Strong leaders needed to replace retiring staff
With Susan Thompson’s surprise announcement that she plans to
retire in five months, there are now three top county positions
changing over at about the same time. And in the midst of election
season, it leaves open the possibility for one of the larger shifts
of power in recent times for local government.
Strong leaders needed to replace retiring staff
With Susan Thompson’s surprise announcement that she plans to retire in five months, there are now three top county positions changing over at about the same time. And in the midst of election season, it leaves open the possibility for one of the larger shifts of power in recent times for local government.
What does it amount to – with the county administrative officer, sheriff and head planner all retiring this year, and with two supervisors’ seats up for grabs? It means the county board and local voters have a difficult and important set of tasks in the coming months to help lay out the future vision and economic landscape of this area.
Looking specifically at the CAO’s position, as the head manager of the county’s day-to-day operations, as someone on whom board members tend to lean quite often for advice and feedback, it will be of particular importance that supervisors find someone with discipline to handle the short-term challenges of the economy and the vision to understand and carry out the ideas that, we hope, lead to a turnaround and revitalization of the local, commercial landscape.
As Thompson has shown, it is a job that requires making a lot of hard choices, and that won’t change anytime soon. She also has personified another quality you would hope for in a chief administrator – the ability to maintain both a broad and, when necessary, magnified view of the many functions that make up county government.
Then there are those five supervisors to whom the CAO answers, and the position constantly necessitates a need to listen to their perspectives and follow through on their wishes, while also guiding them through the maze of government bureaucracy.
These are complicated times that require competent leadership, and it will be a challenging task to find a replacement as keen to her surroundings or as knowledgeable as Thompson, to find someone with not just a sense of how to balance the books and manage people, but also with a background that lends itself to cooperation with the business community.
Including the CAO, supervisors have two crucial positions to fill this year, and voters have three more with the sheriff’s departure and the two open board seats in Districts 3 and 4.
For certain, there will be difficulties during this transition. But it also is an opportunity for new ideas and fresh perspectives, and we encourage citizens to get involved in the process at every possible turn.
