WACO BOARD OF DIRECTORS REGULAR MEETING December 1-3, 2015 Skamania Lodge 1131 SW Skamania Lodge Way Stevenson, WA 98648

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1 WACO BOARD OF DIRECTORS REGULAR MEETING December 1-3, 2015 Skamania Lodge 1131 SW Skamania Lodge Way Stevenson, WA AGENDA Tuesday, December 1, 2015 Board of Trustees Meeting 1. 3:00 PM Call to Order- President Tim Davidson 2. Roll Call of Attending Members 3. Approval of Agenda 4. Approval of Minutes 5. Committee Reports a. Education- Ilene Thomson (Discussion) b. Legislative- Tammie Ownbey (Discussion) c. Update on Committee Roster (Discussion) 3:45 PM Break 4:00 PM Reconvene 6. Executive Director s Report- Scott Blonien (Discussion & Possible Action) 7. Communications Report-Timothy Grisham (Discussion & Possible Action) 8. Finance Report-Michell Allert (Discussion & Possible Action) 9. Legislation Report-Monty Cobb (Discussion) 10. New Business 11. Future WACO Board of Trustees Meetings 12. WACO Fiscal Sustainability 5:00 PM Adjourn The Board will decide whether items not covered during the allotted time will roll-over to the next Workshop session or be parked to be considered at a later date.

2 WACO BOARD OF DIRECTORS REGULAR MEETING December 1-3, 2015 Skamania Lodge 1131 SW Skamania Lodge Way Stevenson, WA AGENDA Day 2 Wednesday December 2, :00 AM Breakfast 9:00 AM Board Workshop Part I WACO Survivability Threats have been identified Heat mapping the threats. How do we mitigate the threat? Response if threat comes to fruition. Next Steps Affiliate Support (Specifics) 10:30 AM Break 10:45 AM Reconvene Board Workshop I Continued 12:00 PM Lite Lunch 1:00 PM Reconvene Board Workshop Part II WACO Courthouse Assistance, What & How Equitable/Competitive Salaries Continuity of Operations IT Advances LEAN Master Insurance IT Security The Board will decide whether items not covered during the allotted time will roll-over to the next Workshop session or be parked to be considered at a later date.

3 Public Disclosure Processes Risk Management Next Steps Break 2:30 PM 2:45 PM Reconvene Board Workshop Part II, Cont. Educating the Public How When Who Where Fiscal Sustainability Lite 5:00 PM Adjourn The Board will decide whether items not covered during the allotted time will roll-over to the next Workshop session or be parked to be considered at a later date.

4 WACO BOARD OF DIRECTORS REGULAR MEETING December 1-3, 2015 Skamania Lodge 1131 SW Skamania Lodge Way Stevenson, WA AGENDA Day 3 Thursday December 3, :00 AM Breakfast 9:00 AM Board Workshop Part III 2017 Conference When, Where, What 2018, 2019 Conference Bids 2017, 2019 Conference Bids Joint WACO and WSAC Meetings When, Where, What 12:00 PM Adjourn The Board will decide whether items not covered during the allotted time will roll-over to the next Workshop session or be parked to be considered at a later date.

5 Tuesday, September 29, 2015 starting at 10:00 a.m. WACO Board of Trustees Regular Meeting September 29, 2015 Hotel Murano Tacoma, WA Draft Minutes Board Members Present: Carolyn Weikel President Snohomish Auditor Tim Davidson Vice-President Cowlitz Coroner Tammie Ownbey 2 nd Vice-President Pend Oreille Clerk Ilene Thomson Secretary/Treasurer Yakima Treasurer Keith Wilnauer Immediate Past- Whatcom Assessor President Randy Gaylord Past-President San Juan Prosecutor/Coroner Mike Lonergan Debbie Adelstein Assessors Trustee Auditors Trustee Pierce Whatcom Assessor Auditor Peggy Clerks Trustee Lincoln Clerk Semprimoznik Dan Blasdel Coroners Trustee Franklin Coroner Alan Botzheim Sheriffs Trustee Pend Oreille Sheriff Ron Strabbing Treasurers Trustee Grays Harbor Treasurer Barb Miner Trustee at Large King Clerk Position 1 Dave Cook Trustee at Large Yakima Assessor Position 3 Jerry Pettit Trustee at Large Kittitas Auditor Position 5 Milene Henley Trustee at Large Position 6 San Juan Auditor Staff Present: Scott Blonien Monty Cobb Timothy Grisham Michell Allert Executive Director Policy Director & General Counsel Director of Member Services Communications Administrative and Member Services Support Coordinator

6 Guests Present: Vicky Dalton Thad Duval Tim Fitzgerald Spokane County Auditor, Audit Committee Member Douglas County Auditor Spokane County Clerk Board Members Absent: Jonathan Meyer Prosecutors Trustee Lewis Prosecuting Attorney Ty Trenary Lisa Frazier Trustee at Large Position 2 Trustee at Large Position 4 Snohomish Mason Sheriff Treasurer 1) Call to Order Carolyn Weikel, President called the meeting to order at 10:00 a.m. 2) Welcome President Weikel gave a brief welcome. President Weikel thanked the Board for a year of growth and recognized a bright future. 3) Roll Call of Attending Members President Weikel called for a roll call noting the absences of Jonathan Meyer, Ty Trenary, and Lisa Frazier. 4) Changes to Agenda President Weikel called for a change to accommodate Vice-President Davidson s schedule by moving agenda item 10-c Review of Strategic Plan prior to agenda item 6 Education Committee Report. Mike Lonergan, Assessors Trustee MOVED to move agenda item 10-c prior to agenda item 6. Jerry Pettit, Trustee at Large SECONDED the motion. The MOTION CARRIED unanimously. 5) Approval of Minutes Trustee at Large Pettit MOVED to adopt July 22, 2015 minutes as presented. Peggy Semprimoznik, Clerks Trustee SECONDED the motion. The MOTION CARRIED unanimously. 6) Review of Strategic Plan (formerly agenda item 10-c) President Weikel introduced the Strategic Plan Report prepared by WACO staff. The review looks at each goal and subsection of the plan and gives a status update on each point. The review classifies each section as either: on-going (meaning work is a year round process), colored yellow; or completed (meaning the work on this section is

7 complete), colored green. Additionally, on-going sections colored orange need to be reevaluated for further consideration. Tammie Ownbey, 2 nd Vice President highlighted the progress made in membership training over the last year. Noting that the Management and Supervision Training Academy was a great experience, a huge success, from which many managers gained significant education. Scott Blonien, Executive Director thanked WACO staff Timothy Grisham and Michell Allert for their work putting together the program. President Weikel presented statistics gathered from post-training evaluations of the Management and Supervision Training Academy. President Weikel detailed progress on projects and committees. President Weikel noted that we have not assessed WACO strengths and weaknesses, and have to be careful in WACO s asks from members in order to receive quality data and information back. Other points noted were increasing staff visibility, recognizing WACO and its member s accomplishments, and posting jobs and other information on WACO s online portals. President Weikel noted the need to create a shared legislative theme. WACO has worked with WSAC, AWC and others to improve communications, but more work can be done. Executive Director Blonien asked Board Members to both attend and encourage attendance of the legislative planning events regarding fiscal sustainability that WACO is co-hosting with WSAC. President Weikel noted the need to create communications to educate the public to better understand what elected officials do, and the possibility of taking the message to schools for civic education. Timothy Grisham, Director of Member Services Communications stated that he has plans on creating video modules on county elected officials to help inform the public. These videos will be hosted on the WACO webpage. Executive Director Blonien also noted it is important to also communicate what deeds for which WACO members are NOT responsible. (setting tax rates) Randy Gaylord, Past President stated he would like to see county officials send news and pieces of information to WACO for posting on Twitter, Facebook, on the website; and to distribute news releases. Timothy Grisham expressed that he would like that, and that it would help build a repository for county elected officials information. President Weikel noted that WACO needs to get the story out to our legislators and not just the public.

8 President Weikel noted that Goal 4-a (1), (2) and (3) is to create a sustainable budget. This goal is an on-going process as it is part of the current budget process. Trustee at Large Pettit asked for clarification if the Board plans on revisiting this in the future as a goal, or is it an annual re-evaluation. Executive Director Blonien proposed that some sections needs reformatting. The wording of sub-sections (1), (2) and (3) should be folded into the main topic area. Trustee Lonergan noted that, historically, large counties have been concerned about funding WACO - So the sub points are completely relevant. He continued to state that WACO should also diversify its income sources. Executive Director Blonien stated that funding is one side of the coin, but identifying what value WACO provides to its members is the other. Past President Gaylord stated that as long as the method for creating the budget is sound this remains relevant. President Weikel noted success in finding vendors and sponsors for not only the conference, but the training sessions as well as, a web buyers guide contract as sources of diversified income. She also stated that more work needs to be done to expand these areas. 2 nd Vice-President Ownbey stated that there would be a noticeable change on the vendor experience at the conference. She noted the sponsorship of the President s Reception, as well as the Vendor Fair. Executive Director Blonien stated that one of the advantages of attending affiliate conferences was the good feedback he received from vendors prior to planning this year s conference. President Weikel noted that the work to create a WACO reserve fund policy was completed this year by Board adoption in the March 2015 meeting. Timothy Davidson, Vice-President left the meeting at 10:59 a.m. Trustee Semprimoznik asked for clarification on the document s color code. Timothy Grisham provided clarification. Past President Gaylord asked how does the Board move forward and complete these objectives. President Weikel stated that when she began her year as President, she had a list of objectives to complete and that not all of them were completed. Perhaps the next President would carry that torch. Timothy Grisham noted that he had written a speech for Vice-President Davidson that addresses a lot of the areas covered in this report including a lot of membership driven engagement. Executive Director Blonien stated that engagement is key. Debbie Adelstein, Auditors Trustee stated there needs to be a commitment not just from the President, but the organization as a whole. Past President Gaylord thanked President Weikel for the report and noted that this is the first time one of this nature had been made, and would like to see it become an annual report. The Board took a break at 11:06 a.m. and reconvened at 11:26 a.m.

9 7) Audit Committee Report Vicky Dalton, Spokane County Auditor, Audit Committee Member presented the Audit Committee s report. Bank reconciliation was very close. Committee Member Dalton stated that it was great to have quality documentation and that this has not always been the case in the past. She wanted, in particular, to impart the great work Michell Allert does on documentation. Work on the Audit of the first quarter financials has not been completed. Trustee at Large Pettit stated that the independent audit came out as suspected. There were really no issues, only minor recommendations. He thanked Michell Allert for her work as well. Committee Member Dalton stated that WACO needs to contract for the next annual audit. Executive Director Blonien stated that WACO staff was asked to look at the bookkeeping software MIP for future use. WACO will be setting the stage to consolidate resources with WSAC by using MIP. The new system will launch January 1. Trustee at Large Pettit stated that WACO currently uses Quickbooks, which has limitations to its capabilities. Executive Director Blonien thanked Michell Allert for detailed bookkeeping, which proved useful for budgeting. 8) Education Committee Report (formerly agenda item 6) 2 nd Vice-President Ownbey stated that the committee met monthly for conference and training planning. She detailed the membership of the committee, and that the President appoints a chair. She stated that going forward however, the position will remain with the seat of 2 nd Vice-President. 2 nd Vice-President Ownbey noted that a full education report will be presented at the membership business meeting during the WACO conference. She also noted that due to sponsorships and vendors, this year s conference will provide a profit for the organization. 2 nd Vice-President Ownbey also noted that video training modules reduced the time out of office for members. 9) Archives Oversight Committee Report (new to agenda) Trustee at Large Pettit noted that there is a funding need for archives storage. There will be a one-dollar recording fee increase to help fund the State Library. The committee is setting up grants to help fund small agency archives. 10) 57 th Annual Washington Association of County Officials Conference 2015 Details and Updates (formerly agenda item 8) Executive Director Blonien provided the current number of registrants for the conference and thanked WACO staff and the Board for all their hard work on conference planning and member attendance.

10 Michell Allert, Administrative and Member Services Support Coordinator talked about registration numbers in more detail. 113 full registrations, 7 partial registrations, and 1 Friday registration was made. $30,705 was collected from registration. $15,100 was made from the five conference sponsors; and another $11,862 was made from vendor registrations. As of Monday, September 28, 2015 conference income was $57,638 with expenses of $55,055. A projected net profit for the conference is $2663. Michell Allert stated that the budget for this conference projected a loss of $16,000. Executive Director Blonien thanked staff for all their hard work during conference planning. The Board broke for lunch from 12:00 a.m. to 12:15 a.m. 11) Executive Director s Report (formerly agenda item 9) a. Communications Report. Timothy Grisham provided a preview of the new WACO website. The website was launched September 16, 2015 and is built on a CivicPlus platform. Trustee at Large Pettit stated that he would like to see better navigation to the meeting materials. b. Financial Report. Michell Allert provided a financial report detailing the second quarter fiscal numbers. Trustee at Large Pettit MOVED to adopt July 22, 2015 minutes as presented. Ron Strabbing, Treasurers Trustee SECONDED the motion. The MOTION CARRIED unanimously. Executive Director Blonien noted that despite projecting the 2015 conference at a loss, and not including the 401(k) financials in the budget; the 2015 year end projection now has a positive variance. Past President Gaylord provided background on the 2016 budget process. 12) New Business (formerly agenda item 10) a. Proposed Bylaw Amendment Procedure. Presient Weikel provided background on the proposed bylaw amendment procedure. Out of the proposed bylaw change put forth in July, it was identified that there was a need to establish an official procedure, as one was not outlined in policy or the bylaws. Monty Cobb, Scott Blonien, and Carolyn Weikel drafted a procedure that accounts for various scenarios.

11 Trustee Semprimoznik suggested that Nominations Committee be changed to Bylaw Committee as it was most likely an error. Monty Cobb, Policy Director confirmed that it was an error and should read Bylaw Committee. 2 nd Vice President Ownbey MOVED to adopt with the committee name change. Past President Gaylord SECONDED the motion. DISCUSSION: Milene Henley, Trustee at Large asked for clarification on the thought process behind Section C. President Weikel stated that if the Board does not accept the proposed change and declines to put it forward to the membership, than the member would still have an avenue to do so. Executive Director Blonien further clarified that allowing for a return to the member to have the change returned for wording, workmanship, etc. would give the member the ability to resubmit to the Board based on those changes. Keith Wilnauer, Immediate Past President stated that Section 2 (c) does not preclude the change from moving forward. It is not exclusive. Executive Director Blonien stated that the intent of this procedure is to have the WACO staff remain neutral and develop a transparent process that is neither pro or anti amendment. Barb Miner, Trustee at Large stated that Section E (2) needs word clarity on the meeting. Monty Cobb explained that it could be a membership meeting, or a special meeting by bylaw. 2 nd Vice President Ownbey accepted the amendments to remove or the meeting in Section E (2) and other prior to member. Immediate Past President Wilnauer stated that there is no policy or bylaw about presenting the Board the bylaw changes other than statute. This leaves Sufficient Notice vague. He asked if this should be defined in this policy/procedure. 2 nd Vice President Ownbey stated that 90 days is notice to the Board. 10 days to the members, which is in agreement with this procedure. The MOTION AS AMMENDED CARRIED unanimously. b. WACO Priority Bills. Trustee Adelstein presented the Auditors priority bills: Two or Fewer Candidate Primary, and Licensing Fee Increase and Redistribution of Revenue. Thad Duval, Douglas County Auditor gave information on the history behind the licensing funding fee. The Assessors did not provide priority bills. Tim Fitzgerald, Spokane County Clerk stated that the Clerks would be bringing back the notice bill, SB 5658 from the 2015 session. Dan Blasdel, Coroners Trustee stated that the Coroners would be putting forth a Coroner s Inquest Bill. This would turn over arrest warrants from inquests to the Prosecutors. They would also be trying to get the human remains bill passed again as well. The Sheriffs did not provide priority bills. Monty Cobb stated that the Prosecutors submitted changing the mandatory sentencing enhancements wording to allow for consecutive sentencing and not concurrent at a judges discretion. Monty Cobb also stated that the Treasurers would be bringing back two bills

12 that failed to pass in 2015: HB 1798 Repeal of the Advance Tax and HB 1815 Modernization of Banking. Trustee Adelstein MOVED to adopt the presented bills as WACO priority bills. Trustee at Large Miner SECONDED the motion. The MOTION CARRIED unanimously The meeting adjourned at 1:40 p.m.

13 MEMORANDUM DATE: November 04, 2015 TO: FROM: SUBJECT: Washington Association of County Officials Board of Trustees Timothy Grisham Director of Member Services - Communications COMMUNICATIONS UPDATE Background and Summary: I will be providing a complete communications update during the December 2015 Board of Trustees meeting. The update will cover a number of topics, and materials will be available online prior to the meeting, as well as provided during the meeting. A number of the projects are on-going projects with deliverables scheduled for the end of November. The purpose of this memo is to give an overview of what will be covered during the meeting. We will be conducting a video streaming test during the first day of the December board meeting. The service is provided by Livestream, a company that has created both software and hardware to do remote video streaming without the need for an array of computers, monitors, etc. This allows the production to be mobile and adaptable. I will be presenting a blueprint for a public information campaign that details the work of individually elected officials. Know Your County Officials will be a multi-platform campaign that will educate the public about the roles and duties of elected county officials, as well as dispel common misconceptions about their work. Work continues on the roll out of our new online presence. With the web launch one week before the 57 th Annual Washington Association of County Officials Conference 2015, I was able to speak to some of the affiliates about the functions of both the internet and the intranet. Since then I have been working with the Web Advisory Group, and selected members to help craft instruction for a roll out on member login for the intranet. I will be sharing with the board the information, as well as provide a brief training detailing the process of logging in and interacting with the system. In addition to working on the intranet, I am continuing work on our mobile app. The app will be available from Google Play, as well as Apple itunes. It provides a better system of quick navigation and large buttoned icons tailored for the smartphone user. This will provide a level of on the go information for both our members and stakeholders that has never been utilized by WACO. Recommended Action: None, Informational Only

14 Instructions for signing in to the intranet. redactedforcybersecurity Enter your username. T yourself on the homepage after accepting the terms of service. redactedforcybersecurity Please hit thanks on the walkthrough items to hide them. To change your password, in the top right click on your name. Click Settings Enter new password. Passwords should be more than 7 digits and have a symbol and number. You are now signed into the website and ready to go! One important note: PLEASE DO NOT CLICK ON LIVE EDIT UNLESS OUTLINED BELOW. To use the intranet after sign in: Click on WACO Members Online Login. Navigate the site. Under affiliates you will find the affiliate you belong to. This will have affiliate specific information. You are blocked from viewing other affiliates information. The top level document center is for all members to view and use. There are affiliate specific document centers as well. This is located on the affiliate page. WACO Town Hall/Community voice at the top level is for all members to view and use. There is an affiliate specific version as well. This is located on the affiliate page. WACO Town Hall/Community Voice. Subject areas are organized as Initiatives These are things like General Discussion, Legislation, Auditors, etc. Under each Initiative You can add an Idea. An Idea would be a conversation about a topic in the initiative. Members then can respond to Ideas. To start a new topic find your initiative folder, click on it, and then type you idea in the white bar click on the next step button to follow up on the process. Reply to ideas by typing in the field below and posting. Washington Association of County Officials Intranet Login Instructions 1

15 Document Center To add to the document center: Click on Live Edit on the top of the webpage. Allow the system to reload the page Click on the plus sign next to the words Add a new file or drop files from your system here. Click on the folder you are uploading to. Add new document Click Save Turn off Live Edit Washington Association of County Officials Intranet Login Instructions 2

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17 Introduction In many ways this document serves as an addendum to the 2015 Communications Plan presented at the March 2015 Board of Trustees meeting. Many of the tools utilized in this campaign have been given context in the broader communications plan. What this document provides is more guidance on how we will put such tools to use for a specific public information and marketing campaign. A key asset that WACO members have in their community is that they are one of the closest elected officials in both familiarity and the day-to-day workings of their community members lives. As elected officials you are the neighbors, husbands, wives, children, and parents of the community at large. This familiarity allows for an appearance of access, and a high personal standard of accountability. This personalized style of government is not without its drawbacks. Often times the public at large may have one perception of the role of elected government officials, while the reality may be completely different. As an organization WACO can seize on this facet of interaction to provide education and outreach to the public that explains the functions of its membership s offices. In response to this WACO staff and members will be launching the Know Your County Officials campaign. The Know Your County Officials campaign is a multidisciplinary approach to increase community awareness of the roles of elected county officials, as well as an avenue to increase engagement with county officials and the community at large. The Know Your County Officials campaign has a wide range of projects, from the small to the very large. But as a continuum the unifying goal is to let people know in a united effort what exactly are the functions and realities of the offices of the various local elected officials. Although each avenue of communication can work in isolation, as a group with a unified theme and messaging they will reach a wider and more diverse population who utilize very diverse methods of information consumption. The Know Your County Officials campaign is designed to grow beyond its initial scope so in many ways this plan and document should be augmented and reexamined throughout the course of the year. This plan includes, but is not limited to the following tools: Affiliate One-Sheets Hosting a TEDx Event Local Government and You Speakers Bureau Social Media Video Features Washington Association of County Officials Outreach Campaign 1

18 Affiliate One-Sheets While business cards provide quick and easy contact information for the individual holder, it often provides no real context to what the person does. One alternative, which is very popular with legislative members and staff, is to provide a quick two-sided onesheet on each affiliate. This will give broad information about the office, as well as pertinent stats, figures, or policy initiatives. This one sheet can serve several audiences: the public at large, legislative staff and members, as well as stakeholders and other elected officials. The sheets will be designed with an eye toward creating at catching, readable document. They will be available online, as well as printable for members to bring with them when needed. Think of the one-sheet as part business card, part FAQ, part data sheet, and part advertisement. It is a multifaceted info-piece with the aim of presenting as much information, in as clear a manner as possible. Washington Association of County Officials Outreach Campaign 2

19 Hosting a TEDx Event Over the course of the past decade TED Talks have taken the world of information delivery and communications by storm. The format lends itself to fascinating, informative speeches presented by individuals with an ability to talk with grace and energy. The bite-sized talks cater to viral marketing through the use of sites such as YouTube. An example TED Talk can be found here: By hosting a TEDx event we will be creating an avenue for education for both our membership and the public-at-large by focusing on leadership in local government. We can utilize the time, and heightened buzz to host a number of short, powerful presentations that expound on ideas of leadership, ethics in government and more. TEDx events are organizationally intensive and take long-range planning. A planning license for example is good for 12 months. That is why it should be incorporated into a planned event that already has resources devoted to an event of similar scale. For example planning one day of the conference as a TEDx event. This will provide several avenues of community interaction: 1. It will have immediate brand recognition and generate media and public interest. 2. It will increase conference attendance by non-members (revenue) wishing to view or participate. 3. It will create a buzz around the annual conference bringing in members who may not otherwise attend this will lead to greater interaction among electeds and the public at large. 4. It will center the discussion on county officials and their role in government and what that means to an individual through thoughtful, tangible presentations. 5. It will create an avenue of continued marketing through continued online viewing and TED promotion. A TEDx is a showcase for speakers presenting great, well-formed ideas in under 18 minutes. There are a number of different approaches to the TED Talk. Such as: The big idea - The talks that make one or two very strong points, and it s important. The small idea - These talks are not about one big, world-changing idea, but instead a very engaging take on an interesting topic. The issue talk - These talks expose your audience to an issue that they may not otherwise know much about. TEDx was created in the spirit of TED's mission, "ideas worth spreading." Washington Association of County Officials Outreach Campaign 3

20 Local Government and You The most direct way to educate the community about any topic is to go directly to the community. There is a great gap in perception and actual understanding of the roles and functions of local government in all of its facets. The education gap begins with a lack of quality information being provided to students attending primary school through the undergraduate college level. Local Government and You will address this gap and allow participants to know their county official by bringing the county official to them through the development of a set of educational speaking engagements aimed at the K-12 and community college level. WACO will offer the events to schools free of charge, and work with the schools to help promote attendance. The focus of the educational panel will be less on procedural and technical aspects of the elected official, and more on how the elected officials work with each other, state agencies and elected officials and the community by defining the roles of the elected officials - as well as what that means to the average citizen. It is through personalizing the message that both K-12 and community college based students will be able to think of local government in a very tangible and participatory way. This will lead to greater civic engagement and a broader civic understanding of the WACO membership s core roles and responsibilities within the communities they serve and beyond. The power of Local Government and You will be bringing together the separately elected offices and educating the public about the commonalities and differences between the offices, giving the students a better civic understanding of the diversity of roles of their civic leaders. Washington Association of County Officials Outreach Campaign 4

21 Social Media Campaign The reality of modern communication is that it is increasingly decentralized. The rise of social media has given voice and agency to a very diverse demographic. The strength of social media, much like social capital, or traditional social connections is not through direct communication, but the ability to communicate to one set of individuals and build on their separate set of partners to spread your messaging to an audience not immediately within your reach. It is through strengthening these relationships that your own audience and reach grows. As frequent social media participants, we can leverage both our shared and individual contacts and interactions to engage a significantly large pool of participants. Using this pool we can send out bite sized information releases, tidbits, facts, and other piece of information that would lend itself to the viral nature of social media. It will be through the use of social media as an avenue for both placing pieces of information, as well as interacting with others to correct or spread information that the public utilizing the social media tools will begin to get a better understanding of the roles of county elected officials. By creating messaging that caters not only to the local government or policy wonk, but to average community member, you can infuse messaging about the roles and duties of county elected offices while speaking to their broader interests. The goal is to personalize county government through two strategies: 1. Infuse the work of county government into the daily lives of the larger community. 2. Personalize specific county officials to give a face and story to that of an elected county official. Simply, people respond to things that are personal to them. The challenge is to make local government personal. For example, community members take voting very personally they relish the idea of the democratic process. It is through tying such personalized messaging to government that you are able to more easily and rapidly spread a public information campaign. For example this simple tweet discussing possible voter turn out, coupled with the Secretary of State prediction was able to yield 10 retweets and 12 likes this spread because voting is personal. So are common life events like buying house and getting married both excellent examples when a community member s personal life interacts with county elected official in a very direct way; whether they are aware of the transaction or not. Washington Association of County Officials Outreach Campaign 5

22 Speakers Bureau The greatest champions of communicating the roles and duties of an elected county official, is an elected county official. WACO will develop a pool of speakers from each affiliate that are confident and comfortable with speaking publicly about their office; its role in county government and daily life; and with the ability to explain the challenges that they face in their office. The difference between the Speakers Bureau and the Local Government and You is that the Local Government and You is a traveling roadshow of sorts. Educating the public in long-planned events arranged by WACO and the host school the events will feature speakers from each affiliate. The Speakers Bureau on the other hand will be developed to accommodate more immediate requests for speakers or information about specific county elected offices this can be a presentation to any number of community organizations, as well as stakeholders and the media. The Speakers Bureau will be a repository, or rolodex of sorts, of interested speakers that WACO can call on to attend events, provide sound bites, and participate in community outreach campaigns. Washington Association of County Officials Outreach Campaign 6

23 Video features WACO invested in the infrastructure to create training videos and materials for its members. This was done to reduce time away from the office and lower costs. A great by-product of this investment is the ability to produce marketing videos for external audiences that can be hosted on a variety of platforms. With that in mind, WACO will produce videos detailing the work of individual elected officials. Videos will take the shape of short (under 10 minute) documentaries. Topics will include FAQ style answers on hot topics (elections, taxes), as well as videos that provide a real world look into the offices and settings in which county elect officials work. While this approach is not totally unique to WACO, there has been little in the way of topical information of this quality coming out of Washington. There are, however, limited examples elsewhere on the internet from other states ( This tool will add a public face to the office that will extend beyond the classroom, presentation, meeting, or even social media interface that we have utilized in other tools. It will create a lasting example and impression of the work of elected office. Furthermore it will interface with other tools. For example we can use it in social media campaigns, utilize it in our Local Government and You presentation, use Speaker Bureau members to fill out content and more. Washington Association of County Officials Outreach Campaign 7

24 MEMORANDUM DATE: November 09, 2015 TO: FROM: SUBJECT: Washington Association of County Officials Board of Trustees Michell Allert Administrative and Member Services Coordinator THIRD QUARTER 2015 FINANCIALS Background and Summary: I am providing the fiscals for the third quarter of 2015 for review and possible action. In addition you will find an updated year-end projection and the 2015 conference profit and loss numbers. I will be available for further questions at the December meeting. Recommended Action: Suggested Motion - Refer Third Quarter 2015 Financials to the Audit Committee

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