On the other side of the state, the Oregon Association of County Engineers and Surveyors (OACES) held their annual spring conference at Salishan in Lincoln County.  The road officials and surveyors started with a motivational presentation by Scott "Q" Marcus who stirred the gathering with tips on changing attitudes to increase productivity and morale - especially during trying times.

The remainder of the conference was devoted to technical and management issues like access to county road crash data, DSL assumption of COE 404 permits (that one had everyone on the edge of their seats), use of warm mix asphalt by ODOT - past and future, low distortion zones and much more. But, as always, the greatest value in the OACES conference is in the discussions among the different county officials about current events in their counties.   

Veterans' Services Subcommittee 

Early Learning Council Update 

The Early Learning Council has three workgroups that are meeting this summer to design the details of the upcoming Early Learning System. The Screening Tools Workgroup, the Childcare and Early Education Workgroup and the Community-Based Coordinators of Early Learning Services (Hubs) Characteristics Workgroup. Each group is responsible for scheduling their own meetings and while they are not officially public meetings and no public testimony will be accepted, guests are welcome. The "Hub" workgroup has scheduled their next meeting on June 22 in Salem. Rosters and future dates of these workgroups can be found at the ELC Tab of the Oregon Education Investment Board Web page.

Health Care Transformation 

Local Government Advisory Committee for Health and Human Services               

The Local Government Advisory Committee (LGAC) and the AOC Board of directors approved new bylaws and a new Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). LGAC's mission is to advise the Department of Human Services (DHS) and the Oregon Health Authority (OHA) on department-wide policies and processes and work with DHS/OHA to build integrated community-based services. Seven county commissioners are to be named by the AOC Board of Directors and the Chair and Vice-Chair will be appointed by the President of AOC from these commissioners.

LGAC provides an opportunity for commissioners to interact with OHA/DHS leadership and staff and other members of the human services community. In the past few months LGAC has discussed CCOs, OHA and DHS restructuring, current and future human services budgets and other emerging issues. AOC is currently seeking names of commissioners who may be interested in serving on LGAC sometime in the future. Please note that AOC Human Services steering committee meetings are scheduled to coincide with LGAC meeting. If you are interested or want more information about LGAC, please contact Mark Nystrom. 

Nominations for Health Care Work Group 

The Governors Office is looking for volunteers for the Patient Safety and Defensive Medicine Work Group which will help to ensure that the state's medical liability system fits within our shared vision of health system transformation. The work group shall prioritize legislation that:

• Improves patient safety;
• More effectively compensates individuals who are injured as a result of medical errors; and
• Reduces the collateral costs associated with the medical liability system, including the costs associated with insurance administration, litigation and defensive medicine.

Deadline for application: 4 p.m., Friday, June 22, 2012

For information on how to apply, please visit the Governor's Executive Appointments Web site. 

On Friday, June 8, the Oregon Fish & Wildlife Commission took two actions related to county interests, while addressing the State furbearers regulations. First, the Commission agreed with the department staff recommendation and did not change trap-check interval requirements. AOC testified to the Commission that to increase trap-check requirements would increase the strain on field operations of federal Wildlife Services, the principal provider of wildlife control services in the State.  Petitioners had requested that trap checks be at least twice as often, which Wildlife Services (WS) reported would cost an additional $1.275 million per year. AOC successfully made the point that as the chief source of revenue for WS field operations counties are in no position to backfill new resource needs of WS imposed by a change in trap-check rules.

The second issue was whether to adopt a trap setback from public trails, trailheads, campgrounds, and picnic areas. AOC testified that above all, the definition of terms must be clear for the rule to be enforceable. Dispersed recreation happens. Trails course through county forests, for example, but they are not officially acknowledged or maintained by the county. Ultimately, the Commission decided to remove county and city facilities from the new setback requirements.

A theme emerged at the panel on integrated water resources at the AOC Spring Conference: county governing bodies need to take the lead to convene local integrated water planning, which will be encouraged and supported by the new Integrated Water Resources Strategy (IWRS). As noted by Water Resources Department (WRD) Director Phil Ward, the IWRS is scheduled to be adopted by the Water Resources Commission in August and will include tools for "placed-based planning," a bottom-up approach to integrated basin planning. Included in the tools will be a template for the effort, but also the opportunity for support and resources from WRD. Mayor Betty Roppe, City of Prineville, pointed to counties as the best situated to take leadership now. Suzanne Butterfield, manager of the Swalley Irrigation District in Bend, urged counties to take the lead, because of the connection between coordination of land and water use, but what is more important is that counties can get the appropriate stakeholders to the table and have them stay there. She described this as "no small task." Umatilla County Commissioner Dennis Doherty, who has successful experience in the Umatilla Basin Project, noted reasons why counties need to convene place-based planning: it is needed; coordination of planning is the county's job; and collaborative efforts work. He stressed the importance of counties foreseeing the water crisis and alleviating it, rather than governing by crisis management.

The panel was moderated by Deschutes County Commissioner Alan Unger, Co-Chair of the AOC Water Policy Committee.

The Connect Oregon IV Final Review Committee met on June 13, 2012, and managed to reach a consensus recommendation for $40 million in multi-modal projects around the state. By law, at least 10 percent must be spent in each of the five ODOT regions.  Counties were out in force with committee member attendance by Baker County Commissioner Fred Warner, Deschutes County Commissioner Alan Unger, Klamath County Commissioner Al Switzer, Columbia County Commissioner Tony Hyde, and Linn County Commissioner Roger Nyquist. Also attending the meeting were Benton County Commissioner Linda Modrell and Sherman County Judge Gary Thompson. If approved by the Oregon Transportation Commission at their August meeting, these projects will result in major improvements to rail, airports, public transit and freight movement.

SAVE the DATE: 

The Oregon Business Development Department is partnering with the Fair Housing Council of Oregon to present three fair housing workshops in 2012. Registration and agenda information will be out soon.

Pendleton, Oregon - August 20, 2012 (10am-4pm)

Medford, Oregon - September 11, 2012 (10am-4pm)

Portland, Oregon - October 2, 2012 (8:30am-5pm)

(NOTE:  The Portland session is longer due to a bus tour that will be included.)