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Citizen Participation will be run by county

Late in 2014, members of the Citizens Participation Organizations (CPOs) in Washington County were surprised to hear that OSU Extension Services, who had managed the program since its inception in the 1980s, had “re-evaluated its institutional strengths and role in this county program and would not continue to administer the program in the future.”

The Board of Commissioners outlined a process and selected a committee to determine the future of the public involvement, which, in Washington County, had always been independent of county government.

Extensive documentation of the process is available on this county page.

During a series of meetings that began in July 2015, managed by the County Administration, and facilitated by paid consultants, various aspects of community participation were explored by the committee.

The question of who would staff and manage the program going forward was one of the biggest issues. At the March 1 meeting, the group decided that the program would be located in the County Administration office and that its staff would be hired by the county.

It’s quite unclear at this point what this will mean for those who want to stay involved. Sign up on for the CPO1 Facebook page to stay in the discussion.

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