The following is a summary of follow up steps planned in response to direction provided by the Board at its October 18 strategic planning conference. Additional information and updates will be provided at public policy workshops, regular Board meetings, and in the Board Bulletin.
 
Board Members' Key Interests

 

Additional Revenue Sources -
Information regarding options and financial projections will be provided at the November 13 public policy workshop.

 

BOCC-BOE Meetings -
Staff is attempting to arrange a joint meeting of the two boards on December 11 to address enrollment projections, baseline capital standards, and public-private partnerships. Based on the level of interest among the two boards, additional joint meeting could be planned. Meeting objectives, agenda, structure, and process (including the use of facilitators) were cited by the Board as important considerations.

 

CMS Funding -
The County Manager will inquire whether and how the CMS Superintendent would consider incorporating the funding guidelines in his recommended CMS budget. County staff will continue to refine the funding evaluation guidelines considering whether to incorporate a process for addressing disparities between projected and actual student enrollment numbers.

 

Redistricting -
The current districts were created in 2001 based on the 2000 census data. Staff will provide data on district population relative to one person, one vote.

 

Clean Air Works -
Staff will provide a briefing on the status of Clean Air Works and its impact on air quality. The County Manager will consider return on investment for ongoing and future County funding of air quality initiatives as part of developing the Manager’s Recommended Budget.

 

CMS Baseline Standards and Financing Options-
Staff will present information on baseline construction standards and public-private partnerships as part of the joint meeting of the two boards, tentatively scheduled for December 11. Staff will seek benchmark data to make comparisons with other jurisdictions.

 

Consolidation of Parks -
The County Manager will continue studying the feasibility of consolidating town park and recreation departments under the direction of the County. Considerations include debt, operational costs, and existing park land.

 

Mental Health Facility -
Staff will research best practices for managing secure mental health facilities for inmates and provide a report to the Board in January 2008.The analysis may also examine in more detail the cost of the 81 highest recidivists in Mecklenburg County.

 

District Confinement Facility –
Unless there is further direction, there is no follow up planned.

 

Homelessness -
Staff will provide a status report at a future public policy workshop.

 

Additional Requests –

Staff will provide the Board with a copy of the Little Sugar Creek plan and design, with particular interest in the design near midtown. Staff also will provide information regarding any impact on County mental health services as a result of a new state law that requires companies providing employee health insurance to also provide mental health insurance.

 

 

Board’s Strategic Emphasis
 
The Board adopted the following strategic emphasis to steer FY 2008-09 business planning.

 

 

 

 

The County Manager and staff will use this strategic emphasis in developing business and services strategies and funding requests for the FY09 Manager’s Recommended Budget.

 

 

The business satisfaction study that began in June is nearing its final phase. This study, conducted by Lawrimore Communications, Inc. on behalf of the County Manager’s Office, is one of many action steps in the County’s Diversity Management Plan. The study is intended to identify the level of satisfaction area businesses have regarding opportunities to contract with Mecklenburg County in providing goods and services.

 

The first element of this study was to complete four focus groups of Mecklenburg County MWSBE and non-MWSBE companies, some of whom have served as vendors for the County and some of whom have not. The responses from four focus groups conducted during August and September were used to glean pertinent questions to be asked during telephone surveys.

 

The second element of this study involves telephone surveys of approximately 600 local companies representing the same sectors as those companies that attended the focus groups. These telephone survey research interviews began on October 15 and are anticipated to be completed by November 9.The surveys are being conducted by PGM, a market research and data collection firm based in Utah, as a subcontractor to Lawrimore Communications, Inc.

 

After the telephone surveys are completed, Lawrimore will analyze the data from all the research and report the findings to staff. This report will contain both quantifiable results as well as recommendations for potential improvements in the County’s processes for contracting for goods and services, particularly among MWSBE vendors.

 

For more information, contact Janet Payne, Management Fellow, at (704) 336-2647 or by email.

 

 

            --Harry L. Jones, Sr., County Manager