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99th Annual Conference President Garrison, Association forge ahead with goal of creating partnership with state Us vs. them: It’s not a mindset that correlates with cooperation, is it?
But in recent legislative sessions, county advocates may have felt they were seen as another competing interest, rather than a partner in delivering services to the public. Vance County Commissioner Terry Garrison stated his intent to help change the “us vs. them” mentality and create a new partnership with the legislative and executive branches of state government when he was sworn in Sept. 9 as the Association’s 90th president. “A good partnership is just like good communication: It’s a two-way street,” Garrison said. “Both sides must be engaged and committed to make it work.”
The 99th NCACC Annual Conference, held Sept. 7 – 10 in Forsyth County, brought legislators, representatives of the governor’s office and other experts to the table with county officials for a discussion on the future of the delivery of governmental services. Serving as a springboard to a legislative study of the state-county fiscal relationship, all parties voiced suggestions on what needs to be addressed and how a redefined relationship could work. Three conference workshops focused on specific areas – human services, education, and tax and finance – that are viewed as key elements in the new partnership. Keynote speaker Carl Neu addressed how levels of government in other states are forming new partnerships, and Dr. Roland Stephen of the Institute for Emerging Issues identified responsibilities and revenues targeted for change. Garrison stressed that now, perhaps more than ever, the state’s 100 counties need to band together to help untangle the mishmash of responsibilities shared between state and county governments. “It is imperative that we continue to speak, to think, and to act as one body,” he said. “The strength of this Association has always been in its unity. We’re not always going to agree on what the best approach is to a problem. But we must always agree that we will work together to overcome our problems.”
Garrison’s primary presidential initiative follows a successful term by Past President Kitty Barnes of Catawba County, who worked closely with Association staff to ensure a plan of action was in place for the implementation of the five strategic goals identified during the long-range planning and visioning initiative. “In North Carolina, one size does not fit all,” Barnes said. “At the end of the day, we have realized the necessity of picking common grounds to fill a toolbox with options to provide our members and their constituents with the services necessary for the health, education and welfare of this state. “I truly believe that the means to address our issues have been encompassed within the strategic plan.” Kopp, Accor in line of succession
Members elected two new officers to help carry out the vision for the Association in the future. First Vice President Bill Kopp of New Hanover County and Second Vice President Mary Accor of Cleveland County joined Garrison, President Elect David Young of Buncombe County and Past President Barnes as 2006-07 officers. Garrison announced that Moses Carey of Orange County and Amy Stevens of Lee County would co-chair the Legislative Goals Committee, and appointed several other commissioners to the Board of Directors. Lincoln County Chair Tom Anderson, Wake County’s Joe Bryan and Mecklenburg County’s Norman Mitchell will serve as at-large directors along with past presidents DuPont Davis of Hertford County and Billy King of Cumberland County.
Pete Averette of Granville County (Agriculture), Jimmy Clayton of Person County, (Environment) and Joni Juba of Cabarrus County (Criminal Justice) were appointed to the board as steering committee chair, and Cumberland County’s Breeden Blackwell will serve as the Risk Management Pools’ Board of Trustees representative. Barnes (Public Education), Accor (Human Resources), Kopp (Intergovernmental Relations) and Young (Tax and Finance) will chair the four other steering committees. Delegates from the NCACC’s even-numbered districts caucused Sept. 8 to elect new directors to two-year terms. A full listing of district directors and Board of Directors members can be found here. Got issues? The state as a whole is dealing with its transition from a manufacturing to a services-based economy, according to Stephen, assistant director for research and policy for the Institute for Emerging Issues. Stephen said an aging population – especially in rural areas – presents a challenge that is equally daunting as the boom in school-age children in urbanizing areas. Uneven growth in population means that the state must assume the costs of programs such as Medicaid, he added, but that’s only part of the solution. A comprehensive modernization of the state’s 75-year-old tax and finance system must occur because it discriminates against manufacturing, relies on a base that is shrinking, is dependent on personal income tax and is volatile. Estimated infrastructure needs outpace resources by $30 billion, according to the Institute. “You’d be fooling yourself if you thought … these issues could be solved in isolation,” he said. A modernized system of taxation would be sufficient to deal with shifting economies and population fluctuations, efficient in terms of discouraging waste while encouraging growth, and equitable in how it treats residents and businesses. ‘Neu’ ways of looking at revenues and responsibilities Neu, a national authority on the theory and practice of local government leadership, told attendees at the opening general session that creative political thinkers who are involved in transforming local government operate on four key premises, one of which states that paternalism is based upon authority and a sense of superiority and is not a partnership. “That leads to a demeaning set of behaviors,” he said. “In many cases the local government officials are saying to the state government officials, ‘Gee, don’t you live in our neighborhood too?’” Neu described approaches taken in four states – Oregon, California, Texas and Minnesota – to address the blurring of services at the county and state levels.
Oregon took what Neu termed a respectful yet subtle services delivery approach to change by aligning services in five categories – health and community services; public safety; economic development, natural resources and recreation; transportation and land use; and other community services – then defining each service as being either state-provided, county-provided, or shared. The simple organizational chart makes it easy to understand which entity provides and pays for which services. Minnesota set out on an extensive three-year “Futures Project” work plan with three broad tasks: creating a center for excellence in local government, initiating initiatives and special projects, and encouraging local government association collaboration and cooperation. In cases Neu cited, local governments provided the primary push for a renewed partnership. “County governments are uniquely suited to lead the ‘change charge,’” Neu said. Ideas abound for ‘Untangling the Web’ County officials clamoring for change found willing partners in the legislators and state officials participating in the “Untangling the Web” series of workshops. From the General Assembly, Sens. Dan Clodfelter (Mecklenburg County) and A.B. Swindell (Nash County) and Rep. Jeff Barnhart (Cabarrus County) all participated as workshop panelists. Responses on future structure ranged from subtle (the Oregon approach) to radical. Barnhart, who participated in the Human Services session, said within two years he would like to see an outline of responsibilities with matching funding sources and greater public input. “We’ve not only got to look at funding, but who’s in charge,” he said.
Clodfelter, a Tax and Finance session panelist, cautioned counties against “quick fixes” such as impact and land transfer fees, and advocated a wide-ranging approach that would involve changes to corporate, individual income and sales taxes. While agreeing with Dan Gerlach, Gov. Easley’s senior policy advisor, that some income taxes would be shared with local governments, Clodfelter said county use of property tax would be restricted for use on physical facilities and services to property – “what it was originally intended for.” Counties would no longer share the state’s Medicaid burden under the senator’s plan, but would participate in funding transportation infrastructure. “We’re in another 1930s,” Clodfelter said. “The nature of what’s happening in the state is as radical as it was then. I really don’t think a menu of revenue options solves any of your problems.” One thing all panelists agreed on is that the relationship between levels of government needs to be clarified. “Funding unfortunately drives policy and relationships,” said Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Carmen Hooker-Odom. “We really do have to roll up our sleeves and decide what areas the state must be funding.” Last but not least: Medicaid Encompassed within a study of the state-county fiscal relationship is, of course, a serious look at county participation in Medicaid program funding. During Barnes’ presidency, counties for the first time achieved some measure of relief from their growing and mandated share of Medicaid. Barnes credited commissioners from around the state with elevating the issue to the point that members of the General Assembly had to address it in the state budget. “It is on the radar screen of the General Assembly, the governor, and the press,” Barnes said of counties’ need for Medicaid relief. “The reason for that is you. You picked up the phone, you went to Raleigh, and you e-mailed people and drove them nuts. And I love you for it. “You helped make new champions for county government that will be beneficial to us as we go forward with the Legislature.” In other conference news:
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