County Announces Efficiency Program

York County announces new efficiency program:
"Managing Performance for a Lean Government"

March 19, 2013   

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
 
   To act on the Board of Supervisors' interest in establishing a formal performance management system and to devote more effort to mid- to long-range strategic planning, the York County Administrator is in the early stages of implementing a major new program, "Managing Performance for a Lean Government." This new program will be based on the "LEAN" process. "LEAN" grew out of the business sector and refers to a collection of principles and methods that identifies and eliminates process steps that do not add value.
   "This new program will be an ongoing practice that involves a comprehensive review of County programs and procedures with the goal of continuously improving efficiency and the quality of County services," said County Administrator James "Mac" McReynolds. "It will actively engage customers and all County employees. The process will eventually be tied into a series of reports that will be available on the website to enhance transparency to County citizens."
   In order to establish the program and emphasize its importance, several of the County's operational functions have been reorganized and, while there are some internal shifts, the reorganization has been accomplished without increasing the budget.
   The specific changes resulting from the reorganization are:

   • Elimination of:

      1. Director of Financial and Management Services position
      2. Public Information Officer position
      3. Information and Publications Coordinator position

   • Creating a Deputy County Administrator position that will have a lead role in implementing the new program and will also have overall responsibility for the functions that fall under the Department of Community Services, the Controller, Human Resources, Computer Support Services and Emergency Communications.

   • Transferring the Human Resources Manager to the currently vacant Director of Community Services position with overall responsibility for the divisions of Children and Family Services; Video Services; Juvenile Services; Parks and Recreation; Tourism and Events; Housing and Neighborhood Revitalization, and Special Programs.

   • Creating a Controller position that will have overall responsibility for Fiscal Accounting Services, Budget and Financial Reporting, and Central Purchasing and transferring the current Chief of Budget and Financial Reporting to this position.

   • Creating a Public Information Coordinator position that will report to the Assistant County Administrator and transferring the current Information and Publications Coordinator to the Public Information Coordinator position.

   The Deputy County Administrator position will be filled by Vivian Calkins-McGettigan. Mrs. McGettigan is coming to the County from Prince William County Public Schools where, as the Chief Internal Auditor, she created its first Office of Internal Audit. She previously served as Hanover County's Director of Finance and as the Fauquier County Government and Schools Finance Director. Mrs. McGettigan is a past President of the Virginia Government Finance Officers' Association (VGFOA). She has a passion for continuing professional education. While on VGFOA's Executive Board, her focus was on the education certification program, teaching and developing several new courses, and she has made presentations at VACo, VLGMA and the national GFOA conferences. Mrs. McGettigan has also served as an adjunct accounting professor for the University of Richmond. She has written articles on local government accounting and finance for several professional journals. Mrs. McGettigan received both a Bachelor of Accountancy and a Master's of Business Administration in Accountancy from The George Washington University. She became a Certified Public Accountant licensed by the Commonwealth of Virginia in 1988, a GFOA Certified Public Finance Officer in 2005 and a Certified Internal Auditor and Certified Fraud Examiner in 2011. Mrs. McGettigan has over 25 years of local government finance and management experience including three years of external audit experience having worked for a large international public accounting firm in its Washington, D.C. office.
   The Director of Community Services position will be filled by Laurie Blanton-Coleman. Mrs. Blanton-Coleman was hired by the County in July of 1994 and has served in the capacity of Human Resources Manager over the last 18 years performing administrative and supervisory work directing all human resources programs and activities to include recruitment, selection, classification, compensation, benefits, training, employee relations, and policy development. Prior to joining York County, Mrs. Blanton-Coleman was employed by Hampton Redevelopment and Housing Authority, Contel Telephone Operations, and Canon Virginia. She has a Bachelor of Arts degree from Christopher Newport University in Industrial/Organizational Psychology and a Master's degree from Troy State University in Human Resources Management. Mrs. Blanton-Coleman also serves on the York/Poquoson Social Services Board and the United Way of Greater Williamsburg Board.
   The Controller position will be filled by Sharon Day who has served the County as the Chief of Budget and Financial Reporting since June 2003. Prior to joining the County, she worked for the public accounting firms of Goodman & Company, KPMG, and Eason, Lawson & Westphal, managing several major audit clients in business, industry and government. Mrs. Day also worked for the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility in their accounting department. She is a Certified Public Accountant licensed in the Commonwealth of Virginia. She holds a Master of Science in Accounting from Old Dominion University and a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from Christopher Newport University. Mrs. Day is presently a member of the Board of Directors of the Virginia Government Finance Officers' Association. She chairs the Conference Committee, has served on the Education Committee, and has developed and taught continuing education classes.
   The Public Information Coordinator position will be filled by Gail Whittaker. She has served York County since September 1992 in the Public Information Office. In 1997 Ms. Whittaker became the Information and Publications Coordinator. During her tenure with York County, Ms. Whittaker has performed public information duties in the Emergency Operations Center during hurricanes, other severe storm events, and emergency exercises. She also serves as York County cable channel news correspondent and produces the county's quarterly newsletter – "Citizen News" – that is mailed to every household in the county. Whittaker received her Master of Arts degree in English/Professional Writing from Old Dominion University and her Bachelor of Arts in English from Christopher Newport University. Ms. Whittaker is a member of the City of Poquoson's School Board.

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