County Commission | The Magazine April 2020 | Page 6

THE COUNTY LINE
I
Sonny Brasfield
Executive Director
Leadership in
Times Like This
Impossible Problems,
Insurmountable
Issues and Confused
Communities
6 | APRIL 2020
didn’t sign up for this.
That’s how the
conversation began a few
weeks back, during the onset of
COVID-19 in our state. The voice
on the other end of the line was a
county commissioner — searching
for answers, looking for advice,
hoping to find a way to keep the
courthouse open while protecting
the employees and the public.
In early March, none of us were
really focused on the pandemic.
Today, well, it’s almost impossible
to talk about anything else. In
my more than 30 years in county
government, I’ve never seen
anything like this. Nothing.
I’ve stood alongside county
leaders picking up the pieces after
the horrific tornadoes of 2011.
I’ve helped bail water in Baldwin
County after Hurricane Ivan. And
I’ve walked the journey of that
horrible Christmas Eve flood event
in 2015. And those are just a few off
the top of my head.
But there’s never been anything
like this in my time — not for the
county government in your back
yard. Nothing.
The impossible problems have
come at us in waves. How do you
keep the courthouse open? What
do you do when an employee tests
positive? How can you help the
businesses in the community, the
schools, the nursing homes, the
hospitals? How do you find the
resources you need? What will
happen next month if things don’t get
better? Where do you find answers?
We’ve tried to respond with the
best available data. We’ve stayed in
contact with leaders in Montgomery
and in Washington, D.C. We’ve
learned from other states — and
they have learned from us.
At all 67 courthouses, however,
there have been commissioners
and county employees who have
found themselves at the center of
a community in desperate need of
one thing more than any other.
Leadership.
In times like this — when the
issues are almost insurmountable
— the public shouldn’t expect
solutions. There really is no magic
potion to swallow or card trick to
play. This virus has changed our
world — probably not permanently
but for many months to come.
Maybe we can shorten the
experience, flatten the curve if you
will. But things aren’t likely to be
anywhere near “normal” anytime
real soon.
What the public expects —
and should demand — is that we
provide a steadying hand. County
government should set the right kind
of example for the other community
opinion leaders. Its elected officials
and affiliate members should provide
an example that can lead us through
these desperate times. We don’t have
the solution, but we do hold the key
to success.
So, when that commissioner
told me that he hadn’t signed
up for this, the response I gave