Interim commissioner Cam Parry has argued in favor of changing the county’s “fundamental form of governance” by proclaiming that a council/manager management model will enable the board to better “adapt and react” to challenges ahead. Thus far, neither Parry nor fellow interim commissioner, Fred Messerle, have defined why they believe an administrator can accomplish things they apparently cannot as a board. Further, reacting rather than responding to changes and employing adaptive management seems more like management by crisis and implies a passive leadership style and mediocre approach to planning. Leaving all semantics aside, the problems perceived by Parry and Messerle are a direct result of their own failures of leadership and apparently they hope an administrator, the new messiah, will fix a host of unidentified inefficiencies that will miraculously more than pay for the price of this change.
Parry presented a back of the envelope cost estimate at a work session last night in which he admits is purely speculative but if went as he projects would cost the county $1,400 per month less than its current structure. Perhaps believing the savings might not be enough to justify a radical change he dug deep and came up with “potential offsets” in the form of “possible” unclaimed administrative reimbursement from state and federal grants. Read the estimate here Ordinance cost estimates
Parry excuses the speculative nature of the cost estimate by explaining that time constraints didn’t allow a more thorough vetting but these constraints are self imposed. There is no reason to rush an immature concept onto a ballot thereby dooming it to failure unless they are “reacting” to some external pressure.
Messerle chimed in last night that the governance change is “philosophical” and neither he nor Parry could name specific examples of how an administrator would improve the county. Parry tried to fall back on a straw man argument about the complexities of healthcare but these policies are set at the state and federal level and guidelines and tools are provided to the county for implementation.
Finally, Messerle acknowledged that their “expectations” are an administrator will sort out all the up front implementation costs, even though we don’t know what they are yet, and smooth out any ripples during the transition. Sounds like he has already abdicated his responsibility and he hasn’t even been elected yet.
Hearing begins this morning at 9AM in the Owen Bldg and the commissioners are expected to vote on putting it on the ballot. Be there or be square…
I won’t be surprised if they go ahead and vote to hire an administrator without putting it to the voters. Jon Barton made it clear that they had that power a long time ago. He will be very disappointed if they fail to use the power he believes they already have to hire an administrator.
I read the Lehman memo cover to cover. Insanity! Does he really believe that the voters are that stupid? He operates in other than the real world. Isn’t it interesting that two people who never made it in life, Grile and Lehman, are pushing so hard. That ordinance is written so that the stipend does not take effect for two years. A section of the ordinance enables the commissioners to raise their slaary from a $1,000 stipend to anything, includuibng a significant pay raise over present salary, after one year. And, without going to the citizens to ask please. They will argue that you can not hire hire and keep good people without pay. Currebnt candidates must promise not to raise the $1,000 stipend or resign if they must. They wont.