In a close, 5-4 vote at NorCo Council's May 7 meeting, Executive Tara Zrinski's request for a completely brand new county department was granted. Supporting her were Council President Ken Kraft, joined by members Kelly Keegan, Jeff Warren, Theresa Fadem and Jason Boulette. Opposed were Lori Vargo Heffner, Dave Holland Nadeem Qayyum and Tom Giovanni. Though a two-man Continuum of Care Department was created, which will costing $250,000 a year in salaries alone, a resolution approving the two positions was tabled.
Zrinski argued that a separate department is needed to manage am 1,300-person workforce. More importantly, and in an opaque hint at her long-range plan, Zrinski said a separate department is needed "to coordinate the full continuum - nursing care, supportive living, and a future campus-based development reflecting the needs of the continuum of care across these 364 acres upon which Gracedale occupies." This suggests, at least to me, that the county is considering using some of its vast Gracedale campus to provide housing for seniors across the entire continuum of care spectrum.
This is certainly a much better idea than giving an out-of-town developer a tax break for luxury apartments. It would provide affordable housing to some of the county's most vulnerable residents. The county already owns the land but would need to borrow to build more housing. Like the county has done in the past for both open space and even keeping Gracedale, a question like this could be put to the voters.
So even though this creates a new layer of bureaucracy, I support the establishment of this new department. What I dislike about the positions, however, is that they are what the county calls "exempt" positions. This means that they are political hires who come and go with the Executive.
For the first five months of this year, Zrinski has been unable to find a Director of Fiscal Affairs, a position sorely needed in a county with financial challenges. She has attributed this to a rather low salary, although she claims to have found one. I think the real challenge is that it's hard to attract a financial professional who is willing to tie his employment to the political winds.
This department, like Emergency Management, should be completely apolitical so that it attracts people who have the right expertise and who are willing to make it a career.
