6.0. SR 11-09-1998 - Laserfiche WebLink

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policies should deal with volunteer recognition. The manuals produced by Washington and Dakota Counties might serve as good examples for citizen participation policies. Finally, the County could broaden its efforts to include the participation of citizens in a wide variety of decisions. This could include the committees where membership now consists of only the County Commissioners and/or other County personnel. Most importantly, the program would require a conviction and demonstration on the part of elected officials and other county personnel that citizen participation will enhance the quality of government in Sherburne County. With this attitude, participation in a committee structure would be strongly encouraged, the input from committees would be highly regarded, and there would be no question that citizen participation would be taken seriously. 2. The County_ Commissioners have been involved in many committees which may be labeled as micro-management. When Sherburne County was smaller in population, micro-management may have been possible without causing publicly noticeable damage to the Commissioners' proper role of policy making and future planning. As the County increases in population, however, it is time for the Commissioners to adjust and think in terms of future growth. In the League's opinion, one of the most important functions of a county board of commissioner is to plan for the future, and to make policy decisions that affect that future. It is always easier, of course, to delve into narrower administrative issues, and to put off' or avoid completely the broader planning issues. But the danger of micro-management is a preoccupation with, and a reaction to, time consuming issues which can easily be managed on other levels, instead of overall proactive policy formation. Other counties have noted also that meetings of the board of county commissioners can be much shorter when much of the preliminary work is accomplished on other levels. It may be time, therefore, for the County Commissioners to reconsider its membership on those committees which can be categorized as purely internal management committees. If good staff have been retained, confidence can be placed in their ability to make recommendations which then can be judged by the Board of Commissioners. The danger of micro-management also provides another reason for the Commissioners to reconsider its involvement in the eight committees without current citizen participation. RECOMMENDATIONS In order to help assure that citizen participation can contribute to the quality of county government, the Citizens League makes the following recommendations.