Skagit County updates strategic-plan scorecard, readies public ClearPoint site; staff roll out employee survey

Skagit County commissioners on Oct. 21 heard quarterly updates from staff leads on the county's 2022 strategic plan and the transition to a balanced-scorecard model hosted in ClearPoint software, with a public-facing site planned for February 2026.

Deputy Administrator Jennifer Johnson and KFA (key focus area) leads told the Board of County Commissioners the ClearPoint rollout will run in two phases: an internal implementation already underway and a public website staff plan to publish after finalizing content in January. Communications Manager Jen Rogers said the public pages will include goal descriptions, why measures matter and the initiatives supporting them.

The presentations emphasized tools and near-term initiatives aimed at workforce stability and service delivery. Donnie LaPlante, assistant director of human resources and risk management, previewed an employee satisfaction survey the HR-led KFA expects to field on Dec. 1; he said the draft has about "roughly 60 questions, 12 different categories," covering pay, workload, management effectiveness and career development and that the county plans to use the instrument annually to track change. He also reported deployment of a new performance-evaluation tool in March 2025 and that evaluations tracked through that system rose to about 20% in 2025 versus about 13% for all of 2024.

Bonnie Bridal, HR and risk department head and KFA lead, summarized the county's modernized alternative work arrangement policy (adopted in June) and said applications were requested in September with a Dec. 1 deadline; she said staff will report participation levels after that date. KFA 1 presenters also described training to support ongoing performance management and supervisor'employee check-ins.

Ken Hansen, facilities director and KFA 2 lead, focused on how the ClearPoint display and color-coding present infrastructure measures and initiatives. He warned that measures imported into ClearPoint do not show future projections unless entered as initiatives and that the software's default rules currently mark a measure as green only at 100% of target, with 80—9.99% treated as "fair." Hansen asked the board whether countywide color thresholds should be standardized to avoid misleading public interpretation.

Public-works priorities discussed included pavement-condition reporting (countywide good/fair/poor percentages), bridge work tracked as initiatives rather than measures, and a concern that public-facing displays include sufficient context (for example, whether a currently acceptable road condition is expected to degrade in three years). Hansen also noted a specific project question related to the Cook Road / I-5 intersection: he said there is grant funding but right-of-way delays involving Burlington Northern and private parcels could put roughly $5,000,000 of project funding at risk; he recommended capturing such funding-risk in initiative descriptions.

KFA 3 (behavioral health and homelessness) lead Christie Burrow Weaver reported continued growth at the Recovery Café, including that August and September set new monthly visit records (September exceeded 1,000 visits). She said recent milestones include adding eight new recovery housing beds in the last quarter (bringing the county's total to 59 beds, 23 added since last year) and reiterated a previously stated milestone to add 35 beds by mid-2026 and a longer-term target for 75 new beds by 2027. Burrow Weaver said shelter-bed occupancy consistently exceeds the 80% target, that there is no night-by-night low-barrier shelter capacity available in the county, and that a missed September milestone to secure funding for a new shelter facility means timelines will likely shift by at least two years.

KFA 4 (health, housing and community safety) lead Shelly Chose summarized housing indicators, noting vacancy at 3.4% and average rent reported in the Washington Center for Real Estate Research's 2025 report; she said over 50% of Skagit County renters pay more than 30% of income on housing (the American Community Survey figure used to track housing cost burden). Chose said a 2024 feasibility study of county-owned property in south Mount Vernon (senior center / fairgrounds site) has produced development scenarios and that three affordable-housing projects have been awarded county Economic Development and Public Facilities (EDPF) funds.

Parks updates included the Centennial Trail at about 35% design complete and Big Rock Park about 50% complete, with $1,000,000 in state Recreation and Conservation Office funding toward the project.

Several commissioners pressed staff on balancing employee-focused initiatives with community expectations, noting the county's budget constraints and urging clear public messaging about priorities and funding. Commissioner Ron Wesen asked staff to make sure the public understands how measures relate to community priorities; Commissioner Peter Browning and others urged that training and staffing items be grounded in available funding.

Rogers said the ClearPoint public pages will be drafted by KFA leads and published in February 2026; staff aim to include explanations of targets and why each measure matters to residents. KFA leads asked for commissioner guidance on public-facing thresholds, how to label initiative color codes, and whether to include more detail about risk to project funding.

Ending: Staff will finalize ClearPoint content by the end of December and return with additional briefings; commissioners scheduled a follow-up work session on Oct. 28, 2025 on related matters.