Speaking Out About The Issues I Care About… Leadership!

by | Jan 2, 2022

https://www.co.lincoln.or.us/boc

Let’s start with leadership in Lincoln County Oregon…

In most of the 3000 counties in America we have a Board of Commissioners. In Lincoln County we have 3 very good Commissioners who love us, and do their best to serve the citizens of Lincoln County Oregon…

I know each of them. They are dear friends. I have worked closely with each of them. It’s a tough job, believe me when I say this…

The leadership structure in Lincoln County sucks. We have 3 CEOs. How do you do the math on that?

So, Katy, Doug & Claire have to lead in a crazy way together as a team. In the corporate world, where I come from, that would never happen.

We shake our heads thinking about that as it would have been impossible in my experience in board rooms across America to lead in this way. We would fail..

But, we persist, and we must succeed! Public Health & Safety depends on our County Commissioners…

As we head into 2022, I would say, support Katy, Doug & Claire. They work hard for us, and it ain’t easy. I know, I’ve been with them in the Fox Hole…

Health & Human Services...

At the top of the list, Public Health is the “SafetyNet.” When most of us hear this we ask ourselves many questions. “What the hell is that?”

The County is primarily responsible for the most vulnerable citizens among us. Who are they? Well, about 20% of us, in my view on the ground. Yeah, that’s alot of folks in a rural County of 50,000 citizens…

Lincoln County demographics represent the most challenging in the State of Oregon. Did you know that?

Homelessness

Wow! I cry about this like so many of my friends & colleagues who work everyday to help them. They are brothers, sisters, fathers, mothers, veterans, who served as well…

All suffer from a lack of emotional support and health care, especially shelter. Don’t kick them to the curb and let them die. Would you do that to your kid?

The homeless population suffers from serious mental health and substance abuse issues. We must help them.

If we can’t help our homeless, they can wind up in jail. “Jail,” you’ll ask? Yeah, we house sick people in jail. Ask Sheriff Curtis Landers about that…

We put too many folks in jail who commit low level crimes. Let’s help them before they are in jail. We call that “diversion” and “wrap around” services…

I will talk more about these issues & challenges in the coming days & weeks. There is so much more to learn…

Steve Sparks CEO Children & Families in Life After Trauma (CFLAT)
leadership in Lincoln County Oregon

About the author

Steve Sparks is a retired information technology sales and marketing executive with over 35 years of industry experience, including a Bachelors’ in Management from St. Mary’s College. His creative outlet is as a non-fiction author, writing about his roots as a post-WWII US Navy military child growing up in the 1950s-1960s.
View all posts by Steve →

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