What is the purpose of the Transylvania County Administration?
North Carolina’s elected officials have a long historical tradition of utilizing the services of professional managers to assist them in the day to day governing of their respective communities. Today, all one hundred counties of North Carolina have adopted a council-manager form of government. All counties are required to have a clerk. Consistent with this long historical tradition, the Board of County Commissioners of Transylvania County appoint both a County Manager and a County Clerk to assist them in governing our county.
The County Manager is the chief executive officer of Transylvania County government. The manager is appointed by and serves at the pleasure of the Transylvania County Board of Commissioners. The overarching purpose of this role in the county is to be responsible for implementing policies established by the Board of Commissioners, coordinating the work of all County agencies and representing Transylvania County in dealing with other units of government and agencies.
The County Clerk has many duties under both state law and county ordinance, the most important of these is the transcription and maintenance of records of the meetings of the Board of County Commissioners, which must be kept for the use of future generations. This is important for a community, as when a county’s Board of Commissioners exercise their legal power, the minutes serve as the official public record of what it does. The Clerk is also responsible for ensuring that the Board remains transparent in its dealings by ensuring compliance with open meetings laws.
What the Manager Does:
The County Manager provides executive leadership in fulfilling Transylvania County’s core mission to serve its residents and visitors. The Board of Commissioners and North Carolina state law empower the manager to see to such duties as preparing a countywide annual budget, recommending new and revised policies and programs to the Board and implementing County programs and services in an efficient and cost effective manner.
These powers and duties are outlined in G.S. 153A-82. Not all county departments report directly to the manager, but the Manager ensures that budget, finance and human resources functions are provided for all aspects of the county government’s functions.
What the Clerk Does:
The County Clerk works directly for the County Commission and serves at its leisure. The Clerk has primary authority over the preparation and publication of a county’s minutes, but also serves as an important source of information to the Board of Commissioners and to the public.
State law stipulates that a Board must have a clerk under G.S. 153A-111. The Clerk also assists with the preparation for meetings, both those open to the public and those conducted in closed session as well as other duties as requested by the Board of Commissioners.
Trisha Hogan (County Clerk) shown.
Major Initiatives Led by County Administration Staff:
- 2016-2021 Strategic Plan – The 2016-2021 was developed and adopted on January 11th, 2015. It serves to articulate the county’s values and priorities over the next five years so that policies and programs enacted and implemented are in line with the core goals of the community.
- FY2017 Annual Work Plan – The Annual Work Plan is an initiative to manage the performance of county government units so that the county embraces budgeting based on performance. It enhances transparency and accountability for publicly funded programs by ensuring that public funds are used in an efficient and economical fashion.
- Early Childhood Initiative – The Early Childhood Initiative is an effort to improve the lives of the children who live in the community of Transylvania County. The work of the ECI began by using data about citizens ages 0-5 to establish a common understanding of the issues that need to be addressed and publishing the State of the Young Child Report for Transylvania County, which outlined the conditions and challenges that young children face in our communities. A fact sheet that summarizes the data was also prepared to help share this information with the public. The ECI continues to meet monthly at county administration and is facilitated by county staff, but reflects a partnership of agencies and nonprofits who serve children 0-5 and their families. The ECI works to collaborate at a local level and advocate at state and federal levels in ways that will improve the lives of children in the county. A report in 2016 reflects progress the ECI made after a year of work following the State of the Young Child Report.