Working Together

 County government is unusual in its design in that unlike most organizations, there is no one clear boss.  There are three County Commissioners and eight additional elected county officials. The authority of each elected office is different and although each has some degree of independence we all ultimately work for the same people, the citizens of Cascade County. 

  All actions of the Commission requires the agreement of at least two of the three commissioners, none of us has independent authority and for that reason the setting of overall policy and budget is in the hands of the commission.  This is a part of the checks and balances built in to protect the citizens.  The other  elected officials are required to follow the policies and budgets set by the Commission but no one commissioner  can set either the budget or policies, those actions require a 66% super majority.  Can you imagine if the legislature also required a  2/3 vote in order to change the laws?

  The individual elected officials; the Treasurer, Clerk of the District Court, County Attorney, Clerk and Recorder, Sheriff, Justices of the Peace and Public Administrator all manage their individual offices and staffs within the budget and employment polices set by the Commission. 

  The vast majority of the elected officials here in Cascade work together well as a team.  Unfortunately, disagreements can occur and when they do, they tend to make the news.  Like any other work environment, so long as we all treat each other with respect and can agree to disagree, the people of Cascade County are well served.

  Although we are elected in a partisan process, the office itself is not defined by party politics but instead by management and problem solving. Unlike legislative bodies that often gridlock, here in Cascade County we are focused on doing the people’s business as efficiently and effectively as possible.

  Often may hear the complaint that the city and county do not work together.  This charge is far more rhetoric than reality and even a small amount of research will show that we do work together and are constantly looking for additional ways that we can increase our cooperation.  The last few years have in fact shown a major increase in the cooperation of not only the city and county commissions, but our individual departments as well.  Most people are simply unaware of the areas where the city and county cooperate.

  The road ahead will require a greater level of communication and cooperation between the city and county than we have ever had but now at long last we have the type of relationship that is based on mutual respect and mutual benefit.  This  is the only kind of relationship that can last and provide the services needed by both city and county residents. 

Just a few of the many examples are listed below.

Long Standing Cooperative Agreements:

            City County Health Department (operated by the county but partially funded by the city).

            Great Falls Library (operated by the city but partially funded by the county).

            911 emergency dispatch center (operated by the city but partially funded by the county).

            Joint Federal, State, City and County Drug Task Force. (Region 3 HIDTA).

            The Metropolitan Planning Organization (joint transportation planning by City, County, State and Federal Highways)

Recently implemented joint operations:

·            Shared Law Enforcement Computer operations center which reduced costs for both the City and County as well as providing more complete information to both sheriff deputies and police officers.

             Slip lane construction at Malt Plant.  The City, County and State worked together to construct these lanes to provide an improvement in safety on Highway 87 North of Great Falls.

            Development of industrial parks in the Great Falls area is a joint effort of the City, County and Great Falls Development Authority.

           The Joint Land Use Study for Malmstrom AFB was recently completed.  This was a joint effort of the County, City, Malmstrom AFB and six other Montana Counties.  The Cascade County planning department lead this effort.

·          The 2nd Ave North improvement project is a joint effort by the County, City, State Department of Transportation and local businesses.  This improvement is scheduled to be completed in September of 2012.

            Cascade County, the Great Falls Airport Authority, Sweetgrass Development and the State Department of Commerce jointly funded a study of the Sweetgrass region's transportation system to identify opportunities for job growth related to inter modal and air cargo services.
 
     There are a great many additional major agreements and projects that I could list but perhaps just as important is the rapidly improving relationship between individual departments of the city and county.  This improved relationship will open up large numbers of new areas where we can better serve both City and County residents by working together.

      Contrary to the comments made by some,  the city, county and state have a very good working relationship here in Cascade County.