A Lake County staff member told the Board of Commissioners that county leadership has prioritized short- and long-term changes to human resources, information technology, communications and administrative operations aimed at improving service delivery and organizational continuity.

The staff member said one short-term priority was preserving training and development funding during the budget process so employees can obtain certifications — including commercial driver’s licenses — that reduce staffing barriers and improve retention. "Training people means that the people who work and stay with you get better at their jobs over time and can really streamline some of their work," the staff member said.

The staff member also described plans to improve onboarding for newly elected officials and staff, document standard operating procedures for each department, and centralize requests for work sessions and document workflows using a web-based form linked to the county’s Airtable instance. "We're going to be getting a link to you guys soon...so when you want to request work sessions, you can request them," the staff member said.

On technology, the county announced a move toward a comprehensive asset-management cycle to replace piecemeal device purchases and better track hardware and software. Steven, introduced by the staff member as Lake County's new IT director, was credited with experience on similar projects. The staff member said Justin and Sebastian audited the Verizon cellular account and reduced billing by about $1,000 a month, and that Justin has checked Microsoft accounts to ensure Microsoft Defender protections are in place.

Communications and emergency information were also addressed. The staff member said the county has been holding quarterly public information officer meetings to build relationships across jurisdictions and to help the county respond more smoothly during incidents. The presentation noted a desire to expand in-house translation and interpretation capacity after previously relying on Denver-based services.

Regarding outside IT support, the staff member said Applied Tech serves as the county's managed service provider under a three-year agreement that will enter its first year in January. The staff member said the county hopes to build internal capacity over time and "decrease our dependency on outside consultants," but emphasized that any change in that contract would be considered carefully.

Several operational initiatives were described as ongoing or forthcoming: a capital asset management plan with a multi-year outlook and public dashboard, the creation of a comprehensive budget and strategic-planning calendar to share with residents, and efforts to document accounts and access to reduce redundancies and security gaps.

No formal motions or votes were taken during the presentation; the session concluded after staff finished their remarks.