“The wisdom to know and the courage to defend the

public interest”

National Association of Counties • Washington, D.C. www.naco.org • www.countynews.org

Vol. 37 No. 11 • June 6, 2005

Quik Takes

■ See WIR on page 7

Inside this issue ...

■ See PRESCRIPTION on page 6

Source: Census Bureau / Map from ESRI

States with highest percent of total population who voted in 2004 elections2004 elections

Minnesota 76.7 %Wisconsin 73 %Maine 72 %North Dakota 70.8 %Oregon 70.6 %

BY M. MINDY MORETTI

SENIOR STAFF WRITER

The sun shone brightly as more than 300 delegates gathered in Pierce County (Tacoma), Wash. for the 51st annual Western Interstate Region (WIR) conference.

In addition to the uncharacteris-tically fantastic weather, delegates were also treated to a variety of speakers and workshop presenters

Montana’s Eissinger offi cially takes over as president of WIR

NACo’s Board of Directors unanimously approved an expan-sion of the association’s prescrip-tion drug discount card program, which seeks to help consumers cope with the high price of pre-scription drugs. The move by the board, May 27, will allow all member counties of NACo to participate.

The program, which had been operating as a pilot program for eight months, has saved residents in 17 counties more than $658,000 on prescription drugs with an overall average savings rate of 19 percent. More than 48,000 prescriptions have been filled

through the pilot program.“Millions of Americans are cur-

rently uninsured or underinsured,” said NACo President and Lake County, Ill. Board Member Angelo D. Kyle. “We hope that this card

Prescription plan now open to all members

Photo courtesy of Pinellas County Communications Department

She was always a bridesmaid, but never a bride – until this year. Fort De Soto Park’s North Beach, seen here at sunset, often made the list of the country’s Top Ten Beaches since the list was fi rst published in 1991 by Dr. Stephen Leatherman, AKA “Dr. Beach.” This year, though, the Pinellas County park made a big splash with the good doctor and eased out some tough competitors in Hawaii and North Carolina’s Outer Banks to gain the top spot.

“North Beach at Fort De Soto Park is a natural jewel on the fi nger of a sun-drenched city,” Leatherman said. “It’s a long, wide sugar sand beach with great shelling and thriving natural dunes on the Gulf of Mexico.”

The largest park within the Pinellas County park system, Fort De Soto consists of 1,136 acres on fi ve intercon-nected islands. Park attendance averages more than 2.7 million visitors each year. An historic fort built during the Spanish-American War that includes a 12-inch mortar battery adds to the park’s historic interest.

Leatherman, who directs the International Hurricane Research Center and Laboratory for Coastal Research at Florida International University, chooses his Top Ten Beaches based on 50 criteria that help him evaluate scientifi c and ecologic factors, facilities and management.

discussing everything from metham-phetamines to gateway community planning to cooperative agency status and so much more.

Connie Eissinger, commissioner, McCone County, Mont., was offi cial-ly installed as WIR president. Del-egates also elected Robert Cope, com-missioner, Lemhi County, Idaho as

— which costs nothing for the resi-dent and for the county to participate — can help people fi ght the rising costs of prescription drugs.”

BY M. MINDY MORETTI

SENIOR STAFF WRITER

Proving that getting out of the classroom and into the great outdoors can be just as rewarding, about 50 WIR attendees left the confi nes of the Greater Tacoma Convention Center and traversed Pierce County on three different educational fi eld trips.

Gateway Community Planning Tour

About 25 conference attendees boarded an early morning bus for the scenic drive to Mt. Rainier.

All 235,625 acres of Mt. Rainier National Park fall within Pierce

WIR attendees experience issues through fi eld trips

■ See TRIPS on page 9

Photo by M. Mindy Moretti

The new WIR executive committee takes a moment to pose for their fi rst offi cial photograph, (l to r) Second Vice President Alan Gardner, commissioner, Washington County, Utah; President Connie Eissinger, commissioner, McCone County, Mont.; and First Vice President Robert Cope, commissioner, Lemhi County, Idaho.

Best in U.S. — Pinellas County, Fla. park tops list for best beach

Homeland security approps and department authorization bills move in Congress. See page 2.

Counties face another set of deadlines for voting compliance. See page 3.

New emission standards on the horizon for county fl eets. See page 8.

Filmmaker who explores meth use will speak at Annual Conference. See page 9.

2 County News, June 6, 2005

BY DALEN A. HARRIS

ASSOCIATE LEGISLATIVE DIRECTOR

The House of Representatives gave the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) a $1.4 billion boost, when it overwhelmingly passed the appropriations measure funding op-erations in FY06. The fi nal total of $30.8 billion is an increase over the current year and $1.3 billion more than the president requested.

The legislation provides prior-ity funding to the nation’s state and local fi rst responders and other national public safety initiatives for FY06. It would also provide fund-ing and legislative enhancements to various other proposals important to counties, ranging from funding state and local counter-terrorism activities to the modernization of antiquated fl ood maps.

The fi nal bill provides a total of $3.4 billion for state and local fi rst responders programs, a decrease of more than $281 million from FY05. Specifi cally, the bill provides fund-ing to state and local governments for some of the following key programs:

• $750 million in funding for DHS’ State Homeland Security

Grant Program (a decrease of $335 million)

• $1.215 billion for high-density urban areas (an increase of $330 million), including $850 million for urban area grants, $150 million for rail security (equal to FY05 level), $150 million for port security (equal to FY05 level), and $65 million for other infrastructure protection (an increase of $55 million)

• $400 million for DHS’ Law Enforcement Terrorism Prevention Program Grant Program (equal to FY05 level)

• $180 million for DHS’ Emer-gency Management Performance Grant Program (equal to FY05 level)

• $650 million for fi re grants (a decrease of $65 million)

• $200 million for fi rst responder training (a decrease of $246 million), and

• directs that no less than 10 per-cent of basic formula grants ($750 million) and urban area grants ($850 million) be provided to Emergency Medical Service (EMS) providers.

Additional programs funded in the legislation of interest to counties include the Disaster Relief Fund ($2

House approves Homeland Security appropriation bill

‘First’ Homeland Security Authorization Bill

After completing passage of DHS appropriations, the House passed the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) fi rst authorization bill, H.R. 1817. The $34.2 billion legislation, sponsored by Rep. Christopher Cox (R-Calif.), chair of the House Homeland Security Committee, pro-vides a comprehensive roadmap for activities and programs at DHS that was missing when the department was fi rst created by Congress.

Cox has attempted to enact an annual authorization bill for the past two years, and while this new bill does not make major changes to the overall structure of DHS, it would enhance the department’s operations and lays the foundation for a more comprehensive annual review by Congress.

“This comprehensive legislation is the fi rst of what will be annual authorizations of all of the programs and policies of the Department of Homeland Security,” said Representative Cox in a statement.

In general, the measure would increase the number of border agents, refi ne the color-coded terror alert system, and enhance the department’s infrastructure and intelligence “directorate.” The bill passed by a vote of 424 to 4.

Regarding the color-coded terror alert system, the bill proposes to limit the geographic area covered during any elevation of the threat level and directs DHS to communicate specifi c threat information directly to local and state governments.

Additionally, the bill authorizes $40 million to help state and lo-cal law enforcement offi cials enforce federal immigration laws and provide training manuals to state and local offi cials on the detention of illegal immigrants.

On the fl oor, House Democrats were defeated, 230 –196, in their attempt to add $6.9 billion in funding to the legislation. The amend-ment would have increased funding for various critical infrastructure facilities, and DHS grant programs to state and local governments.

In the Senate, Susan Collins (R-Maine), chair of the Senate Home-land Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, has repeatedly said she prefers to act on an authorization bill next year. Nonetheless, the Senate may draft stand-alone bills.

billion), the Flood Map Modernization Program ($200 million), Predisaster Mitigation Grants ($150 million), university-based centers of excellence ($65 million), Citizen Corps ($45 million), Metropolitan Medical Response System ($40 million) and the Emergency Food and Shelter Program ($153 million).

The House Appropriations Com-mittee cited the future implementation of DHS’ National Preparedness Goal

Department of Homeland Security BudgetOffi ce of State and Local Government Coordination and Preparedness

Key State and Local ProgramsFY05 Enacted

in millions

FY06 President’s Budget Request

in millions

FY06 House Proposed Budget

in millions

FY05 vs FY06

in millions

State Homeland Security Grant Program $1,085 $1,020 $750 -$335

Urban Area Security Initiative and Critical infrastructure Protection

$885 $1,020 $1,215 $330

Law Enforcement Terrorism Prevention Grant $400 $0 $400 $0

FIRE Grants $715 $500 $650 -$65

Emergency Management Performance Grant $180 $170 $180 $0

State and Local Training Programs $446 $204 $200 -$246

Citizen Corps $15 $50 $40 $25

Metropolitan Medical Response System $30 $0 $40 $10

Subtotal $3,756 $2,964 $3,475 -$281

Emergency Preparedness and Response

Key State and Local ProgramsFY05 Enactedin millions

FY06 President’s Budget Requestin millions

FY06 House Proposed Budgetin millions

FY05 vs FY06in millions

Disaster Relief Fund $2,042 $2,140 $2,000 -$42

Flood Map Modernization Fund $200 $200 $200 $0

National Predisaster Mitigation Fund $100 $150 $150 $50

Emergency Food and Shelter $153 $153 $153 $0

Subtotal $2,495 $2,643 $2,503 $8

Total $6,251 $5,607 $5,978 -$273

— which will provide a framework and funding direction for home-land security activities — as well as congressional efforts to revise the distribution of fi rst responder grants as the basis for not providing additional funds to state and local governments.

The report also directs DHS to dis-tribute FY06 state and local formula grants “based on risk (of a terrorist threat) instead of population.”

The Senate has yet to schedule a markup of the homeland security ap-propriation bill. Sen. Judd Gregg (R-N.H.), chair of the Senate Homeland Security Subcommittee, has indicated he might support additional spend-ing for the department; however, he helped defeat an amendment to pro-vide an additional $855 million for fi rst responders and has argued that better discipline by the department’s management is essential.

BY MARILINA SANZ

ASSOCIATE LEGISLATIVE DIRECTOR

Unlike the controversy that stalled the reauthorization of the Head Start program in the last Congress, the committees of jurisdiction in the House and Senate have reported out bills on a bipartisan basis. The main reason the bills are not as contro-versial this year is that neither bill contains a provision that would allow eight states to take over the program and combine it with their own early childhood education programs.

Under current law, Head Start must be operated at the local level. A number of counties are local Head Start and Early Head Start grantees. Some counties operate the program through their Community Action Agency.

The Senate bill, the Head Start Improvements for School Readiness Act of 2005 (S. 1107), authorizes $7.2 billion for FY06, and would increase the authorized level by $300 million a year. The House bill, the School Readiness Act of 2005 (H.R. 2123),

authorizes the program at $6.9 billion in FY06 and 2007, and such sums as may be necessary in subsequent years. The program’s FY05 appro-priation level is $6.84 billion.

One issue of interest to many counties is that the bill increases the set-aside for Early Head Start from 10 percent to 18 percent by 2010. NACo policy stresses the need to increase this portion of the program.

The bill also increases the eligi-bility level from 100 percent of the federal poverty level to 130 percent. The House bill has neither of these provisions.

Both bills require coordination with local education agencies. Ad-ditionally, Head Start agencies found to be defi cient must re-compete for eligibility at the end of their fi ve-year grant. The bill stipulates that problems have to be signifi cant or systemic. The Senate has similar provisions.

While the Senate Health, Educa-tion, Labor and Pension Committee and the House Education and the

Workforce Committee reported their respective bills unanimously, the bills are not without controversy.

One of the issues of contention relates to teacher qualifi cations. Both bills require an increase in the num-ber of teachers that have bachelor’s degrees to 50 percent. The House bill, however, applies the 50 per-cent requirement nationwide, while the Senate applies the requirement center by center.

Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) is considering offering a fl oor amend-ment that would make the degree re-quirement contingent upon Congress appropriating the full $7.2 billion.

The second issue of controversy has to do with allowing faith-based programs to discriminate in hiring on the basis of religion. Neither bill con-tains this provision. However, House committee chairman John Boehner (R-Ohio) has said that he will offer the amendment when the bill goes to the House fl oor. It would not be surprising if a similar amendment is offered on the Senate fl oor.

Head Start reauthorization progresses

County News, June 6, 2005 3

CorrectionThe article, “Counties di-

vert mentally ill from jails with NACo’s help,” County News, May 23, 2005, was incorrectly attributed to another author. It was written by Justin Carmody, county services intern.

BY ALYSOUN MCLAUGHLIN

ASSOCIATE LEGISLATIVE DIRECTOR

When President George W. Bush signed the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) in October 2002, county offi cials greeted the new law with a combination of relief and consternation.

There were many reasons for relief. The federal government was fi nally going to pick up part of the tab for administering elections for federal offi ce. A new federal agency was going to update existing technical guidelines for voting equipment and take over the overburdened testing and certifi cation process. Counties that wanted to replace their much-vilifi ed punch card voting equipment would be able to participate in a fed-eral buy-out.

After months of intense lobby-ing by NACo, NACRC and other organizations representing state and local offi cials, the fi nal legislation left most decisionmaking in the hands of state and county offi cials rather than federalizing elections in Washington, D.C.

However, there was also much cause for consternation. Federal funding through the appropriations process was already proving diffi cult to secure. It was unclear how long it would take for the new Election Assistance Commission (EAC) to get up and running. Meanwhile, the law set an ambitious deadline of Jan. 1, 2006 for states and counties to meet mandates that would prove to be expensive and diffi cult to imple-ment — including implementation of statewide voter registration databases and deployment of voting equipment that would permit disabled voters to vote secretly and independently in every polling place in the country.

Perhaps no aspect of the law better illustrates the promise — and frustra-tion — of the federal government’s new role in election administration than the update of federal guidelines for voting equipment.

History of Federal Voting System Standards

Many of the issues raised by critics of electronic voting are not new and neither is the federal role in addressing them.

In 1975, the National Bureau of Standards (now the National Insti-tute of Standards and Technology) issued a report that cited failings in the use of computing technology for tallying votes and called for national performance standards.

Ten years later, Congress appro-priated funds for such a project and after fi ve years of development, the FEC issued the fi rst Performance and Test Standards for Punchcard, Marksense and Direct Recording Electronic Voting Systems in 1990.

By the time HAVA was signed into law, most states had adopted the standards and required new

Recorder Helen Purcell is represent-ing local election offi cials on NIST’s Technical Guidelines Development Committee.

Although the updated standards would remain voluntary, many states plan to use them in determining how best to implement the Help America Vote Act. Congress gave states two years to do so by requiring the EAC, in cooperation with NIST, to issue updated voting systems on Jan. 1, 2004.

of the major concerns of the state and local offi cials who are making equipment purchasing decisions, NIST focused its efforts fi rst on the preparation of preliminary require-ments for accessibility and usability of voting systems for individuals with disabilities and on the security of vot-ing systems.

Voting systems guidelines — a little too late

A document titled Voluntary Voting System Guidelines Version 1, Initial Report, was forwarded to the EAC on May 9. This document augments the 2002 requirements and focuses on new guidance of the highest priority, such as accessibility and security. It provides some criteria for evaluating printer technology that permits voters to verify a printed copy of their ballot, technology that is not addressed in the existing version of the standards.

Once the EAC submits these recommendations for publication in the Federal Register, they will be made available for three months for public comment and approval before fi nal action can be taken — meaning that counties cannot wait for even these limited guidelines to be fi nal-ized before making their decisions about purchasing new technology. There is a very real danger that some states and counties will purchase equipment to meet the deadlines that will subsequently fail to meet revised standards that may not be issued until in 2006.

‘Wholesale Changes Unrealistic’

Michael Kerr of the Information Technology Association of America outlined the problem to the EAC at a hearing on May 25. “Under a best-case scenario, it will be diffi -cult for states and counties to meet the HAVA deadlines,” he testifi ed. “Voting equipment vendors and their customers may need two to three years to absorb and adjust to the new guide-lines,” and it is “unrealistic to expect that vendors, the independent testing

New standards for voting equipment in development

labs and customers... will be able to make wholesale changes to current products and get those products certi-fi ed and into the fi eld for a national election in November 2006.”

One possible solution that emerged at the recent EAC hearing is grand-fathering technology that meets the 2002 standards. By itself, however, any grandfather clause in the voting system standards would not lift the burden from states and counties of purchasing new accessible voting equipment before 2006 — and then potentially having to replace or up-grade it in the near future to meet the federal standards.

NACo has been calling for a two-year delay of the deadlines in HAVA to allow counties to delay purchasing new equipment until the voting system standards are fi nalized. However, many federal lawmakers are uncomfortable with the prospect of reopening the law, and it is highly unlikely that new authorizing legis-lation will be written and adopted prior to Jan. 1.

The most feasible alternative appears to be including language in federal appropriations legislation that would prohibit the Justice Department from using its funding to enforce pro-visions of HAVA that require many states and counties to purchase new polling place equipment. In effect, such language would grant a one-year reprieve from the requirements of HAVA.

Although such an amendment has so far failed to gain momentum, Congress will not fi nalize appropria-tions legislation until later this fall. An increasing number of county offi cials are asking their members of Congress to do something about the Help America Vote Act.

Local elections offi cials still facing a variety of HAVA compliance issues

voting equipment to be certifi ed by independent testing labs overseen by the FEC and the National Association of State Election Directors.

The FEC was engaged in a process of updating its standards to address new and emerging technology; these revised standards would be issued in 2002, but would not comprehensively address key concerns of HAVA, such as human factors and the use of vot-ing equipment by individuals with disabilities.

HAVA transferred the staff and responsibility for these standards from the FEC to the new Election Assistance Commission and set forth a formal process for updating these standards with leadership from the National Institute of Standards and Technology. NACo, NACRC and other organizations representing state and local offi cials were pro-vided the opportunity to sit on an advisory panel along with technical experts and representatives of voter advocacy organizations.

Harris County, Texas Clerk Bev-erly Kaufman, a NACRC appointee, is serving as chair of the Board of Advisors and Maricopa County, Ariz.

Still in Development Because of delays in establish-

ing and funding the commission, the EAC and NIST were unable to meet the 2004 deadline specifi ed by HAVA. Seventeen months later, the voting system standards are still in development, and NIST has warned that it will not complete a new redraft of the standards prior to the deadline for HAVA implementation.

What happened? The commis-sion got off to a rocky start at fi rst when members were not appointed until 10 months after the statutory deadline in HAVA. They operated without an offi ce or staff for the fi rst four months; NIST received no dedi-cated funding in the fi rst year for its work on voting systems standards. The Technical Guidelines Devel-opment Committee responsible for drafting the standards was fi nally ap-pointed in July 2004, seven months after they were supposed to complete their work.

Nonetheless, the EAC and NIST resolved to provide useful guidance to state and local offi cials struggling to comply with HAVA by the statu-tory deadline of Jan. 1, 2006. Mindful

QUICK FACT: The name Malheur, as in Malheur County, Ore., is French for “bad hour.” Legend has it some French trappers and traders were in the area searching for furs when they were attacked by Indians. A portion of the party was killed and others were wounded. Because of the misfortunes of their trip, the French named the river Malheur, or loosely translated, “unhappy river.”

Contact Allison MallPhone: (202) 942-4256E-mail: amall@naco.org

A blind voter prepares to cast her ballot during an early 2002 election in Sac-ramento County, Calif.

ANALYSIS

4 County News, June 6, 2005

PRO FILESIn Service...

“The wisdom to know and the courage to defend the public interest”

President: Angelo Kyle • Publisher: Larry NaakePublic Affairs Director: Tom Goodman • Executive Editor: Beverly Anne Schlotterbeck

Senior Staff Writer: M. Mindy Moretti • Staff Writer: Dan MillerGraphic Artist: Jack Hernandez • Editorial Assistant: Allison Mall

Advertising Staff:Allison Mall: Job Market/Classifi eds representative

Beverly Schlotterbeck: national accounts representative

(202) 393-6226 • FAX (202) 393-2630

Published biweekly except August by: National Association of Counties Research Foundation, Inc.440 First Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20001

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© National Association of Counties Research Foundation, Inc.

PeteSferrazza

Commision ChairWashoe County, Nev.

NACo Board of Directors

If you have a com pli ment, com plaint or dif fer ent point of view, let us know.

County News invites Letters to the

EditorPlease in clude a phone num ber with your letter. Mail, fax or

e-mail to: Coun ty News, NACo, 440 First St., N.W., Wash ing ton, DC 20001-2080; (202) 393-2630; cnews@naco.org.

Number of years active in NACo: 6Years in Public Service: 28Occupation: County commisioner/tribal judge/attorneyEducation: University of Wisconsin Law School, Madison, Wis., 1967–1972, J.D. degree; Michigan State University, Lansing, Mich. 1963–1967, bachelor of arts degree in political science; Half Hollow Hills High School, Huntington, N.Y., graduated 1963.The hardest thing I’ve ever done: As mayor of the City of Reno, I jumped off an 18-story building in a harness attached to a rope suspended between two buildings. I traversed on that rope 400-feet descending to a 7-story building. This was to demonstrate the safety of equipment for the Reno Fire Department.Three people (living or dead) I’d invite to dinner: Robert Kennedy, Eleanor Roosevelt and Chief Seattle.A dream I have is that: All people would live in safe neighborhoods with adequate food, shelter, quality education, equal justice and uni-versal health care.You’d be surprised to learn that I: Served as an alderman on the Wausau City Council and as a member of the County Board of Su-pervisors for Marathon County, Wis., during the period of 1974 to 1976. I also served on the Reno City Council from 1981 to 1983, and as mayor of the City of Reno from 1983 to 1995.The most adventurous thing I’ve ever done is: Served in the Peace Corps in Bahia, Brazil.My favorite way to relax is: Swimming and hiking.I’m most proud of: My daughter Jessica’s being elected to the Reno City Council for my former seat.Every morning I read: The New York Times and the Reno Gazette-Journal. My favorite meal is: Chicken Parmigiana.My pet peeve is: That it is not a confl ict of interest for our state and federal elected offi cials to receive huge campaign contributions and then vote or make executive decisions benefi ting their campaign contributors.My motto is: Equal justice for all. The last book I read was: Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow.My favorite movie is: Family Man.My favorite music is: Classical.My favorite president is: John F. Kennedy.

BY DAN MILLER

STAFF WRITER

Several consolidated city-county government leaders are among the 141 mayors who have signed the U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement, which commits signato-ries to meeting the goals of the Kyoto Protocol by reducing global warming pollution levels.

“We’re trying to do two things with the climate change agreement,” said Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels, who launched his “Kyoto Challenge” three months ago. “The fi rst is to generate local strategies for reducing green-house emissions. The second is to show support for these issues at the local level so that national leaders have the political support they need to do their part.”

Maui County Mayor Alan Ara-kawa signed the agreement because of Hawaii’s unique geographical situ-ation and environmental needs.

“Maui is surrounded by the Pacifi c Ocean and our environmental concerns are much more sensitive,”

he said. “We’re not looking at this as political, we’re just stating the facts as we seem them. It’s not meant to dictate U.S. policy, it’s meant to dictate local policy.”

Currently, Maui is exploring dif-ferent ways of providing energy. The county is looking into trash-energy conversions as well as continuing a windmill project. Already the county’s diesel-running vehicles have been switched to a biodiesel fuel.

Arakawa says that local attention is needed to address the international issue of climate change.

“Anyone that is isolating them-selves would be like an ostrich sticking its head in the sand and thinking that nothing is going on around him,” he said. “We have to look at the global situation.”

Louisville-Jefferson County, Ky. has been working on the environmen-tal aspects of its administration since its consolidation in 2003. The county united with the local school district and the University of Louisville to form the Partnership for a Green

County mayors commit to climate protection agreement

■ See KYOTO on page 5

City in August 2004. Environmental leaders plan on looking at the goals in the Climate Protection Agreement and use them to make recommendations for the program.

The partnership has formed six committees to research the various ways the county can conduct more environmentally friendly ways. The committees focus on topics such as green purchasing, environmental education and interagency communication.

Bonnie Biemer, metro environ-mental coordinator, claims that Lou-isville wants to both clean its air and send a message to other governments. “Because we’re joining with all these cities, what I think is important is the message that it makes to our Congress and our president,” she said. “There is nonpartisan interest in this topic and it is vital to our futures.”

Denver Mayor John Hicken-looper signed the agreement as well. According to Beth Conover, director

Nationwide Retirement Solu-tions has a new answer to tradi-tional participant statements. The new statement is a customized educational piece that was rolled out to more than a half-million public-sector retirement plan participants last month. All of Nationwide’s 1.5 million participants will receive the new statement as it is phased into the company’s other retirement plans through 2005 and into 2006.

Designed to provide the educa-tion needed to better manage their employer-sponsored retirement savings accounts, the enhanced statement replaces participants’ quarterly activity statements and newsletters.

In addition to providing summary and detailed account activity, the new statement uses graphics and information to compel participants to take actions such as increasing contributions and reviewing investments that will help them attain their fi nancial goals in retirement. Using adult learning principles like writing in active voice and opting for engaging colors and simple graphics, the statement appeals to both analytical and visual learners by making ordinary statement data

Nationwide Retirement Solutions enhances quarterly statements

meaningful and relevant to the reader.

Nationwide will continue to en-courage participant input through an online survey mechanism to be introduced in the near future. “Nationwide has a strong bias to-ward innovation,” said Matthew A. Riebel, NRS president. “The surveys

will help us measure the appeal and effectiveness of the new statement, and most importantly, to learn how our plan sponsors and participants want it to evolve in the future.”

A sample of enhanced quarterly statement is available by contacting Hillary Jeffers at 614/677-8978 or jefferh1@nationwide.com.

County News, June 6, 2005 5

to Countiesto CountiesHart InterCivicHart InterCivicCorporate MemberCorporate Member

Location/HQ: Austin, Texas

Primary Business: electronic voting and document imaging

CEO: Britt Kauffman, president and CEO.

Name of NACo representative: Diana Arney, corporate marketing manager; darney@hartic.com; info@hartic.com; www.hartintercivic.com.

Why we joined NACo: County government is key to our business model, so we joined NACo to expand our scope nationally. Today, we are recognized as company with integrity that does business nationwide with leaders in county government. NACo gives us the opportunity to connect with our primary customers and demonstrates our commitment to county government through our sponsorship.

What we can do for counties: With almost a century of service to counties, Hart InterCivic can provide educational opportuni-ties that benefi t the industry when we attend NACo events. Hart InterCivic’s election and e-government solutions enable state and local governments to enhance productivity and improve services by using leading edge information technologies.

of Denver’s sustainable development initiative, the mayor signed on to pro-tect the city’s best interest.

“It has become clear that the preponderance of evidence is over-whelming that there is some reality to global warming,” she said. “The impacts for Denver, for both water and tourism, is signifi cant.”

To support the agreement, Denver plans to look at its internal practices to make sure they support economic realities while remaining environmen-tally friendly. Denver is exploring the use of bio-diesel fuels as well as ac-quiring hybrid vehicles whenever pos-sible. It operates one of the country’s oldest “green fl eet” vehicle programs and also sports the country’s largest inventory of LED (light-emitting diode) traffi c signals, which save on energy and maintenance costs.

Conover says that the agreement is an opportunity for local government to be involved in the issue of climate change.

“Kyoto’s not perfect, but it’s the best thing we’ve got,” she said.

Alex Berenberg, aide to Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hannemann, who signed the agreement, said, “Being an island municipality, Honolulu has a unique understanding of the importance of environmental protection. We thought it was important to take this stand symbolically. By no means is this a snub to either party or individuals who opposed adopting the protocol. There are no political implications meant here.”

Honolulu is trying to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by having its refuse collectors run on a blend of bio-diesel fuel, as well as looking into alternative energies for government vehicles. The city-county is encour-aging recycling and engaged in fi nd more effi cient and environmentally friendly trash disposal methods.

“We’re excited about the pos-sibility of local leadership making a difference in the realm of climate protection,” Berenberg said.

(To read the U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement, view the PDF at www.seattle.gov/mayor/climate/PDF/USCM_AgreementOnly.pdf.)

■ KYOTO from page 4

City-counties take measures to protect environment

BY ROBERT J. FOGEL

SENIOR LEGISLATIVE DIRECTOR

One week after the Senate passed its version of TEA-21 and just prior to the Memorial Day Recess, the House and Senate passed bills providing for a 30-day extension of the federal highway and transit programs and ap-pointed conferees. The extension, the seventh, was necessary because the current extension expired May 31.

This extra 30 days will give the House-Senate Conference Commit-tee a month to resolve the differences between the two versions of the TEA-21 reauthorization bills.

There are two major categories of differences. The fi rst includes policy changes in each bill. While there are substantial differences, neither of the bills change the basic structure of the highway and transit programs and therefore conferencing the measure around policy changes should not be an impossible challenge.

The second category is money — how much will be available for the highway and transit programs and how it is divided among the states. The Senate bill has $295 billion and the House bill has $284 billion.

An effort is being made to agree on a fi nal number and then try to get the George W. Bush administration to accept that fi gure, likely to be above the $284 billion level, which the administration has said would trigger a veto. Certainly, the higher the number, the easier it is to divide up the highway pot in an equitable fashion among the states.

Conferees listThe House conferee’s who will be

working on the highway and transit sections of the bill are: Reps. Don Young (R-Alaska), Ames Oberstar (D-Minn.), Tom Petri (R-Wis.), Sherwood Boehlert (R-N.Y.), How-ard Coble (R-N.C.), John J. Duncan (R-Tenn.), John L. Mica (R-Fla.), Peter Hoekstra (R-Mich.).

Also, Spencer Bachus (R-Ala.), Steve LaTourette (R-Ohio), Richard Baker (R-La.), Gary Miller (R-Ca-lif.), Robin Hayes (R-N.C.), Robert Simmons (R-Conn.), Henry Brown (R-S.C.) and Sam Graves (R-Mo.).

In addition, Bill Shuster (R-Pa.), John Boozman (R-Ark.), Nick Ra-hall (D-W.Va.), Peter A. DeFazio (D-Ore.), Jerry Costello (D-Ill.),

Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.), Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) and Robert Menendez (D-N.J.).

And, Corrine Brown (D-Fla.), Bob Filner (D-Calif.), Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-Texas), Juanita Millen-der-McDonald (D-Texas), Gene Taylor (D-Miss.), Elijah Cummings (D-Md.), Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) and Ellen Tauscher (D-Calif.).

The Senate conferees who will be working on the highway and transit

TEA-21 reauthorization moves ahead in CongressTEA-21 reauthorization moves ahead in CongressHouse and Senate pass 30-day extension, appoint conference committee

National Homeownership Month promotes education, outreach

BY DARRIN DORSETT

SENIOR ASSOCIATE

June has been designated as National Homeownership Month, a month-long educational outreach effort designed to provide important home-buying information and fi nan-cial tools, particularly to minority families. Fewer than half of black and Hispanic families are homeown-ers, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau, while the overall home ownership rate is pegged at 69 percent nationally.

Throughout National Homeown-ership Month, county governments across America will be working to-gether with citizens, nonprofi t hous-ing groups and other housing industry partners to recognize and celebrate the vital contributions homeownership makes to our nation.

During the month, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) will bring together 12 federal agencies, members of the business community and nonprofi t organiza-tions at fi ve fairs to showcase the

tools and resources families need for self-suffi ciency and homeownership. HUD’s “Owning Your Future” pro-gram is a holistic outreach that will in-clude informational booths and educa-tional programs on subjects such as job training, educational resources, health and nutrition assistance, transportation vouchers, tax credit and preparation services, as well as housing counsel-ing programs, credit information and reverse mortgage information.

HUD kicked-off the month in Bal-timore with a fair for area residents on June 1. Fairs will continue throughout the month in Bernalillo County (Al-buquerque), N.M. June 11; Orleans Parish (New Orleans), La. June 18; and Orange County (Orlando), Fla. June 25.

Additionally, NACo President An-gelo Kyle and will take part in a site visit and tour of affordable housing developments in Miami-Dade County June 20. The site visit and tour will feature the accomplishments of Miami-Dade County, in addressing the housing needs of the low income families, the disabled, and moderate, working-class families.

In 2002, President George W. Bush announced a goal of creating 5.5 mil-lion new homeowners by the year 2010, and issued America Homeownership Challenge, a call to the real estate and mortgage fi nance industries to work in partnership to help achieve this goal. More than two dozen organiza-tions are working to create more than $1 trillion in mortgage fi nancing for minority homebuyers.

(For more information about the site visit, contact Martin Harris at MHarris@naco.org or 202/661-8805. For more information on NACo’s Affordable Housing Program or ways to promote homeownership in your county, contact Darrin Dorsett at DDorsett@naco.org or 202/942-4267.)

sections of the bill are: Sens. James Inhofe (R-Okla.), John Warner (R-Va.), Chris Bond (R-Mo.), George Voinovich (R-Ohio), Lincoln Chafee (R-R.I.), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), John Thune R-S.D.), Jim DeMint (R-S.C.), Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.).

Also, David Vitter (R-La.), Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), Richard Shelby (R-Ala.), Wayne Allard (R-Colo.), Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), Trent Lott

(R-Miss.), James Jeffords (I-Vt.).Additionally, Max Baucus (D-

Mont.), Joe Lieberman (D-Conn.), Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), Thomas Carper (D-Del.), Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.), Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.), Barack Obama (D-Ill.), Kent Conrad (D-N.D.).

And Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii), John D. Rockefeller (D-W.Va.), Paul Sarbanes (D-Md.), Jack Reed (D-R.I.) and Tim Johnson (D-S.D.).

6 County News, June 6, 2005

BY DAVID L. ELKIND

DICKSTEIN SHAPIRO MORIN & OSHINSKY

Many public entities that face environmental liabilities decide to pursue insurance coverage as a step to limiting their fi nancial exposure. In order to pursue that coverage, the public entity must place their insur-ance companies on notice as the fi rst step to securing that coverage. Cur-rent insurance policies, however, typically contain “absolute” pollu-tion exclusions and other limitations that bar, or at least limit, the amount of coverage for such claims.

Insurance policies, however, typ-ically are implicated, or “triggered,” anytime that damage happened dur-ing the policy period, no matter when the claim was made or when the site was used. This means that, in the case of typical long-term environmental contamination, historic insurance policies will provide coverage for the contamination that began years, or even decades ago.

Many public entities, however, cannot locate their historic cover-age, which was discarded long ago. Searching for lost policies or evidence of insurance coverage can be very time-consuming and frustrating. Nonetheless, a success-ful search can result in millions of dollars of coverage being available for a policyholder, particularly since older policies often lack deductibles and other restrictive features that are found in current coverage.

Although complete policies are the “best evidence,” policyholders can demonstrate suffi cient evidence of their insurance coverage, either in a settlement negotiation or during an insurance-coverage litigation, with so-called “secondary evidence” of the insurance coverage. There are

numerous techniques for locating policies. The ones that are most ap-plicable for public entities include the following:

• searching the insurance depart-ment for fi nancial fi les and insurance broker fi les. Even if the policies are

income or existing health coverage. The program is designed to help residents who have no prescription drug insurance coverage or have certain needed medications that are not covered. A national network of more than 54,000 retail pharmacies will honor the NACo prescription discount card.

“The great thing about this pro-gram is that it doesn’t discriminate on age, gender or privilege. In 20 years

in offi ce, I’ve never had as many calls to my offi ce as I did three months ago [when the program began],” said Lake County Board Member Pam Newton, who is not on the NACo Board, but attended the meeting.

In addition to the 17 pilot coun-ties, another 23 counties have signed contracts to participate in the program with plans to roll out their program over the next month. Another 50 counties have expressed interest in

the program. Counties with popula-tions from 7,000 to more than 754,000 have seen successful savings activity with the NACo card.

The program is administered by AdvancePCS, a division of Caremark Rx, Inc. of Nashville, Tenn.

(For more information, contact Andrew Goldschmidt, membership marketing director, 202/942-4221 or agoldsch@naco.org.)

the broker to obtain insurance cover-age) for many decades. The London Market insurers consider the placing slips the actual contract. Moreover, the placing slips often show United States insurance policies that underlie the London coverage.

Locating missing insurance policies worth the search

Searching for lost policies or evidence of insurance coverage can be very time-consuming and frustrating. Nonetheless, a successful search can result in millions of dollars of coverage being available ...

■ PRESCRIPTION from page 1

NACo Board members extoll virtues of pilot program

Kyle, whose county participated in the pilot, said the program “has gone extremely well in Lake County. It has enhanced our relationship with our constituents. We are fl ooded with phone calls for information about this program.”

“The overwhelming success of the pilot program presented the Board of Directors with an easy choice as to whether to expand the program,” said NACo Executive Director Larry E. Naake.

Several other board members’ counties participated in the pilot program and prior to the board’s vote on the program expressed their fi rsthand knowledge of its success and the benefi ts it provides.

“It has gone very well for us,” said Deborah Donaldson, human services director, Sedgwick County, Kan. “It has been very positive. The state of Kansas wants to put this program on its Web site and encourage member-ship for other Kansas counties.”

Buffalo County, Neb. Supervisor Timothy Loewenstein said, “I’ve been in offi ce 15 years and this is the fi rst time I’ve been able to give something to a constituent and not be reaching in his pocket to take something away.”

San Miguel County N.M. Com-missioner LeRoy Garcia and Brook-ings County, S.D. Commissioner Don Larsen also spoke in favor of expanding the program.

The cards may be used by all county residents, regardless of age,

claim fi les may contain notice let-ters that were sent to the insurance companies, and, in the case of litigation fi les, insurance policies may have been produced as part of discovery.

• checking known policies for references to other policies. Excess insurance policies often list informa-tion about the coverage that underlies the excess policy. Moreover, a policy may state that it is a “renewal” of a prior year’s policy that was sold by the same insurance company.

• checking workers’ compen-sation fi les. The documents may show that the insurance company defended a workers’ compensation case on behalf of the public entity. That insurance company also may have provided other insurance for the public entity. Moreover, the work-ers’ compensation policy may state that it excludes coverage for claims that are covered under a specifi ed liability policy that was sold by the same insurance company.

• contacting contractors who may have performed work at the site at issue. The public entity may have been named as an “additional insured” on the contractor’s policy. Indeed, the contracting documents may have required the contractor to purchase such insurance for the public entity. Insurance companies typically add public entities to a contractor’s insurance policy.

Do not be discouraged if you cannot locate the entire policy. Sec-ondary evidence can be persuasive, even dispositive, of the existence of the coverage, particularly since the insurance industry for decades has used standard forms for most types of coverage.

(David Elkind is an attorney with Dickstein Shapiro Morin & Oshinsky LLP, in Washington, DC, concentrating in Commercial Law and Insurance. He can be contacted at ElkindD@dsmo.com or at 202/955-6603.)

missing, evidence of the purchase of the insurance, including premium payments, can be found. This evi-dence may list critical features of the insurance coverage.

If the public entity potentially had insurance coverage with the London Market, contacting the London bro-ker that may have been involved in the policy purchase. Many of the London brokers retain the so-called “placing slips” (the document used by

• interviewing present and for-mer employees of the insurance department and insurance broker.

• checking accounting records for evidence of premium payments and policy numbers. Many entities have such records, which may con-tain ledger entries showing policy numbers, premiums, dollar limits of coverage,and the type of coverage.

• checking legal department records, including claim fi les. The

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www.naco.org

Photo courtesy of Macomb County, Mich.

Rich Gasowski, Macomb County, Mich., director, Risk Management & Safety (second from right), shows off his recog-nition award from NACo. Gasowski received the award for his diligent service as chair of NACo’s Prescription Drug Discount Card Evaluation Committee. Also pictured are (l-r): Betty Slinde, Macomb County commissioner; NACo Second Vice President Eric Coleman, who presented the award; and Joan Flynn, Macomb County commissioner.

County News, June 6, 2005 7

fi rst vice president and Alan Gardner, commissioner, Washington County, Utah as second vice president.

Founded in 1954 with a focus on public lands policy, WIR represents the diverse interests of counties in the 15 western state associations of coun-ties. WIR is NACo’s oldest affi liate.

Following the installation of the new WIR executive committee, Roger Chinn, commissioner, McK-enzie County, N.D., was presented with the 2005 Dale Sowards Award. Each year the Dale Sowards Award, WIR’s highest honor, recognizes the efforts of an individual to advance the interests of public lands counties.

Chinn was recognized for, among other things, maintaining detailed sta-tistics and records of the impact of public lands policies and for working with North Dakota’s congressional delegation to reauthorize the PILT Act in 1994 and winning subsequent increases in annual appropriations. Chinn served as president of WIR in 1999 and has been a member of NACo’s Public Lands Steering Com-mittee since 1990.

SpeakersSeveral key speakers addressed

the delegates throughout the con-ference including a breakout panel discussion on methamphetamines.

During the Opening General Ses-sion, Henri Bisson, Bureau of Land Management (BLM) state director for Alaska, discussed the status of BLM’s Cooperative Agency Initiative and also noted that the Department of the Interior will soon be imposing similar cooperative agency require-ments for all Interior departments — National Park Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Reclamation, among others.

Also during the Opening Ses-sion, Washington State Association of Counties attorney and University of Washington law professor Hugh Spitzer gave attendees a brief les-son on the impact of 19th century populism on county government in the West.

Doug Sutherland is the commis-sioner for public lands in the state of Washington. Unlike most other states, in Washington this is an elected posi-tion. Sutherland addressed the attend-ees about his transition from involved businessman to elected offi cial.

“It was never my intention to be-come involved in the public process from the elected side,” Sutherland said. “The complexities of local government causes many to come in with grandiose ideas, but it takes signifi cant patience and vision to be able to communicate with your constituency.”

Confronting the challenges of crystal methamphetamine

Friday’s general session featured a breakout panel discussion about the ongoing threat of methamphet-amines. Story County, Iowa Supervi-sor Jane Halliburton led the discus-sion which included Pierce County Sheriff Paul Pastor; Kenneth Stark, director, Division of Alcohol and Substance Abuse, Washington State Department of Social and Health Ser-vices; and Ron Pugh, special agent in charge, USDA Forest Service Pacifi c Northwest Region.

In the last 10 years, 65 percent of all offi cer-related shootings in Pierce County involved someone “tweaking” on meth. Forty percent of all meth labs busted in the county have children inside of them. Sheriff Pastor has been instrumental in Pierce County’s fi ght against meth.

“We have many blessings here in Pierce County,” Pastor said. “But we also have a curse. We have a methe-demic on our hands. But we’re not satisfi ed to simply sit down and say we have a problem.”

The county founded its fi rst clan-destine meth team in 1988, and Pastor has worked with the Pierce County Council almost from the beginning of the epidemic to fi nd solutions.

“Merely using law enforcement to fi ght meth does not help,” Pastor said. “It takes a multi-discipline ap-proach. Prevention and treatment are also critical.”

Stark said Washington State has seen a tenfold increase from 1992 to 2000 of the adults in treatment for meth addictions. He said that meth is second only to alcohol as the primary drug for adults in treatment. Stark was quick to debunk some treatment myths about meth.

“Data show that meth treatment completion rates are as good as those for people addicted to any other drug,” Stark said “The reality is that treatment outcomes for meth are simi-lar to any other drug. No specialized treatment is necessary.”

Stark concurred with Pastor that fi ghting meth really is a three-legged stool between law enforcement, pre-vention and treatment.

Pastor also touched on the increasing nexus between meth and identity theft. Meth users are known to follow along behind U.S. Postal delivery trucks and rummage through people’s mailboxes stealing credit card applications and any other potentially lucrative mail.

“In rural counties there are two kinds of post offi ces. The United States Post Offi ce and the meth post offi ce,” Pastor explained.

And it’s not just rural communities that are being affected by the meth

on Forest Service lands, Pugh said that meth users are almost always involved in other crimes on pub-lic lands. For instance, there is a currently a good market for scrap aluminum and so meth users have been caught stealing guardrails off of public lands and they even stole most of a $20,000 bridge.

Pugh said public awareness is helping the Forest Service combat the problem though. Pastor concurred that without public involvement the problem of meth will not go away.

“Public safety is not a spectator sport,” Pastor said. “But I’m optimis-tic. We have smart and creative people and the public is interested in this.”

WorkshopsEducational workshops were held

on a variety of WIR-related topics covering everything from poverty in rural America to cooperative agency status to the future of public lands.

During a workshop entitled “Speaking the Same Language: Achieving Your Desired Future Condition for Public Lands,” Michael Hansen, manager, State and Local Planning with the Utah Governor’s Office discussed the County Resource Management Planning Toolkit. Designed by

Hansen noted that when the fed-eral government comes forward with a plan for public lands, local govern-ments are all too quick to point out what they don’t want, but often don’t have a plan for what they would like to see happen.

“There aren’t enough quality plans out there,” Hansen said. “If you don’t have the local plans to back up the position you’re taking, it just doesn’t do you any good.”

Working with the federal govern-ment to get what counties want was the topic of another workshop at WIR entitled “Cooperative Agency Status: What Does it Mean for You?” In February 2003, Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Director Kathleen Clarke spoke to the WIR Board and said she wanted to see a change in how BLM works with local governments.

“We have fi nally made good on Director Clarke’s commitment,” said Robert Winthrop, senior social scientist for BLM.

BLM’s Cooperative Agency Initiative requires fi eld managers to offer cooperating agency (CA) status to eligible agencies for all re-gional management plans; mandates collaboration with all CAs at most stages of BLM’s planning process;

and gives the same level of eligibil-ity to tribal, state, county and local governments.

“BLM is the only federal land management agency with a statutory mandate to plan and manage in co-ordination with state, local and tribal governments,” Winthrop said. “The point of cooperative agency status is not to bring the locals on because they are interested or affected, but for their knowledge.”

Winthrop conceded that county governments, even those acting in cooperative agency status, may not always agree with BLM 100 percent, but there is still room for negotiation.

“When you sign on as a cooperat-ing agency, you’re not signing away any of your rights,” Winthrop said. “You still have the right to protest.”

Combating poverty in rural America was also on the workshop agenda during the WIR conference. While there is rapid growth in many rural areas this growth does not al-ways indicate the end of poverty for a rural area.

“Social class disparity is a huge issue in rural America. Rapid growth doesn’t always mean the elimination of poverty,” said John Allen, director, Western Rural Development Center at Utah State University.

In the past, policies to improve rural poverty have focused on ag-ricultural solutions, but in today’s changing West, those solutions will have very little impact.

“Through results-oriented, community-focused partnerships that address each of poverty’s dimensions, counties can improve the lives of people living in poverty,” said David Harrison, Ph.D., senior lecturer, Evans School of Public Affairs, University of Washington.

Board of DirectorsIn addition to the WIR Board

and several steering committees, the NACo Board of Directors met at the conference. During it’s meeting, the Board approved several bylaws amendments, which will go before the entire membership in July for fi nal approval. The Board also voted to open the NACo-sponsored prescrip-tion drug-benefi t program to the entire NACo membership (see page 1).

The 2006 Annual WIR Confer-ence is scheduled for May 10-12 in Sacramento County, Calif.

epidemic. Meth cooks are more and more frequently using public lands to prepare their drugs. Pugh, of the Forest Service, discussed how the meth crisis has changed the face of our national forests.

“I spent my entire career getting angry at and going after people for leaving trash throughout our forest,” Pugh said. “Today, I would welcome a dirty diaper any day over a meth lab.”

In addition to the environmental and trash impacts meth labs have

the state of Utah, the toolkit (http://governor.utah.gov/planning/crmp.htm) is intended to empower counties with the information and tools to help them work more effec-tively with public land managers, and be better prepared to enhance their role in the new economy.

“Counties are often at a disadvan-tage in terms of personnel, budget and technical expenses,” Hansen said. “What we’ve done with the toolkit is some of that beginning to help you get started.”

■ WIR from page 1

WIR attendees learn about meth crisis, planning, poverty, other issues

QUICK FACT: Jacob Spears was a distiller in Bourbon Parish, La. in the late 1700s. Many farmers in the region made whiskey from their surplus corn and other grains, but Spears’ barrels of whiskey proved so popular when sold in New Orleans that the name of his county became associated with the liquor.

Photo by Tom Goodman

Story County, Iowa Supervisor Jane Halliburton (l) and Pierce County Sheriff Paul Pastor take a moment after the panel discussion to compare notes on their county’s struggles with meth.

8 County News, June 6, 2005

BY DAN MILLER

STAFF WRITER

Loudoun County, Va. is the latest county to improve one of its agencies by adding four wheels.

The Loudoun County Sheriff’s Department plans to roll out its Mobile DUI Test Unit in the com-ing weeks to more effectively hook and book drunk drivers at sobriety checkpoints. The unit is a converted RV equipped with an intoxilyzer that can test a suspect for blood alcohol levels.

Currently, the county’s only intoxilyzer is in its adult detention center, which in some areas could be up to 45 minutes away.

“When you’re talking about 45 minutes of travel time, in certain situations that can make a signifi -cant difference in the blood alcohol level of the arrestee,” said Kraig Troxell, public information offi cer for the sheriff’s department.

A magistrate would also ride

along in the van to book drunk drivers. The magistrate would set a bond and offi cially charge the driver.

The sheriff’s department ac-quired the vehicle through another county agency, so the department’s only major cost is the cost of the intoxilyzer.

Loudoun County authorities conduct sobriety checkpoints at least twice a month, according to Troxell. He hopes the unit will not only increase successful arrests, but raise awareness of the dangers of drinking and driving.

“The idea of a checkpoint is to design public awareness and dis-courage drunk driving,” he said. “It’s encouraging when there are only a few arrests in a checkpoint, because it means we’re being successful in getting the message out there.”

The county hopes to start using the unit sometime in June, in time for local graduations.

DUI testing in Loudoun County goes mobile

BY BOB STANTON POLK COUNTY, FLA.

Is your county prepared for the next generation of emission standards? Is it prepared to transition to a new diesel fuel? Is it prepared to incorporate new diesel engine technology into an al-ready mixed fl eet of diesel engines?

Ready or not, all three are inevi-table and interrelated aspects of major emissions and environmental changes that will affect county vehicles and equipment within a short few months. Here are the facts:

• 2007 federal emission standards for on-highway diesel engines require signifi cant reductions in nitrous oxide (NOx) and particulate matter (PM). To enable the new engine technology, fl eets will be required to transition to

Ultra Low Sulfur Diesel Fuel (ULSD). The fuel will available nationwide by September 2006.

• Federal emission standards for on-highway diesel engines tighten further in 2010 requiring further changes in vehicle engineering and engine technology.

In short, government fl eets should prepare to transition to ULSD early and should budget for additional tech-nical training, higher vehicle and fuel prices and specify their vehicles wisely to assure their preparations adequately address these issues.

Some particularsFleets intending to purchase on-

highway diesel powered vehicles in 2007 and beyond must transition to

ULSD. Failure to make the transition to ULSD will destroy the emissions devices being engineered for the 2007 engines causing major and costly damage to the engines themselves.

The transition to ULSD could be lengthy because several cycles of fuel deliveries will be required to purge residual sulfur remaining in both vehicle and bulk storage systems.

New emission standards for county fl eets will fuel budget increasesautomatic active regeneration where a small quantity of fuel is injected into the fi lter to facilitate burning of the particulate matter contained therein. This fuel injection process will heat the fi lter to 900 degrees. In government applications such as fi re apparatus and other vocational uses, the placement of this fi lter will be a critical consideration in

is being developed for this purpose and will apply to diesel powered ve-hicles rated above 14,000 lbs GVW and produced after January 2007. Servicing the particulate matter fi lters may require hazardous mate-rials protection in addition to their servicing requirements.

Because engine temperatures and air management are critical to the effectiveness of this technology, a new motor oil (API CG – 4) is be-ing formulated for these engines. It’s unknown if the new oil will itself be backwards compatible and allowed for use in older engines. If not, fl eets will be forced to inventory the new motor oil for use in the new engines. It’s also possible that oil change in-tervals may be reduced. In addition to the new oil formulation, a new an-tifreeze formulation may be required for the same reasons.

In 2010, emission standards tight-en further and current technology op-tions are limited to selective catalytic recovery involving the injection of a urea compound into the exhaust stream. This method, currently be-ing used in Europe, has particular diffi culties in the United States, and it’s hoped that engine technology will develop beyond SCR in time to meet the new standards.

(Bob Stanton is the director of fl eet management, Polk County, Fla. He can be reached at BobStanton@ polk-county.net or 863/534-5660.)

Visit www.naco.org/2005annualfor more information.

Fleets may wish to engage in sulfur testing as their transition progresses to assure the sulfur content is being reduced effectively.

Fortunately, ULSD will be “back-wards compatible” in that it can be used in pre-2007 engines with little or no change in performance. Although backwards compatible, fl eets wishing to continue using current low sulfur diesel must segregate their fuel stocks and take steps to prevent the entry of #2 LSD into vehicles equipped with post-2006 engines. By Dec. 10, 2010, #2 LSD will no longer be permitted for use in the United States making the transition inevitable by then.

As fl eets engage in this transition, they should be prepared for higher fuel prices, a reduction in miles per gallon due to ULSD’s lower BTU, possible lubricity issues in older en-gines, and fl eets in northern climates may need to address a lower toler-ance to cold temperatures attendant with ULSD.

ULSD is specifi cally formulated to enable diesel engine technology designed to meet the tighter 2007 federal emission standards. The new technology is largely built on the cooled exhaust gas emission de-signs recently incorporated in 2002 diesel engines. In addition to cooled EGR’s, engine manufacturers will add particulate matter fi lters, larger cooling systems, oxidation catalysts and some will add variable geometry turbochargers and redesigned fuel in-jection technology.

The particulate matter fi lters will be a standard component on post-2006 diesel equipped vehicles. In ad-dition to their fi ltration requirement, many of these fi lters will engage in

vehicle specifi cations to assure the proper placement of other frame mounted equipment as well as as-suring the protection of the surfaces underneath the vehicle when parked at idle on a job or fi re site.

These devices will require di-agnostic monitoring and periodic servicing all of which will require higher levels of technical training. A new diagnostic system (EMD)

County News, June 6, 2005 9

Agricultural TourAlso on the Tuesday before the

conference offi cially began, about 15 county offi cials took part in the WIR annual agricultural tour. This year, the tour focused on farming on the urban fringe, something more and more farmers are facing.

The fi rst stop on the tour was at Terry’s Berries, an organic berry and

Also on the tour was a stop at Ing-lin Dairy Environmental/Agricultural Project. After the Inglin family moved its dairy operations to another loca-tion in Washington, the Pierce County Conservation District purchased the property with a variety of partners and in addition to restoring the land as riparian habitat for fi sh and wildlife, the partner organizations also plan to

■ TRIPS from page 1

Educational excursions during conference provide valuable information

County and with more than 1.2 million visitors per year, the small gateway communities surrounding the park face a variety of issues. In 1996, Pierce County began working on the Upper Nisqually Valley Com-munity Plan to help shape the growth of these gateway communities.

“This is a community fi lled with very divergent opinions,” explained Jack Ward, former chair of the Gate-way Community Planning Board for the Upper Nisqually Valley Commu-nity Plan. “The most important thing I did as chair was to keep us from voting on anything until we were actually ready to vote.”

During the fi eld trip, attendees stopped at Whittaker’s Bunkhouse, run by world-famous mountaineer Lou Whittaker. In addition to regaling attendees with some of his more har-rowing mountaineering adventures, Whittaker also talked about his role in the gateway community planning process, which at times proved to be as nerve-wracking as reaching the summit of Mt. Rainier.

A panel discussion featuring rep-resentatives from the county, the De-partment of Natural Resources, the National Park Service and the local business community discussed the process Gateway Community Adviso-ry Board (GCAB) used to develop the policies and map changes necessary to address community concerns, but that also remained consistent with Pierce County’s Comprehensive Plan.

“This is still a new plan and we wanted to give you a dose of reality on this tour as far as what the process was like,” said Kimberly Freeman, senior planner for Pierce County.

Rick Adams, who represented the business community on the GCAB, said the hardest thing for most com-munities to grapple with is aknowl-edging the impacts of being a gateway community.

“When you open up that box of gateway community planning, you really are opening a Pandora’s box,” Adams said. “What you’re going to fi nd is, yes, you’re a community, but fi rst and foremost, you are an enter-tainment and hospitality industry.”

Although the members of the panel openly disagreed about some aspects of the plan and the roles some played, all those who spoke agreed that hav-ing a plan in place, no matter how trying the process, was benefi cial to the communities surrounding Rainier.

The tour fi nished up with a guided trip to the Jackson Visitor’s Center in Paradise. At 5,400 feet. the visitor’s center is the starting point for those wishing to reach the 14,410-foot summit of Mt. Rainier.

health network called CHOICE. This was the fi nal tour of NACo President Angelo Kyle’s initiative on reducing health disparities.

This site visit was different from the previous two in that it featured small and rural counties as well as a regional approach to expanding health care ac-cess and reducing health disparities. In fact, the goal of CHOICE is to en-sure that “no one below 250 percent of federal poverty will be uncovered by 2010 in our fi ve counties.” These fi ve counties include Grays Harbor, Lewis, Mason, Pacifi c and Thurston, located in central, southwest Wash-ington.

“County offi cials have clout and credibility, which can greatly help nonprofi t community collaboratives such as ours by guiding resources and protecting the vision that no resident will be uncovered by 2010,” said Kristen West, executive director of CHOICE.

The fi ve counties spend approxi-mately $1.8 billion per year for health care. According to West, additional resources could be captured from existing health care dollars by reduc-ing fragmentation, using best practice models, and by making the case for economic development locally and showing the good value and invest-ment for business.

The CHOICE Network coordinates funding and programs in the counties to increase access to affordable health care for the region. CHOICE supports each of the counties in its efforts to reach this goal.

Mason County was one of the counties in this fi ve-county network

that the delegation visited. The NACo group had the opportunity to hear from county commissioners Jayni Kamin and Linda Ring-Erickson regarding some innovative approaches the county was taking to address the ac-cess to care issue. Mason County is the fastest growing county in Washington, according to Kamin. Mason County also was recently awarded a techni-cal assistance grant from NACo to implement a model called Rural Health Works.

“We are using the Rural Health Works model to fi gure out how we deliver health care in Mason County and to link it to our broader economic development strategy,” said Kamin. As health care costs rise for employers and more workers go without coverage, Mason County is looking to reconcile the competing interests of employers and health care coverage.

Lewis County Commissioner Eric Johnson discussed how his county ap-plied for and obtained the funding for a Federally Qualifi ed Health Center (FQHC). The broader community, including local business, got very engaged in the process of applying for the FQHC and assisted with the capital infrastructure.

Although the county officials and CHOICE representatives ac-knowledged the big challenge with ensuring that every resident will have health care coverage, they believe it is possible.

(Lesley Buchan, project manager, community services division, and Joe Dunn, associate legislative director contributed to this story.)

produce farm that connects the com-munity to the land through Community Supported Agriculture (CSA). CSA is a new approach to growing, selling, buy-ing and consuming food. Members who buy, share and receive fresh produce throughout the season support CSA farms. The CSA farms contribute to local food security and cultural identity and preserve green spaces.

“We visited a lot of sites, but the community supported agriculture stop was one of the most interesting,” said Michael Anaya, commissioner, Santa Fe County, N.M. “I didn’t know this sort of farming was being done, and it’s a great way to help the small farmer move forward and help people eat healthier.”

continue to use the land for agricul-tural purposes such as 4-H training facilities.

Other stops on the tour included the Mother Earth Farm that produces about 100,000 pounds of fresh fruits and vegetables annually for local food banks and hot meal programs; the City of Puyallup, which has integrated its downtown library, park and pavil-ion area; and the Washington State University Research, and Extension Campus.

Health Disparities TourAs the conference began, county

offi cials gathered early in the morning in preparation for a tour of several ru-ral counties served through a regional

Matt Farnsworth, writer, direc-tor, producer and actor, will address Annual Conference delegates at Monday’s general session, July 18. Farnsworth, who will speak on his knowledge and involvement with the

Filmmaker to address Annual Conference

meth issue in America, wrote, pro-duced, directed and stars in IOWA, his fi rst feature fi lm.

IOWA, a cautionary tale of love, crime, fantasy and addiction, follows two young lovers who decide to go into the “batch” business — cook-ing their own methamphetamine — only to watch it burn a searing hole in their lives. IOWA premiered at the 2005 Tribeca fi lm festival in New York City.

His fi ctional tale is based on true stories he collected while shoot-ing Riding the White Buffalo, a documentary about meth use in the Midwest.

Riding the White Buffalo, which is currently in post-production, is a harrowing look at the impact meth has upon families, communities and society at large.

Matt Farnsworth

Photo by Joe Dunn

Monty Mayhan, manager, Pierce Conservation District discusses the collab-orative efforts between local and tribal governments, corporations and area nonprofi ts to create the Inglin Dairy Environmental/Agricultural Project.

Photo by M. Mindy Moretti

World-famous mountaineer Lou Whittaker regales fi eld trip attendees with his tales of mountain climbing and working on a gateway community plan-ning project.

10 County News, June 6, 2005

ExclusiveHigh-Grade

:: information ::to help you and your county.

Have You Visited ...Have You Visited ...

section atsection atThe MEMBERS-ONLYThe MEMBERS-ONLY

www.naco.orgwww.naco.org

County News, June 6, 2005 11

NEWS FROM THE NATION'S COUNTIESNEWS FROM THE NATION'S COUNTIES

■ See NEWS FROM on page 14

ALABAMAAUTAUGA COUNTY Sheriff

Herbie Johnson is mulling the pos-sibility of purchasing shock belts to assist in controlling inmates during transfers and court proceedings.

The belts, which are similar to Tasers, are worn under the inmate’s clothing and can emit 50,000 volts when activated by a remote control, according to the Montgomery Ad-viser. The shocks incapacitate the belt wearer.

“In a courtroom setting, the belt is much safer than a Taser,” Johnson told the Adviser. “We have and use Tasers in court now. With the belt you don’t have to get close to an inmate.”

Johnson’s interest in the Tasers were inspired in part by the recent fatal shootings at the courthouse in Fulton County, Ga.

CALIFORNIA• Public outcry over an ordi-

nance about oak trees has caused supervisors in SANTA BARBARA COUNTY to reexamine the law.

The Oak Tree Protection and Regeneration Program, which was adopted two years ago, requires replanting of the trees when large numbers are removed. The ordinance passed in the wake of the clearing of hundreds of oak trees to make room for vineyards.

The fi ght pits environmentalists who want to preserve the trees against farmers and ranchers who want to protect their property rights.

Despite three hours of heated public comment at a recent meeting and several proposed amendments, the board of supervisors was unable to make a decision, according to The Lompoc Record.

• While Santa Barbara County environmentalists may be in the middle of a struggle, environmen-talists in SANTA CRUZ COUNTY won a victory with the county board’s unanimous decision to ban roadside spraying.

The ban, effective June 1, will place a three-year moratorium on spraying herbicides alongside county roads. The herbicides were sprayed in order to better visibility and reduce fi re risks.

FLORIDAThe MIAMI-DADE Board of

County Commissioners has ap-proved the initial phase of a $2.9 billion Building Better Communi-ties Bond Program.

The program includes more than 200 capital projects representing a broad spectrum of important infra-structure and quality of life improve-ments throughout the county.

The voter-approved project includes 334 projects that will be spread over a 15-year period. The initial series of bond projects include regional and neighborhood park im-provements; culture, education and historic preservation projects; public safety projects; and business develop-ment projects.

“The Building Better Commu-nities Bong Program is one of the most important initiatives that will benefi t Miami-Dade County residents for generations to come,” said Com-missioner Joe A. Martinez.

MICHIGANWAYNE COUNTY has instituted

an innovative training system for its Department of Homeland Security.

The county is building a compre-hensive, Web-based remote train-ing system for the department that will link and coordinate the various agencies and fi rst-responders in the county. Training materials such as courses, manuals and certifi cations will be available online through the Internet and the county’s intranet.

In moving its training program to the Web, the county is ensuring that all of its fi rst responders are tightly coordinated and that all its training manuals are up-to-date and easily accessible.

“We are committed to protect-ing our citizens by having the best trained and best informed emergency response services anywhere in the country and this learning system will help us reach the highest level of profi ciency,” Wayne County Ex-ecutive Robert Ficano said.

NEW JERSEYNicholas Klementowicz, a ser-

geant at the SOMERSET COUNTY Jail has been named the 2005 National Supervisor of the Year by the Inter-national Association of Correctional Offi cers.

Klementowicz has developed and conducted several executive-level and first responder-level training classes on how to prepare for and respond to weapons of mass destruction. As a result, the Somerset County Offi ce of Emergency Man-agement has formed a partnership with the Sheriff’s Special Response Team to provide tactical support in the event of a terrorist incident in the county.

“He is a true professional, a team player, a teacher, a role model and a leader,” Sheriff Frank J. Provenzano said.

NEW YORKEven though it has no say in

whether a proposed $700 million liquefi ed natural gas terminal is built in the Long Island Sound, the SUFFOLK COUNTY Legislature voted unanimously to oppose it. The Legislature also voted to allocate $100,000 for lawyers to launch a legal battle to prevent the construction.

Legislator Jon Cooper told News-day that although the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has the fi nal word on whether the terminal is built, the county’s vote “sends a powerful message” to the regulators.

Opponents contend that the 1,200-foot-long fl oating terminal’s placement nine miles off the Shore-ham-Wading River area of Long Island would be an eyesore, an en-vironmental hazard, and a potential target for terrorists.

Their counterparts in Connecticut and Sen. Charles Schumer and Rep. Timothy Bishop join the Suffolk Legislature in their opposition.

NORTH CAROLINAAfter hours of witness testimony

and debate, the MECKLENBURG

COUNTY Commissioners voted to add sexual orientation to the county’s nondiscrimination policy.

According to The Charlotte Observer, the new policy means the county cannot discriminate in hiring and personnel matters on the basis of sexual orientation, adding that to a list that includes race, color, sex, religion, national origin and age.

Commissioners Chairman Parks Helms proposed the change in April and said he would also favor offer-ing county employees health benefi ts for same-sex partners. Helms doesn’t believe he has the votes to change the benefi ts policy but thinks the change in the discrimination policy may pave the way.

PENNSYLVANIAA judge recently threw out AL-

LEGHENY COUNTY’s 4 percent cap on assessment increases for 2006 calling it a violation of the county home rule charter, state law and the Pennsylvania Constitution.

According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the judge wrote that cap would only exacerbate the widespread inaccuracies of the

2003 assessment values and give a tax break to thousands of homeown-ers whose properties would be left undervalued.

“I believe that what we proposed was reasonable,” County Executive Dan Onorato told the paper. “I believe that it was fair, consistent and uni-form. The one thing we’re not doing is taking this opinion and using it as a shield for me to hide behind.”

In February, the county executive put the fi rst reassessment since 2003 on hold after announcing that the county’s 550,000 properties would see average tax increases approaching 20 percent. Onorato and the county council created an assessment system that limited increases to 4 percent as a temporary measure to give the county time to fi x the assessment system be-fore the next assessment in 2009.

The county was sued by a resident and school district that contended the cap didn’t treat taxpayers uniformly, as required by the state Constitution.

Onorato said he and his advisors will review the plan before deciding whether to appeal the decision.

TEXASWorkers at the HARRIS COUN-

TY Administration Building are un-der attack.

It’s not a terrorist attack or a cy-ber attack, but their safety is being threatened, threatened by a family of grackles that is calling a magnolia tree in front of the building home.

The birds seem to be protecting a fl edgling that has fallen from the nest and are attacking people coming and going from the building. Deputy County Clerk Sylvia “Tippi Hedren” Velasquez is one of their victims.

“I hit him with a bottle,” Velasquez told the Associated Press. “The other birds came, and one attacked me on my blouse and my back.”

Two women who witnessed the attack came to Velasquez’s rescue, but they too were attacked. The trio es-caped by running into the building.

To prevent further attacks, of-fi cials have blocked off the front of the building.

“Our intent is not to harm the birds in any way, shape or fashion, and the way to do that is to have people go around to another entrance,” Arca-dio Avalos, safety coordinator in the county’s facilities and manage-ment department told the Houston Chronicle.

Great-tailed grackles are protect-ed under the federal Migratory Bird Treaty Act and the county would have to apply to the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department before it could move the birds to another location.

You could say the county is going to the dogs. But, in this case, that’s a good thing.

Through a partnership between CLACKAMAS COUNTY Dog Services, the nonprofi t organization Friends Involved in Dog Outreach (FIDO) and the Arts Action Alliance of Clackamas County, students at a local middle school are getting a chance to show off their art skills and at the same time, upgrade the bland exterior of the county dog shelter.

Eighteen students — some of whom are pictured here — have been at work over the past eight weeks on a 5x24-foot mural for the county’s dog shelter. Students were encouraged to design and paint a dog of their choice.

Nancy Nye, coordinator of the Arts Action Alliance, described the mural as a “lively vision of anthropomorphized dogs, depicted in whimsical and sometimes humorous settings. Now,” she added, “when folks pull into the parking lot of the shelter to potentially adopt an animal, they’ll be greeted with witty, upbeat images of dogs having fun.”

12 County News, June 6, 2005

CHANCESCHANCESARE...

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YOU’RE ALWAYS ON THE LOOK-OUT FOR WAYS TO HELP FUND YOUR COMMUNITY’S PROGRAMS.

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County News, June 6, 2005 13

AFFILIATE SPOTLIGHTAFFILIATE SPOTLIGHT

■ Site Features Links to Public Record Databases

The folks over at www.searchsystems.net provide more than 10,000 links to free public record databases around the world to help you locate the businesses, people and informa-tion you need. The site provides

access to business information, corporate fi lings, property records, unclaimed property, professional licenses, offenders, inmates, criminal and civil court fi lings, and more. The site provides links to external databases, most of which are free.

■ Online Glossary Explains Legislative Terms

If some legislative terms fl y over your head when you’re try-ing to follow national events, the Senate has compiled a glossary of terms to help people under-stand what Senators are doing. Pay a visit to www.senate.gov/pagelayout/reference/b_three_sections_with_teasers/glossary.htm to fi gure out what “Riddick’s Senate procedure” is.

■ Westchester County Produces Interactive Newsletter

The Westchester County, N.Y. Department of Informa-tion Technology has produced the inaugural issue of Lead-ing Technology, an interac-tive newsletter published by Westchester County’s De-

partment of Information Technology. The fi rst issue, accessible at www.westchestergov.com/doit/doitnews1.pdf, highlights the county’s most asked-about projects, including CHESS, a nationally recognized surveillance system used to detect and respond to bioterrorism.

(Web Watch is compiled by Dan Miller, staff writer. If you have an item you would like featured, e-mail it to him at dmiller@naco.org.)

NACCED is NACo’s technical assistance resource for economic development, workforce housing and community development. NACCED has been a key resource to President Angelo Kyle’s National Housing Strategy Initiative and is highly active in NACo’s Community and Economic Development Steering Committee.

NACCED members regularly deliver workshops at NACo confer-ences on housing and economic de-velopment strategies for counties.

NACCED’s strength comes from its members — active members, which are county agencies serving large and small populations in urban, suburban and rural areas across the country; and associate members, from nonprofi t entities, cities, pri-vate fi rms and individuals.

NACCED’s mission is to provide leadership in helping America’s counties implement an effective re-sponse to their affordable housing, community and economic develop-ment needs through education, tech-nical assistance and advocacy.

NACCED was created as an af-fi liate of NACo in 1978 to assist in developing the technical capacity of county agencies to administer these programs.

Membership in NACCED en-titles staff of county and associate members to benefi t from a full range of services. One of the major functions of NACCED is its Annual Community and Economic Development Confer-ence and Training, which provides members and elected offi cials educa-tional and networking opportunities.

This year’s conference takes place in Salt Lake City, Sept. 16–21. The conference program includes high quality concurrent sessions on top-ics, such as:

• rural and urban site selection for businesses

• redeveloping aging infrastruc-ture for economic development purposes

• creating revenue and generating program income

• workforce housing • Salt Lake County’s homeless-

ness initiative, and • pathways to economic develop-

ment — arts districts, trail develop-ment and heritage tourism.

To further enable NACCED to provide technical assistance to

Th e National Associationfor County Community

and Economic Development county-elected offi cials, NACCED’s Economic Development Commit-tee has developed a list of member technical experts in a variety of eco-nomic development tools, including revolving loan funds, micro-loans, tax-increment fi nancing, workforce development, and infrastructure capi-tal projects. Do not hesitate to contact NACCED staff to be connected to these resources.

To see if your county is a mem-ber, visit us at www.nacced.org. For additional membership, conference or technical assistance information, contact Sarah Nusser at 202/367-2372 or Sarah_Nusser@nacced.org.

(Affi liate Spotlight was written by Sarah Nusser, community and economic development director, NACCED.)

NACO OFFICERS & COUNTY OFFICIALS

• Immediate Past-President Karen Miller, Ed Ferguson, county services director, and Martin Harris, Center for Sustainable Communi-ties director, attended the International Council of Shopping Centers’ (ICSC) Annual Conference in Clark County, Nev. May 22–25. Miller and Ferguson joined leaders of the National League of Cities (NLC), International City/County Management Association (ICMA) and the U.S. Conference of Mayors (USCM) on a plenary session panel focus-ing on public-private partnership building. Harris conducted planning meetings with ICSC staff on the next steps of the partnership.

• Jackson County, Miss. Board of Supervisors President Manly Barton will continue work this fall as a member of the 5-Year Oil and Gas Leasing Program Subcommittee of the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Policy Committee.

Barton is the local government representative on this important 10-member subcommittee that provides advice to the U.S. secretary of the interior

through the director of the minerals management service.The subcommittee is charged with providing a comprehensive

process for developing a fi ve-year OCS program for the entire United States and evaluating areas for inclusion or exclusion from the upcom-ing leasing program.

NACO STAFF

• Executive Director Larry Naake, Ed Ferguson, county services director, and Sandra Clark, manager, education services, attended the County Leadership Institute in New York City May 31–June 4. The program is presented in partnership with New York University’s Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service. Twenty-four recently-elected offi cials from their county’s governing board and two state association executive directors participated in the program that focuses on collaborative approaches for advancing county issues at the regional, state and national levels.

• Jennifer Wilson, associate legislative direc-tor, participated in a health disparities site visit and participated in an organizational meeting of her new health disparities subcommittee at the Western Interstate Region Annual Conference May 25 –27 in Pierce County (Tacoma), Wash.

(On the Move is compiled by Allison Mall, editorial assistant.)

NACO ON THE MOVENACO ON THE MOVE

Manly Barton

Jennifer Wilson

Headline Update: Every two weeks, we’ll e-mail a short synopsis of the top stories in

County News. Pick your news, click the link and read the story.

Web Site Update: Every two weeks, we’ll e-mail the main page from

www.countynews.org. If you don’t always remember to visit the Web site, why not let us bring the Web site to you?

PDF Delivery:Every two weeks, we’ll send you the entire County News, every page, every picture, in a convenient PDF fi le. Save each issue on disk and

read them when you fi nd time.

To sign up for any of these services, go to www.countynews.org/Online_Form.cfm, fi ll out the form, and answer a few questions.

There is no charge for this service.

Visit us at www.countynews.orgONLINE

Get the News on Your Desktop!

14 County News, June 6, 2005

Know when to outsourceEven the most effective local gov-

ernment collection effort will reach a point on some accounts where they simply cannot collect. Know where that threshold is in your agency and have a policy to outsource those ac-counts immediately. If collection rates in your county or city begin to drop after 90 days, then make that the point at which you hand those accounts over to a private sector collection fi rm. The quicker you forward those hard-to-collect debts to a qualifi ed collection company, the greater the amount you will recover.

Choose a qualifi ed collection fi rm

Good public sector collection fi rms operate on a contingency fee basis so there is no cost to turn over delinquent accounts. The collec-tion agency is paid a percentage of the funds it actually collects. Some states even allow the county to charge an “add-on” fee to the original debt amount so the debtor pays the fee to the collection fi rm and there is no cost to the county for the service.

Choosing a fi rm that focuses on

RESEARCH NEWSRESEARCH NEWS

The explosion of the Internet over the past generation has created an enormous resource for people all over the globe. It is a source of news, events, research, publication, marketing and a host of other ben-efi ts. It has been a key catalyst for the 24-hour news cycle because of its immediacy.

The Internet has also become a tool for individuals to create their own space and write opinion pieces. These sites, called “blogs,” have created a fi restorm of issues involving the employer/employee relationship.

A blog, short for “Weblog,” is a Web site created by an individual who uses it as a diary or journal, reveal-ing all types of information about his or her personal or professional life, opinions, news and links. Depending on the type of blog, it can be updated daily, weekly or simply whenever the author feels like writing, which can be by the hour.

According to a survey conducted by the Pew Internet & American Life Project, an estimated eight million Americans have blogs and more than 25 percent of Internet users read them.

They are growing fast. The same survey revealed that the number of blog readers had grown by 58 percent in 2004, and there are about 40,000 new blogs appearing each day. It is expanding so rapidly because the In-ternet is so accessible and creating a blog site can be done for free or for a nominal fee.

These blogs are at the center of a public debate currently ongoing about the role employers have in monitoring the blogs of employees.

There have been more that 20 documented cases of bloggers losing their jobs because of the information they revealed on their blog Web site. Whether it was a Delta fl ight at-tendant posting revealing photos of herself on her site in her uniform, or

an employee at Google being fi red for posting information about his company, employers are striking back at employees who reveal too much company information.

The law offers no special protec-tion to bloggers. The vast majority of states are “at-will” employment states, meaning the employee can quit or be fi red for any reason at any time (except in cases of proven discrimination).

Will some states offer protection for employees for their off-duty ac-tivities? This can be a complicated is-sue when it comes to blogging, since many are done out of the offi ce but the employee can still have access to and post information confi dential to their workplace. In some instances, government employee free speech is protected as a matter “of public concern,” creating another legal issue which counties, as employers, will doubtless face in the near future.

In response to the growth of these blogs and the possibility that they

contain privileged or confi dential workplace information, many companies have turned to estab-lishing blogging policies for their workplace. These companies are addressing blogs in the same way as they would emails and Internet access at work.

According to an electronic moni-toring and surveillance survey of em-ployers conducted by the American Management Association and The ePolicy Institute, 84 percent of employers have policies governing the use of e-mail, 81 percent have policies on Internet access and 20 percent have policies on personal blogs during company time.

Since most blogs are anonymous, it is diffi cult to track the author, es-pecially if he or she is posting from a home computer. But establishing workplace policies regarding the blogs and their content can save your county embarrassing situations. A policy can include stipulations such

as: prohibition against personal or sexual harassment, or other language that can lead to a hostile workplace; protection of confi dentiality; no men-tion of the employer name or images of the employer or property; prohi-bition of blog use in illegal activity. Again, while employers generally cannot infl uence or require employ-ees to conduct themselves in a certain matter outside of the workplace, they are trying to address this issue before it leads to ugly legal battles. Counties would be wise to follow suit.

(Research News was written by Joseph Hansen, research associate).

FINANCIAL SERVICES NEWSFINANCIAL SERVICES NEWS

Collecting delinquent receivables can be very diffi cult for local govern-ments when constituents refuse to pay what they owe. Most county and city agencies are more focused on provid-ing services to the community rather than tracking down folks who relocate to another area or simply won’t pay. Local governments typically are owed money for

• court fi nes• child support• parking and traffi c violations• ambulance and EMS fees• hospital charges, and• water and sewer services.There are some simple steps that

can be taken to dramatically increase the rate of collection in your county or city.

Centralize collection effortsMerging all outstanding receiv-

ables into one department is prob-ably the single most important change counties and other local governmental entities can make to improve their collection rates. Ad-ditionally, you can maximize your staff time by having dedicated col-lectors who are trained specifi cally

to work with debtors to motivate them to pay.

Decentralized collection efforts frequently end up being duplicative, since citizens who owe your agency money often have multiple obliga-tions. Consolidated collection teams also ensure that all debt owed receives equal attention.

When collection is left to indi-vidual departments, there are typi-cally widely varying success rates even within the same city or county. Some departments monitor the debt very actively while others do not.

Do not let receivables become stagnant

Delinquent accounts should be monitored constantly. According to statistics from the U.S. Department of Commerce, one dollar owed today is worth only 45 cents one year from today, and only 23 cents two years from today. Constantly monitoring receivables and preventing them from getting “stale” is critical to collecting what is owed. The longer a debt remains unpaid, the greater the likelihood that it will never be recovered.

Blogging: What Your County Should Know

Debt Collection Best PracticesIncreasing revenue through effective management of receivables

the local government market rather than consumer debt ensures that the company will understand the unique circumstances of public sector collections.

Make sure the company you work with operates under the requirements and guidelines of the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), which regulates collection efforts.

Additionally, look for a partner that offers your jurisdiction the op-portunity to approve all letters and phone scripts so the tone of all com-munications is consistent with your county’s standards.

NACo sponsors a Debt Collection Program that is designed to help lo-cal governments recover funds they cannot collect on their own. Maximus was selected to partner with NACo on the program through a national solicitation by a lead public agency because of their public sector collec-tion experience, knowledge of local government and reasonable fees.

(For more information on the Debt Collection Program, please contact Nancy Irish at 202/661-8824 or nirish@naco.org.)

Va. county vies for local Emmy Award■ NEWS FROM from page 11

VIRGINIAAnd the Emmy goes to…No one is sure yet, but the folks

in PRINCE WILLIAM COUNTY sure hope it’s them.

Prince William County is a con-tender for a local Emmy Award for a low-budget public service announce-ment about drunken driving that airs on the county government channel. The county is up against the local CBS-affi liate that produced a short about a breast cancer fundraiser.

According to The Washington Post, the county spent $10 on a few Kmart turtlenecks for the spot’s teenage actors and used grainy, seven-year-old footage from a po-lice reenactment of a fatal drunken driving accident for the 2 1/2–minute commercial spot.

“It was something that we didn’t really think we had a chance at, but we entered anyway,” Desiree Wolfe, one of the ad’s three producers told the Post.

Prince William is the only govern-ment agency left in the competition that has 146 nominees in the regional contest’s 77 categories. The winners will be announced June 18.

(News From the Nation’s Coun-ties is written by Dan Miller, staff writer, and M. Mindy Moretti, senior staff writer. If you have news about your county, please e-mail them at dmiller@naco.org or mmoretti@naco.org.)

County News, June 6, 2005 15

technical experts who are critical to the implementation of the project itself, these other components, such as the overall vision and the ability to move other people toward sharing that vision, are much more elusive.

The real art in process improve-ment is not the art of the accountant or of the technician. It is the art of the leader who sees a positive vision of the future, and offers the organiza-tion, and its employees help, caring and the ability to think outside of the litter box!

All the best,

Phil RosenbergThe HR Doctorwww.hrdr.netP.S. — Have you purchased your

very own copy of the HR Doctor’s book, Don’t Walk by Something Wrong!?? It’s never too late! Try www.amazon.com!

JOB MARKET/CLASSIFIEDSJOB MARKET/CLASSIFIEDS

Job Market - Classifi ed Rate Schedule• Line Rates: $7 per line, NACo member counties; $10 per line, others.• Display Classifi ed: $50 per col umn inch, NACo member counties; $70

per column inch, others.• Billing: In voices will be sent after pub li ca tion.• Mail advertising copy to: Job Mar ket, County News, 440 First St., N.W.,

Washington, DC 20001.• FAX advertising copy to: Job Mar ket, County News, (202)393-2630.• E-mail advertising copy to: edassist@naco.org.• Be sure to include billing in for ma tion along with copy.• Estimates given prior to publication are approximations only and do not

necessarily refl ect fi nal cost.

For more in for ma tion, contact the Job Market representative at (202) 942-4256.

NOTICESNOTICES

■ COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR — HAMILTON COUNTY, OHIO

Salary: DOQCincinnati population: 845,303. Re-

quires BS/BA in Pub/Bus Admin/related fi eld, MS/MA preferred. Five to seven years county/city manager/administrator, deputy/assistant/related experience in comparably sized, complex county government/related private sector top leadership experience. Salary market competitive. Relocation allowance/competitive fringe benefi t package. Brochure available from The Mercer Group. See www.mercergroupinc.com. Resumes by June 6 to James Mer-cer, The Mercer Group, Inc. 5579B Chamblee Dunwoody Road, #511, Atlanta, GA 30338. 770/551-0403, mercer@mindspring.com, 770/399-9749 (Fax). Under Ohio Open Records Law, resumes/other application materi-als subject to public disclosure. EOE.

■ COUNTY MANAGER — NEW HANOVER COUNTY, N.C.

Salary: $120,000 DOQNew Hanover County, N.C. (Wilm-

ington), nestled on the southeastern coast of North Carolina between the Atlantic Ocean and Cape Fear River, seeks a County Manager who is appointed by a 5-member Board of Commissioners. There is an excellent management-board relationship, as the current manager is retiring after 15 years of service to New Hanover County. The county, which en-compasses Historic Wilmington and sev-eral beaches, is rich in history and folk-lore, has a rapidly growing population of 176,000, and a total operating budget of over $328M. The County Manager has full administrative responsibility of the County government, consisting of over 2,000 regular and temporary employees who provide services in 30 departments, including public health, social services,

and the waste-to-energy conversion facility. Bachelor’s degree in public administration, business administration or a closely related fi eld and eight years of progressively responsible administra-tive experience, including three years at a management level; or an equivalent combination of education and experi-ence. Minimum starting salary: $120,000 (negotiable) and excellent benefi ts. Pre-employment drug screening and criminal background check required. A completed application package consisting of a New Hanover County Employment Applica-tion form and responses to supplemental questions must be received by 4:30 p.m., Friday 8/5/05, at New Hanover County Department of Human Resources, 320 Chestnut Street, Suite 405, Wilming-ton, N.C. 28401. Offi ce open 7:30 a.m.–5:00 p.m., M–F. Apply online at www.nhcgov.com/NHCmain.asp or call the 24-hour JobLine 910/341-7163 or offi ce 910/341-7178 to request an ap-plication package. Fax: 910/341-4293.

■ FINANCE DIRECTOR — EAU CLAIRE COUNTY, WIS.

Salary: $66,768 – $83,512Eau Claire County is seeking an

individual to serve as the county’s chief fi nancial offi cer, overseeing the performance of all fi nancial activities of the county and to administer the county’s fi nance department, directing the daily activities and providing staff supervision. Starting salary is $66,768 to $83,512 annually depending on qualifi cations plus a competitive ben-efi t package. The Finance Director is charged with administering a system for the orderly presentation and payment of

■ Conferences and Seminars• The Government Finance Offi cers Association is holding National

Training Seminars in Hennepin County (Minneapolis), Minn. August 22–25.The seminars include Accounting for Capital Assets, Evaluating Internal

Controls, Effective Budget Presentation, Financial and ERP Systems Acquisi-tion and Implementation, and more. For more information and to register, go to www.gfoa.org.

• The 28th Annual National Food Policy Conference will take place Sept. 19–20 at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. At the conference, policy-makers, advocates, health professionals, scientists and industry representatives will examine nutrition, agricultural policy, animal biotechnology and food safety, as well as hear from the government’s top food policy offi cials.

THE H.R. DOCTOR IS INTHE H.R. DOCTOR IS IN

Very recently, brand new carpet-ing was installed at the Rosenberg home as part of a much delayed re-modeling. Any remodeling project, of a home or of a business practice, is complicated, often more expensive than envisioned and often full of un-expected surprises.

Soon after the arrival of the new carpet, the HR cat and the HR dog, Kamala, experienced gastro-intestinal distress, which was relieved on our new carpet.

Of course, this did not please the rest of the family who had the clean-up duty as well as the concern about the health of the family pets. Nonethe-less, the unexpected mess was dealt with, cleaned up, and we moved on. In fact, the HR animals may simply have been informing us that they were concerned about all this remodeling and wanted to make a point that they were not consulted in the choice of color, texture or scheduling.

So it is often with business remod-eling. When plans are announced for a process change, an outsourcing, the replacement of technology or a ser-vice delivery change of any kind, an atmosphere of uncertainty is created for the employees, the managers and, in fact, even for the clients (not to mention the employees’ pets).

This is often especially true of process changes involving automa-tion. The promises made by the vendor’s sales and marketing staff may not come to pass the way you expected when the marketers leave the scene and the implementation staff arrives. Actually, at this point, it’s probable that many of the vendor staff will have already found other positions and left the project team.

My human resources colleagues report that when human resources information system (HRIS), are installed, the cost is generally con-siderably higher than it was thought

to be initially and the frustrations follow the cost-line on the chart in terms of causing blood pressure problems for staff. The outcome is certainly different than the old way of doing business, (i.e., the legacy system), but it is not always a totally positive difference.

A chorus of employees can still be heard long after the implementa-tion saying, “Why did we have to

Th inking Outside the Litter BoxTh inking Outside the Litter Box

PHIL ROSENBERG

THE HR DOCTOR

do this?” “If only the old system remained!” “Nobody consulted me before the choice was made!” These protests sparked by dissatisfaction and frustration can hurt productivity and lead to requirements to engage in “clean-up.”

Every innovation means change. Every change causes uncertainty, and every manager must become a controller or mitigator of uncertainty to be successful in his or her career, let alone in the particular project du jour.

The control of uncertainty is the critical management skill of the 21st Century. It requires a consultative style, mixed with vision and a respect for the opinion of others. Of course, a strong sense of humor and empathy towards those affected represent key skills as well.

While the technical details of some new innovation or automation change can be gleaned from the

obligations, the maintenance of a uni-fi ed countywide accounting system, functioning as county auditor and as agent of the county in matters pertain-ing to the Wisconisin Retirement Fund in accordance with Wisconsin Statutes. Required qualifi cations: Bachelor’s de-gree in accounting or fi nance, business administration, or related fi eld with emphasis in accounting. Five (5) years of directly related upper level fi nancial management experience in government accounting. Certifi ed Public Accountant or Certified Government Financial Manager. Five (5) years of experience supervising in a fi nancial setting. For an application package, please contact: Personnel Department, County Court-house, 721 Oxford Ave., Ste. 1122, Eau Claire, WI 54703-5481. 715/839-4710, www.ci.eau-claire.wi.us, 715/839-1669 (fax). Completed county application forms are required and must be on fi le in the Personnel Department no later than 5:00 p.m., June 17. An equal op-portunity employer.

■ ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COORDINATOR — MARION COUNTY, KAN.

Salary: DOQThe Board of County Commis-

sioners is seeking applications to fi ll the position of Marion County Economic Development Coordinator. The Coordinator is responsible for the planned development and execution of the economic and physical growth of the county. This includes networking with other groups, promoting Marion County, especially tourism, develop-ing resources and contacts and actively working with communities. This person must possess excellent communication, public relation and organizational skills. Full benefit package. References required. Applications and a full job description are available at the Marion County Clerk’s Offi ce, P. O. Box 219, Marion, KS 66861, Marion County Courthouse, 620/382-2185. Applica-tions will be accepted through June 30. EOE.