

something he wanted to explore, but it was a complicated issue,” said Beverly Uipi, Corroon’s community relations specialist. “At the time, Salt Lake City was the only city within the county that had any legislation about keeping chickens, and in a way a lot of the other cities were looking to see what we would do.”

Salt Lake County’s ordinance change process involved getting three departments on board — health, planning and animal ser-vices. All 12 community councils within the county also had to ratify the changes. Several residents ob-jected to the changes, pointing out the threat of mouse and rat infesta-tions that comes with chicken waste. Indeed, the Health Department was the strictest of the three departments for the proposed ordinance change to pass muster.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) warn against several public health threats associ-ated with chickens in residential areas. Both chickens and their eggs can carry salmonella; there is a slight chance of flocks carrying avian flu; and some chicken feed contains an antimicrobial drug that

contains arsenic. Durham County, N.C. Health

Director Gayle Harris referred the city of Durham to these CDC warnings when the city considered its fowl ordinance. Its urban neigh-bor, Raleigh, allowed chickens, so a groundswell of support for similar legislation formed in Durham.

“The chances of the chickens carrying avian flu are very slim,” she said. “It was not quite ap-propriate for anyone to make the decision (whether to allow chickens in residential areas) a public health

County policies address growing backyard chicken popularityBy CharliE Ban

STAFF WRITER

Most people protesting county policies bring issue briefs and notes when they meet with elected of-ficials. When meeting with Mayor Peter Corroon, Marinda Coleman brought eggs.

The eggs represented her hopes for sustainable living in Salt Lake County, Utah. They also repre-sented the reason she had been cited — keeping chickens in a residential zone. Her meeting with Corroon started a two-year process which will conclude in May when an ordinance change will allow residents in unincorporated parts of Salt Lake County to keep chick-ens in their yards. Salt Lake City residents already had that luxury, as do many cities, compared to their surrounding counties.

Chickens are typically regarded in city and county codes as “non-pet animals,” and are usually forbidden in non-agricultural zones, so ordi-nance changes are necessary to al-low residential chicken cultivation.

“Mayor Corroon is a champion for sustainable living, so it was

the way toward a cleaner energy future.”

New technology is making electric vehicles — battery electric (BEVs) and plug-in hybrid electric

vehicles (PHEVs) — more eco-nomical to own. With automotive manufacturers set to launch the first mass-produced, reasonably priced, plug-in electric vehicle

issue, so we adopted an advisory role — mainly educating parents to have children wash their hands thoroughly to avoid spreading salmonella.”

Counties and municipalities na-tionwide have varying individual restrictions on keeping chickens. The DeKalb County, Ga. code stipulates two acres or more to keep chickens. Columbia, Mo. revised its city code in Febru-ary, allowing up to six hens per tract of land. Ann Arbor, Mich. requires applicants to have the

signed consent of their neighbors when submitting their applica-tions. Placer County, Calif. allows three chickens on residential properties in unincorporated areas. Sacramento County, Calif. requires single-family homes to pay $4,500 per address to apply for non-guaranteed conditional use permits, and duplexes are not eligible for chicken residence.

Ingham County, Mich. passed an ordinance in October 2009 al-lowing residents to keep five chick-ens, and Animal Control Director Jamie McAloon Lampman said the proposal had no opposition, though one caller asked if he could slaughter chickens for religious purposes. He cannot.

Before Salt Lake County’s change passed, it was pared down to meet residents’ needs. Some of its restrictions on how much coop fencing and space was required to keep chickens could have possibly made the enterprise much more costly.

“The community felt a lot more comfortable once the County Council lifted some of the restric-tions, like fence height and the width of the fencing,” Uipi said. “Those who wanted chickens thought we were being more restric-tive than some cities, so we looked into some of the differences and found they were pretty negligible.”

Keep up with NACo online ...

www.naco.org

Photo courtesy of Salt Lake County, Utah

As chicken coops, like the one pictured above, become more popular within communities practicing sustainable living, counties find themselves revisiting policies and ordinances.


The National Association of County Engineers (NACE) 2010 Annual Management and Techni-cal Conference saw the installation of Phillip M. Demery, P.E., public works director, Sonoma County, Calif. as its president. Highlights of the Opening ceremonies for the con-ference, held in Fort Worth, Texas April 25–29, included remarks from NACo President Valerie Brown, and NACo President-elect Glen Whit-ley, county judge, Tarrant County, Texas, the host county.

Speakers at the General Legisla-tive Session included: Gregory G. Nadeau, deputy administrator, Federal Highway Administration;

Sonoma County, Calif. public works director installed as NACE president

John Horsley, executive director, American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials; Bill Meadows, Texas Transportation Commissioner, and Bob Fogel, senior legislative director, NACo.

New NACE OfficersDemery has been a county public

works director in California for 16 years. He had served as president of the County Engineers Association of California (CEAC); been a mem-ber of NACE since 1994 and served as the NACE Western Region vice president, secretary-treasurer and president-elect. He is a graduate of

Colorado State University, receiving his B.S. and M.S. degrees in civil engineering/hydraulics.

Other officers elected or in-stalled included Mark A. Craft, P.E., engineer-manager, Gratiot County, Mich. Road Commission as president-elect; Richie Beyer, P.E., county engineer, Elmore County, Ala. As secretary-treasurer; Ramon D. Gavarrete, P.E., county engineer, Highlands County, Fla. as Southeast Region vice president; Keith D. Berndt, P.E., county engi-neer, Cass County, N.D. as North Central Region vice president; Jon F. Rice, P.E., managing director, Kent County, Mich. Road Commission as Northeast Region vice president; Dale D. Wegner, Jr., P.E., county engineer, Coconino County, Ariz. as Western Region vicep resident and Tom Stoner, P.E., county engineer, Harrison County, Iowa as South Central Region vice president.

AwardsBrian P. Keierleber, P.E., county

engineer, Buchanan County, Iowa was selected as Rural County En-gineer of the Year and Donald J. Theisen, P.E. public works director, Washington County, Minn. was selected Urban County Engineer of the Year.

Virgil Hawkins, P.E. assistant county engineer, Wright County, Minn. was selected the Project/Program Manager of the Year.

The National Association of County Engineers, a NACo af-filiate, serves approximately 1,900 members in 50 states and Canada. For more information on NACE, go to www.countyengineers.org.

establishes paternity for approxi-mately 1,000 children annually. The pilot will randomly assign 300 parents to participate in the program each year for three years.

County officials say research shows that children born to unmar-ried parents are at greater risk for poverty and a wide range of adverse health, behavioral and educational outcomes — which can lead to dependence upon county safety net programs.

“As is true of so much of what the county does, prevention is al-ways the least expensive treatment option,” Callison said.

Project Has a ‘Research Component’

Peterson describes Co-Parent Court as a “pilot project with a re-search component.” The University of Minnesota, which developed the co-parenting curriculum, will evalu-ate the program against a control group at the end of the pilot.

“The research department of the University of Minnesota [will conduct] a fairly extensive evaluation to see what matters,” Peterson said — “what differences there turn out to be between the intervention group and the control group.”

Mary Marczak is director of research and evaluation for the University of Minnesota’s Exten-sion Center for Family Develop-ment. “In some ways it will benefit us by adding to our field in terms of the knowledge base of what works in this kind of intervention,” she said. One research focus will be

Co-Parent Court focuses on unwed parentsBy CharlEs taylor

SENIOR STAFF WRITER

Judge Bruce Peterson has seen hundreds of young, unwed fathers pass through his Hennepin County, Minn. courtroom. The goal is often the same: establish paternity so the state can collect child support to offset welfare payments to the children’s mothers.

“We watched this for a while and decided that we really were doing these families a disservice by conveying the impression that all we were interested in from the father was money,” Peterson said.

To change the impression of father-as-meal-ticket, Peterson has been instrumental in creating the county’s first Co-Parent Court, a

three-year pilot program recently approved by the Hennepin County Board of Commissioners.

Among its goals is to improve outcomes for children by helping their unmarried parents work to-gether to raise their children.

“When two parents exist, it only makes sense to recognize that they both play a role in raising healthy children,” Commissioner Jan Callison said. “The purpose of Co-Parent Court is to give each parent the skills — and the tools to interact positively with each other — so that their children succeed.”

The Co-Parent Court, funded by foundation and federal grants, has a budget of $450,000 to $500,000 annually, including $271,000 a year for three years from the federal Of-

fice of Child Support Enforcement. Its components include co-parent education classes, individualized screening and assessment, social services tailored to the needs of children and their parents, and conflict-resolution and legal ser-vices. The county serves as the program’s fiscal agent.

Peterson says the co-parent classes — six sessions of two hours each — are the “core” of the program. Upon their conclusion, the parents will develop a written parenting plan for their child which Peterson must approve when they return to court.

Each year, more than 5,000 children — about one-third of births in Hennepin County — are born to unmarried parents, and the county

whether the program is replicable in other communities or settings.

‘Divorce model’ is Outdated

With the Co-Parent Court, Peterson said he was seeking a new approach because the services of family courts are “by and large designed around the divorce model” — two people who know each other well but have a conflict which needs to be resolved.

“With unmarried parents, often it’s the opposite: They don’t have much history; they may not know each other all that well. They’re sort of building families” — albeit unconventionally — “rather than taking them apart.” Therefore, they need a different kind of help.

It’s that “family-building” com-ponent that makes unwed parents good candidates for this type of intervention, according to Deborah Huskins, area director, Hennepin County Human Services and Public Health Department. Despite the parents’ unmarried status, starting a family can be a time of great excitement and emotion for them.

“When the child is an infant, the data shows that’s the time when people are the most interested in … ‘doing the best we can for this new young life that we’re responsible for,’” she said. So, they may be more motivated to participate in a program like the Co-Parent Court.

(For more information about Hen-nepin County’s Co-Parent Court, contact Deborah Huskins at [email protected].)

Hennepin County’s Co-Parent Court will address the issues faced by unmarried parents with the following programs and services:

Individualized assessment and attention. “Family court facilita-tors” will meet with parents who are having paternity established, administer relevant screening tools that will help identify needs (including housing, jobs, child care, chemical dependency treatment and domestic violence assistance), recommend appropriate referrals and programs to the judicial officer, and provide progress reports.

Social services tailored to the needs of parents and children. Community agency partners will work closely with the court to provide case management and services tailored to clients referred from Co-Parent Court. This could include assistance in relation-ship development, anger management, and basic parenting and child development.

Co-Parent Education. Unmarried parents who are establish-ing the paternity of a child will be required to attend a co-parent education program designed specifically for single parents and fragile families.

Conflict Resolution. Individualized mediation services will help high-conflict parents to develop appropriate agreements regarding parenting of their child.

Co-Parent Court to Apply a Problem-solving Model

Photo courtesy of Tony Giancola

After installation ceremonies, NACE and NACo officials pose for an official portrait. Pictured here are (l-r): Chris E. Bauserman, new NACE president and county engineer, Delaware County Ohio; NACo President-elect Glen Whitley; NACo President Valerie Brown; Tarrant County, Texas Commis-sioner Roy C. Brooks; and Ted L. Kantor, president, Texas Association of County Engineers and Road Administrators, county engineer, Limestone County, Texas.


NACo Webinars

For more information and to register for any of these webinars, visit www.naco.org/webinars

NACo brings these FREE webinars to your office in MAY ... May 11: NACo’s 2010 Annual Conference and Exposition: Plan Now to

Attend

May 11: Health Care and the Rural Economy: How Rural Health Works Can Benefit Your County

May 13: Promoting Green County Economic Development and Job Growth

May 14: How Will the New Health Reform Law Affect Counties?

May 18: Interoperability Series — Model Practices Engaged by Counties and Cities for Interoperable Communications

May 20: Ready-Set-Go Protects Lives and Property from Wildfire

May 25: Interoperability Series — Grants and Funding for Interoperable Communications

May 27: Investing in County Greenways to Revitalize Local Communities

Leadership • Health • WildfireInteroperability • Green Counties

Community Development


Word Search

20 Richest U.S. Counties (Listed alphabetically)

Source: Forbes, March 2010 • Created by Christopher Johnson

ARLINGTON (Va.)CALVERT (Md.)CHARLES (Md.) DOUGLAS (Colo.)FAIRFAX (Va.)FORSYTH (Ga.)GOOCHLAND (Va.)

HOWARD (Md.)HUNTERDON (N.J.)LOUDOUN (Va.)MARIN (Calif.)MONTGOMERY (Md.)MORRIS (N.J.)NASSAU (N.Y.)

PRINCE WILLIAM (Va.)PUTNAM (N.Y.)SANTA CLARA (Calif.)SOMERSET (N.J.)STAFFORD (Va.)WILLIAMSON (Tenn.)

S O M R Y O N S T N O W P L W I H C N CN W M M X S N L I M S K D L X L R F O AU O Q T A H A H O L G X D H X Q B W D LN L T C P R I N C E W I L L I A M I R VO U W G E I T M T L W I Q Y T D S L E EM V O A N G M D N A L H C O O G E L T RI O W D O I R S W V C K N U W Z L I N TQ U R M U O L H D H T L G S H T R A U RH X E R F O K R R T J L A L M X A M H HS R S F I B L O A D A E W R Y M H S X MY M A L V S I A T S J S B A A M C O A SE T T Q P S Q N A S S A U R L B A N A TS D F X A F R I A F G K I W K X T H G CM M E O N S I D B B W N D O J U V O Y MV Z F Q R P B W E W X P U B P R R W I BU E P G O S D F F L F Z C L N K Y A R RM L K D O Y Y Y V W M I V S M S Q R P HL J W D B K I T J U D M Y D E M B D U NA E S G P D P I H G S N R A H T N C R AW D N R L T Q Q S O M E R S E T V F U A

NACo election credentials forms to be mailed May 17

WON Golf Tournament slated for July 12 in Washoe County, Nev.

All you duffers out there: take a shot at the greens during the Women of NACo (WON) Leadership Network’s Golf Tournament held right before NACo’s Annual Conference in Washoe County, Nev.

The tournament, at the Wildcreek Golf Course in Sparks, Nev., is scheduled for Thursday, July 15. It kicks off at noon with a boxed lunch and a Shotgun Start at 1 p.m.

For additional information, sponsorship opportunities and to register contact Julia W. Gouge, WON president, 410.386.2043 or [email protected].

In Case You Missed It ...News to Use from Past County News

Credentials and voting infor-mation for NACo’s 2010 election will be mailed May 17 to the chief elected official (CEO) of each member county. In order to vote, a county must have paid its 2010 dues and have at least one paid registration to the Annual Confer-ence. The chief elected official must indicate on the credentials form, the names of the voting delegate and alternate authorized to pick up a county’s voting materials. There can only be one alternate designated on the form.

The CEO must also indicate on the credentials form whether the county would want its ballot cast by another (proxy) county or its state association of counties president, or his or her designee in the event that neither of its designated delegates picks up the county’s ballot. A county may also choose not to cast its ballot.

Each member county must return a form, signed by the chief elected official, in order to vote. In addition to being mailed, the credentials form is also available

via a link in the member center of the NACo website at www.naco.org. The deadline to return the form is Friday, June 25.

This year’s election will be held on Tuesday, July 20 at 10 am during the Business Meeting at the NACo Annual Conference in Washoe County (Reno), Nev. Counties will vote on resolutions that set NACo legislation and association policy for the coming year. Delegates will also elect NACo officers for the coming year. The position of second vice president is usually the one position that is contested.

The county must be a NACo member “in good standing” in order to vote, meaning that a county’s dues for 2010 must be paid before the voting occurs. Also, the county must have at least one paid registra-tion for the annual conference and have proper credentials.

The credentials form attests to

a county’s eligibility to vote. The form contains information on the number of votes a county is eligible to cast, as well as the identity of the delegate who is authorized to cast the county’s vote.

The number of votes per county is determined by the amount of dues it pays. Dues are based on popula-tion. NACo’s bylaws allot one vote per $500 in dues.

Counties with dues of $400 to $499 receive one vote.

Counties with dues of $500 to $999 receive two votes.

Counties with dues of $1000 to $1,499 receive three votes, and so on.

The maximum number of votes a county can receive is 112.

The Credentials Committee ensures that all member counties participating in the election pro-cess, either for NACo officers or policy, are able to do so in the most efficient and fair manner. The

committee confirms requests for credentials pick up, helps guaran-tee that the process runs smoothly, resolves credentials disputes, and assists during the election itself.

The 2010 Credentials Commit-tee members are:

• John Koster, councilmember, Snohomish County, Wash., chair

• Helen Purcell, recorder, Mari-copa County, Ariz., member

• Mary Accor, commissioner, Cleveland County, N.C., member

• Marc Hamlin, district clerk, Brazos County, Texas, parliamen-tarian

• Olen Jackson, commissioner, Morrow County, Ohio, reading clerk

• Rodney Long, commissioner, Alachua County, Fla., tally clerk

If you have any questions, please contact Ilene Manster, membership coordinator at [email protected] or 202.942.4291.

Counties encouraged to apply for TIGER Grant moneyRAC from page 1

and Senate Republican Senatorial Committee Chair John Cornyn (R-Texas).

RAC members also participated in a Senate Democratic Rural Sum-mit meeting with former President Bill Clinton, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), Senate Agriculture Chair Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.) and several other senators.

RAC members held a round-table discussion with administra-tion officials on the last day of the fly-in. David Agnew, deputy director of the White House Of-fice of Intergovernmental Affairs, led the meeting. Victor Vasquez, deputy under secretary for Rural Development at the Department of Agriculture, emphasized the administration’s renewed focus on rural development efforts. He thanked the group for NACo’s support of the administration’s Rural Innovation Initiative and highlighted the benefits of regional rural economic development strate-gies that build on the unique assets of multi-county regions. He also said that the agency is rebuilding the Office of Community Develop-ment to effectively serve counties and their partners engaged in rural economic development.

Joanna Turner, deputy assistant secretary for intergovernmental affairs, Department of Transporta-tion, listened to RAC’s priorities for the reauthorization of the Federal

Surface Transportation Program. The administration is planning to release its priorities by mid-summer and safety, infrastructure and liv-ability will be three key priorities.

Turner also encouraged coun-ties to apply for $600 million in transportation funding available through the Tiger II Discretionary Grant Program. Pre-applications must be submitted by July 16.

Dr. Mary Wakefield, administra-tor of the Department of Health and Human Services’ Health Resources and Services Administra-tion (HRSA), provided an update on health care reform implementation and HRSA. HRSA is a $7 billion

agency that supports a nationwide network of 8,000 health center sites serving more than 16 million patients, the Ryan White HIV-AIDS program, the 4,000-clinician National Health Service Corps that benefits rural and underserved urban areas and the nation’s State Offices of Rural Health.

Dr. Wakefield thanked RAC members for their work to protect and improve the rural health system and asked for their continued input as the administration implements health care reform.

For more information about NACo’s Rural Action Caucus, visit www.naco.org/ruralcounties.

Photo by Jack Hernandez

RAC Chair Keith Langenhahn (r) leads discussion on RAC fly-in logistics during the caucus’ meeting at NACo headquarters. Also pictured are NACo President-elect Glen Whitley (l) and Edwin Rosado, legislative director.


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National Association of Counties


» NACo Board and Elected Officials NACo President Valerie Brown spoke about NACo’s 2010

priorities at the opening ceremony of the National Association of County Engineers (NACE) Conference in Fort Worth, Texas April 26.

» NACo Staff• Steve Swendiman, managing director and CEO, NACo Financial

Services Corporation, made a presentation on the U.S. Communi-ties contract for equipment rentals of large and heavy equipment at the NACE Conference in Fort Worth April 28.

• Bob Fogel, senior legislative director, gave a legislative update to conference attendees at the NACE Confer-ence in Fort Worth.

• James Davenport, program manager, moderated a workshop entitled “Developing A Road Safety Program-Saving Lives in Your County Now!” as part of the Texas Association of Coun-ties County Management Institute held in Travis County (Austin), Texas April 22. Davenport also spoke as part of a workshop panel during the NACE

Annual Conference in Ft. Worth, in which he briefed attendees on activities of the NACo Rural Road Safety Project.

On the Move is compiled by Christopher Johnson.

NACo on the MoveResearch News

The enactment of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 ushered in a new era of open government that is changing the way citizens interact with their county officials. The reporting requirements for the use of ARRA funds are one of the major factors contributing to this transformation and encouraging the concepts of transparency, accountability and accessibility as the accepted norm.

While serving as a baseline, several counties have chosen to go above and beyond ARRA report-ing compliance to strengthen their image as a truly open government. The Internet is the chosen medium since the federal government led the way when www.recovery.gov was launched last year.

The process towards a more open government for some counties

included revamping their websites. For many counties this process included both a reorganization of content to increase the functional-ity for users and the publication of significant amounts of data. The data, such as checkbook registers and audits, is substantially more than what citizens are accustomed to having so readily available for review.

DuPage County, Ill. embarked on its website redesign process in late 2008 with the goal of making it easier for residents to find the services and information they need. County Board Member Paul Fichtner, one of the leaders in the redesign effort, viewed increased transparency as a means to both fos-ter open government and enhance citizen awareness of the many hats that county government wears.

Looking at the New Face of Open Government

Model Programs FROM THE NATION’S COUNTIES

Richland County, S.C. EMS Keeps Pets in MindBy CharliE Ban

STAFF WRITER

Whether being walked on a leash, carried in handbags or leading the blind, animals are an integral part of Americans’ lives, a detail Richland County, S.C. took to heart.

While managing a reception site for evacuees from Hurricane Katrina in 2005, county Emer-gency Management Services Director Michael Byrd realized what nobody had expected — the refugees were bringing pets. Al-though none were contaminated, some required medical attention, and that prompted Byrd to inte-grate pet care into the county’s capabilities.

“We had practiced decontami-nating people and cars, but not ani-mals,” he said. “The basics are the same for how you decontaminate people and animals, but there are additional challenges that come with the pets. They have more fur that needs to be scrubbed, and it’s likely the animals won’t cooperate. There’s no way to explain to them why it is necessary.”

Adapting the decontamination process to serve pets meant recruiting veterinarians, veterinary technicians and animal control personnel to complete HazMat training.

Byrd and Pet Evacuation Coor-dinator Jinki Suber did not find any comparable programs nationwide, so they, along with instructor George Mick, created the Animal

Contamination Team from scratch, with help from Clemson University’s area animal scientist emergency pre-paredness coordinator. The training program meets federal hazardous materials and fire protection stan-dards.

Training included practical ses-sions identifying toxic chemicals and substances, practicing working

in HazMat suits and in adverse environmental conditions. Real ani-mals were used in the training (none were harmed in the process, though). Training and equipment cost $5,500, but team members volunteered, cut-ting costs.

The veterinary specialists com-prise a decontamination line consist-ing of several stations, where they register the animals, tag them if they do not already have collars, examine them for medical issues and scrub them with detergent.

The equipment is portable, held in trailers that travel with a companion mobile animal bunker, a trailer equipped with cages and air conditioning to accommodate animals until a long-term shelter solution is available

“We feel comfortable we have an asset we can move around the county or for mutual aid out of the county,” Byrd said.

Some parts of Richland County are within 10 miles — the emergency planning zone — of the Virgil C. Summer Nuclear Generating Sta-tion, which requires the county to plan and have programs in place to process the evacuees from the area.

Years ago, a train derailment caused a significant chlorine spill in Graniteville, and Suber sees that as proof that the animal contamination team, though as of yet untested, has a good reason to exist.

“As a nation, we’ve become a people who consider their pets as part of the family,” Suber said. “People aren’t going to leave un-less they have their pets, and we understand that.”

Though some pets, cats par-ticularly, will bristle at the idea of being bathed by someone else and others may be deemed too sick and eventually euthanized, she is confident the county’s systematic approach will pay off.

“It is considered a luxury (caring for pets), but we’re not taking away from decontaminating people,” Su-ber said. “We’re adding something to our county’s preparedness.”

(Model Programs from the Nation’s Counties highlights Achievement Award-winning programs. For more information on this and other NACo Achievement Award winners, visit NACo’s Web site, www.naco.org.)

Another method to increase openness, besides just posting information, is a county’s use of the Internet to increase citizen access to government. Some coun-ties facing budget cuts have had to reduce opportunities, like town hall meetings, for citizen engagement.

Polk County, Fla. found itself in such a situation last year when the budget called for a reduction in the number of town hall meetings from four to one. The county’s

See RESEARCH page 16

CORRECTION

We got our counties right, but our states wrong. The county mentioned in On the Move in the April 16 issue was Humboldt County, Nev.

James Davenport

Bob Fogel

Photo courtesy of Richland County, S.C.

Volunteers from Richland County, S.C.’s Animal Contamination Unit practice moving a dog through their examination and treatment line during a training session.


County News invitesLetters to the Editor

Do you have a compliment, complaint or different point of view? LET US KNOW.

Please include a phone number with your letter. Mail, fax or e-mail to: County News, NACo, 25 Massachusetts Avenue, N.W.,

Washington, DC 20001; 202.393.2630; [email protected].

News From the Nation’s CountiesCALIFORNIA

• SAN BERNADINO COUN-TY is hoping two parties can find treasure in the same trash.

The public works department is considering a by-the-minute fee for people to search through trash for lost items — $25 for 15 minutes.

Public Works Director Gran-ville Bowman says if someone calls, a truck can be identified, stopped and searched at the landfill. However, if a truck has already been emptied, items cannot be recovered. In recent years, there has been only one request for a search, which was unsuccessful, the Press-Enterprise reported.

• Happy Meals will be a little less festive in unincorporated parts of SANTA CLARA COUNTY, thanks to a ban on toys and other promotions that come with high-calorie children’s meals. The Board of Supervisors voted to restrict these giveaways to restaurants that meet county guidelines.

Dr. Dan Delgado, director of a county program that targets child-hood obesity, said the toys are a powerful lure for children, encour-aging them to eat unhealthy food, which then helps cause obesity.

The five-member board agreed to put off implementing the measure for 90 days, to give the fast-food industry time to come up with a voluntary program for improving the nutritional value of children’s meals, the Los Angeles Times reported.

FLORIDAMANATEE COUNTY com-

missioners voted to formally op-pose Amendment 4 to the Florida constitution, which would give Florida citizens veto power over changes to their counties’ compre-hensive land plans. The measure will be put to referendum in the November general election, the Bradenton Times reported.

The FLORIDA ASSOCIA-TION OF COUNTIES opposes the amendment.

GEORGIABARROW COUNTY com-

missioners voted to add a county administrator to their government, culminating an effort that began in July 2009, according to the Barrow Journal.

MARYLANDPRINCE GEORGE’S COUN-

TY Council reinstated the Ag-ricultural Preservation Work Group to market local farms and lo-cally grown food and support urban

gardening initiatives. The group will also make agricultural policy recommendations to the County Council and other agencies, but will shy away from land-use issues.

The task force is filling the role of the Agricultural Resources Advisory Board — which has been defunct because of a lack of staffing for several years.

MICHIGAN• Next year, 13 rural townships

in INGHAM COUNTY will have to find new ways to pay for law enforcement, because the Board of Commissioners voted to cut sheriff ’s patrols of rural areas as part of budget cuts.

WLNS TV reported the affected rural areas will look at a joint ar-rangement that will provide service funded by a tax on the affected residents.

• The WAYNE COUNTY Treasurer’s Office collected a record amount of delinquent property tax revenue during the month of March for the second year in a row. Treasurer Raymond J. Wojtowicz credits the extensive outreach efforts by his office as a primary reason for this surprising success which has occurred in the midst of the state’s worst economy since the Great Depression.

The amount of delinquent taxes collected in March was more than $46 million, an increase of 20 per-cent over the then-record-breaking amount of $38.5 million collected in March 2009, according to the treasurer’s office.

NEVADAAdd fire and rescue to the list of

services CLARK COUNTY and the city of Las Vegas are consider-ing sharing to save money.

The county and city are also looking for savings from sharing services such as animal control, business licensing, information technology, parks, television pro-duction and purchasing, the Las Vegas Sun reported.

County Commission Chairman Rory Reid says fire was added to the mix, in part, because of firefighters’

reluctance to compromise on salary or benefits when other unions did so last year.

“It would be a disservice to those who made sacrifices not to point out those who have not,” Reid said at a recent press conference. “I’m talking about firefighters.”

County and city staff have until June to suggest how services would be shared.

NEW JERSEY• New policy changes are in

place to deal with the high rate of sick leave usage at CUMBER-LAND COUNTY’s 911 Com-munication Center.

The “integrity initiative” in-volves checking up on employ-ees who take sick days, NJ.com reported. Under the new policy, when an employee calls in sick, their supervisor will contact the employee via a landline number provided by the employee. If a sick employee must leave home for a doctor’s or pharmacy visit, they must let their supervisors know.

“This is an attempt to get our arms around a problem. It also helps the employees modify their own behavior so they’re not using up all their sick time in the first half of the year,” Freeholder Bill Whelan said.

• CAMDEN COUNTY has launched a new service that allows quick online access to restaurant and cafeteria inspection reports through the county’s website, according to the Cherry Hill Courier Post.

“Constituents who go out to dinner and have kids in school will now have this information at the click of a button,” said Patrick Shuttleworth, director of health and human services for the county.

Freeholder Carmen Rodriguez said: “This is not a ‘gotcha pro-gram.’ We’re not out there to get the restaurants. What we’re actually hoping is that restaurants will be in better compliance because they’re going to have a better idea of what it is we’re going to look for.”

TEXASThe HARRIS COUNTY Com-

missioners Court has approved

start-up of a public defender office on a trial basis, with the condition that the state cover its first-year costs of $4.4 million.

The office would not replace the current system, the Houston Chronicle reported, in which judges select defense lawyers for indigent defendants from a randomly gener-ated list. Instead, there would be a hybrid system in which court-appointed and public defender lawyers would split the caseload.

WASHINGTONAfter nearly four decades,

guns are once again welcome in SNOHOMISH COUNTY parks. The County Council recently voted to repeal a gun ban, bringing the county into compliance with state law, the Everett Herald reported.

The county’s gun prohibition dates from 1971. However in the 1980s, the state passed a law barring local governments from passing gun laws more stringent than the state’s.

By early 1917, sentiment was strong among the citizens of Okeechobee, Fla. for the formation of a new county. People said it was too far to travel to the county seat at Fort Pierce and residents of Basinger, which was a part of Osceola County, had an even longer trip to make when they transacted business at the county seat of Kissimmee. As far back as 1912 there had been talk about a new county to be formed from parts of St. Lucie, Osceola and DeSoto counties. In March 1917, community leaders in Okeechobee met and decided to press for the formation of a new county.

Okeechobee County was officially created May 8, 1917. The new county included land from Osceola, St. Lucie and Palm Beach counties, and had an area of 487,040 acres. It is named for the Lake Okeechobee, which was itself named for Hitchiti Indian words oka (water) and chobi (big).

The county has been known for a thriving dairy industry that started in 1945. During that year, the county had only a single 109-cow dairy farm. By the late 1950s dairy farmers had discovered that the area offered productive land at reasonable prices. By 1972, there were 26 dairies in operation with about 25,000 cows. Milk sales in 1954 amounted to $38,019, and by 1970 they had risen to more than $15 million.

The county seal shows a sunset along Lake Okeechobee with fisherman on the lake amongst the palm trees.

(If you would like your county’s seal featured, please contact Christopher Johnson at 202.942.4256 or [email protected].)

»Okeechobee County, Fla.www.co.okeechobee.fl.us

What’s in a Seal?

Snohomish County’s discrep-ancy went largely unnoticed until last year, when Seattle banned guns from city parks, a move that was overruled in court.

WYOMINGTroublemakers in NATRONA

COUNTY’s parks now risk getting kicked out for up to six months, thanks to new tougher rules gov-erning behavior in county parks. Repeat offenders could be banned for longer, according to the Associ-ated Press.

Among other changes recently approved by county commis-sioners: charging $100 an hour if county equipment is used to pull a stuck vehicle from park roads and prohibiting bungee jumping from bridges and cliffs.

(News From the Nation’s Counties is compiled by Charles Taylor and Charlie Ban, staff writers. If you have an item for News From, please e-mail [email protected] or [email protected].)


Job Market / Classifieds

Job Market/Classifieds Rate Schedule• Line Rates: $7 per line, NACo member counties; $10 per line, others.• Display Classified: $50 per column inch, NACo member counties; $70 per column

inch, others.• Billing: Invoices will be sent after publication.• Mail advertising copy to: Job Market, County News, 25 Massachusetts Ave., N.W.,

Washington, DC 20001.• FAX advertising copy to: Job Market, County News, 202.393.2630.• E-mail advertising copy to: [email protected].• Be sure to include billing information along with copy.• Estimates given prior to publication are approximations only and do not necessarily

reflect final cost.

For more information, contact the Job Market representative at 202.942.4256.

The H.R. Doctor Is In

Respect is, perhaps, the funda-mental basis for positive relation-ships. The same can be said about relationships between state and local government in a federal system, among nation-states and among demographic groups. These can include groupings by race, gender, age or other characteristics.

No manager can have a suc-cessful career without learning to sing R-E-S-P-E-C-T and practic-ing that song every day. People get into trouble when they forget the words to the song or allow circumstances to unhinge their generally positive or neutral be-havior. Perhaps most insidiously, managers ultimately fail in their careers, even if they themselves are regular practitioners of respect, when they tolerate, allow, or as the HR Doctor frequently says “walk by” acts of disrespect by others. It certainly harms organizations or the individuals who are the targets of the disrespect.

Tools of Disrespecttime. It surfaces every time a meet-ing or seminar is scheduled for a time like 9 a.m. and one or more persons saunter in at 9:30 a.m. or 10 a.m. By being late, especially chronically late, other people are affected, information may have to be repeated, and the tardy one often escapes any consequences.

Tardiness in our society as a chronic problem becomes an ac-ceptable practice in an organization, or in a family, unless it is clearly interrupted. The fundamental inter-ruption tool is to make attendance expectations very clear and then to act right away with counseling and sanctioning. For example, a manager must make it known that a 9 a.m. staff meeting will begin on time with people expected to be present. It may also be helpful to remind people of the time zone in which they live.

It is also up to the managers, especially after setting out clear expectations, to start the meeting on time. Ask any late arrivals to remain after the meeting for a review of the importance of being on time in the future. Clear expectations and follow-up leads to improvement. Take away clarity, or remove any perceived consequences of non-compliance, or perceived reward for compliance, and things do not work out well.

Another technology-enabled form of disrespect is linked to the rise of cell phones and “smart” devices. In the middle of meetings some sub-set of attendees will invariably be paying attention to their cell phones instead of the manager or presenter. A casual walk in a shopping mall or at a restaurant provides many op-portunities for someone to overhear every word shouted out in another person’s cell phone conversation.

While it may be very valuable and fascinating for analysts at the NSA or the CIA to monitor phone conversations, it is annoying to have your own individual space — or what’s left of it — disturbed by conversations on someone else’s cell phone. The same is true of the clicking or thumb gymnastics going on in the middle of your meeting as a manager. The HR Doctor has even witnessed a job applicant sending an e-mail in the middle of an interview. Needless to say, this was an unsuccessful job applicant. These e-annoyances also occur as you are hurling up a freeway at 70 miles an hour, only to be passed at a much higher speed by a person driving while

cell phoning or texting, if not also reading or putting on makeup.

On the other hand, a boring un-necessary meeting during which you take minutes but waste hours while some manager drones on through 43 PowerPoint slides full of small-font words and no graphics can also be disrespectful.

The manager has a duty to keep staff meetings focused, interesting

INVESTMENT ANALYST – DALLAS COUNTY, TEXAS

Salary: DOQ.Dallas County is currently seeking

an Investment Analyst. The success-ful incumbent will forecast recurring Dallas County cash requirements, and monitor/report excess funds available for re-investment to ensure financial security and optimum liquidity of County funds. Requirements include Bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university in Accounting, Finance or in a job related field of study. Two (2) years of work related experience. Must have in-depth un-derstanding of applicable laws, rules and regulations related to investment of funds. Experience in a banking envi-ronment preferred. To apply visit www.dallascounty.org and complete the online application. Starting salary is based on education and experience. EOE.

INTERNAL AUDITOR III – DALLAS COUNTY, TEXAS

Salary: DOQ.Dallas County is seeking an Internal

Auditor III. The successful incumbent will act as a lead auditor and an official liaison for assigned responsibilities county-wide for financial, statutory and ad-hoc audits of all County de-partments, contracts and policies; resolves complex audit or accounting issues; performs special projects and audits of a sensitive or critical nature; and prepares various reports. Assists in training and supervising audit staff.

Requirements include a Bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university in Accounting, Finance or in a job related field of study. Three (3) years of work related experience. Skilled in the use of standard software applications. Must possess strong analytical, written and verbal com-munication skills, and establish and maintain effective working relation-ships with employees, departments and the general public. Requires thorough knowledge of the Single Audit Act and OMB circulars.

Requires a valid Texas driver’s license with good driving record. Standard office environment. May be required to complete work off-site. To apply visit www.dallascounty.org and

complete the online applications. Start-ing salary is based on education and experience. EOE.

COUNTY MANAGER – CARTERET COUNTY, N.C.

Salary: DOQ.This position is located in a beauti-

ful resort area (Crystal Coast) on the southeastern coast of N.C. Population is 64,107 and over 218,000 seasonal. Seeking a talented, results oriented professional to serve as the County’s next Manager. The County is governed by a seven-member Board of Com-missioners. Candidate will manage an organization with over 550 employees and a total operating budget of $90 million. A minimum of five to seven years of progressively responsible lo-cal government and/or private sector experience in management of an organization comparable to Carteret County is required, with an appropriate amount of time spent in a supervisory/managerial role in the public sector.

Experience beyond the minimum stated, in a variety of local government or private sector settings, is also highly desirable. The ideal candidate should also possess experience in finance, personnel, public relations, growth management and coastal issues. The salary for the position is negotiable based on the candidate’s qualifications and experience and is supplemented by an excellent benefit package. Please submit detailed résumé with salary his-tory, work related references and County application (available at www.carteret-countygov.org) to: Myles McLoughlin, Director of Human Resources, Carteret County, 302 Courthouse Square, Suite

215, Beaufort, NC 28516. Position open until filled. EOE.

DIRECTOR OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT – CHELAN COUNTY, WASH.

Salary: DOQ.Chelan County is seeking an

Administrator to serve as Director of Community Development. The Direc-tor provides day to day leadership, management and development of staff in a complex regulatory and work en-vironment. Work involves the exercise of considerable judgment resolving sensitive land use and development is-sues within guidelines and policies of County Code, State and Federal Laws. This position is appointed and reports directly to the County Commissioners. The Director is expected to work closely with the Board of Commissioners, plan-ning staff and community developing goals, objectives, rules, regulations and policies that achieve quality, sustainable regional development.

Both public and private sector ex-perienced professionals are encouraged to apply. Go to www.chelan.co.wa.us and click on Career Opportunities for a list of qualifications, compensation, and application requirements.

FINANCE DIRECTOR – GILA COUNTY, ARIZ.

Salary: $59,488 – $72,488; DOQ.Bachelor’s degree; accounting, fi-

nance, business admin. or related field. Seven (7) years of accounting/auditing and three (3) years’ management exp. E-mail: [email protected]. Visit www.gilacountyaz.gov/personnel/employment/default.html.

and as brief as possible. In other words, the manager has a duty to lead by efficiency, rather than bore-dom. Participants at the meeting should “disarm” before entering the room by turning off cell phones or putting them “on stun.” Managers themselves need to be role models for positive attentiveness when meeting with others.

When it comes to respect, the

smart phone is anything but smart. It is, in fact, an intrusive, disruptive and “dumb” phone when we allow it to be used as a tool of disrespect, intentional or not, in a world of increasing intrusion.

Phil RosenbergThe HR Doctor • www.hrdr.net

No manager can have a successful career without

learning to sing R-E-S-P-E-C-T and practicing

that song every day.

One of the major perpetrators of this kind of conduct is also known as the bully. This person seeks to get their way by the substitution of loud, pushy behavior for collegial and thoughtful discussion. The bully may target persons who are more likely to put up with their behavior by backing out of the way and letting the bully achieve their limited goal on a particular day, at a particular time, or over a particular issue. The target group is often women, since there is a relationship between bullying and sexual harassment. Another form of bully-targeting may involve senior citizens by dis-respectful youth. Bullying can also be manifested in lack of respect for other people’s religious beliefs, race or disabilities.

Formal protections against such extreme disrespect (i.e., unlawful discrimination, violence, sexual harassment, etc.) have grown, however other less obvious forms of disrespect have also been grow-ing in the workplace. This behavior transcends questions of race, gender or age. One such manifestation of subtle disrespect is insensitivity to


Financial Services News

In mid-December 2009, the NACo Financial Services Cen-ter introduced the Government Employee Marketplace (GEM) Web portal and began piloting the program with 12 counties. The GEM portal is designed to provide public employees, retirees and fam-ily members a single location to locate various discounts presently offered to them by companies and suppliers, locally, regionally and nationally. NACo partners with Govmarket.org to provide this portal. Govmarket.org offers four kinds of discounts to participants:

1) discounts offered to govern-ment employees

2) discounts available to the public

3) exclusive discounts negoti-ated by Govmarket.org on behalf of the site, and

4) regional and local discounts provided by suppliers in local communities.

The program is free to employees, and the portal does not send e-mails or solicitations to users unless they ask for RSS feeds or e-mail alerts for specific suppliers or products.

More than 4,000 government employees signed up for the portal during the first three months. Most of these participants discovered the

Marketplace Survey Results Show Valueprogram through their employers’ involvement in the pilot program. Others discovered the program due to NACo announcements and articles in County News.

The original pilot counties were asked to inform their employees of the availability of the Web portal through their intranets, payroll stuffers or other devices used to communicate with employees. NACo and the pilot counties agreed that a survey of existing users would be beneficial after the program had been operating for three to four months.

Subsequently, a survey was sent to 4,000 participants. Responses were received from 561 people, which provided NACo with a 14 percent response rate.

Survey ResultsOver 55 percent found the dis-

counts to be valuable, and another 39 percent found the discounts to be valuable some of the time. Nearly 50 percent would recommend the site to fellow workers and another 45 percent would consider recom-mending the site to others. Most of the respondents heard about the site through their employers (65 percent). Seventy-nine percent of respondents were satisfied or very

satisfied with the site. Additionally, 29 percent of the respondents of-fered to participate in a user group to help improve the site.

NACo will continue to work with pilot counties and with coun-ties interested in adding this to their employee offerings and will work with Govmarket.org to make improvements to the site.

The survey clearly showed that the portal provides value to the users and offers discounts that benefit those wishing to buy from the suppliers on the site. Many of the respondents had viewed the site but had not yet purchased from the site. Still, a majority found the site to be valuable enough to recom-mend it to coworkers.

Anecdotal comments from the respondents provided useful information for changes to the site such as:

• adding a line to the registra-tion process to allow enrollees to list their public agency name and location

• improving the response time between the GEM site and the merchant sites

• adding more local or negoti-ated discounts, and

• creating a regular forum for the volunteer user group to offer suggestions for improvement.

NACo and Govmarket.org will implement these and other modi-fications including establishing a user group forum for feedback on

site improvements. Since the site is also open to nonprofit employees, NACo will continue to inform its membership about the benefits available to their nonprofit com-munities. Alexis Turner of Gov-market.org will work directly with county pilots and county sponsors on marketing assistance. She can be reached at [email protected]. Counties may also contact the NACo Financial Services Center for assistance by contacting [email protected] or [email protected].

(Financial Services News was written by Steve Swendiman, managing direc-tor/CEO, NACo Financial Services Corporation.)

communications staff felt public outreach efforts would suffer. Fortunately, officials did not have to go far, turning to the county’s local government access cable TV channel for assistance. The result was the county’s first e-town hall meeting, with two websites to stream the live video and host the concurrent chat.

While officials do not want to permanently replace face-to-face meetings, during lean times the idea provides a means to keep costs at a minimum while maintaining the level of public outreach. At a cost of approximately $4,000 less than a traditional town hall meeting, the e-town hall meeting still attracted 430 participants with 63 questions or comments submitted.

Pinellas County, Fla. followed Polk’s example in March after learning that $60 million would

Websites stream town hall meetingsRESEARCH from page 13 have to be cut from its budget. In a

traditional town hall meeting, the county would normally manage to gather 100 to 150 citizens in an auditorium. March’s e-town hall meeting, however, attracted 1,000 viewers, 602 blog readers and 304 published comments.

Horry County, S.C. has also turned to the Internet to open its doors to citizens. In April, although not in response to bud-get demands, the county began streaming council meetings live via its website. A recording of the meetings will also be archived on the council’s site and will be avail-able for future review by citizens. Sheila Butler, the county’s chief information officer, believes this approach represents a commit-ment to making county govern-ment transparent and accessible to constituents.

(Research News was written by Mike Belarmino, research associate.)

NACo’s 2010 Annual Conference and

ExpositionJuly 16- 20, 2010 ★ Reno/Washoe County, NV

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Celebrate NACo’s 75th Anniversary!★ Over 30 educational workshops

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