1996-12182-Resolution No. 96-037 Recorded 4/4/1996R VIEWED
BEFORE THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS AND THE PRES
JUDGE OF DESCHUTES COUNTY, OREGON
90 APR -4 Air 10: 35
A resolution endorsing greater community
Y SVr,
responsibility for the health and welfare of
our children, families and communities.
RESOLUTION NO. 96-037 �)+50-0L-18
WHEREAS, in the counties of Crook, Deschutes, Harney, Jefferson, and Lake... "Local
communities have the best sense of their own needs, they have the best sense of their own resources, and
they are in the best position to devise their own solutions"'. The primary customer of state and local
government must be local citizens with our efforts concentrated on their vision for a healthy and productive
community;
Community governance, as endorsed by the State Commission on Children and Families,
"challenges the centrally directed model of service design, in which services are uniform statewide "2.
Local Commissions on Children and Families provide a vehicle for "community governance", with citizens
becoming involved, managing tax dollars and impacting, the quality of life for their families and
communities;
Oregon law allows that "responsibility for services to children and families shall be transferred to
a local commission at the request of the board or boards of county commissioners of a county or region"
3. It vests "in local Commissions on Children and Families the authority to distribute state and federal
funds to purchase services to children and families in the local area and to supervise the development of
a comprehensive plan for local services "4;
Deschutes County, the Oregon Legislature, the Governor, and the State Court have supported HB
2473. The law provides additional opportunities for Deschutes County to create a community governance
model, to increase meaningful citizen participation, legal standing to transfer state and federal resources,
to focus on outcomes and waive procedural requirements, and to ensure an agency advisory perspective.
Public funding is limited and citizens must become more responsible and engaged, creatively using
local, state, and federal resources to develop solutions to the issues that we face as local and regional
communities. We must make resource decisions for the next generation, "so that the legislative sessions
'Governor John Kitzhaber, La Grande, Oregon, September 8, 1996
2Weasku policy document... State Commission on Children & Families
3Oregon Law ... HB 2004
4Oregon Law ... HB 2004
1 RESOLUTION 96-037 (4-3-96) /MICROFILMED
APR 10 1,996
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0150-0419
cease to be isolated two year balancing exercises and are actually stepping stones, each taking another step
towards the vision that we share for the future" of Central and South Central Oregon';
Rural Oregon and the aforementioned counties have a rich tradition of self reliance and regional
collaboration;
State government must be progressive and flexible and not seek one single solution or approach
to collaborating with Oregon's 36 counties. We are best served by the state operating "as a partner rather
thanthan as a director, a partner who brings resources to help resolve issues identified at the local level , and
We are best served vesting authority and responsibility in public employees who live and work in
our area, people with a personal stake in the health and vitality of the region.
BE IT RESOLVED BY THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OF DESCHUTES
COUNTY, OREGON, as follows:
1. Each county's Comprehensive Plan will become the defining document for our work. The plan will
drive policy and resources decisions. Once approved, we will expect full support from the state in
implementing the plan and initiatives contained therein.
2. Accountability will be paramount, with the state and counties both equally accountable to each
other and the public for our success. We will use benchmarks as well as system and program outcomes
to ensure we are effective in our efforts.
3. We respect local differences. We seek a long range view of our growth and development and are
respectful of the diversity, unique needs and priorities within our region. We recognize that counties and
commissions in our region have different capacities and that they will develop in a manner that best suits
their local area and at a pace that helps ensure their success.
4. We expect our locally appointed commissions and commission staff to actively pursue a
community governance model in every instance where we have community support and adequate resources
to fulfill our community vision;
5. While we place greatest emphasis on local action, we are committed to regional strategies in every
instance where that is cost effective and deemed most beneficial for our citizens;
6. We support efforts of counties in our region to increasingly manage local state and federal
resources at the local level, thereby returning decision making to local citizens who have a personal stake
in the effective management of those resources. We expect state support of these transfers in every
'Governor Kitzhaber, La Grande
6Governor Kitzhaber, La Grande
2 RESOLUTION 96-037 (4-3-96)
instance where they are consistent with the approved Comprehensive Plan and an implementation plan is
clearly delineated;
7. We seek local implementation of the "Oregon Option" concept and ask that we decate og rize
funding, maintaining critical funding levels to the best of our ability while reducing grant streams and
linking funds to priority outcomes in our comprehensive plans; and
8. We will expand our capacity to govern locally without reducing dollars for services. This must be
accomplished by a transfer of funds now used for administrative staff in state offices, particularly
operations that are conducted outside our geographic area. Given our mandate in law, staff resources
within the State Commission and the Department of Human Resources are deemed a logical, first place
to concentrate our efforts.
DATED this 1 st day of April, 1996.
ATTEST:
pr,ti-, &U -el "-- ---
Recording Secretary
3 RESOLUTION 96-037 (4-3-96)
BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS AND
THE PRESIDING CIRCUIT COURT JUDGE
0, DESCHU COUNTI, OREGON
W Jti
NANCY O Z�4—jNGEN, Chair (j f �p�
BARB LAUGHTER, C mmissioner
RW14 NIPPER, Com
missioner
aA-
TIKTIN, Presiding Circuit Court Judge