Not that we expected anything less. A citizens' review panel reported late last year that the fleet of about 2,000 vehicles was poorly managed, lacked oversight and needed an overhaul. In January, Mayor Corroon appointed a task force of county government officials to take up where the citizens' panel had left off.
The task force is implementing many of the recommendations of the citizens. About 600 vehicles are allocated to the fire and sheriff's departments; they were exempted from the citizens' study. Many others are small pieces of equipment, from riding mowers to road compactors.
From the remaining 538 cars and light-duty trucks, the task force estimates it can save about $4 million over the next 10 years by eliminating 51 vehicles from the fleet, cutting back on the number that employees can take home (36 of 81 former take-home vehicles will now be left on government property during non-work hours), downsizing another 20 cars and substituting hybrid gasoline-electric cars to get better mileage.
In addition, the task force has simplified the policy on personal use of vehicles (there won't be much allowed) and established a new monthly criterion of 1,000 miles before an employee can apply for a county car.
The mayor announced that none of the county's elected officials, department or division directors have county vehicles (a marked change from the days when former Mayor Nancy Workman drove a county SUV equipped with police lights and siren). He also noted that the only Ford Expeditions left in the fleet are in the sheriff's department, where they are used for search and rescue.
That's the way it ought to be.
The major task remaining is to complete an evaluation of the county's "rapid rotation" program, which replaced many cars within one to three years of purchase, depending on type. Fleet managers insisted this policy is cost effective; the citizens panel doubted that. Preliminary indications suggest the citizens were right, but the task force won't reach a final conclusion for another couple of months.
In the meantime, it has made a good start on reform.
