Fulton County leaders are mapping their future. And their future is focused on being accountable.
At a Tuesday planning session, county commissioners agreed on the topics they want to organize around for the coming five years. Each commissioner will champion an area that, they say, will help move Fulton forward.
Leaders want to make sure that all people:
• Are safe;
• Are healthy;
• Are self-sufficient;
• Have economic opportunities;
• Are culturally and recreationally enriched;
• Trust that government is efficient, effective and fiscally sound.
It’s part of an effort to change the county’s culture from focusing not on how many people are served by government, but how well they’re served.
Commissioners were in agreement about what they need to focus on moving forward. They liked the idea of changing the county culture. But when it came time to make changes themselves, they were more leery.
Leaders had trouble reaching consensus on everything from the structure of a meeting schedule to how commissioners should communicate with department heads.
“We’ve done pretty good in this county for many years without unelected officials telling us how to do our jobs,” Commissioner Emma Darnell said to the Accenture consultants who led the session.
Perhaps, County Manager Dick Anderson said, it was too soon in the process to try to change how commissioners are actually doing their work. The big ideas are there, but the details are still being created.
Anderson said he was "sympathetic" to commissioners' concerns about changing their processes without knowing what the results would be. Still, he called the session one of the more productive and collegial meetings the group had had.
Commissioners originally had intended to vote to adopt the strategic plan Wednesday, but instead will wait until January to give them more time to hash things out.
“I think we are making great progress,” Chairman John Eaves said. “Even though we didn’t agree on everything, we agreed on a lot.”
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