County Commission | The Magazine November 2019 | Page 6

THE COUNTY LINE
A
Sonny Brasfield
Executive Director
New challenges
are always
looming for
counties
If leaders lack vision,
communities can only
fall further behind
6 | NOVEMBER 2019
couple of weeks ago, a group
of commissioners from
Alabama attended a day-
long briefing at the White House
that included conversations with
senior officials on transportation,
emergency management, education,
community revitalization, the war on
drugs and other important issues.
The event itself was both
educational and beneficial and
provided the officials with a
unique perspective on many of the
important issues facing counties.
But it also provided insight into just
how important it is to think outside
the borders of your county.
Officials from Georgia and
Florida were also part of the
event, so we had the opportunity
to renew old friendships and
exchange ideas with those from
our region. And it again reminded
me that the problems looming in
Alabama are very similar to the
problems counties are facing in our
neighboring states.
At this year’s Annual
Convention, we tried to celebrate the
passage of the Rebuild Alabama Act,
to provide counties with the tools
they need to be both efficient and
effective and — just as importantly
— to deliver the message that we
now need to “refocus” our collective
energy and influence on the other
challenges ahead. And the challenges
are certainly growing by the day.
The only real constant principle
in county government is the
reassurance that there is always a
new issue — a new challenge —
waiting in the driveway while we’re
inside our house trying to solve
the problem that is confronting us
at the moment. Hiding inside the
house only means that those other
opportunities eventually pass us
by or, unfortunately, become so
significant that we have little hope
of finding a productive solution.
This Association has worked
hard to spread the message that
the responsibility of all in county
government — both elected officials
and employees — is to be fully
involved in the problems of today,
as well as expand their perspective
to see those matters on the horizon
that will soon confront us. We’re
working constantly to develop a
sense of vision and responsibility
that can keep us in a position to be
an agent for positive change.
I am constantly amazed at
the commitment of those who
actually “get it” — the officials and
employees who are always engaged,
who are always present, and who are
always willing to extend themselves
both personally and politically.
They take on this leadership role on
behalf of their individual counties
as well as their colleagues in other
counties. And, often times, they
are working to help colleagues who
may actually be sitting at home,
paralyzed by the fear of criticism.
Sure, there are those experts
on social media and at the local
coffee shop who are sharply critical
of participation. They simply don’t
understand. They’ve never assumed
the role of leadership, and I guess
they don’t want anyone else to be a
real leader either.
If the leaders at the local level
are doing nothing more than
marking time — trying only to
prepare for the next election, trying
only to process payroll, trying
only to patch the newest pothole,