Administrator's Digest

We have been very busy over the past two weeks in launching new initiatives and proposing new processes to the Board of Commissioners.

On Friday, we launched a community engagement process to allow residents an opportunity to help identify community spending priorities for some of the $127.6 million we received through the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). To obtain this feedback from as many residents as possible, the community engagement process includes an interactive website, three community forums, an online survey, and an online form to submit funding proposals. I encourage you to visit our website - http://kentcountyarpa.com/ - to get information on the community meetings and find a link to the community survey and the form to submit project funding proposals.

Additionally, we held a Board work session last week to discuss the proposed realignment in our animal shelter and animal control services. Our animal shelter, which is currently organized within the Health Department, is not positioned within our organization for optimal performance. We believe adjusting the current organization structure will improve services to the community. The Board of Commissioners is scheduled to vote on this issue at its June 9 meeting. We will be reaching out to our local units of government to discuss these changes and how we can partner to provide the best care possible to the animals in our community.

We are also working on a new budget timeline which will help us streamline our financial operations. Watch for more details on this proposal in the weeks ahead.

On another note, I had the pleasure of attending the West Michigan Woman Brilliance Awards dinner last week. Over 400 high achieving women (and men) were nominated for nine award categories. Our own Deputy County Administrator Jennifer James was nominated for the Team Player Award. While this award went to a different nominee, Jenny is definitely a great team player in my office and the community and we congratulate her on this significant nomination.

I hope that you find this edition of the Administrator's Digest interesting and informative. We are always interested in ideas to improve so please forward any to my attention.