Bureau of Administration and Bureau of Economic
Development
The Bureau of
Administration, headed by Carl Byrd, is composed of 6 departments and the
budget proposes 558 Full Time Equivalent (“FTE”) positions: Environmental Control, the Medical Examiner’s
office, Child Custody & Advocacy, the Department of Transportation &
Highways (which also oversees the separate Motor Fuel Tax budget), Animal
Control, and the Law Library.
Deborah Stone heads up the Environmental Control
Department which has improved its response time to complaints to virtually the
same day. She said that this budget,
which is essentially flat from 2013, does not include the proposed solid waste
ordinance, since it has not yet been passed by the County Board. The Medical Examiner, Dr. Stephen
Cina, explained that the $10.4 million proposed budget increase and additional
26 FTE positions are needed to deal with the work and eventually obtain
national accreditation, which was lost several years ago. He stated that the department should reach
provisional accreditation status by the end of 2014, and full status within 2
years. This status will open up the
possibility of receiving more grant money. John Yonan, who heads up the Department
of Transportation & Highways, said that professionalizing his staff has
enabled him to move more employees under the separate Motor Fuel Tax budget
(whose money comes from the State) and to improve efficiencies. The Automatic Vehicle Location system, which
his department is collaborating with the Bureau of Technology to implement,
should be ready in 2014 and will help with deployment of personnel and
equipment to reduce costs while improving service and response time.
The Bureau of
Economic Development is composed of the departments of Planning &
Development, the Office of Economic Development, Capital Planning & Policy,
Building & Zoning, and the Zoning Board of Appeals. Commissioner Steele questioned the proposed
reduction in staff in some areas. The
head, Herman Brewer, explained that automation, the higher skill set of current
employees, and the reduction in grants (such as the Community Development Block
Grants, “CDBG,” from the Federal Government due to the reduced Federal
budget) have resulted in some employees being laid off. Commissioner Sims expressed concern that some
of the money from CDBG was going for social services (about 15%, which is also
the cap) rather than Infrastructure. Mr.
Brewer was to return in the afternoon with more information on the CDBGs, but
this observer was not able to be there.
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