Future TAC Disaster Management Web Site Introduced at County Management Institute Conference

TAC’s annual County Management Institute wrapped up on April 17 after two days of educational workshops devoted to general management, road and bridge maintenance, human resources, criminal justice and risk management.

Speakers discussed disaster planning and other interesting topics, such as how to engage employees and criminal justice system goals and administration, which was led by Tarrant County Criminal Justice Manager Les Smith.

During the Disaster Preparation: What You Need to Know and How TAC Can Help breakout session, Gayle Latham, the director of TAC’s County Information Resources Agency (CIRA), introduced the details of a newly created TAC service: a disaster planning Web site online at www.recovertexas.org.

The site will host a variety of information by June 1, in time for hurricane season, Latham said. The site is intended to help facilitate return-to-work and operational statuses for counties after an emergency by providing critical information to the core county workforce. It will also serve as a central resource to link all emergency related information resources, including local, state and federal Web sites. And, it will help alert other counties within the state to emergency situations for which they may be able to offer assistance. Besides that resource, TAC’s self-insurance pools and County Information Project are also available to help counties before, during and after an emergency, speakers said. For instance, TAC’s Health and Employee Benefits Pool staff worked to ensure that displaced county employees would still have access to prescription drugs and medical treatment following Hurricane Rita, while TAC’s County Information Project was utilized last year immediately following Hurricane Ike to help gather information about initial damage estimates for the Governor’s Office to use to support appropriation requests for federal disaster relief funds.

“When Hurricane Rita was occurring, we had several counties within our Pool that were in line of the eye or at least close to it. We Future TAC Disaster Management Web Site Introduced at County Management Institute Conference wanted to do something to help those in need of medical assistance in the event of an evacuation or devastation to households. For county employees who had to leave home and either forgot their meds or couldn’t get home to retrieve them, we devised a plan with our prescription benefit manager, Caremark. We would notify Caremark with a list of which counties were in harms way to allow any of our Pool members from those counties to go to any Caremark pharmacy and get 10 days of any Rx they have on file already, for free,” said HEBP Marketing Specialist Kelly Kolodzey. “Blue Cross Blue Shield got on board and issued a notice that wherever BCBS members needed medical assistance they could get it, as In-Network benefits, regardless of whether the provider was a BCBS network provider or not.”

Kolodzey said both of those services are available on an as-needed basis, usually for 10 days unless there is an extended need. And, she said, emergency benefits can kick in for other disasters as well, not just hurricanes. “(Last month) we called all of the counties north of Dallas that were besieged by fire to determine whether they had evacuees or were still in danger. Montague had lost 2 small towns and we wanted to know if they needed our assistance,” she said. “None of the 12 counties we called remained in danger, but I think they appreciated our efforts.”

Renee McKinney, the property claims examiner for TAC’s Risk Management Pool, encouraged county officials to have a plan in place before a catastrophic incident occurs. She recommended that the plan include a printed listing of the most important information that will be needed during and after an emergency, as well as a list of responsibilities and assigned duties. She called such a plan an ICEPLAN: In Case of Emergency Pre-determined List of Actions Necessary.

“Print it, laminate it, distribute it, keep it handy,” McKinney said, adding that such a list should include utility and insurance service providers, such as TAC.

Visit Nashville For National County Conference

Registration is ongoing for the 2009 National Association of Counties Annual Conference, scheduled for July 24-28 in Davidson County, Tenn., home to Nashville.

The conference will feature a variety of speakers and workshops on interests to county officials nationwide. Conference delegates will also elect the next NACo 2nd Vice President, a position that transitions into the association’s presidency. Each NACo president is given the resources to develop a nationwide platform of interest to counties; presidents have chosen to focus the association’s direction on problems such as the sexual exploitation of children, aging out of the foster care system, immigration and green government. During the conference, Texas’ own Tarrant County Judge Glen Whitley will transition from 2nd VP to First VP as NACo President Don Stapley, of Maricopa County, Ariz., hands the reins to President-elect Valerie Brown, of Sonoma County, Calif.

The Texas caucus will meet for a luncheon at 11:30 a.m. on July 26th, in part to determine how the delegation will cast its votes in the 2nd VP election. Meeting rooms are still to be determined.

Counties Utilizing YouTube, Social Networking Tools to Reach Residents

Counties are turning to Internet videos to spread the word about services and programs, according to the National Association of Counties, which has followed suit by creating its own YouTube channel. The NACo YouTube channel is online at www.youtube.com/NACoVideo. Currently, the videos focus on green government efforts in Maricopa County, Ariz., the home county of NACo President Don Stapley. More green government videos and resources are available at www.greencounties.org. The NACo YouTube channel also features a video on NACo’s prescription drug discount card program – popular among Texas counties – and video of 2008 NACo Annual Conference speakers.

TAC is also utilizing Internet video to reach out to county officials, mostly via its new electronic newsletter TACNews. County officials should already receive the newsletter in their inboxes, but those who do not receive it should try adding tacannounce@county.org to their email address book or Safe Sender List. Archives of the newsletter are also available online at http://newsletter.county.org.

According to NACo, counties are utilizing YouTube and social networking sites to create or enhance their own government access television channels, as well as for direct avenues to interested citizens. Counties that have done so report increased interest from their residents regarding county programs; for instance, a Lucie County, Fla., video featuring a county-owned skate park was viewed 368 times via YouTube over the course of three weeks, whereas a video on its own Web site was viewed just 175 times in three weeks. State government leaders have also taken to new social networking techniques. County officials who “Twitter” or want to know what “Twitter” is can follow Gov. Rick Perry at his official Twitter site, www. twitter.com/GovernorPerry.

San Patricio Judge Takes Seat on TAC Board of Directors

San Patricio County Judge Terry Simpson is the newest member of the TAC Board of Directors. Simpson joined the Board earlier this year, replacing Lee County Judge Evan Gonzales.

Gonzales, who also served on the TAC Risk Management Pool Board, joined TAC’s Education Department in February. He is currently working as TAC’s Judicial Project Director.

Annual Conference to Focus on New County-related Laws Several sessions also dedicated to creating happier employees, customers

Come late August, county officials from around the state will be welcomed at the 2009 TAC Annual Conference and Expo, where they will receive the need-to-know information about new statutory requirements passed by the 81st Legislature.

Besides addressing the outcomes and futures of key county-related legislative issues, the conference will feature several prominent guests that have signed on to speak with county officials and employees at the conference.

Keynote speakers include Tony Brigmon, the former president of Southwest Airlines who is credited for creating the company’s productive and healthy corporate culture, and Don Reynolds, who founded the company 21st Century Forecasting, which focuses on long-term global, economic, demographic and technology trends. Brigmon will discuss the significance of having fun and enjoying the job when providing customer service, while Reynolds — who oversaw $120 billion in pension and trust funds when he was appointed Pension Board Chairman by President George W. Bush — will share his insights into the financial markets.

In addition, confirmed breakout session speakers include Brian Muir, who will discuss the importance of customer service in county government, and Peggy Morrow, who will discuss interpersonal and Annual Conference to Focus on New County-related Laws Several sessions also dedicated to creating happier employees, customers communication skills and phone etiquette. Both have over a decade of public speaking experience. Muir has been a public speaker for 16 years, six of which have been devoted entirely to training public sector employees. Morrow has been a public speaker for 27 years and has written four books on customer service and loyalty. There will also be sessions on the national outlook regarding appraisal and revenue caps, how counties can deliver their news to residents given the changing face of the media away from newspapers and toward electronic communications and the best practices of creating a worksite wellness program. TAC’s legislative liaisons will be working through the close of the 81st Legislature and will present information on new county-related laws, mandates or statutes at the conference. Winners of the 2009 Leadership Foundation Best Practices Award will also be honored.

County officials will also have several opportunities for networking with each other, including during a brief celebration of TAC’s 40 years of service to county government. More than 100 vendors will showcase their services and products during the trade show.

The conference will be held Aug. 24-26 at the Hilton Hotel in Austin. Registration is open to all county officials and employees. To register, visit the TAC Education Center at www.county.org.

Deferred Comp Program Extends Hours of Service

County employees who set aside part of their paychecks through the Nationwide Retirement Solutions deferred compensation program may now contact Nationwide after normal work hours to answer questions about their retirement accounts. Effective May 18, Nationwide’s call centers will remain open until 10 p.m. Central Time, Monday through Friday. In addition, Nationwide is reinforcing its commitment to processing requests received by 4 p.m. ET on the same day every day.

The current economic situation has prompted the move, said Louie Watson, vice president of strategic relationships at Nationwide.

“We’ve seen an upward trend in calls from public employees who are looking for answers about what to do next,” Watson said. “In announcing these extended hours, we’re telling participants ‘Someone is here, ready to help you put things into context and help you review your strategy and risk tolerance.’” Nationwide Retirement Solutions partners with the National Association of Counties and TAC to provide counties and their employees with a competitive deferred compensation program. Nationwide’s call center phone number is (877) 677-3678.

TAC Suggestion Box

How to Improve County.org? TAC is an association led by county officials, for county government, and our staff strives to create programs and services that are custom-tailored to fit county needs as they rise.

To do that, TAC is working hard to obtain suggestions and comments directly from all county officials. No one knows better than you, our members, what services we should address as we plan for the future. In the March/April 2009 edition of County, we started this “TAC Suggestion Box” as a way to begin a dialogue about how to improve TAC services and as an avenue for our members to use to propose new ideas that will help improve Texas county government.

So we want to know: How do you use our Web site, www.county. org? What do you use it for, and how can we improve it? Is there anything missing?

Officials who have suggestions related to the Web site or another TAC service can send an email to Executive Director Karen Ann Norris at executivedirector@county.org, or send an old-fashioned letter to Executive Director, P.O. Box 2131, Austin, TX 78768.

Enrollment in Wellness Program Surpasses Expectations

Almost 80 counties are participating in the TAC Health and Employee Benefits Pool’s wellness program. The program, Healthy County, combines several wellness tools into a comprehensive package that offers employees a variety of ways to get— and stay—healthy.

Registration recently closed for Planned Action Toward Health (PATH), a 10- week workplace walking campaign. The Pool initially hoped to enroll 20 percent of employees within participating counties, but achieved closer to 23 percent enrollment.

The three counties with the highest number of employees enrolled in PATH are Wichita County with 252 employees enrolled, Calhoun County with 91 employees enrolled, and Cooke County with 86 employees enrolled. While many of the participating counties don’t have a large number of employees, they’ve promoted PATH diligently to get their employees on board. Dickens County enrolled 25 of the county’s 28 employees, for an 89 percent participation rate. Dickens County Wellness Coordinator Sandy Vickrey called employees personally or stopped by their offices to promote PATH. The county also is providing a computer employees can use to track their progress. “Being in a small county, it was important for us to provide a computer for employees to use who did not have personal computers at home,” Vickrey said.

The health risk assessment campaign closed March 31, and many employees took advantage of the opportunity to earn a $25 incentive.

“County wellness coordinators and executive sponsors for Healthy County have been encouraging employees to participate,” said Carrye Hieronymus, wellness coordinator for TAC’s Health and Employee Benefits Pool.

“Their visible support and commitment is critical to the success of these initiatives,” she said.

Agency Responds

In the March-April issue of County, the article “The Price of Online Convenience” failed to fully identify the costs of two initiatives by State Comptroller Susan Combs relating to transparency of state agency records. Combs has already established the state’s online checkbook register, “Where the Money Goes,” as part of an information technology project that was critical to the agency’s audit and enforcement functions. The specific cost of adding “Where the Money Goes” to the project was $300,000. The article referred to Combs’ effort to create a Single Set of Books for all state agencies and higher education institutions, to ensure uniform financial reporting requirements. Over an 11-year period, the cost for the single set of books project would be only $35 million net more than the State would spend on the status quo, according to a statement from the Comptroller to County.

In the statement, the agency also said Combs is “keenly aware that many local governments have limited resources to implement new initiatives” and pointed out that she has “worked with TAC to communicate to the Legislature that, while government transparency is necessary, it must be implemented in a way that is cost-effective and useful to local governments and their constituents.”

With the assistance of counties whose Web sites are sponsored by TAC’s County Information Resource Agency, www.TexasCounties4U.org is now linked on more than 170 county Web sites so far. A number of Internet pages for Tax Assessor-Collectors also link to the new site. For those counties whose Web sites are not yet linked to the page, officials are encouraged inform their county Web administrators about linking to the page..

Stimulus Information Updated Regularly on County.org

In an effort to help county officials find the latest information regarding the federal stimulus package, the Texas Association of Counties has updated and upgraded its Web site page regarding the federal stimulus package, officially titled the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

The TAC stimulus site is found at www.county.org/resources/legis/ stimulus.

County officials will notice a box to sign up for notifications whenever the stimulus page is updated with new information. Please sign up to receive the latest updates.

On the left side of the page, visitors will see “Pre-Application Procedures,” which will give information on what officials need to know before applying for federal grants.

Below that section are links to grant opportunities, a grant opportunities chart, an overview of the stimulus package, links to other helpful resources and the latest news stories and news releases. Down the middle of the page are lists and links to Direct Applications to the Federal Government and the relevant subjects and the same for Sub-Grants from the State Government. Likewise, the deadlines that are known are listed on the right.

For more information, contact TAC Legislative Liaison Elizabeth Vela at (512) 615-8917 or elizabethv@county.org.

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