Strategic Plan
The County Mission
Northumberland County will strive to be a best practices model for County government and a cooperating partner with its member municipalities.
The (existing) County Mission was presented to participants as an overarching statement of what the county level of government strives to be - in essence, the best two-tier government in the Province if not beyond. Some participants suggested that the County issue a clear statement to this effect.
With this backdrop, participants were invited to consider the various roles the County might play in addressing the issues in the SWOT Analysis, and the following examples were provided as‚ thought-starters?:
- Responder - reacts to others coming to them
- Sentinel - points out issues but others act
- Collaborator/Partner - pursue solutions with others
- Catalyst - provides leadership to get action; may or may not be involved long-term
- Lone Wolf - knows their responsibility, gets job done on their own.
In general, while the County's most appropriate role tends to vary by issue, there are likely to be three primary roles adopted in particular sets of circumstances:
- Lead/Lone Wolf -- for core services and mandated responsibilities, and perhaps for business attraction
- Catalyst -- where other stakeholders should take the lead (e.g. community development)
- Collaborative -- in most cases; approach should respect differences and be opt-in based.
