Five-Point Management System:
(updated January 3, 2012)
During my career of working in and with county governments
as either an employee or consultant, I discovered that often times we are overwhelmed by the many different demands and challenges
that face us each and every day. It appeared to me that our organization frequently became stale in the direction, management
and focus of goals and objectives we hoped to accomplish. With these thoughts in mind, I focused during the campaign on a
5-Point Star System of management which would give our administration some direction for the future.
We continue to manage under the
five-point star management system. Two of the original five points still remain on our list. Those two are: (1) Departmental
Policies and (2) Emergency Services. Progress has been made on both focus areas; however, further work continues.
Departmental Policies improvements are: cell phone and vehicle use; and formulating reporting and committee minutes
with added enhancements coming. Emergency Services has changed with a formal structure of budgeting and expanded monitoring.
Changes in the Ambulance Service have been reorganization in leadership, outsourcing billing, and a reduction in unscheduled
overtime. The Ambulance operation is not out of the woods by any stretch of the imagination; options still include possible
outsourcing of operations.
A third point is (3) Recreation/Tourism;
a focus that we feel will continue for some time during our administration. Currently, recreation focuses on the Swan Pond
Sports Complex, the Chamberlain Trail, a model remote control airplane field, Riley Creek Campground, and a bridge over Caney
Fork to the old campground, just to name a few.
As
of mid-December 2011 we are taking Implementation of 2012 Capital Plan and Midtown Sewer Development off of
our list to be replaced by (4) Sewer Operations/Capital Plan and (5) Risk Management.
Midtown Sewer Development is taken off the list as Phase I of this project is coming
to an end. The remainder of the Midtown Sewer Development will be encompassed in the Capital Plan for the Sewer Operations.
The focus of the Sewer Operations and Sewer Capital Plan will be on a long term operational budget as the service expands
with the addition of customers, potential services to the Rockwood Sewer Operation, payments of the new State Revolving Loan,
along with the accounting conversion from a Special Revenue Fund to an Enterprise Fund. Much planning for sewer capital improvements
and financial operational plan is needed. A comprehensive report will be published.
Implementation of 2012 Capital Plan is taken off the list as the Capital Plan has started
to be implemented with the purchase and razing of the old house for a parking lot, rework and use of the old jail, along with
preliminary planning for HVAC and plumbing work at the Courthouse.
(5)
Risk Management is the fifth point now being a focus. Risk Management will be expanded in greater detail over the next
months as our team will focus on risk identification, assessment, risk management action plan and implementation of a risk
management plan. A major focus shall be not only on the internal county general liability and property management, but also
of external risk to government of natural (weather-related) and man-made (hazards of business operations both current and
legacy)
The current five points are:
(Updated January 3, 2012)
1. Departmental policies (3)
2.
Emergency Services (5)
3. Recreation/Tourism
(8)
4. Sewer Operations/Capital Plan (11)
5. Risk Management (12)
(1) Debt Management.
Resolution #03-11-23,
approving a Roane County Debt Management Plan, was adopted by the Roane County Commission on March 14, 2011.
When I was elected Roane County was approximately $60 million in debt. In the first 6 months of my administration
I plan on having a debt management plan submitted, studied and reviewed by the county commission and hopefully adopted. This
will give Roane County future direction. Policies of debt management include: (1) insuring that debt does not exceed the assets'
life expectancy and which assets a county should not be in debt to purchase (computers, vehicles, furniture, radios, etc.);
(2) not back-loading our debt repayment schedules; and (3) a multi-year (25-30 year) debt budget; just to name a few.
(2) Capital Improvement Plan/Program:
Resolution #02-11-22, approving
a Roane County Capital Plan, was adopted by the Roane County Commission on March 14, 2011.
In the first
6 months I planned on having a CIP ready for study and review by our county commission. Our CIP goes hand and hand with debt
management and will give us further direction into the future. We must know where we are going. We continue to replace certain
assets so let's develop a replacement schedule and understand whether or not these replacement assets influence our debt
management plan. Let's look to the next decade to help carve a path of where we want to travel.
(3) Department Management
(beginning September 1, 2010)
Although the county executive does not have constitutional control of a
number of offices, the county executive does control operations such as: Building Inspection, Building and Grounds, Accounting
and Purchasing, Emergency Management (as we work with TVA and the coal and ash issues) and Emergency Services, Parks and Recreations,
and Solid Waste and Recycling to name a few. These departments will be reviewed for policies and procedures, operational functions,
and effectiveness. We will be implementing or ensuring proper travel and time reporting,and budget goals along with reporting
of operational functions. What we are doing? Why are we doing it? Are we being the most effective in carrying out our operations?
During the review it is possible that issues and problems could become a point in the star.
(4) Communication (began 9-1-10, ended
11-5-10)
Since September 1, 2010, a monthly newsletter to Commission has been published and distributed, not only
to Commissioners, but also to County and City officials and business and community leaders as well as being added to the county's
website for public viewing. Weekly staff meetings are scheduled and frequent meetings are held with other county officials.
Communication of issue(s), problems, and decisions. The county commission will be asked for input and
kept informed and briefed on major decisions related to county operations. Let us solve this problem early so we can replace
a point on the star. We must change the culture of decision making by making informed communication decisions.
(5) Emergency Medical Services
Operations (beginning September 1, 2010)
This department should be a break-even or profit center. Roane
County should not be subsidizing this service unless the county commission and citizens know with certainty why there is a
subsidy and the commission approves of the tax subsidy. Currently the operations as reported in the news media has been or
expected to be losing money due to any number of factors. Other counties operate their Ambulance Departments that are at break-even
or even subsidy, lowering the tax rate for the general government. Roane County in the recent past was at break-even but now
apparently is not. This issue will be addressed and solved. We anticipated that a number of items will need to be addressed
during this process.
(6) Midtown Area Development (Sewer Expansion) (began 11/6/10, ended 12/31/11)
Our "Communication" point
was taken off during November 2010 for two basic reasons (1) we have made great steps in improving communication by improving
the County Executive's report at Commission meetings, monthly Commission newsletters, weekly staff meetings, periodic
official meetings, Executive Summary presentations via power points, written Executive Position papers, and continued work
on the county website, (2) an immediate need came to our attention of sewer expansion needs in the Midtown area related to
the anticipated construction of a $65 million hospital, $7-$8 million Physicians' Plaza, and other retail business plans.
Roane County received approval for a State Revolving Loan of over $5 million in June 2011. The implementation process of the
Midtown Sewer Consstruction will begin in August 2011.
(7) Fund Balance Policy
(Began 2/11, ended 4/11/11)
Resolution #04-11-32, approving a Fund Balance Policy, was adopted by the Roane County
Commission on April 11, 2011.
As we were completing the drafting and review of the county Capital
and Debt Management Policies, it became apparent that we should draft our Fund Balance Policy. The Fund Balance Policy deals
with how the county should manage the equities balance of each of the county’s individual funds. Basically, this policy
will encompass how much money should be carried over at the end of each fiscal year.
(8) Recreation/Tourism (began March 2011)
Throughout my travels as a UT Government Consultant, I saw firsthand the benefits various counties enjoyed
when the county embraced their recreation and tourism program. From the benefits of new dollars being injected into the local
economy with little annual cost to deliver the recreational and tourism service, we will focus on operations at the Roane
County Park, Caney Creek RV and Marina, and the Roane County EXPO Center, along with lake and river opportunities. March 14,
2011, the Roane County Commission granted the County Executive authority to operate under a license agreement the Riley Creek
Campground. Opportunities abound with Roane County’s many recreational and tourism assets.
(9) 2012 Budget
Budget
Resolutions #07-11-10, #07-11-11, and #07-11-12 were adopted by the Roane County Commission on July 11, 2011.
Although work takes place each day on the county's financial management and budget administration, it is in the Spring
of each year that intensive work begins and continues up until the adoption of the new fiscal year's budget.
We began the 2012 Budget process in January 2011, which included adoption of financial policies listed in our 5-point
system, and then began focusing on developing our budget around the established policies. Work continued in February with
mailing out department request forms and requesting not only the department operating budget, but for the first time, a capital
budget. During March and April we started receiving the departmental requests and organizing, sorting, and totaling all the
requests. In April, a consolidated debt budget was prepared and 2012 recommendations approved by the Budget Committee.
(10) Implementation of
2012 Capital Budgets (July 21, 2011):
With the adoption of the 2012 Budget
the county, for the first time, adopted a Comprehensive Capital Budget. The late adoption of the 2011 Budget established Capital
Outlay funding and plans. During the spring of 2011 a capital policy was adopted, and with the adoption of the 2012 Budget
a schedule of detailed projects was established. We will prepare an Executive Summary in August of the projects funded and
establish preliminary timelines of work activity on each project.
(11) Sewer
Operations/Capital Plan (began January 3, 2012)
Multi-year Operations and a Capital Plan will be developed,
studied, and reviewed as sewer service expansion continues, along with the Accounting conversion from special revenue fund
to the Enterprise Fund. A comprehensive sewer operations and sewer capital report will be published.
(12) Risk
Management (began January 3, 2012)
Development of a Risk Management program will be developed
that will deal with internal risk of local government operations along with external risk both natural and man-made.
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Some of the original points may stay on our primary focus throughout our administration but our goal is to solve
points identified and replace the focus with an additional point. It is possible that a point could be temporarily replaced
as more important points become a focus of the administration.
Below are areas which we have identified as potential
future points on the 5-Point Star System of management.
· Asset review and management
· Industrial
Property Inventory
·
Plateau Industrial Park
· Sewer
Plant Operations
·
Recycling
· Solid
Waste Landfill Contract
·
Tourism Opportunities
· Risk
Management
·
TVA relationship
· Fire
prevention and loss
·
Employee professional growth
· Livability issues
·
Animal and Litter Control
· Building
Inspection and Long Term planning
·
Existing Business Development
