One of the core programs offered by University of Illinois Extension is Strategic Planning. Communities and local governments have a number of reasons for entering into Strategic Planning: they may be facing business closings that impact their workforce; they may hope to improve or increase the programs available to their citizens; they may want to increase the efficiency of service delivery.

In every case, the underlying impetus appears to be a commitment to improve the way the community or local government operates. The process of developing a strategic plan allows all the stakeholders – from citizens, the local business community, local officials, and employees of local governments – to consider the current situation of a community, trends that are impacting the community, and develop a common vision of the future.

While strategic planning grew out of the private sector, public sector planning is much more complex. Local governments have responsibilities for providing services that range from human needs such as public safety, education, or health care to technical needs such as solid waste disposal or air quality. Further, a change in one area often impacts others. For example, when an industry closes and jobs are lost, the impact on human service agencies is immediate and sometimes overwhelming.

Interestingly, when planning is done well, it turns out that the process of planning is as important as the plan itself. Through careful consideration of the challenges and opportunities facing a community, citizens and local officials build consensus toward an accepted view of the future. And according to my former colleague, Dr. Jerry Robinson, "We support what we help to create". In other words, when people are involved in developing information and determining how this information impacts the future, they will support the work it takes to accomplish their goals.

For local governments, strategic planning: 1) sets out a comprehensive list of interrelated actions; 2) balances the actions within the realities of budgets and regulations; and, 3) establishes a review process to assess progress regularly. A strategic plan should never be considered a final document. The environment we live and work in changes daily, so a plan must be considered and updated regularly to reflect those changes.

For information about assistance on strategic planning, contact your local Extension office.

- Jeri Marxman, Extension Specialist, Public Policy

Since the institution of the federal Help Americans Vote Act (HAVA), state and local officials have put an added focus on election procedures, voting equipment and the citizen judges who facilitate the process on election day. This increased scrutiny has placed an extra burden on County Clerks and Election Boards of Commissioners to meet new requirements, respond to new law, and coordinate all of this into a mandatory four-hour, bi-annual recertification training and present this training to all of their election judges.

This can be a daunting responsibility, especially when added to the other duties of these Illinois local government officials. To organize and develop a robust program is a challenge for professionals in education, let alone for those whose major responsibilities are governing, not training.

Two years ago, the Rockford Board of Election Commissioners (the Election Office), its Director, Nancy Strain and staff, in particular, Stacey Bixby, partnered with Extension Community and Economic Development Educator, Terry Feinberg, to develop and deliver a dynamic and comprehensive training program to its citizen judges of election. The partnership resulted in a progressive pilot project of a four-hour, equipment-adaptable program that is ready to go statewide.

This collaboration integrated significant involvement of both Extension and the Election Office over the summer months leading up to the 2004 election and was then revised and refined over the next two years to its current program using trial and error, judges' evaluations and comments, and new regulation and law. The existing procedures used by the Election Office–including their Judges' Manual–provided an excellent foundation for development of this curriculum.

In the two years of this pilot, Extension trained 1,600-plus election judges, covering judges' responsibilities and conduct; electioneering; pollwatchers/media; before- (including setup), during- and after-voting hours procedures; affidavits and assisted voting; voting equipment usage and related concerns; issues of eligibility; federal and provisional voting; write-in vote procedures; and, associated regulations and law. The training is based on the ES&S ballot tabulator and the AutoMark, but can be adapted for other equipment through collaboration with local officials and Extension educators.

We are beginning the process of piloting this training curriculum in other counties and election districts throughout Illinois. If you are interested in learning more about this training and how it can be adapted to your county, contact your local Extension office.

- Terry D. Feinberg, Community/Economic Development Educator, University of Illinois Extension, Rockford Center

http://web.extension.uiuc.edu/lgien/

University of Illinois Extension's Local Government Information & Education Network (LGIEN) is excited to announce the launch of its new website. The LGIEN website offers a variety of programs, tools, and resources available to Illinois local government officials. It also lists the upcoming educational opportunities for county officials to earn Certified County Official hours.