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Into the information age President Young launches initiative to produce statistical State of the Counties report With hopes of building on a successful legislative session that saw counties forge a renewed partnership with state government leaders, the Association will embark on a mission to boost its reputation as a reliable source for information and statistics under the leadership of 2007-08 President David Young.
In collaboration with the Institute of Emerging Issues at N.C. State and the School of Government at UNC-Chapel Hill, the Association will collect and compile data from all 100 counties for inclusion in a State of the Counties report that is to be released at the 2008 Annual Conference in Craven County, the Buncombe County commissioner announced. “When a legislator is considering a bill, we want him or her to first consult with the Association to ascertain the impact of any changes – knowing that we will give accurate and unbiased statistics,” Young said. “This data will allow us to quickly analyze the fiscal impact of proposed legislation on each of our counties. “Nothing of this magnitude has ever been done in the history of our Association.” Past presidents Kitty Barnes (Catawba County) and Terry Garrison (Vance County) will co-chair a special task force that will oversee the creation of the report. Young was sworn in as the Association’s 91st president during the 100th Annual Conference, which was held Aug. 16-19 in Cumberland County.
Garrison concluded his term as president by thanking county officials for their hard work over the past year on achieving county Medicaid relief and strengthening counties’ partnership with state officials. “[Legislators] would not have been so understanding if you had not helped educate them, not just about Medicaid, but about other issues we are facing,” he said. “Our organization has transformed into a very strong grassroots advocacy group, and the county officials around the state deserve all the credit for that.” President Young and Past President Garrison will serve as 2007-08 officers along with President Elect Bill Kopp (New Hanover), First Vice President Mary Accor (Cleveland) and Joe Bryan (Wake), who emerged victorious over Pender County Chairman F.D. Rivenbark in the race for second vice president.
Roughly 375 elected and appointed county officials attended the conference, which featured two sessions with Michael Gelb, a pioneer in the fields of creative thinking, accelerated learning and innovative leadership. Familiar faces line Board of Directors Young’s Board of Directors features 10 past presidents of the Association. In addition to Garrison (immediate past president) and Barnes (2005-06) as task force co-chairs, New Hanover’s Bobby Greer (1998-99) will co-chair the Legislative Goals Committee with Orange’s Moses Carey Jr. (1993-94). Cumberland’s Billy King (1996-97), Wake’s Betty Lou Ward (1994-95) and Vance’s Danny Wright (1997-98) already serve on the Board of Directors by virtue of their positions on the NACo Board.
Young’s colleague on the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners, Bill Stanley (1999-2000), joined Mecklenburg’s Dumont Clarke, Cumberland’s Kenneth Edge, Cabarrus’ Joni Juba and Richmond’s Jimmy Maske as at-large directors. Cumberland’s J. Breeden Blackwell (2004-05) and Robeson’s Noah Woods (2003-04) will co-chair the Public Education Steering Committee. Other steering committee assignments are:
Representatives of odd-numbered Association districts elected new directors to two-year terms. See page 2 for a listing of district directors and Board members. County officials ‘mind’ their business through Gelb teachings
Gelb, author of “How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci: Seven Steps to Genius Every Day,” spoke during the opening general session about how attendees can “re-genius” themselves by gaining back the genius they were born with. Gelb encouraged attendees to use the seven principles he has found that define the thinking of da Vinci. One of those principles was curiosity – da Vinci was driven by his curiosity, Gelb explained, and that curiosity led to some forward-thinking inventions, such as the parachute, which da Vinci dreamed up before man took flight.
“You could use that kind of thinking in your county, couldn’t you?” Gelb asked attendees. He encouraged commissioners to keep a journal and write down ideas that come to them when they are relaxed – in the bed, in the shower, etc. He also encouraged attendees to look at their ideas from three different angles in order to achieve an objective point of view of their creations. “Leonardo said the five sensations are the minister of the soul,” Gelb said. “Five hundred years ago, [he] wrote that the average person looks without seeing, hears without listening, touches without feeling, breathes in without awareness of aroma or fragrance, eats without tasting and talks without thinking.”
By honing one’s own sensations, Gelb explained, commissioners can better perform the critical job of running a county and serving constituents. During the second general session Aug. 18, Gelb led a workshop in which attendees learned techniques that would help them map out their thoughts onto paper and reach conclusions and solutions that they otherwise would not have thought of. In other news from the conference:
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