April 2015
National County Government Month
Counties Moving America Forward: The Keys are Transportation and Infrastructure
National County Government Month (NCGM) is celebrated every April and provides an excellent opportunity for your county to highlight effective county programs and educate your community on county government. This year’s theme is Counties Moving America Forward: The Keys are Transportation and Infrastructure.
Traditionally, counties participate in NCGM by hosting a variety of community outreach events and activities. These include tours of county facilities, recognition ceremonies for county employees and volunteers, distribution of information about county programs and services, sponsoring student essay or art contests, meetings with business and community leaders, and adoption of resolutions. This year’s theme gives counties the opportunity to focus on how they prepare and respond to natural disasters and emergencies including public health and safety challenges.
As part of NCGM, sponsored by the National Association of Counties (NACo), you may want to prepare and distribute county fact sheets. Some counties roll out a “County Fact of the Day” or distribute fact sheets representing key county departments, such as public safety, parks and recreation, public works and health. Tell them things many residents do not know about county services, but need to know.
Send the fact sheets to the media, post them on the county website, and distribute via social media. Fact sheets can highlight county services and programs provided by your county:
TRANSPORTATION
- How many bridges are owned and maintained by the county?
- How many miles of roads and highways are owned and maintained by the county?
- How many vehicles such as pavers, sweepers and snow plows are owned by the county?
- What public transportation systems does the county operate?
- What are the costs for maintaining the transportation system?
- Show the importance of the transportation systems to the county economy.
INFRASTRUCTURE
- How many infrastructure projects were completed last year?
- How many projects are planned for the future?
- What are the greatest infrastructure needs?
EMERGENCY RESPONSE, PUBLIC SAFETY AND JUSTICE
- How many trained emergency responders are employed by the county?
- How many trained volunteer emergency responders serve the county?
- How many emergency calls were responded to last year?
- How many bookings were processed at the county jail last year?
- What is the daily average jail population?
HEALTH
- How many patients were served last year at county hospitals and clinics?
- How many health department inspections were conducted last year?
- How many vaccinations were administered last year?
- How many emergency room visits were made last year?
CHILDREN AND FAMILIES
- How many children, senior citizens or veterans received county services last year?
EMPLOYMENT
- How many residents received direct job training or unemployment services last year?
- How many businesses have been added to the county that bring in how many new jobs?
ELECTIONS
- How many residents voted in the last election?
- How many poll workers were deployed on Election Day?
- What was the cost of running the last election?
For more information on National County Government Month activities, go to http://www.naco.org/Counties/countiesdo/Pages/ncgm.aspx.