County Solutions is conducting an assessment of the needs and opportunities for county commissioners in convening and participating in collaborative problem solving efforts in their communities and regions. It is apparent that effectively supporting commissioners and judges and their staffs will require building the capacity to be responsive when issues or opportunities present themselves.
Over the last three months we have been learning about how this could work through some early pilot projects and by evaluating the kinds of institutional relationships we might develop with state agencies and other partners going forward. Collaborative efforts we have been involved in include issues such as: public access to recreational facilities, tying workforce development strategies to specific industrial lands, development of power generation facilities, veterans transportation needs, and Sister County agreements for disaster preparedness and land use issues.
We have also been monitoring community based initiatives that will provide excellent opportunities for commissioners and judges to use their convening authority to provide leadership for local collaborative action. Two examples include the new workforce investment act and the new local workforce regions and integrated place-based water planning approved this session.
In addition, we have been asked to serve on a steering committee for the Foundations of Oregon to assist in developing collaborative community strategies for rural economic development. Finally, AOC County Solutions has been been assisting the Northern Oregon Regional Correctional Facility (NORCOR) serving Wasco,Hood River, Gilliam and Sherman Counties in developing collaborative financial sustainability strategies. We will discuss these and other efforts at the AOC Summer Summit.
Greg Wolf is the Director of the Oregon County Solutions Center.