Dalby Honored With Judicial Leadership Award

After 34 years of service to Texans, Garza County Judge Giles Dalby earned the first-ever Giles W. Dalby Award for Judicial Leadership, which was presented to him during a special reception dinner held by TAC and the Texas Judicial Academy for retiring county judges.

The award was established to honor Dalby’s “character, integrity and service to the judiciary, county government and community,” according to the plaque.

Dalby is known for his leadership roles in several associations, including past president of the West Texas County Judges and Commissioners Association and TAC, and chair of the Texas County and District Retirement System and the Judicial Education Committee. He received TAC’s prestigious Trailblazer Award in 2004.

“From his early days in office when he personally defended county government on the steps of the Capitol during the Constitutional Convention of 1974, he remained an active leader,” said TAC Executive Director Sam Seale during the reception, held Nov. 16 in Austin. “He has served as a role model, mentor, supporter and friend to us all and indeed, set the standard for this important public service. … We felt there would be no better way to demonstrate our deep felt appreciation and admiration for him, than to make sure that the role he has established in his service remain a goal for county judges in the future.”

Dalby retired as the longest-tenured constitutional county judge in Texas. More than 70 of his county judge peers from around the state also celebrated their retirements at the dinner and reception.

The Giles Dalby Award was one of two awards given during the night; the other was given to retired Texas Tech University Dean Frank Newton in appreciation of his “extraordinary contribution to Judicial Education.”

Feds Publish First Installment of ADA Best Practices Tool Kit

Making sure county facilities and services are accessible to persons with disabilities just got easier. The federal agency responsible for compliance with disability laws recently published the first installment of its new online guide.

The Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice issued the first two chapters of a new technical assistance document designed to assist state and local officials in complying with Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in their programs, services, activities and facilities. The new technical assistance document, which will be released in several installments over the next ten months, is titled “The ADA Best Practices Tool Kit for State and Local Governments.”

The Tool Kit is designed to teach state and local government officials how to identify and fix problems that prevent people with disabilities from gaining equal access to state and local government programs, services and activities. It will also teach state and local officials how to conduct accessibility surveys of their buildings and facilities to identify and remove architectural access barriers.

The first installment of the tool kit can be found at www.usdoj.gov/crt/ada/pcatoolkit/toolkitmain.htm.

New Cancer Program Helps Members Manage Care

TAC’s Health and Employee Benefits Pool has partnered with Quality Oncology to bring a free benefit to pool members diagnosed with cancer. The program provides support for patients and families dealing with the devastating life changes that come with the disease.

Members can join the program with one toll-free call, after which they can call anytime, day or night, and speak with a licensed oncology nurse. The program is designed to:

• Educate patients about the disease process and medical management;
• Reinforce the patient’s prescribed plan of care;
• Assess and intervene with side effects of therapy;
• Monitor medication compliance;
• Help transition patients through active treatment to recovery or palliative care as appropriate; and
• Support the patient and family in clinical and end-of-life decision making.

Upcoming Technology Workshops to Provide Valuable Insight for Counties

There is still time to register for the 2007 Courts and Local Government Technology Conference, which will be held Jan. 30-Feb. 1 at the Austin Convention Center. Registration is available online at www.county.org.

The conference is being held in conjunction with the Government Technology Conference (GTC), which is being presented in the Austin Convention Center at the same time. Registration for the TAC conference includes entry to the GTC Exhibit Hall and several major events.

Two special speakers highlight this year’s Technology Conference. IT management consultant Paul Glen, an awardwinning author and Computerworld columnist, is considered to be one of the most entertaining and thought-provoking professional speakers in the technology industry. Alan Shark is the executive director for Public Technology Institute as well as a highly-recognized leader in both the nonprofit management and technology fields. His emphasis is on technology applications for business and government.

Much of the Courts and Local Government portion of the conference will focus on helping county officials and employees determine which new technologies will work best for their counties, and on transferring paper processes into a digital format. Those goals are important, said TAC conference coordinator Haley Haygood, because constituents are relying on the convenience of technology more and more. As technology options continue to expand, governments and courts need to know which options offer the best solutions for their county.

“The most exciting thing about the conference is the networking, not just people-wise, but being able to talk about the new generation of technology that is becoming more and more popular in county government,” Haygood said.

Register Online Now for 2007 Annual Conference

Registration is already available online for this year‘s TAC Annual Conference, scheduled Aug. 15-17 at the new Hilton Hotel Austin. Early birds will save money by registering now at www.county.org. The host hotel for the Annual Conference usually fills up quickly, so now is also a great time to make hotel reservations.

The TAC Annual Conference will focus partly on the outcome of the 2007 legislative session. County officials, legislators and industry experts will help county officials determine the impacts of new laws on their offices and counties.

Concurrent sessions will focus on areas such as human resources, technology, finance and more. More information will be added to the TAC website, www.county.org, as it becomes available.

Popular Pre-Conference Events Return to County Management Institute

The 2007 County Management Institute will see the return of two popular pre-conference sessions.

During the first session, newly elected county officials will have the opportunity to share their visions for their counties with TAC officers and staff members, and gain insight into how to achieve those goals.

The second session will be a roundtable for Human Resources professionals, featuring an open discussion of HR issues. Participants are encouraged to bring specific concerns to discuss with their peers.

The conference will also feature two popular motivational keynote speakers. Kay Christopher will discuss “Clearer Thinking: Focusing the Power of Your Mind” and Suzie Humphreys will be “Looking for the Laughter.” In addition, this year’s CMI attendees can mix and match their choices among four tracks with concurrent educational sessions. Those tracks are General Management, Health Management, Risk Management and Human Resources Management.

The conference will be held May 2-4 at the Austin Doubletree Hotel. Register online at www.county.org. For more information call TAC’s Education Department at 800-456-5974.

(left) Jefferson County Judge Carl Griffith, Liberty County Judge Lloyd Kirkham, Matagorda County Judge Greg Westmoreland and Angelina County Judge Joe Barry were among more than 70 of the state’s constitutional county judges who recently retired. All the retiring judges were recognized for their years of service and leadership during a ceremony by TAC and the Texas Judicial Academy.

Gillespie County Employees Walk Across Texas

When opportunity comes a-knockin’, employees in Gillespie County get a-walkin’.

At least, that was the thought the Gillespie County Commissioners Court had when they voted to participate in the Walk Across Texas program, a physical fitness program created by the Texas Cooperative Extension and the Texas A&M School of Rural Public Health in which individuals or teams agree to walk 830 miles in eight weeks.

Gillespie County employees started the program on Oct. 9 by joining together and taking a 20 minute, one mile stroll down Main Street in Fredericksburg. Gillespie County Treasure Laura Lundquist said she believed the county’s participation in the program would lead many employees to get into the habit of walking even after the program ended.

“It is the intent of the court to sponsor a program in which all county employees can participate and in so doing, the employees can improve their physical fitness,” she said.

The program is designed to be flexible to work for a wide variety of individuals and organizations. Gillespie County had its employees create teams of eight people. In all, 88 employees – 11 teams – participated. The teams could walk individually or together, and team captains kept track of how far the team members walked each week. Each team’s progress was then posted on Texas maps displayed in the county’s courthouse, library and law enforcement center.

“We had the original line drawn from just west of El Paso up through the Dallas- Ft. Worth area, out along Interstate 20 to the Louisiana border, passing through Waskom, the last Texas city before you cross the border,” Lundquist said. That distance is about 830 miles. “Every team exceeded the 800 mile trek. We had to start going down the Gulf Coast, down around the tip of Texas, along the Rio Grande. We had some that actually passed the starting line… it was really kind of cool.”

One employee, Jesse Aleman, made it all the way past the Longview, TX exit on Interstate 20, about 771 miles from El Paso.

The county had employees fill out a questionnaire at the end of the program. Responses from that survey mostly confirm that employees believe they will keep up their new habit. “We have gotten lots of good comments from this,” Lundquist said. “A lot of the comments were, ‘it got me away from the TV.’ There were a lot of fantastic, good comments.”

Judy Tatsch, a clerk in the treasurer’s office, said she was glad when the county announced it was starting the program.

“I was excited about it. I wanted to get into something, but it was just like the motivation wasn’t there,” Tatsch said. “Since I didn’t walk at all before this, I tried to walk two to three times a week, which is more than I walked when I first started.”

Tatsch said she believes she will continue walking several times a week and is looking forward to participating in the program again.

“You feel better, you have more energy. You go outside and you walk and it kind of clears your mind,” she said.

The county worked with local media to help build enthusiasm for the program, Lundquist said, and also planned several events related to the challenge, including the presentation of awards for participants during the county’s annual Christmas party.

One of the benefits of the program is that those participating can still keep track of their mileage even after the eight weeks are over. The Walk Across Texas website, at walkacrosstexas.tamu.edu, features a tool that allows individuals to keep track of how far they have walked. The website also invites participants to make their way across Texas using other methods as well, such as by cycling, dancing, roller blading, spinning, swimming and gardening, and offers mileage equivalents for each of the other forms of exercise. For instance, participants who choose to dance their way across Texas can log one mile for every 20 minutes of swirling and twirling, but those who choose to rollerblade must go three miles in order to log one mile.

Participation and registration for Walk Across Texas is free, though counties may spend some money promoting the competition to their employees.

Gillespie County managed to promote the program entirely through donations from businesses and associations. A water company donated water for the initial walk and an area gym donated free one-month memberships to participants. Other organizations donated other prizes as well.

“It’s a really cool program, ya’ll ought to do it too,” Lundquist said.

TAC endorses Glen Whitley
Tarrant Judge Seeks NACo Post

Tarrant County Judge Glen Whitley announced his candidacy for the leadership of the National Association of Counties in December and was immediately endorsed by the TAC Board of Directors.

“Glen has been a true leader for counties in our discussions with state leaders on tax caps and I’ve been impressed with the extent of his active involvement at NACo,” said TAC Executive Director Sam Seale. “He’s a man Texans should be proud to support.”

Whitley is running for NACo Second Vice President, a position that evolves into the role of NACo president two years later. The election will be held at the NACo Annual Conference July 13-17 in Richmond, Virginia.

The goal of his campaign to lead NACo is to enhance awareness of county government among the public and among state and national leaders, Whitley said.

“County governments’ interests are best served when people understand what counties are and what they do,” he said. “I believe NACo should provide the guidance to develop the tools that help you and I explain our level of government.”

From almost the day Whitley was elected Tarrant County Commissioner in 1996, it was obvious to him that the future of county government was intricately tied in with what lawmakers in Austin and Washington D. C. were up to. Whether it was unfunded mandates or local tax policy, Whitley understood that county, state and federal governments are closely intertwined.

Right off the bat, the new commissioner became active with NACo, where he now serves on the board of directors on behalf of TAC.

His initial participation on the organization’s Transportation Steering Committee led to his appointment as committee chairman. He led NACo’s lobbying effort on behalf of counties during the reauthorization of the federal transportation funding law, known as SAFETY-LIU.

More recently, he was appointed to serve as Tri-Chair of the NACo 2008 Presidential Election Task Force, an effort specifically aimed at positioning county government issues into the policy framework of the presidential candidates.

“It’s important that whoever the next president of our nation is, it should be a person who is aware of what’s crucial to county government,” Whitley said. “That means making sure the candidates are well informed about counties, which fits with my goal of increasing the knowledge of county government across the board.”

His other NACo activities include serving as:

• chair of the 2006-2007 Strategic Focus Coordination and Oversight Committee;
• a member of the Large Urban County Caucus Steering Committee;
• a member of the Finance Committee; and
• a member of the Member Programs and Services Committee.

Just-retired Yoakum County Judge Dallas Brewer served with Whitley as a TAC appointment to the NACo board. He’s enthusiastic about the candidacy and sent a letter out to rural county officials around the country who are active with NACo.

“Glen has made a point of soliciting rural insight about how NACo policies would affect us. In particular, he has been a unifying voice for all counties within the Texas NACo delegation,” Brewer told his rural colleagues. “He has gone the extra mile for rural communities.”

In Texas, Whitley became known among counties for his active role on the Task Force on Indigent Defense, where he chaired the Grants and Reporting Committee. “My emphasis on that task force has been to make sure that as much money as possible is recycled back to the counties instead of being eaten up by administrative expenses,” he said.

He is also current chair of the Texas Conference of Urban Counties and a member of TAC Tomorrow, a long-range planning committee of TAC.

Former NACo president and former Dallas County Commissioner Roy Orr said Whitley is well qualified to lead the organization. “I’ve known him for a long time and I’ve seen how effective he is. He hit the ground running from day one,” said Orr, who was NACo president in 1988-89. “He’s got a passion for county government that will serve counties well.”

A certified public accountant, Whitley was elected Tarrant County Judge in November.

Schedule for 2010 Local Update of Census Addresses Program Released

Texas counties will soon be asked to participate in the 2010 Local Update of Census Addresses program, known as LUCA. The program is important for ensuring that the U.S. Census Bureau has accurate information when it starts the 2010 Census and yearly household surveys.

The program takes place every 10 years and is a time for sharing local knowledge in order to more fully develop the Master Address File at the U.S. Census Bureau. County officials will be asked to review a list of housing units and addresses and make necessary changes to that list. The program helps ensure that the information gathered in the 2010 Census will be accurate and that the resulting population-driven federal funding to states and local governments will also be accurate.

An accurate population count starts with an up-to-date and accurate address list. If a housing unit or group quarters address is listed on the Master Address File, it will ensure that the people residing at the address will be counted.

A February 2003 Government Accountability Office report prepared for a congressional requestor indicated that in fiscal year 2000, about $283 billion in federal grant money was distributed to state and local governments by formula; states received their share of this money based in part on factors such as annual population estimates derived from the 1990 decennial census. When the population estimates were updated to reflect the 2000 census results, an additional $388 million in federal grant funding went predominately to the 23 states that had above-average estimate revisions.

The LUCA program operates as follows:

• The invited governments designate a LUCA liaison to review the portion of the census address list covering the area under its jurisdiction.
• The Census Bureau will send the LUCA liaison an address list from the Master Address File, corresponding maps, and address tallies.
• In areas with city-style addresses the LUCA liaison can provide input regarding individual addresses on the list, as well as addresses missing from the list that should be added. The Census Bureau will verify this input during the Address Canvassing Operation and provide feedback to the participants about the results.
• In areas with non-city-style addresses (e.g., rural route and box number or post office box numbers), the LUCA liaisons will provide input regarding the count of housing unit and group quarters addresses. The Census Bureau will visit each census block during the Address Canvassing Operation and update the census address list. The Census Bureau will provide the LUCA participants with an updated address list and maps during the feedback phase.
• Public Law 103-430 allows the LUCA participants to appeal final Census Bureau decisions. All appeals must be adjudicated prior to Census Day to ensure that the housing unit is visited during the enumeration phase.
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