As Knox County Health Commissioner, Dennis Murray is responsible for the management of the Knox County Health Department and for many public health programs for children, seniors and community health throughout Knox County. Dennis attended the Ohio University Executive Leadership Institute program, Leading with Vision, Value and Strategy, in October 2002. While Dennis felt that he intuitively understood and practiced the concepts of the strategic triangle model, he said the framework helped him go beyond what he had already been doing.
Upon returning to Mount Vernon, Dennis had immediate application for the strategic triangle and performance model: to pass the health department levy that would come before the voters in May 2003. This five-year levy failed the first time it was presented to the voters in 1988 but has passed the last three times it has been on the ballot. However, Dennis was concerned that given the current economic climate in Knox County, the state of Ohio and the nation, the county may have difficulty passing this levy. It will raise approximately $300,000 per year for five years and make up about 10 percent of the total health department budget. Programs and services would be seriously impacted if the levy did not pass.
Dennis and his senior staff realized they needed to look externally for help with both political management and operational capacity issues related to the levy campaign. They looked to an important segment of their authorizing environment, those who used their services and who represented key stakeholders in the county. Dennis identified a 11-person committee of these external stakeholders and used their expertise and knowledge of the health department services to plan and execute the levy campaign. The committee was asked to:
- Help craft the levy campaign message
- Promote health department services in the county
- Speak to stakeholder groups throughout the county
The committee included a real estate agent, a retired Kenyon College professor who was currently involved in the County Regional Planning Commission and land use, a former elected official, the United Way Director, a retired farmer, a retired hospital employee and several health department staff members. Each of the external committee members represented a key stakeholder group and each had knowledge and expertise about various health department services. The committee members also represented all geographic regions of the county. Dennis indicated this was very important given the rural nature of the county.
Committee members worked with the health department staff to craft the campaign message. Their message was simple and straightforward: this is not a new tax but a renewal and it supports programs and services that will be lost if the levy is not passed. The committee members were instrumental in taking the message throughout the county. They gave presentations to community groups and seniors groups. They specifically focused on communities in which they expected a higher voter turnout. Dennis said they gave a real push and hit hard in the two weeks prior to the primary election day.
Dennis stated that the committee was important both in terms of the political management of the campaign and in addressing operational capacity issues. The public heard about the health department programs and the importance of the levy not from health department staff but from those external stakeholders who understood first hand how the general public benefited from the health department’s programs and services. In addition, the committee provided important operational capacity support; every presentation made by a committee member was one that did not take Dennis or a member of his senior staff away from management of the agency.
Dennis reported that the levy passed with 70 percent of the vote, the highest margin since the inception of the levy. He attributes the success of the campaign to the role of the external stakeholder committee in developing the message and in bringing it to the voters.
Dennis said that the strategic triangle and performance model has helped him think more externally and understand the need to go “outside the circle.”
6/09/03
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