-
The Putnam County Government Complex -
Positively Putnam FL
With a new year just weeks away, Putnam County officials looked back on this year’s accomplishments, saying the changes in the county will better serve residents.
County Administrator Terry Suggs said in his 33 years of work, he never saw anything like 2020 – a pandemic year.
Despite the coronavirus pandemic, he said the county still made progressive changes, such as establishing Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act grant funding to help small businesses and individual grants for households.
However, one of the most productive changes made in the county was reorganizing county personnel. Five county executive directors were given new duties and bigger responsibilities to benefit residents, the county administrator said.
“I think efficiency is the key word,” Deputy County Administrator Julianne Young said.
Young is one of the five, which also includes Executive Planning Director Jim Troiano, Executive Director of Public Safety J.R. Grimes, Executive Director of Human Resources and Administrative Services Angela Nelson and Executive Director of Public Works Mike Troxel.
Each of the five should be able to respond to a resident’s request and help them quicker than before the reorganization.
“I think the key word here is ownership,” Suggs said. “Each one of the executive directors … takes ownership.”
With the new duties, any executive director should be able to respond to a resident’s request no matter the subject.
Another benefit of the reorganization is the county saved $100,000 in the county budget, Suggs said.
In other 2020 county accomplishments, the board lowered county millage rates, created the Fire and Emergency Medical Services Committee to resolve local Emergency Services problems and approved a countywide strategic plan in November for the first time.
“When you’re talking about doing those things in the era of COVID, that’s quite an accomplishment for sure,” Suggs said.
The strategic plan outlined the county’s goals for the upcoming years and includes maintaining Putnam County’s rural landscape, encouraging and supporting alternative court programs, expanding sewer systems and encouraging vocational training.
Suggs said without a plan, there would be no focus on what needs to be accomplished in Putnam County.
“Although we just officially passed the final draft, staff is already well underway in their different disciplines and accomplishing those metrics and getting those goals accomplished,” Young said. “It’s been a road map … for what the desire of the community is, for what the desire of the board is and to allow staff to focus efforts on that.”
Copyright 2020 by Palatka Daily News - all rights reserved.