Monthly Department Meeting Serves Valuable Purpose
By Wayne L. Boultinghouse, Lampasas County Judge
Our Commissioners Court meets the second and fourth Mondays of each month at 9 a.m. On the second Monday at 1:30 p.m., we have another meeting – a department head meeting. These follow-up meetings serve as a tool we in Lampasas County use to keep up moral in our county offices. As of right now, it is not mandatory that all department heads be present; however, I am thinking about making these meetings a requirement.
My assistant posts an agenda notice indicating that Commissioners Court will meet at 1:30 p.m. but that no business will be transacted; in other words, this will only be a department head meeting. We post this agenda to cover the possibility that a quorum may be present and so we will not be in violation of the Open Meetings Act.
At this follow-up meeting I go over each item on the Commissioners Court agenda and explain the vote result or what action we took on an item. Then, I go around the room and ask each department head to update us on happenings or problems in his or her department in the past month. Sometimes, no problems are reported. Other times, we brainstorm ways to correct a situation or prevent a similar circumstance from occurring in the future.
This process has proven to be an excellent way to keep all departments abreast of issues and occurrences in other county offices. It is also a very good way to prevent or stop rumors from spreading. In addition, this monthly routine keeps all of us in the loop. I suggest you try this in some form in your county.