County will share results of district `listeningtours'.Byline: Matt Cooper Matt Cooper may refer to:
Lane County Administrator Bill Van Vactor has been with the county for more than 30 years, and he's never seen a broader effort to reach the public. Of course, he's never seen a bigger crisis either, he said Friday. "Within four years we're going to lose roughly one-quarter of our general fund," Van Vactor said. "We're going to face questions like whether or not we can keep the jail open." In the coming months, the county will continue an all-out effort to gather feedback on how to run government if federal timber funding comes to an end. Congress is debating renewal of the funding "the so-called `county payments' replace historic timber receipts - but the best-case scenario is a drastic cut in money and an end to the program in four years, Van Vactor said. Without the money, the county must consider huge cuts to public safety and a public works department Many governments worldwide have had departments or ministries referred to as the Public Works Department either formally or informally. In Australia: - New South Wales -
tr. & intr.v. wors·ened, wors·en·ing, wors·ens To make or become worse. Noun 1. worsening - process of changing to an inferior state decline in quality, deterioration, declension traffic, Van Vactor said. The five county commissioners recently completed town hall-style "listening tours" in their districts, seeking guidance on where to cut or how to raise more money. The results will be presented Wednesday. The coming months will include polling, electronic surveys, employee and citizen focus groups and a discussion about the strategy moving forward. The county hasn't earmarked money for the ongoing public outreach Outreach is an effort by an organization or group to connect its ideas or practices to the efforts of other organizations, groups, specific audiences or the general public. , but could tap existing funds or savings from unfilled positions to hire help in gathering feedback, Van Vactor said. The last funding crisis of this scale - a plunge The term Plunge has multiple meanings:
tr.v. per·plexed, per·plex·ing, per·plex·es 1. To confuse or trouble with uncertainty or doubt. See Synonyms at puzzle. 2. To make confusedly intricate; complicate. because it was rightly assumed that the sales would bounce back, Van Vactor said. Given environmental restrictions on logging today, it's unlikely that increased timber sales could fully replace a loss of the federal funding, officials have said. "Really, what we're building up to is a long-term strategy" to operate without the federal money, Van Vactor said. About 250 people attended the tours - about 50 per tour - and another 150 were surveyed at last summer's county fair. Almost 40 percent said the county's biggest challenge is crime or a lack of public safety services. Another 33 percent said affordable health care and about 25 percent said jobs and the economy, the county said. Slightly more than half of respondents In the context of marketing research, a representative sample drawn from a larger population of people from whom information is collected and used to develop or confirm marketing strategy. said public safety is the most important service, while almost 40 percent said public health. But respondents gave no clear direction on whether to cut services or raise taxes and fees in an absence of federal money. About 33 percent said "reorganize re·or·gan·ize v. re·or·gan·ized, re·or·gan·iz·ing, re·or·gan·iz·es v.tr. To organize again or anew. v.intr. To undergo or effect changes in organization. for increased efficiency," and another 33 percent said "increase revenues," the county said. Among 450 written comments submitted by the public, one could find the severe, the philosophical and the hopeful. One respondent In Equity practice, the party who answers a bill or other proceeding in equity. The party against whom an appeal or motion, an application for a court order, is instituted and who is required to answer in order to protect his or her interests. said commissioners should boost support for an income tax by making cuts "big and bloody." Another, on the subject of priorities, said, "fun - don't forget happiness." "These groups are great," one respondent said, referring to the listening tours. "Can you set aside (time for) meeting individually with people or e-mail?" WHAT'S AHEAD The Lane County commissioners are reaching out to the public on the financial situation. Wednesday: Feedback on commissioner listening tours, 9 a.m. in the conference room, Public Service Building, 125 E. Eighth Ave., Eugene November: Polling, electronic survey and employee focus groups December: Results presented; budget developed January: Citizen focus group; strategic planning Strategic planning is an organization's process of defining its strategy, or direction, and making decisions on allocating its resources to pursue this strategy, including its capital and people. |
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