Kootenai County commissioners consider outside performance-metrics needs assessment

At a Kootenai County Board of Commissioners meeting on Aug. 20, 2025, commissioners Eberlein, Duncan and Matari heard a presentation from Jeremy Williams of Star of the Sea Consulting proposing a countywide needs assessment to quantify workloads, validate staffing levels and produce data-driven reports to guide budgeting and staffing decisions.

The presentation, which began at about 9 a.m., framed the county as a “$120,000,000 operation” and argued that objective workload metrics could help elected officials make clearer, numerical cases for adding staff or reallocating resources. Williams told the commissioners that the assessment would include workforce staffing analysis, workload mapping, backlog and process optimization and periodic “pulse checks” during the study rather than a single final report. “The goal is simple. It's to elevate every department, providing recognition, validation, and support so the entire county can grow stronger together,” Williams said.

Why it matters: Commissioners said having standardized metrics would make it easier to compare requests from different elected officials and to prioritize capital and operating allocations. One commissioner cited a department example in which a workflow review cut permit turnaround from roughly 90 days to about 20 — a change officials said later reduced staffing pressure without immediately increasing head count. Williams and several commissioners also referenced published examples and the potential for a 10–15% efficiency gain from process improvements.

Commissioners and other elected officials asked questions about scope, precedent and applicability to law-enforcement and courts. Prosecuting Attorney Stanley Mortensen and a county sheriff (speakers in the record) asked whether the consultant had worked with law-enforcement or prosecutor offices; Williams said his prior manpower-analysis work was at the federal level with U.S. Army directorates and he had not previously done a county prosecutor or sheriff office study in this capacity. Williams said the consultant’s outside perspective is useful precisely because it is removed from internal assumptions and can map cross-department processes that “baton pass” between offices.

Several commissioners urged a cautious, phased approach. Treasurer Steve Matheson and at least one commissioner suggested testing the methodology in a single office before rolling it out countywide; Matheson volunteered interest in piloting a study in the treasurer’s office. Commissioners discussed pursuing a standard procurement path (RFQ/RFI) so all elected officials and departments could accept a single vendor and a standardized set of terms. One commissioner framed the point succinctly: “Show me. Don't tell me,” arguing that numerical documentation would strengthen the county’s case in the budget process.

Concerns raised included whether an outside consultant could be misconstrued as a contract county manager and whether statutory mandates should guide any assessment. Williams said the study explicitly incorporates mission mandates and statutory drivers as part of the documentation of why offices perform particular tasks.

No formal motion or vote occurred on the presentation. Commissioners directed informal next steps: explore an RFQ/RFI approach, consider a pilot (several commissioners mentioned the treasurer’s office as a candidate) and continue the conversation offline.

The board moved on to its next agenda item after thanking Williams for the presentation.