by Kevin McCasky, Jefferson County Commissioner
comments open from November 4 until November 23
Everyday, your Jefferson County Commissioners and staff members are working on ways to improve and simplify your interactions with the county. This year, through the Transparency Initiative, we have added a variety of new information to the Jefferson County web site, including credit card purchases, this blog, and on-demand video recordings of county meetings and events.
This fall, we are offering even more opportunities for you to see how your County Commissioners come to their decisions and to meet with them to discuss the issues that matter most to you. We hope to hear from citizens about what services and programs are most important, and we'd like feedback on significant issues affecting your county. We hope you can join us at one of these meetings. Read the county Hot Topic release for more information.
We have also launched two e-newsletters -- 'BCC Actions,' a summary of the Board of Commissioners' decisions from Hearings and Staff Briefings, and 'News from Jefferson County,' a monthly round-up of stories about what is happening in Jefferson County. You can subscribe to both of these or view past issues at www.jeffco.us/enews.htm.
We have also debuted a new page at www.jeffco.us where you can view email conversations among your three Commissioners. You can find this on the Board of County Commissioner's page.
As we prepare the County’s 2010 budget, we are planning new ways to be an accessible government that fosters communication, accountability and trust. With your help, we can shape the future of our County for the benefit of all County residents.
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Answer from Transparent Jeffco: Thank you for taking the time to post a comment to the Transparent Jeffco’s Citizen Connection Blog. We always appreciate hearing from citizens on topics that matter most to them. Unfortunately, the Elected Officials meetings are not recorded, but meeting minutes are taken. The minutes you have requested have been sent to you via email. Please let us know if there is any other way we can assist you.
Posted by Transparent Jeffco on November 02, 2009 at 11:33 AM MST #
Answer from Kathryn Heider, Jefferson County Public Information Officer:
Thank you for taking the time to post this question to Transparent Jeffco's Citizen Connection Blog. The voters have approved a mill levy for the library of up to 3.5 mills. We are considering a reduction from last year's 3.425 mills to 3.225 mills this year. The County Commissioners believe very strongly that the Jefferson County libraries are among our greatest assets. While the current economy is very challenging, the Commissioners have no desire to cut or reduce library services.
However, in the last year, there has been a 47 percent increase in clients to our Workforce center seeking help getting jobs and becoming more employable. Twenty-five percent more families are relying on our child care assistance program and 28 percent more need food stamps and other public assistance. While we receive state and federal funding for these social service programs, it isn't nearly enough to meet the demand from our own county residents in need.
Because the library's reserve fund is more than 41 percent of its annual revenue - four times that of other county reserves - the commissioners are considering using some of the money that would have gone to the library in better times, and asking the Library Board of Trustees to balance their budget for next year with a small percentage of their ample fund balance.
The Commissioners applaud the Library Trustees and library staff for being excellent stewards of taxpayer dollars, enabling them to develop a large fund balance. They believe that reserve fund balances are saving accounts for rainy days. For Jeffco families in need, today is a "rainy day."
Posted by Transparent Jeffco on November 20, 2009 at 02:05 PM MST #
Thank you for your response. Please post the minutes here for the use of all interested citizens as they did not arrive by email and explain why the meetings are not recorded and when they will be recorded.
Answer from Transparent Jeffco: Thank you for your suggestion. The Elected Officials meetings are currently not recorded but minutes are taken. These documents are available to the public by email request through Transparent Jeffco.
Our blog software currently does not allow us to upload documents, so we've tried to email those to you, but your email address appears to be invalid. Please email transparentjeffco@jeffco.us from an email address we can respond to and we'll send those to you directly.
We will look into the possibility of making the Elected Official meeting minutes available in the future on our Web site.
Posted by Transparent Jeffco on November 23, 2009 at 05:22 PM MST #