1 00:00:01,840 --> 00:00:30,820 Good morning, everybody, and welcome to the weekly agenda meeting for the Board of Yakima County Commissioners. Today is Tuesday, September 22nd, 2026, and even though yesterday I informed the group that it was the start of fall, actually, today is the start of fall. So sorry to lead you yesterday. I'll now call the meeting to order. President, today we have Commissioner Curtis, myself, Commissioner Lindy, and Commissioner McKinney is excused this morning. We also have Julie Lawrence Clerk of the Board. 2 00:00:30,820 --> 00:00:35,440 Dan Clark representing Corporate Council along with other guests and staff. 3 00:00:35,680 --> 00:00:36,580 So welcome to all. 4 00:00:37,100 --> 00:00:42,200 We'd like to begin today by asking those in person to please join us in standing for 5 00:00:42,200 --> 00:00:42,960 the Pledge of Allegiance. 6 00:00:43,980 --> 00:00:44,620 I 7 00:00:47,020 --> 00:00:52,720 pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for 8 00:00:52,720 --> 00:00:58,920 which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. 9 00:01:04,990 --> 00:01:05,130 All right. 10 00:01:05,270 --> 00:01:05,670 Thank you. 11 00:01:06,570 --> 00:01:14,350 Next up is our public comment portion of the meeting and you'll see that Julie has put up the basic parameters surrounding public comment. 12 00:01:14,890 --> 00:01:17,390 The one thing I'll just mention is that we do have a three minute time limit. 13 00:01:17,890 --> 00:01:26,750 Let me go ahead and start with those that are online. If there is anybody online who wishes to make public comment, please go ahead and raise your hand or put your name in the chat and I'd be happy to call on you. 14 00:01:26,750 --> 00:01:27,410 Okay, 15 00:01:37,110 --> 00:01:51,290 not seeing e-takers online, so is there anybody in person who wishes to make public comment, okay, please go ahead see to the microphone. I think the make sure the green lights on, but I think it's on and just turned on the green light already. I think she did. Yes, so just give your name and area residents, please. 16 00:01:51,330 --> 00:01:54,150 James Liddickson, I'm a resident of Yakima County. 17 00:01:55,210 --> 00:02:05,430 I'm here again because of the lack of response from the commissioners, which disappoints me in having no response pushes me to additional responses. 18 00:02:06,150 --> 00:02:12,050 It's unfortunate that we find ourselves in these matters, but it seems necessary. 19 00:02:12,770 --> 00:02:20,290 I'm going to leave a copy of a letter with Julie when I leave that I've given to Kathy Kramer at State Fair Park. 20 00:02:20,290 --> 00:02:24,710 I've also handed it to the office at Mr. Bruce's office this morning as well. 21 00:02:25,830 --> 00:02:30,590 This explains to her my next steps and I want you to be understand that in each of my 22 00:02:30,590 --> 00:02:36,290 letters that I've sent to you, to Mr. Bruce and to now Miss Kramer, legalize a 23 00:02:36,290 --> 00:02:42,150 vent on each of these. And I'm not being told to sit down and shut up yet. I'm not 24 00:02:42,150 --> 00:02:45,590 sure where we're headed in this, but it's disappointing that the commissioners 25 00:02:45,590 --> 00:02:53,330 continue to give me no response and as we all know, no response is a response. I think 26 00:02:53,330 --> 00:02:58,710 it would be very simple for the commissioners, Ms. Kenney, Mr. Brucey, if necessary, or 27 00:02:58,710 --> 00:03:02,870 other legal staff from his office sit down and we have a discussion about this to come 28 00:03:02,870 --> 00:03:09,310 to some sensible end. But this is not going to go away. So I just have that to say this 29 00:03:09,310 --> 00:03:12,830 morning. I'm going to hand this to Julie rather than read the whole thing to you. It's fairly 30 00:03:12,830 --> 00:03:16,050 short to the point, but that's my comment for the morning. 31 00:03:16,430 --> 00:03:16,590 All right. 32 00:03:16,690 --> 00:03:16,990 Very good. 33 00:03:17,090 --> 00:03:17,550 Thank you. 34 00:03:19,580 --> 00:03:19,920 All right. 35 00:03:20,000 --> 00:03:21,100 Is there anybody else here this morning? 36 00:03:21,100 --> 00:03:22,160 Wish to make public comment. 37 00:03:24,980 --> 00:03:25,380 Okay. 38 00:03:26,540 --> 00:03:27,800 Apparently seeing no others. 39 00:03:28,140 --> 00:03:30,280 Let's go ahead and go into the consent agenda. 40 00:03:30,760 --> 00:03:31,380 I wish your courtesy. 41 00:03:31,400 --> 00:03:33,660 Any items that you wish to see table removed? 42 00:03:33,900 --> 00:03:34,680 No, I just for me. 43 00:03:34,740 --> 00:03:35,000 Commissioner. 44 00:03:35,500 --> 00:03:35,700 Okay. 45 00:03:35,780 --> 00:03:36,540 Nothing for me either. 46 00:03:36,680 --> 00:03:39,700 So I'll go ahead and ask the clerk to read the consent agenda in the record. 47 00:03:39,700 --> 00:03:44,320 Commissioners, for your consent today are the following auditor payroll warrant certification 48 00:03:44,320 --> 00:03:50,320 issue date August 16 through August 30, 1st, 2026. Accounts feeable warrant approval 49 00:03:50,320 --> 00:03:55,580 issue date September 15, 2026. Commissioner mentioned this September 8, 2026 50 00:03:55,580 --> 00:04:01,860 regular agenda meeting. County Rose Resolution 232, 2026 setting a public hearing day to consider 51 00:04:01,860 --> 00:04:07,320 changing ordinance 5, 2026 to reduce the speed limit on green valley road from an unposted 52 00:04:07,320 --> 00:04:12,600 speed to 45 miles per hour from Midvale Road to Snipes Pump Road for all eastbound and 53 00:04:12,600 --> 00:04:18,900 westbound traffic. Resolution 231-2026, setting up public hearing day to consider changing 54 00:04:18,900 --> 00:04:23,800 ordinance to 2026 to change the intersection of Old Prasser Highway and Mountain View Road 55 00:04:23,800 --> 00:04:29,240 from a two-way stop to an all-way stop to the site distance and safety issues. Resolution 56 00:04:29,240 --> 00:04:37,300 232-2026, selling asset 4809 to Oregon Department of Agriculture. Resolution 233-2026 57 00:04:37,300 --> 00:04:41,900 Declaring certain county vehicles and equipment surplus, I'll eat at less than $50,000. 58 00:04:43,460 --> 00:04:48,580 Agreement 233-2026, supplement number one to local agency agreement and update the project 59 00:04:48,580 --> 00:04:53,580 prospectus for the West Powerhouse Road Improvements Project to authorize right-of-wave funds. 60 00:04:54,120 --> 00:04:59,560 Financial Services Agreement 237-2026, certifying the completion and close-out of the community 61 00:04:59,560 --> 00:05:00,940 development block grant. 62 00:05:00,940 --> 00:05:06,320 Human Resources Resolution 234-2026 editions or deletions to budgeted 63 00:05:06,320 --> 00:05:12,540 budgeted positions in Fund 121 County Roads, Fund 125 Public Services Water Resources, 64 00:05:13,320 --> 00:05:19,460 Fund 450 Public Services Building and Fire Safety and Department 640 Public Services Planning. 65 00:05:20,160 --> 00:05:26,940 Human Services Agreement 235-2026, 2026 Mental Health Sales Tax Contract with Comprehensive Health 66 00:05:26,940 --> 00:05:31,480 care for behavioral health and substance use disorder services to Yakima County 67 00:05:31,480 --> 00:05:37,360 Therapeutic Court participants. Public Services Resolution 235-2026, 68 00:05:37,600 --> 00:05:42,220 revising the solid waste disposal fee schedule for county-operated solid waste facilities, 69 00:05:42,640 --> 00:05:46,780 establishing an environmental compliance surcharge and a landfill closure assurance fee, 70 00:05:47,100 --> 00:05:51,680 providing for sunset of set assessments upon completion of their intended funding purposes, 71 00:05:51,680 --> 00:05:53,480 and providing an effective date. 72 00:05:54,340 --> 00:05:59,140 Resolution 236-2026 authorizing the Public Services Water Resources Manager, 73 00:05:59,280 --> 00:06:02,240 design amendment number four to the Gap to Gap pre-construction 74 00:06:02,680 --> 00:06:06,480 and construction project agreement with the Washington Department of Ecology. 75 00:06:07,600 --> 00:06:13,060 Resolution 239-2026 setting a public hearing date to consider adjusting monthly sewer rate 76 00:06:13,060 --> 00:06:16,220 for the county-owned and operated view and a wastewater system. 77 00:06:16,220 --> 00:06:22,060 Purchasing Resolution 238-2026, Authorizing Advertisement for Bizz for Retirement, 78 00:06:22,300 --> 00:06:24,700 Plant Administration, and Record-Keeping Services. 79 00:06:25,420 --> 00:06:30,500 Sharing Figurement 234-2026, Authorizing Approval to Purchase 2026, 80 00:06:30,740 --> 00:06:35,400 Chevrolet Silverado 2500 Work Truck for Search and Rescue, Mountain Rescue. 81 00:06:36,740 --> 00:06:42,440 Technology Services Agreement 236-2026, Contract with Paramount Communications to Repair 82 00:06:42,440 --> 00:06:48,980 network line to the view and a water tower. Treasure Resolution 237-2026, a sale of certain 83 00:06:48,980 --> 00:06:54,320 tax title properties by Private Negotiation. Agenda items are available to view on the Yakima 84 00:06:54,320 --> 00:07:00,340 County's website at www.yakimacounty.us. Agenda items have been reviewed by the Board in a work 85 00:07:00,340 --> 00:07:04,860 session prior to today's meeting. Thank you, Julie. I would entertain a motion at this time. 86 00:07:05,100 --> 00:07:07,980 Commissioner, I move that we adopt the consent agenda as read into the record. 87 00:07:08,500 --> 00:07:10,560 And I'll second that motion. Any further comment? 88 00:07:10,560 --> 00:07:19,280 I'll just add that all meetings of the Board of Yakima County commissioners both online and in person are open to the public and anyone attending may request translation and or additional accommodations. 89 00:07:19,700 --> 00:07:22,860 Thank you, Commissioner Curtis. All in favor, signify by saying aye. 90 00:07:23,060 --> 00:07:24,960 Aye. Motion carries. 91 00:07:25,980 --> 00:07:33,800 Well, next up we have the regular agenda which to start off, we have an accounts payable warrant approval for McKinney Glass. I would entertain a motion. 92 00:07:34,360 --> 00:07:39,600 Commissioner, I move that we adopt accounts payable warrant for McKinney Glass dated 91526. 93 00:07:39,600 --> 00:07:40,400 Are you good? 94 00:07:40,500 --> 00:07:41,380 And I'll second that motion. 95 00:07:41,920 --> 00:07:43,580 All in favor, signify by saying aye. 96 00:07:44,460 --> 00:07:44,580 Aye. 97 00:07:45,320 --> 00:07:45,720 All right. 98 00:07:45,940 --> 00:07:46,680 Motion carries. 99 00:07:47,960 --> 00:07:55,900 Next up, we have a strategic plan presentation by our strategic planners, or actually, I should 100 00:07:55,900 --> 00:07:59,180 say, by the head of the strategic plan, effort, uncommon bridges. 101 00:08:00,220 --> 00:08:02,140 So, Andres, the floor is yours. 102 00:08:11,840 --> 00:08:13,060 Thank you, commissioners. 103 00:08:13,900 --> 00:08:21,740 I'm very pleased to be back here in front of you today to present and report back on a close 104 00:08:21,740 --> 00:08:25,700 to final strategic plan for your consideration. 105 00:08:26,480 --> 00:08:30,380 Today I want to preview at a high level. 106 00:08:30,440 --> 00:08:37,040 You have a more detailed brief that I sent to you last week at a high level what some of 107 00:08:37,040 --> 00:08:42,480 these recommendations and actions are as well as some other components of the final deliverable 108 00:08:42,480 --> 00:08:46,940 that you will be receiving with the hope that any kind of final questions or comments that you 109 00:08:46,940 --> 00:08:52,600 might have we might hear today so that we can then move forward to finalize the document. Go to the 110 00:08:52,600 --> 00:08:52,980 next slide. 111 00:08:55,610 --> 00:09:00,710 Go to the next slide. Before we do that I want to just kind of center us a little bit 112 00:09:00,710 --> 00:09:06,930 on the process, the methodology, and the components of the plan just to kind of make sure that you 113 00:09:08,210 --> 00:09:13,570 kind of remember the timeline of the work that has taken place over the last kind of seven, eight 114 00:09:13,570 --> 00:09:16,650 months in this process, so we can go to the next line. 115 00:09:17,890 --> 00:09:24,770 As a reminder, we launched the strategic planning process in Q1 of 2026 with an assessment 116 00:09:24,770 --> 00:09:32,150 phase where we reviewed current data, economic data, planning data, other trends, and some 117 00:09:32,150 --> 00:09:35,410 county reports and budgets to inform strategic priorities. 118 00:09:36,010 --> 00:09:42,230 That work was enhanced by several one-on-one meetings, focus groups on issues of public safety, 119 00:09:42,230 --> 00:09:49,330 issues of economic development issues of workforce and what that allowed us to do 120 00:09:49,330 --> 00:09:54,530 is really get a kind of sense of some of the emerging trends we provided to 121 00:09:54,530 --> 00:09:59,750 you a report of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats as part of our 122 00:09:59,750 --> 00:10:04,370 assessment finding and that led us to anchor us in the five 123 00:10:04,370 --> 00:10:08,470 years you priorities that you're going to see today. With that information we also 124 00:10:08,470 --> 00:10:15,310 review and refined the county's vision and mission and in so much that the county has 125 00:10:16,070 --> 00:10:20,010 is taking on a kind of new way of thinking about strategic planning, taking a look at a 126 00:10:20,010 --> 00:10:26,430 consolidated mission and vision was really important to us as well was to develop a set of core values 127 00:10:26,430 --> 00:10:30,150 to guide the county's work and I'm going to go through each of those here in a second. 128 00:10:31,530 --> 00:10:38,250 Once we've, you approve the strategic priorities, we formed working groups of those strategic 129 00:10:38,250 --> 00:10:42,410 priorities to develop and deliberate on goals, objective actions, and metrics. 130 00:10:43,070 --> 00:10:46,870 In each of those groups met four times throughout the process. 131 00:10:46,870 --> 00:10:55,730 It was a very dynamic conversation, good participation, and what you see here is a reflection of that 132 00:10:55,730 --> 00:11:00,850 feedback paired with some of the data and analysis that we brought to the table, then finally 133 00:11:00,850 --> 00:11:06,230 we presented to regional partners including YVCOG and several other one-on-one meetings that we did 134 00:11:06,230 --> 00:11:09,010 with regional partners. Go to the next slide. 135 00:11:11,880 --> 00:11:14,600 Seen a slightly different way. You can see we started 136 00:11:14,600 --> 00:11:20,140 on the left in the yellow with the assessment phase that answered the question of kind of who we are 137 00:11:20,140 --> 00:11:25,300 as a county or who the county is moving to planning where it's answered the question about where do we 138 00:11:25,300 --> 00:11:31,280 We want to go that resulted in the goals and objectives and then moved into implementation. 139 00:11:31,840 --> 00:11:32,740 How will we get there? 140 00:11:33,380 --> 00:11:39,080 The finest detailed implementation metrics of the plan and then the final plan here in 141 00:11:39,080 --> 00:11:44,340 September and October, which where we are in the orange here next slide. 142 00:11:45,820 --> 00:11:50,540 So the final components of the deliverable here are three different things. 143 00:11:50,540 --> 00:11:55,980 One is the strategic plan that asks answers the question of where is the county going. 144 00:11:56,100 --> 00:12:00,020 It's a framework for setting direction, measuring progress and delivering results. 145 00:12:00,760 --> 00:12:04,460 That is the one that we're going to post depending your approval on the website. 146 00:12:04,760 --> 00:12:10,060 We have hard copies of. It's not a dense document. It's probably four to five pages at most. 147 00:12:11,000 --> 00:12:14,640 That's paired with an implementation guide that's also submitted to the county 148 00:12:14,640 --> 00:12:20,120 that answers the question, how will the county deliver results based on the strategic plan? 149 00:12:20,120 --> 00:12:28,080 So it's a much more in depth document that translates the strategic plan into a framework 150 00:12:28,080 --> 00:12:32,640 that is relevant and implementable, an action oriented for you all to consider. 151 00:12:33,700 --> 00:12:39,020 In addition to that, we have tools around dashboards, what we call executive dashboards, 152 00:12:39,600 --> 00:12:43,340 which in accountability measures, which answers how will the county stay on track. 153 00:12:44,120 --> 00:12:57,490 And that gives the commission the tools to stay and understand at the higher level, you know, are the things that we propose in the plan actually moving forward? Are they stuck? Do we need to reevaluate? 154 00:12:58,580 --> 00:13:02,020 So it really provides those tools for oversight and then course correction. 155 00:13:03,060 --> 00:13:03,540 Next slide. 156 00:13:05,000 --> 00:13:09,780 So, just as a reminder, the vision, when we think of a vision, we think of the future 157 00:13:09,780 --> 00:13:11,380 that Yakima County seeks to create. 158 00:13:12,200 --> 00:13:17,740 This vision was anchored in kind of three themes around diverse and resilient economy, 159 00:13:18,380 --> 00:13:23,000 quality of life in Yakima County, and then retention and recruitment of workers. 160 00:13:23,280 --> 00:13:27,980 So, Yakima County is a thriving region where agriculture and innovation power, a resilient 161 00:13:27,980 --> 00:13:33,420 economy where communities feel safe and healthy, and where families choose to stay in 162 00:13:33,420 --> 00:13:34,580 invest and build their future. 163 00:13:35,680 --> 00:13:36,500 Next slide. 164 00:13:37,840 --> 00:13:42,200 The mission is the county's purpose and role in serving 165 00:13:42,200 --> 00:13:44,720 its residents to achieve that vision that we just read. 166 00:13:45,480 --> 00:13:47,560 And the mission is to deliver excellent public service, 167 00:13:47,920 --> 00:13:51,280 strengthen communities, steward resources for a thriving 168 00:13:51,280 --> 00:13:52,460 Yakima County. 169 00:13:53,080 --> 00:13:55,920 And the conversation with stakeholders and the working groups 170 00:13:55,920 --> 00:13:59,200 as we were reviewing these missions, there was a strong sense 171 00:13:59,200 --> 00:14:01,780 of a culture of service to bring to the county. 172 00:14:01,780 --> 00:14:10,360 and really important to communicate to partners, citizens that the county is effectively 173 00:14:10,360 --> 00:14:14,060 stewarding the resources that they put in charge of tax-paradolors. 174 00:14:15,580 --> 00:14:20,020 Next slide. Core values, this was something new, 175 00:14:20,320 --> 00:14:24,840 that was really excited that we were able to get to this list here because this was the principles 176 00:14:24,840 --> 00:14:30,200 that guide county decisions and operations both in terms of how we do our show up and do our work, 177 00:14:30,200 --> 00:14:34,060 but also how employees kind of, what does it mean to be a county employee? 178 00:14:34,320 --> 00:14:38,120 You're operating with these principles, so that's around accountability and transparency, 179 00:14:38,580 --> 00:14:41,440 responsible stewardship, service excellence. 180 00:14:41,900 --> 00:14:46,040 I mentioned that, we had really great conversations around putting residents first, 181 00:14:46,260 --> 00:14:50,880 delivering with excellence, leadership and collaboration, a lot of the recommendations. 182 00:14:52,140 --> 00:14:59,300 Consider the county as an important stakeholder for sure, but as a convener in a leader in certain elements. 183 00:14:59,300 --> 00:14:59,980 Thanks for watching, see you next time, bye bye. 184 00:15:00,000 --> 00:15:11,580 And so, leadership in collaboration was an important core value. And then, of course, people and resilience where we're investing in our workforce, building organizational capacity and adapting to changing needs. Next slide. 185 00:15:13,670 --> 00:15:31,090 As a reminder, we work from a framework of where we consider priorities or the strategy and actions that will move the county toward its vision. We think about strategic priorities, we think about disproportionate investment. And so, not everything can be a priority. And the strategic plan and 186 00:15:31,090 --> 00:15:36,050 the implementation guide are not substitute for individual work plans of your departments 187 00:15:36,050 --> 00:15:43,290 or employees. It is a prioritization document that helps you make decisions to set kind 188 00:15:43,290 --> 00:15:48,790 of policy courses and directions and be able to understand trade-offs when you need to 189 00:15:48,790 --> 00:15:55,770 change that direction. So each strategic priority was supported by its own goal and then 190 00:15:55,770 --> 00:16:00,230 a series of objectives and the implementation actions and metrics that we'll go through now. 191 00:16:01,450 --> 00:16:04,450 Next slide. The first strategic priority, 192 00:16:04,790 --> 00:16:09,690 Crow Yakima. The goal here is the resilient competitive and diverse to fight regional 193 00:16:09,690 --> 00:16:15,710 economy where business is invest. People can find housing and family wage jobs and coordinated 194 00:16:15,710 --> 00:16:21,110 leadership strength and prosperity across Yakima County. That was the future condition goal that was 195 00:16:21,110 --> 00:16:26,190 articulated. Go to the next slide. In each of these, we answered what must change? That is 196 00:16:26,190 --> 00:16:30,450 the list of objectives. What must change about the way that we are doing our work? And then what are 197 00:16:30,450 --> 00:16:37,290 the key steps within those objectives that we need to prioritize? So here, there was clarity 198 00:16:37,290 --> 00:16:43,530 around improving development capacity and infrastructure readiness targeting permitting, diversifying, 199 00:16:43,690 --> 00:16:48,410 and strengthening regional economy, expanding housing choice, and specifically workforce housing 200 00:16:48,410 --> 00:16:52,250 capacity and then strengthening regional economic leadership and investment. 201 00:16:53,050 --> 00:16:59,870 The actions as part of this plan is a launch of a Yakima fast track. Yakima fast track 202 00:16:59,870 --> 00:17:06,670 is an attempt to provide clarity, predictability, and transparency in the permitting process. 203 00:17:08,070 --> 00:17:15,170 We heard from a lot of business stakeholders, developers, community that having more clarity 204 00:17:15,170 --> 00:17:19,710 around that process could incentivize more economic development. 205 00:17:20,450 --> 00:17:25,750 And to that end, then establishing a development concierge to be able to not just work on county projects, 206 00:17:26,410 --> 00:17:30,470 but to be able to coordinate with the other county entities, other governments in the area, 207 00:17:30,850 --> 00:17:35,010 to make sure that we're all rowing in the same direction towards a economic development vision. 208 00:17:36,470 --> 00:17:40,910 There is the comprehensive economic development strategy that already exists, 209 00:17:40,910 --> 00:17:54,610 that the action here is just to move forward and support those elements. Strengthening development partnerships through inter-local agreements, and there's more detail in your packet around what that looks like. 210 00:17:55,790 --> 00:18:03,170 Using housing and market data to guide investments in policy decisions, and then aligning workforce housing with economic growth. 211 00:18:04,830 --> 00:18:14,950 In a lot of these, there is a need to establish a baseline of data so that the county can make data informed decisions on things like housing. 212 00:18:15,530 --> 00:18:23,070 So that as folks come and say there's a housing need or housing shortage in certain areas, there is a consistent level of data truth. 213 00:18:23,230 --> 00:18:28,110 I like to say like that everybody can say okay, we agree that here is how we are moving forward. 214 00:18:28,110 --> 00:18:33,710 And so that baseline needs to happen in this first year if this plan is adopted to be able to support some of these decisions. 215 00:18:34,050 --> 00:18:38,730 Go to the next slide, and then measures how will the county know it's being successful. 216 00:18:39,370 --> 00:18:47,250 And these are the measures that we would report publicly reduction and permit review timelines articulated by kind of reduction in calendar days. 217 00:18:47,730 --> 00:18:51,570 And then the number of family wage jobs created to retain and 218 00:18:54,900 --> 00:18:56,200 go to the next strategic plan. 219 00:18:56,200 --> 00:18:59,020 or as an extra priority, which is around community safety. 220 00:18:59,560 --> 00:19:01,880 Community safety first, a public safety system 221 00:19:02,240 --> 00:19:04,560 with the capacity resources in public trust needed 222 00:19:04,560 --> 00:19:06,300 to keep communities safe. 223 00:19:07,260 --> 00:19:07,540 Next slide. 224 00:19:08,420 --> 00:19:12,000 The objective here is to prioritize strategic public safety 225 00:19:12,000 --> 00:19:17,100 investments, grow public safety capacity, build a community trust 226 00:19:17,100 --> 00:19:20,180 within the public safety space, strengthen regional 227 00:19:20,180 --> 00:19:21,360 public safety coordination. 228 00:19:21,360 --> 00:19:30,520 So specifically here, great consensus on consolidating and modernizing a new public safety footprint, 229 00:19:30,980 --> 00:19:36,320 conduct the public safety staffing assessment, so another kind of baseline action there. 230 00:19:37,060 --> 00:19:44,980 A request to hire a public information officer to provide proactive communication and engagement and 231 00:19:44,980 --> 00:19:49,740 outreach with communities around public safety information, this kind of correlates back to building 232 00:19:49,740 --> 00:19:55,800 community trust the idea with that being centralized at the counties instead of kind of in each 233 00:19:55,800 --> 00:20:00,220 department but centralized as a kind of core function and to help support a regional public safety 234 00:20:00,220 --> 00:20:06,140 committee to improve community communication and coordination amongst several public safety 235 00:20:06,140 --> 00:20:10,960 officials that are interacting in the county. Really great relationships happening right now 236 00:20:10,960 --> 00:20:18,220 in communication that are people dependent so you know this is about building the system that can 237 00:20:18,220 --> 00:20:25,920 kind of support relationships, but kind of as folks move on, not whether as folks transition. 238 00:20:27,460 --> 00:20:31,960 Next slide. The measure here is around public safety staffing capacity, 239 00:20:32,500 --> 00:20:39,960 a number of public safety officials or officers or personnel, and then in increase in emergency 240 00:20:39,960 --> 00:20:45,780 emergency response time, meaning emergency response doesn't take as long. 241 00:20:47,260 --> 00:20:48,220 Next slide. 242 00:20:49,780 --> 00:20:50,660 Future ready. 243 00:20:51,040 --> 00:20:54,760 This is about financial resiliency, so financial resilient county that makes strategic 244 00:20:54,760 --> 00:21:00,460 investments, maintains critical infrastructure, and responsibly manages public resources for 245 00:21:00,460 --> 00:21:04,400 future generations without placing additional burdens on its taxpayers. 246 00:21:05,200 --> 00:21:05,540 Next slide. 247 00:21:05,540 --> 00:21:12,060 But certain things here are already happening, but we're orienting them into the strategic 248 00:21:12,060 --> 00:21:15,840 plan for continuity and for prioritization of them. 249 00:21:16,580 --> 00:21:20,600 Aligning financial planning with strategic priorities, addressing urgent county justice, 250 00:21:21,000 --> 00:21:25,280 facility needs, expanding financial capacity and regional partnerships and demonstrating 251 00:21:25,280 --> 00:21:27,120 value for taxpayer dollars. 252 00:21:28,080 --> 00:21:31,780 Here are the actions, development, advance of funding strategy to replace the jail. 253 00:21:32,440 --> 00:21:37,780 implement a multi-year financial strategy that aligns budget, revenues, debt, and assets 254 00:21:37,780 --> 00:21:42,100 with long-term service and infrastructure needs, partnering with the region to secure 255 00:21:42,100 --> 00:21:46,960 state and federal funding and advance shared priorities that one's around shared advocacy 256 00:21:47,450 --> 00:21:53,940 at the state and federal level, and then increasing budget transparency going back to kind of that 257 00:21:53,940 --> 00:22:01,580 build community trust piece in the previous strategic priority around a annual report in with 258 00:22:01,580 --> 00:22:06,200 centralized portal. So folks can understand what's happening with the budget, what's happening with 259 00:22:06,200 --> 00:22:15,060 tax dollars, and there's a little bit more clarity around that. Next slide. How will we know it's being 260 00:22:15,060 --> 00:22:20,820 successful, the amount of funding and partner investment secured, priority capital needs funded 261 00:22:20,820 --> 00:22:26,420 with the specific eye towards gel injustice, and then cost savings and efficiencies achieved. 262 00:22:26,420 --> 00:22:29,490 Next slide. 263 00:22:30,830 --> 00:22:31,650 Talent for tomorrow. 264 00:22:31,990 --> 00:22:33,410 This is our workforce priority. 265 00:22:34,370 --> 00:22:39,090 Yakima County has a stable, skilled and adaptable workforce, supported by a strong talent 266 00:22:39,090 --> 00:22:44,550 pipelines, supported by strong talent pipelines, effective recruitment and retention strategies 267 00:22:45,010 --> 00:22:47,890 and partnerships that prepare workers and leaders for the future. 268 00:22:48,990 --> 00:22:49,330 Next slide. 269 00:22:51,560 --> 00:22:52,280 What much change? 270 00:22:52,700 --> 00:22:56,180 Develop a regional workforce pipelines for critical occupations. 271 00:22:56,180 --> 00:23:19,120 This is a space where stakeholders are looking, I mentioned the county showing up as not just another stakeholder, but a convener that you can, the county is best positioned to connect employers with workforce organizations with institutions towards a common vision, improve recruitment and retention, up skill existing workforce. 272 00:23:19,120 --> 00:23:26,680 course and then building the county's internal future workforce. 273 00:23:26,960 --> 00:23:30,120 So that is about Yakima County as workforce. 274 00:23:31,550 --> 00:23:37,220 As part of this, and you'll see this in a bit around some of our major moves, we're 275 00:23:37,220 --> 00:23:42,980 going to launch Choose Yakima, which is an effort, as I mentioned, this coordination effort 276 00:23:43,430 --> 00:23:47,540 that aligns employers, institutions, and workforce organizations towards a common goal. 277 00:23:48,340 --> 00:23:53,560 Some of this is happening in pockets, and the attempt here is to make sure that everybody's 278 00:23:53,560 --> 00:23:55,940 at the table rowing the same direction again. 279 00:23:56,880 --> 00:24:01,300 A first action there is to assess workforce needs and talent pipelines for priority industries 280 00:24:01,820 --> 00:24:04,500 and emergency occupations, or emerging occupations. 281 00:24:05,240 --> 00:24:11,700 This one needs to work really well with the Grow Yakumus Treaty Priority, and in fact, this 282 00:24:12,380 --> 00:24:17,420 strategic plan, and this is a good thing, there's a lot of overlap in our lines. 283 00:24:17,420 --> 00:24:19,560 and dependencies on things moving forward. 284 00:24:20,420 --> 00:24:27,880 So attracting workforce depends as much on having a job ready as quality of life. 285 00:24:28,540 --> 00:24:30,220 So all of these things need to be oriented. 286 00:24:31,460 --> 00:24:37,060 This strategic plan calls for and requires good collaboration in the implementation, and 287 00:24:37,060 --> 00:24:40,760 we'll talk about that here in a second, but this one in particular needs to be very aligned 288 00:24:40,760 --> 00:24:42,240 with economic development. 289 00:24:43,100 --> 00:24:49,420 Expand career pathways in high demand fields, so not just the industries, but the occupations 290 00:24:49,420 --> 00:24:54,160 and fields within those industries, and then looking internally, strengthen internal 291 00:24:54,160 --> 00:24:59,400 county workforce with development pathways, succession planning, and performance expectations. 292 00:25:00,760 --> 00:25:06,500 And then the measure here is vacancy rates and critical occupations to go to the next slide. 293 00:25:07,680 --> 00:25:10,700 And then participants connected to workforce pipeline programs. 294 00:25:10,700 --> 00:25:11,760 Next 295 00:25:13,970 --> 00:25:14,230 slide. 296 00:25:15,490 --> 00:25:21,350 The last priority, better together, Yakima County operates as a single, coordinated, accountable, 297 00:25:22,540 --> 00:25:27,670 high-performing organization in which leaders have clear roles, departments work collaboratively, 298 00:25:28,310 --> 00:25:33,470 performance expectations are understood, and residents experience consistent effective public 299 00:25:33,470 --> 00:25:33,910 service. 300 00:25:34,810 --> 00:25:40,930 Again, we had a great conversation in this work group around what does it mean to have a 301 00:25:40,930 --> 00:25:47,490 culture of service, and how does that actually, how is that embedded in our employee agreements 302 00:25:47,490 --> 00:25:52,630 and the way that we do our work in this kind of one county approach? You go to the next 303 00:25:52,630 --> 00:25:59,770 line. So what must change? We consistently demonstrate the value of county services. We 304 00:25:59,770 --> 00:26:04,770 need to clarify roles in executive leadership, build an enterprise approach to county operations, 305 00:26:06,170 --> 00:26:10,710 meaning modernizing systems and certain workflows. In certain cases, a lot of this is already 306 00:26:10,710 --> 00:26:16,390 happening around workforce. And so this is about scaling the workflows and modernizing some of the systems. 307 00:26:18,170 --> 00:26:24,190 The key steps here, create a county administrator role is number one. 308 00:26:25,350 --> 00:26:27,910 Conducting a county wide organizational review. 309 00:26:29,150 --> 00:26:36,690 Setting a clear county wide performance framework, we talked about setting a appropriate baseline of expectations 310 00:26:36,690 --> 00:26:52,090 without kind of overreaching into the work that departments are doing, but having consistency across employee expectations and then using that to build a one county culture would share practices and service standards and modernizing administrative practices. 311 00:26:52,990 --> 00:26:53,850 Next slide. 312 00:26:55,250 --> 00:26:56,430 How do we measure this? 313 00:26:56,970 --> 00:27:02,150 Resident satisfaction with county services and improved state audit findings on good governance. 314 00:27:05,200 --> 00:27:05,760 Next slide. 315 00:27:06,920 --> 00:27:10,700 Another tool for street you planning is something we call major moves. I've talked about 316 00:27:10,700 --> 00:27:17,160 this in front of you before, but what you, this isn't meant to be kind of one major 317 00:27:17,160 --> 00:27:22,160 move per street you should priority, but this is what I would say kind of like our bold 318 00:27:22,160 --> 00:27:26,360 commitments that we're putting out there as part of this plan. 319 00:27:28,040 --> 00:27:32,760 So we've named four here. The first one is Yakima Fastract, which is we're committing 320 00:27:32,760 --> 00:27:39,260 through this plan of transforming the development system to make it easier to invest in Yakima County, 321 00:27:39,480 --> 00:27:45,000 to build and to grow here. We're doing that by looking internally into what Yakima County can do. 322 00:27:45,060 --> 00:27:48,700 We're doing that by partnering with other agencies and governments out there, 323 00:27:49,120 --> 00:27:53,400 again, growing in the same direction of what type of business and industry we want to encourage here 324 00:27:54,080 --> 00:27:59,920 in Yakima County. And the incentive, an incentive to do that is a fast track permitting process 325 00:27:59,920 --> 00:28:03,040 that's predictable and is kind of transparent. 326 00:28:04,200 --> 00:28:07,040 Tuesday, Yakima is our workforce and talent pipeline, 327 00:28:07,040 --> 00:28:10,980 so we're again coordinating in line 328 00:28:10,980 --> 00:28:13,060 with those economic development key industries, 329 00:28:13,740 --> 00:28:15,840 you know, the critical occupations 330 00:28:15,840 --> 00:28:17,620 and workforce needed in Yakima County 331 00:28:17,620 --> 00:28:21,200 to make sure that we're retaining and attracting employees. 332 00:28:22,160 --> 00:28:24,060 Government that works, building a coordinated 333 00:28:24,060 --> 00:28:25,800 accountable organization that delivers 334 00:28:25,800 --> 00:28:27,420 better results for its residents. 335 00:28:27,420 --> 00:28:32,780 And then the last bold commitment is around the modern jail facility, which is the modern 336 00:28:32,780 --> 00:28:33,200 justice. 337 00:28:33,580 --> 00:28:37,480 And you can call this also a justice facility addressing critical needs at the jail 338 00:28:37,480 --> 00:28:39,960 and justice facilities to meet our public safety responsibilities. 339 00:28:42,780 --> 00:28:47,600 So these can be seen as kind of what we call bold commitments as part of the plan. 340 00:28:48,700 --> 00:28:50,200 And they're four. 341 00:28:50,360 --> 00:28:54,720 They're easy to remember, and it's a typical structure planning tool that we use. 342 00:28:56,360 --> 00:29:00,940 I'm going to pause there before we go to the implementation guide and see if folks 343 00:29:00,940 --> 00:29:04,000 have any thoughts or questions around what you've seen so far. 344 00:29:08,970 --> 00:29:14,720 I appreciate the presentation, appreciate all the work that everybody's put into this 345 00:29:14,720 --> 00:29:15,180 so far. 346 00:29:15,880 --> 00:29:22,220 I guess I would say some of these, well a lot of reflects comments that I've heard from 347 00:29:22,220 --> 00:29:27,180 county employees and staff and all, so it seems to melt pretty well. 348 00:29:27,860 --> 00:29:34,040 Instead of looking at this, some of it is, something is very much done internally while 349 00:29:34,040 --> 00:29:38,380 other aspects really can't be done without external outreach, and I know that's addressed 350 00:29:38,380 --> 00:29:43,440 in the plan too, so that's going to be probably, in my estimation, the harder hill to climb, 351 00:29:43,980 --> 00:29:49,540 but not that it's impossible, but it's, you know, just, those are my thoughts for the moment. 352 00:29:50,220 --> 00:29:50,360 Absolutely. 353 00:29:50,780 --> 00:29:54,020 I'll just add Commissioner, I mean, those are my same thoughts, you know, the beautiful thing 354 00:29:54,020 --> 00:29:58,100 that I think of the work product that Andres has brought to us so far is it recognizes 355 00:29:58,100 --> 00:29:59,880 that the county can't do all the things. 356 00:30:00,000 --> 00:30:29,040 And so it leans into other strategic plans that have already been done and other groups that have already done the good work, you know. So throughout the document it talks about building workforce. Well, our South Central consortium already does that. It has a strategic plan, but it takes components of that where the county can and should lean into to further implement their strategic plan. So I'm really excited to see where we ended. I think it's very, it's very crafty, and I also think it's very, as you said, 357 00:30:29,820 --> 00:30:35,480 While some of the strategic priorities are focusing under the hood inside the county governance, 358 00:30:35,880 --> 00:30:44,020 it's important to have a well-running machine in order to do all the other things that we're going to be leaned on to accomplish. 359 00:30:45,080 --> 00:30:46,480 Thanks for that, Commissioner Curtis. 360 00:30:46,780 --> 00:30:56,160 I guess I will say that when I stepped into this office six years ago, one of the things I really did notice was siloing of departments 361 00:30:56,160 --> 00:31:02,320 and silos of local jurisdictions, you know, there wasn't, really wasn't enough collaboration. 362 00:31:03,000 --> 00:31:09,000 And we've seen progress in both of those areas, I would say, both internally and externally, 363 00:31:09,000 --> 00:31:12,180 but I think it's a good path to continue on. 364 00:31:13,940 --> 00:31:19,100 We can go to the next slide. So the next part of this is the implementation guide. And this 365 00:31:19,100 --> 00:31:24,420 translates the plan that you've just seen into a framework that's relevant for execution for 366 00:31:24,420 --> 00:31:33,180 for the county. So there's the strategic plan is a prioritization document. But one of the things 367 00:31:33,180 --> 00:31:37,940 that we see some of our clients, one of the errors that we see some of our clients make is 368 00:31:38,520 --> 00:31:45,220 once they pass the plan, they say go on everything allowance. And that's just not the reality of how 369 00:31:45,220 --> 00:31:50,280 government does its work, nor is there's capacity issues with that, there's not the reality of how 370 00:31:50,280 --> 00:31:56,440 departments work and it's not just not feasible. And so the Implementation Guide helps you kind of 371 00:31:56,440 --> 00:32:02,580 be deliberate in thinking about your implementation timelines around the partnerships that are needed. 372 00:32:02,940 --> 00:32:09,680 Commissioner, you mentioned it internal to the county but also external and names some dependencies to be 373 00:32:09,680 --> 00:32:19,480 able to do that. So we'll go here next to the next slide. So specifically in your packet, you have a 374 00:32:19,480 --> 00:32:21,420 recommendations around accountability and ownership. 375 00:32:22,020 --> 00:32:23,460 We'll talk about the operating model 376 00:32:24,020 --> 00:32:26,000 that's embedded within the implementation guide 377 00:32:26,000 --> 00:32:28,880 here in a second, implementation timelines 378 00:32:28,880 --> 00:32:29,440 and milestones. 379 00:32:30,340 --> 00:32:33,140 Not everything is, you know, be done 380 00:32:33,140 --> 00:32:36,060 by the end of quarter-four in 2027, 381 00:32:37,340 --> 00:32:38,900 internal implementation measures. 382 00:32:39,240 --> 00:32:41,580 So there are things that we're reporting externally, 383 00:32:42,700 --> 00:32:45,320 but there are things that our teams need to know 384 00:32:45,700 --> 00:32:47,240 that we need to hit internally 385 00:32:47,240 --> 00:32:48,400 to make sure that we're on progress, 386 00:32:48,400 --> 00:32:54,220 that maybe aren't as interesting to the public but it is important for our workflows. 387 00:32:54,580 --> 00:32:56,260 And so we need to make sure that those are articulated. 388 00:32:57,060 --> 00:32:58,220 Resource and investment needs. 389 00:32:59,000 --> 00:33:03,760 A lot of these are going to require resources, which means that there are trade-offs. 390 00:33:04,500 --> 00:33:05,600 And so we need to understand that. 391 00:33:06,200 --> 00:33:09,840 We don't want to put something in motion like in a performance metric. 392 00:33:10,500 --> 00:33:14,200 That's not, you know, resources in the way that it needs to be. 393 00:33:14,320 --> 00:33:18,100 Or else you're setting yourself up for difficult conversations on the line. 394 00:33:18,100 --> 00:33:20,900 and performance management and reporting processes, 395 00:33:21,360 --> 00:33:24,920 and then regular leadership review and adjustments schedules. 396 00:33:25,680 --> 00:33:27,120 And that's where the executive dashboard, 397 00:33:27,140 --> 00:33:28,580 which we won't go into today, 398 00:33:28,780 --> 00:33:30,540 but the executive dashboard comes into play 399 00:33:31,120 --> 00:33:33,640 around what level of information is the commission receiving 400 00:33:33,640 --> 00:33:36,080 at what cadence to understand, again, 401 00:33:36,240 --> 00:33:37,860 that the plan is moving forward, 402 00:33:38,380 --> 00:33:43,700 where are the needs for kind of evaluation changes 403 00:33:44,360 --> 00:33:47,120 and you're able to do that with a good transparent 404 00:33:47,760 --> 00:33:51,720 process and a dashboard that we have in your packet, but we won't go through today. 405 00:33:52,960 --> 00:33:58,980 Next slide. I mentioned not everything needs to start right at once. 406 00:33:59,440 --> 00:34:06,280 And there's a lot of foundation building that's required as part of this plan. 407 00:34:07,000 --> 00:34:12,280 And so we've provided kind of these phased approaches and have made specific recommendations 408 00:34:12,280 --> 00:34:15,400 recommendations of which elements of the major moves 409 00:34:15,400 --> 00:34:16,800 and others should go in which phase. 410 00:34:17,560 --> 00:34:20,640 In a lot of cases, you've already established a foundation 411 00:34:20,640 --> 00:34:22,340 and you're moving into phase two already. 412 00:34:22,600 --> 00:34:24,180 So not everything needs to start at phase one. 413 00:34:24,820 --> 00:34:27,360 In other cases, you need to be able to collect 414 00:34:27,360 --> 00:34:29,900 the right level of data, make sure it's organized, 415 00:34:30,500 --> 00:34:32,080 make sure it's relevant to the conditions 416 00:34:32,080 --> 00:34:33,580 that you're operating in. 417 00:34:33,960 --> 00:34:36,640 And so that first 12 months, we call established a foundation. 418 00:34:37,140 --> 00:34:39,160 Then you move into phase two, where 419 00:34:39,160 --> 00:34:41,540 you're tackling more organizational transformation 420 00:34:41,540 --> 00:34:43,360 based on data-informed decisions, 421 00:34:43,880 --> 00:34:45,560 taking a look at your major moves, 422 00:34:45,960 --> 00:34:47,580 phase three is then scaling success 423 00:34:47,580 --> 00:34:48,720 and demonstrating results, 424 00:34:49,160 --> 00:34:51,100 and then really throughout your sustaining, 425 00:34:51,340 --> 00:34:53,360 your evaluating, your improving as needed. 426 00:34:54,640 --> 00:34:55,040 Next slide. 427 00:34:57,600 --> 00:35:00,120 There's a constant prioritization tool 428 00:35:00,120 --> 00:35:02,520 around the implementation guide 429 00:35:02,520 --> 00:35:03,320 that's really important. 430 00:35:05,000 --> 00:35:07,100 You need to continue to prioritize 431 00:35:07,100 --> 00:35:10,100 your investments in initiative 432 00:35:10,100 --> 00:35:11,100 based on urgency. 433 00:35:11,100 --> 00:35:16,380 This is the issue affect the county's ability to meet its core responsibilities, impact 434 00:35:16,380 --> 00:35:20,640 while the action significantly improves outcomes for residents, businesses, or employees. 435 00:35:21,340 --> 00:35:25,700 Readiness, this one's really important because the county have the information, the partnerships, 436 00:35:26,360 --> 00:35:29,400 authority, or the capacity needed to proceed. 437 00:35:30,680 --> 00:35:35,960 Leverage can county action unlock additional public, private, or regional investments. 438 00:35:35,960 --> 00:35:43,960 So it's very common that in one of these actions, your action is not a financial contribution, 439 00:35:44,220 --> 00:35:49,880 it's a convening contribution, but it would really help to leverage other funding sources 440 00:35:49,880 --> 00:35:57,100 if you took a certain policy perspective or a policy or programmatic approach or a different 441 00:35:57,100 --> 00:36:03,800 level of commitment. That's leverage, right? And so that's a high leverage, high impact without needing 442 00:36:03,800 --> 00:36:06,080 kind of a funding commitment. 443 00:36:06,300 --> 00:36:08,240 In other cases, you need to identify funding 444 00:36:08,240 --> 00:36:09,800 before you can move forward, 445 00:36:10,020 --> 00:36:14,060 so that you need to kind of take a look 446 00:36:14,060 --> 00:36:16,580 at all of these for as you're making your decisions 447 00:36:16,580 --> 00:36:18,100 and implementation of the strategic plan. 448 00:36:20,080 --> 00:36:20,880 Next slide. 449 00:36:21,580 --> 00:36:22,620 The operating model. 450 00:36:23,220 --> 00:36:24,700 So for each of the actions, 451 00:36:25,040 --> 00:36:26,460 you have an executive sponsor, 452 00:36:26,620 --> 00:36:28,340 responsible for overall outcomes, 453 00:36:28,920 --> 00:36:31,540 a department lead responsible for execution, 454 00:36:31,540 --> 00:36:38,960 key partners. These are external partners typically. In some cases, other elected official 455 00:36:38,960 --> 00:36:46,300 offices. In other cases, nonprofits, responsible for coordination and support. You have defined 456 00:36:46,300 --> 00:36:51,480 milestones in performance measures, regular process reviews, progress reviews, and issue 457 00:36:51,480 --> 00:36:56,140 escalation. The implementation team is responsible for collaboration for breaking down silos. 458 00:36:56,140 --> 00:37:01,240 As we mentioned, the success of the strategic plan is really dependent on people working 459 00:37:01,240 --> 00:37:06,380 together because the issues are so overlapping and then defined decision points for resolving 460 00:37:06,380 --> 00:37:14,880 barriers and adjusting implementation approaches. Next slide. So where we're at is we'd love to, 461 00:37:15,240 --> 00:37:18,600 if you have any questions here, any final edits to the plan and the implementation guide. 462 00:37:19,280 --> 00:37:26,900 Our team is ready to move to kind of final drafting for a web ready and printed version in October 463 00:37:27,460 --> 00:37:32,300 And then we, of course, are available to continue to support implementation guide components 464 00:37:32,300 --> 00:37:32,760 as needed. 465 00:37:33,320 --> 00:37:34,160 There are the last slide. 466 00:37:36,230 --> 00:37:36,650 Any questions? 467 00:37:40,380 --> 00:37:42,600 I don't have any questions, but I do have some final comments. 468 00:37:43,580 --> 00:37:44,620 Thanks, Commissioner Curtis. 469 00:37:45,560 --> 00:37:45,680 Yeah. 470 00:37:47,560 --> 00:37:50,220 No, I don't think I have any other questions at the moment. 471 00:37:50,360 --> 00:37:51,920 I appreciate you walking through this. 472 00:37:52,060 --> 00:37:53,200 I mean, appreciate the process. 473 00:37:55,100 --> 00:37:57,380 Appreciate the fact that there's an implementation guide. 474 00:37:58,240 --> 00:38:00,400 You know, there's not just, okay, here's a plan. 475 00:38:00,400 --> 00:38:04,120 And here's my D is go do it, you know, I like that idea a lot. 476 00:38:04,780 --> 00:38:08,160 I also like the executive dashboard, where we're possible. 477 00:38:08,860 --> 00:38:13,040 We can in a tangible, measurable way demonstrate results. 478 00:38:13,360 --> 00:38:15,080 So I think those are definitely positives. 479 00:38:17,140 --> 00:38:21,460 There's that as we said, I think there's still things for me to adjust and 480 00:38:21,460 --> 00:38:27,580 think about and ruminate on and before I make a final statement or decision. 481 00:38:27,580 --> 00:38:33,980 but I think this is, you know, in general terms, I think this has been a very good approach, 482 00:38:34,180 --> 00:38:37,880 and I appreciate the work that you have led the county on. 483 00:38:40,560 --> 00:38:44,520 Well, I'll keep my comments brief. So first, I just want to say thank you, Commissioner. 484 00:38:44,660 --> 00:38:48,600 I want to thank the Board for supporting this endeavor last year in our budgeting process. 485 00:38:48,740 --> 00:38:52,960 You know, I've been reflecting a lot, and well, it would have been nice on day one of my term 486 00:38:52,960 --> 00:38:58,360 to have something like this. I'll be honest, in my fourth year as a commissioner, I can actually 487 00:38:58,360 --> 00:39:02,640 the implement, I can actually see pathways, I can actually put the pieces together and so 488 00:39:02,640 --> 00:39:07,460 I think the timing, at least for me, is right and I know you've got six, seven years under 489 00:39:07,460 --> 00:39:07,840 your belt. 490 00:39:08,380 --> 00:39:13,580 I've got four in Commissioner McKinney about the same and so first I just want to say thank 491 00:39:13,580 --> 00:39:13,980 you for that. 492 00:39:14,100 --> 00:39:17,560 The second I want to thank the countless stakeholders that were involved in this process. 493 00:39:17,560 --> 00:39:23,200 I think we had over 72, 75 individual stakeholders, stakeholders from our Ag sector, our business 494 00:39:23,900 --> 00:39:27,720 community, our higher education institutions, our council members. 495 00:39:27,720 --> 00:39:33,780 I mean, the list goes on and each one of them really brought a great perspective and they didn't hold anything back. 496 00:39:33,940 --> 00:39:44,560 And that's one thing I will call, call out, Audrey's on his unique ability to hear minority opinions and weave them into a collective agreement essentially. 497 00:39:44,680 --> 00:39:52,100 And the last thing I will say, you know, when we set out to do this process, you tasked, this board tasked myself. 498 00:39:52,100 --> 00:39:55,680 our county clerk, Bailey Maggard, and our budget director, 499 00:39:55,720 --> 00:40:00,820 Brown Carlson, to bring forward a consultant that we thought 500 00:40:00,820 --> 00:40:01,620 could do this work. 501 00:40:01,720 --> 00:40:06,440 And we had over, I think, 23 or 21 applications to go through. 502 00:40:06,540 --> 00:40:08,780 And of course, uncommon bridges rose to the top. 503 00:40:09,020 --> 00:40:10,240 And I'll say it today. 504 00:40:10,300 --> 00:40:12,600 I'm very proud that we chose uncommon bridges. 505 00:40:13,080 --> 00:40:16,240 Andres, you and your staff and the techniques that you guys deployed. 506 00:40:16,480 --> 00:40:18,140 I thought we're very, I'll say wholesome. 507 00:40:18,600 --> 00:40:21,120 I don't think that I've heard of a stakeholder that's 508 00:40:21,120 --> 00:40:27,040 been upset about us undergoing this process, and the last thing I'll say is I just echo 509 00:40:27,040 --> 00:40:31,380 your sentiments. It's nice to have a strategic plan, but it's equally as important to have 510 00:40:31,380 --> 00:40:36,900 that implementation guide, and so I'm really hopeful that this board will support the final 511 00:40:37,380 --> 00:40:42,100 work product in the end, and then I look forward to getting to work alongside you, Commissioner. 512 00:40:44,640 --> 00:40:48,640 Thank you very much, Commissioner Curtis. Appreciate your leadership on helping pull this together 513 00:40:48,640 --> 00:40:55,060 as well. I know it's taken a lot of a big investment of time on your part as well as others. 514 00:40:55,700 --> 00:40:59,900 All right. Thank you, Andreas. Appreciate the presentation. We're getting closer, aren't we? 515 00:41:01,980 --> 00:41:06,660 Okay. So with that, any new business spring for the board today? 516 00:41:06,900 --> 00:41:09,600 Nothing on my end, Commissioner. Okay. Julie, anything? 517 00:41:10,020 --> 00:41:13,700 Nothing for me. Okay. Nothing for me either. So I'll entertain a motion to adjourn. 518 00:41:13,880 --> 00:41:18,320 Commissioner, I move that we adjourn today's regular agenda. I'll second that motion for adjournment. 519 00:41:18,320 --> 00:41:19,920 All in favor signify by saying aye. 520 00:41:20,160 --> 00:41:20,300 Aye. 521 00:41:21,180 --> 00:41:21,580 We're adjourned. 522 00:41:21,940 --> 00:41:22,400 Thank you, everybody. 523 00:41:22,960 --> 00:41:24,000 Appreciate you being with us today. 524 00:41:24,780 --> 00:41:26,980 Have a great rest of your day on this official first day.