Participation is the key to change

The planning is over. It’s time to roll up our sleeves and get to the business of recreating this Association.

Four years ago, the NCACC Board of Directors embarked on an ambitious strategic planning and visioning initiative. During that time, consultants from the School of Government and Leading and Governing Associates have conducted hundreds of interviews with county commissioners – past and present – state legislators and other state and local officials around the nation.

Literally hundreds of ideas and suggestions have been generated during this process, many of which revolve around one distinct theme – counties can’t go it alone. This initiative has resulted in a road map for the future for counties and for the Association. At the Board’s Oct. 14-15 meeting, we adopted our vision of how the Association can best serve the needs of its members and the citizens of North Carolina. This vision consists of five strategic goals:

• Facilitate regional and intergovernmental collaboration;
• Redefine the role of counties and the state-county relationship by creating a partnership with the state;
• Strengthen county leadership and board development;
• Enhance the ability of county officials to represent counties and NCACC on local and statewide issues; and
• Inform and educate the public and media about county government.

This is an exciting time for counties, the Board of Directors and Association staff. For nearly 100 years, this Association has served the needs of our members with distinction. It is our hope that this process will enable the Association to continue this tradition of service for the next century.

The Association staff is already hard at work developing its implementation plan to achieve this vision. In the coming days, weeks and months, you will be hearing and reading a lot about the results of their work.

But this effort is far too big for staff to carry the entire load. If counties are to create a true partnership with state government, if we want to take the lead in facilitating regional collaboration with cities and school boards, if we want to educate the public about county government, then we all have a role to play. The issues are too complex and the stakes are too high for any of us to think it is OK to remain on the sidelines.

As the Association begins to roll out its plans for achieving this vision, there will be ample opportunities for all of us to get involved. Please don’t let an opportunity pass you by.