The Kansas Collaborative is a state/county/local partnership that provides a “vehicle” for facilitating collaboration between units of governments. The Kansas Collaborative strives to achieve three primary objectives with its work through Breakthrough Teams:
- Solve problems
- Save Money
- Network Leaders
In our January article we shared some of the problems that have been solved by Collaborative Breakthrough Teams as well as noted the $22 million that has been saved so far. This month we had the opportunity to meet and network with 86 commissioners at KAC’s Leadership Academy for County Commissioners as part of our “networking leaders” objective.
To share some data, 89 new commissioners were elected in November 2008, 70 of whom were in attendance at this 1-1/2 day workshop. As the workshop opened, participants were asked what they were most looking forward to learning. Following is a sample of the responses:
- Hearing insights about how to work well with others especially as it relates to working with elected and non-elected officials.
- Ethics…it may be legal but is it right?
- Innovative ideas for cutting costs and sharing services with others
- What liability are you taking on as a county commissioner? What can you do/not do?
This workshop included a number of informational presentations including open meetings and open records, dealing with the media, ethics, disaster planning, managing risk, building an effective county team, The Kansas Collaborative, local health department accreditation and the Kansas County Government Institute. Participants also had the opportunity to hear from former and current commissioners who shared their insights about what this role requires. Following are a few of the highlights from the experienced commissioners:
- You have a great chance to be a leader and set a positive tone for your county. One way to do so is to bring people in to be part of the solutions when a challenge needs to be addressed.
- The smartest thing we did was put together a staff team to write an employee handbook.
- There is an ongoing need to communicate with the public regarding what is/is not possible and where tax dollars are being spent.
- There can be a tendency to run with the first story you hear. There is a need to get both sides of any story.
- In terms of economic development it seems we were always trying to chase smokestacks. I found in the later years that it made more sense to try and help an existing business to expand.
- Keep an open-minded perspective with your constituents. Be approachable, get out and see what people are thinking and experiencing.
- As a commissioner you are constantly going through the balancing act to decide the importance – do I look at this from the individual, neighborhood or community standpoint?
As the workshop came to a close, those of you that have worked with us know that we like to ask participants to reflect on their experience. When we asked, “What will you tell people you have been doing the past day and a half?” some of the responses included:
- Learning how to be a commissioner
- Networking
- Working for those people that elected me
- Attending a KAC meeting and it is the best one I have ever attended
- Wondering what I got myself into
- Getting retraining on what I had forgotten
- Learning how to pull things together more effectively
We certainly appreciated the opportunity to be part of this introductory workshop and we look forward to working with each of you during 2009. You can always visit our website for more information at www.kansascollaborative.com
Until next month…
Kathleen and Joel