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FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
February 11, 2009
Contact: Don
Krupp, 754-2960
Thurston
County
Initiates
Reorganization
Thurston
County
commissioners today announced a reorganization of departments headed by
appointed directors. The reorganization, which will take effect on March 1,
will result in eight departments instead of the current 16 departments.
“Our goal is to improve
communication and provide seamless operations to our citizens by putting
programs with a shared mission and connected tasks under the same roof,”
says the county’s Chief Administrative Officer Don Krupp. “At
this time, no services are being eliminated; however, several programs are
being redeployed to different departments.”
The reconfigured departments are:
Public Works, which includes Roads,
Solid Waste, Utilities, Engineering and Capital Projects;
Parks and Recreation, which includes
Parks and Trails, the
County
Fairgrounds
and Historic Preservation;
Central Services, which includes
facility maintenance, Geodata, Equipment Rental and other internal services;
Resource Stewardship, which includes
development services, storm water and lakes management, noxious weeds, WSU
extension, agricultural lands, and the Puget Sound and Chehalis partnerships.
Public Health & Social Services,
which includes Public Health, Social Services, Environmental Health, Housing,
Veterans Assistance and Pacific Mountain Consortium.
Strategic Planning, which includes the
internal services of Human Resources, Finance and Budget and Board of
Commissioners support; and the external services of Long Range Planning,
Capital Facilities Planning, Economic Development, and Regional
Sustainability.
Emergency Services, which includes
Emergency Management and Medic One, and
The Office of Assigned Counsel.
The reorganization does not affect the
offices of elected officials such as the county sheriff, auditor, clerk and
treasurer. “Assistant CAO Cynthia Stewart and I have been considering this
reorganization for much of the past year,” says Krupp. “While the national
recession adds an urgency to maximize the efficiency of our operations, we
believe the reorganization will better serve our citizens in bad economic
times as well as good.”
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