New mission, goals for Rockingham County

Staff members of Rockingham County government have significant changes on the horizon following the development of a new county mission statement and five overreaching goals for all departments.

Departments met with county commissioners and County Manager Lance Metzler to deliver a five-minute presentation on how they intend to meet those goals in the next fiscal year. Goals include how departments will control costs, get public feedback from citizens and improve efficiency.

Many departments are already participating in the Performance Measurement Project headed up by Adam Lindsay, director of administration. Departments that haven’t already signed up indicated they would do so as part of goal one to control costs using the performance system.

Social Services Director Larry Johnson said as part of goal three to create an environment conducive to economic growth, he will work on reducing duplication of staff workloads.

“We will also work to encourage greater participation and educate the citizens through the use of a citizen’s academy or other communication tools,” he said. “We will actively participate and assist with the development of curriculums, be available to answer questions and connect citizens with needed resources.”

Commissioner Craig Travis encouraged the Planning Department to perhaps look into working with the Rockingham County Partnership on Tourism and Development to identify areas of growth in Rockingham County, like those on the U.S. Highway 220 corridor and on U.S. Highway 158.

“There might be need of a grocery store or something else out there to keep money in the county,” he said. “I would like to see the Planning Department work closely with cities to give us more information on any economic development and see some businesses going in there.”

Commissioner Thomas Flynt said he heard some ambitious programs coming from departments and is very interested to see all the work being done to improve the state of Rockingham County.

“All the work that’s being done can be used as a stepping stone to enhance each of the departments and help us make good decisions,” he said. “These changes are going to be huge and have an impact on everyone…I also hope whatever we decide as far as programs, that we have the ability to continue these programs through future commissioners. The board you see sitting up here may not be the same five years from now.”

Commissioners also received an update on county projects. Human Resources Director Ben Neal presented a pay plan that could reclassify employee pay grades according to current industry standards. He said it’s a lengthy process that could take two to three years to complete.

“There are about a third of the positions that are market sensitive or need attention quicker,” he said. “Several months ago, adjustments were made on some that were real behind, but we need to do a third about every year to eliminate some of the sticker shock. It really needs to be done countywide, but the cost of that implementation would be greater than I’m willing to propose to the board.”

Metzler presented the problem of Rockingham County paying thousands to outfit law enforcement officers or emergency services workers, only having them leave for a better paying jobs in a few months.

A county succession plan for employment was also discussed due to the high number of staff reaching retirement age in the next several years. Neal said planning would be an ongoing process with many avenues being considered, including apprentice-like programs with new hires and having those retiring coming back to work on a part-time basis.