In politics, timing can be everything.
Just consider the case of Blaine County's newest county commissioner, Angenie McCleary, 31, who was dunked headfirst into the tangled bit of bureaucracy that is the annual budgeting process.
McCleary became a member of the commission just a day shy of the three-member body's approval of Blaine County's tentative budget for the 2009 fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1. Facing the prospect of significant revenue shortfalls, the commissioners were forced to make hard choices in arriving at the $22.2 million tentative budget.
The tentative budget establishes a ceiling. While the commissioners cannot increase it, they can decrease the budget in September or shift funds to cover new needs that may arise.
Perhaps surprisingly, McCleary doesn't consider the challenges created by lean economic times all bad. She believes the budgetary realities created by the downturn in the national economy instructive for her and the rest of the commission.
"It makes you look at your budgets more seriously," she said. "I think in that way it is a good time to be coming in."
McCleary, who says she is still learning the ropes in her new public position, said hard times can lead to a more efficient use of public funds as well as a better-run government.
"I think it's a good time for evaluation," she said. "You have to really look at it critically."
Under Idaho law, the county's tentative "not-to-exceed" budget must be finalized by early September.
Planning for the 2009 fiscal year budget, county officials made an extra effort to limit tax increases in light of the lean economic times. That meant the commissioners had to cut in half the amount of county funds given to local nonprofits like the Hunger Coalition, La Allianza Multicultural Center and the Advocates for Survivors of Domestic Violence.
Because of her particular interest in social issues, McCleary was given the task of sorting out the requests for money from seven local social programs and decide how the limited pool of funding should be allocated. The requests totaled $55,000, twice the amount the county allocated in its budget.
McCleary holds a master's degree in social work from the University of Washington. Though she has not served in an elected office previously, she has held several positions in the public sector. She spent the last year as a social worker at Wood River Middle School in Hailey, and has served on the Community Drug Coalition, St. Luke's Center for Community Health Advisory Council and the YAK! Blaine County Youth Partnership.
In its move to become a more professionally run county, a process that is being helped along by its new county administrator, Mike McNees, Blaine County is adopting a more far-reaching vision for budgeting, McCleary said.
She said the county commissioners are trying to be more aware of how decisions they make today may obligate county officials in the future. She said this kind of obligation could happen "by adding a position or adding a program."
The goal is to really consider what is necessary and what may be hard to sustain long-term, McCleary said.
She said another shift at the county in terms of budgeting is to keep county department heads involved in the process throughout the year, rather than simply waiting to the last moment to ask them to determine what they need for the coming fiscal year.
During the next year, McCleary will try to create a more professional process for nonprofits to submit funding requests to the county.
She said she will also work with the local Mountain Rides Bus system to help develop a local transportation plan to be included in a statewide mobility plan under development by the Idaho Transportation Department. The ITD plan requires each district in the state to come up with its own mobility plan to propose improvements to public transportation. McCleary said the plan could open up new funding opportunities from the state.
McCleary praised her fellow county commissioners—Tom Bowman and Larry Schoen—as being great to work with.
"They've been really welcoming," she said.
McCleary had the same to say for county residents she's had the chance to meet since she took office a month ago.
"The community and the county have been overwhelmingly supportive. So far, so good."
Blaine County Commissioner Angenie McCleary, who took office just a month ago, is quickly learning the ropes in her new position.
Photo by David N. Seelig
