From Marv, our Founder and CEO --
Last year we posted an entry to this blog about our friends in Pinal County, AZ. The County Manager, Terry Doolittle, and the three Pinal County Commissioners had involved all of the County’s elected officials in the development of the County Strategic Plan.
At that time, Terry was the only County Manager we had worked with who had successfully involved all of the elected officials in developing the Plan. What we’ve seen most frequently over the years is that the County Commissioners and County Manager would develop the Strategic Plan; this has been a successful strategy in so ma
ny places. However, Terry did not want the Strategic Planning process to perpetuate a divide between the Commissioners, the agencies who report to them, and the other elected officials. We were very impressed that Pinal had pulled it off – successfully.
ny places. However, Terry did not want the Strategic Planning process to perpetuate a divide between the Commissioners, the agencies who report to them, and the other elected officials. We were very impressed that Pinal had pulled it off – successfully.Well, now we can add another success story. Jesse Smith, the County Manager in Montrose County, Colorado, has done it as well. He involved not only the three County Commissioners but also the Sheriff, other elected officials AND his department heads in the development of the Strategic Plan. Recently in Montrose, William Aaron, our Chief of Consulting Services and Innovation, and I facilitated the largest group we’ve ever worked with – more than 25 participants – in developing the Montrose County Strategic Plan. The Plan is built on extensive public input gathered in every geographic area of this large western US County, as well as input from all the elected officials and department heads. The Plan includes Issues facing residents, Priorities and measurable Strategic Results.
Montrose is set to take the next steps to develop Department Strategic Business Plans aligned to the County Strategic Plan, a Performance-Based Budget, and align Employee Performance to operational and strategic plans.
Congratulations to both Montrose County, CO and Pinal County, AZ for successfully involving the public and all elected decision makers in developing their County-wide Strategic Plans. This just may make it on our list of criteria for best managed County governments!
King County WA has recently developed a true countywide strategic plan that includes the participation of all of our independently elected officials (such as sheriff and assesor), including the legislative and judicial branches. The plan is available at: www.kingcounty.gov/strategicplan and is currently before Council for final review and approval.
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