The Kern County Board of Supervisors on Oct. 21 approved committee recommendations to continue the county’s continuous-improvement (Lean/6 Sigma) work and to pursue targeted operational and organizational reviews of three programs.

Committee findings and training changes: County staff said earlier phases focused on employee engagement and problem-solving. The committee recommended refocusing training and improvement work to tie directly to countywide and departmental goals. Staff described a new training vendor and a “training-as-you-go” approach that they said will reduce costs and increase completion rates by only paying for used seats.

Targeted reviews: The standing committee recommended, and the board approved, targeted reviews (rather than a broad countywide audit) of three areas: senior nutrition programs (Department of Aging), parks and facilities maintenance (to preserve recent infrastructure investments), and aspects of the budget process (to improve departmental submissions, transparency and community engagement). Staff recommended developing a request for qualifications (RFQ) to secure consultants with expertise in operational reviews; the CAO requested authorization to issue the RFQ and a not-to-exceed budget of $200,000 for consultant services.

Board action: The board approved the committee’s recommendations, including continuing the continuous-improvement initiative, conducting the three targeted program reviews and authorizing staff to develop an RFQ to engage consultants for a budget not to exceed $200,000. Supervisors said the targeted approach would deliver faster results and allow the board to add additional reviews later if warranted.

Why it matters: Supervisors and staff framed the program as a way to sustain employee-led improvements while obtaining external expertise for more complex operational reviews; the board weighed the tradeoffs between a smaller targeted review approach and a larger, more expensive countywide review.