July 9, 2010
County/Library Consolidation Process Underway
Earlier this week, Library Director Charles Brown and I appointed members of our respective staff to serve on a steering committee that will consider additional consolidation options between Mecklenburg County and the Public Library. General Manager John McGillicuddy and the Public Library’s consultant Sean Hogue will serve as co-chairs of the steering committee. We also have agreed on the process the steering committee will use to evaluate consolidation options in the following areas:
- Financial Management (finance and budgeting)
- Human Resources
- Information Technology
- Capital Projects Management
- Public Information/Communications
The steering committee will hold its initial meeting later this month to begin organizing work teams and project plans/timelines for each area above. Findings and recommendations of the steering committee will be provided to the Library Director and County Manager. Mr. Brown and I will provide our recommendations to a six-member subcommittee comprising three members of the Library Board of Trustees and three members of the Board of County Commissioners.
The Library Board has appointed to this subcommittee Bob Sink, Molly Griffin and Darrel Williams. Chairman Roberts has appointed Harold Cogdell, Dan Murrey and Karen Bentley to serve on this subcommittee. The subcommittee’s recommendations will be provided to the Library Board and the Board of County Commissioners for final decision.
On a parallel track to this consolidation process, we also had conversations with Library staff and some of the Library Board members regarding the proposed citizen task force that would consider reinventing the Public Library’s business model. We agreed to form a joint staff team to design this task force process, with the goal of having a task force in place and ready to work by early September. Charles Brown and I will use the staff team’s recommendations to design how the citizen task force will be selected, charged, informed and supported. The Public Library plans to submit an application to the Community Catalyst Fund for a Collaboration and Strategic Restructuring Grant for this process. Finally, the Public Library asked former UNC-Charlotte Chancellor Dr. Jim Woodward to serve as chair of the task force and he has agreed.
Board members with questions should contact General Manager John McGillicuddy via email or 704-336-2661.
Mecklenburg County Tapping into Citizen Involvement Expert
Foundation of the Carolinas (FFTC) and The Knight Foundation are hosting citizen involvement discussions on Monday, July 12 beginning with a breakfast for elected officials from 8-9:30am at the Duke Mansion. Members of the Board of County Commissioners, Charlotte City Council and the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education have been invited to participate in a dialogue with Matt Leighninger, one of the nation’s foremost experts on citizen involvement. In addition, Mr. Leighninger will speak at a forum of other community leaders about citizen involvement from 4-6 p.m. at the Knight Theater. The Lee Institute is collaborating with the FFTC and Knight Foundation in organizing these events.
Mr. Leighninger also has agreed to discuss citizen involvement with Mecklenburg County staff at a luncheon with County department directors and other managers. This discussion will include Mecklenburg County’s plans to elevate citizen involvement as a new standard for how we operate and provide services.
Over the past 16 years, Mr. Leighninger has worked with public engagement efforts in more than 100 communities in 40 states and four Canadian provinces. He is the executive director of the Deliberative Democracy Consortium (DDC), The DDC is an alliance of the major organizations and leading scholars working in the field of public engagement and deliberation. He also is Senior Associate for Everyday Democracy and serves on the boards of E-Democracy.Org, the National School Public Relations Association, and the Democracy Imperative. His first book– The Next Form of Democracy: How Expert Rule is Giving Way to Shared Governance – and Why Politics Will Never Be the Same – traces the recent shifts in the relationship between citizens and government, and examines how these trends are reshaping our democracy.
We are grateful that Mr. Leighninger has taken an interest in Mecklenburg County’s approach to citizen involvement and is willing to offer us his expertise and experience on this matter.
Board members with questions should contact General Manager John McGillicuddy via email or 704-336-2661.
Rethinking MRF
As Board members are aware, the City of Charlotte and other Mecklenburg municipalities have undertaken changes in the curbside collection of recycled materials. Coinciding with these efforts is a significant investment in and major changes to the processing of the expanded list of recyclables at the County-owned Metrolina Recycling Facility (MRF).
The MRF recently completed a $7.3 million refit, enabling both the recycling of additional materials and the ability to collect these materials from a single roll-out container. The improvements to the facility have allbeen funded by the sale of the materials recycled.
More than 60,000 tons of recyclables were received, sorted, and prepared for market at the MRF in the past year. A 5 to 10 percent increase in incoming recyclables is expected this year, with continuing increases as the service matures.
In addition to the recycling collection process changes and the MRF retrofit, Mecklenburg County and the city of Charlotte also partnered to adopt the same recycling guidelines for their respective employees. All items accepted for recycling in the residential program are now accepted in all designated County/City employee recycling bins. The County and City also are using the same “Rethink Recycling” promotional message from the residential program.
More information on the MRF and Rethink Recycling is available at http://wipeoutwaste.com.
- Harry L. Jones, Sr., County Manager
CALENDAR REMINDER
Monday, July 12, 2010
- 8-9:30, Citizen Involvement Breakfast, Duke Mansion
During the months of July and August, the Board of County Commissioners will follow a modified summer schedule, meeting once a month. The next BOCC meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, August 3. Notice regarding Board Committee meetings will be sent in advance of meeting(s) if scheduled.