In my daily life outside of this elected gig, I am rapidly approaching the 30-year anniversary of the day a 21-year-old skinny blond guy opened an art and design company…where he still works. Although he’s no longer skinny or blond, that guy built a good business based on repeatedly asking two fundamental questions:

(1) Is it as good as it can be?

(2) Is the customer satisfied with it?

Over the years, I have discovered that by applying these “two questions” (tempered, of course, by available resources and timing) to most topics I have had to evaluate, I typically come up with good answers…so I brought them with me from my spot in the private sector to the Carter County Commission. Sometimes my “two questions” aren’t well received by others. Just this week, I shared a prototype logo from the county’s rebranding effort with friends on social media. These people are the “customer” this new brand will eventually be applied to, so their satisfaction matters to me. One of my Commissioner colleagues eventually entered the discussion, even stooping briefly to an inappropriately personal level, over my  “two questions”. No big deal…I work with (usually constructive) criticism every day. He has his standards, I have mine. I’m still going to be his friend.

Last October, our newly assigned Health and Welfare Committee asked these “two questions” about a multi-year drag on the county budget: the ever-increasing expense of employee healthcare. For years now, this has been one of the largest annual line-item increases, yet it hasn’t really been addressed to the customer’s satisfaction. In addition to being too expensive for the taxpayer, family coverage under the current plan was too expensive for the typical county employee on a Carter County wage. Worse yet, stipulations of the Affordable Care Act make our employees ineligible to obtain family coverage through the insurance exchange because it is “made available” by their employer. Obamacare doesn’t require family coverage to be “made affordable”, just “made available”.

By applying the “two questions” to the problem, our employees will finally have access to affordable healthcare coverage for their spouses and families, even on a Carter County wage. Even better, this fantastic result came with a 10% cost DECREASE to the taxpayer-an amount in excess of a quarter million dollars! I inquired once about county insurance comparison shopping and was given the answer that the insurance broker was a “really good guy, very knowledgeable and great to work with”. That was an artful dodge, and not a good answer to “two questions.”

It is inexcusable that a Republican-dominated legislative body failed to take the Reagan trust but verify approach to dealing with this huge expenditure each year. Surely, many budget committees over the years should have simply asked “two questions” sometimes along the way. There were even management-level people who vehemently opposed us, going so far as submitting a petition demanding that we cease our research into the problem. Instead of finding support for our effort to make things better, we found obstruction from the very people who we should expect to work hardest to find the best answers possible to “two questions.” A thorough job requires that we carefully consider EVERY available option before eliminating ANY option. We are only being thorough if we are asking ”two questions” in each instance, and anyone should be able to ask “two questions”.

Had those petitioners gotten their way, over a quarter million extra dollars would be spent on employee insurance next year…and the employees still wouldn’t be able to cover their families. This time around, we just happened to get lucky with a Health & Welfare Committee composed mostly of people who are employed by someone other than Carter County. So many of our current sitting commissioners are also county employees, and I feel sorry for them at times because I believe there are probably conflicted loyalties when some of the tough budget questions are posed…and perhaps even undue pressures from management. Even so, I believe they also should be capable of asking “two questions” when they make decisions regarding the public trust. I am thankful for my colleagues who are willing to persevere in finding good answers to “two questions” with me. I invite the rest of them to at least give it a try. Based on the fantastic healthcare outcome, I believe odds are very good that if we were to ask the “two questions” about the entire County budget, we might discover that many more savings and optimization opportunities are still hiding in there. Those two questions, “Is it as good as it can be?” and “Is the customer satisfied with it?” apply equally to county budgets as to…county logos.

If you would like to share your feelings on the matter, space is made for public comments at the beginning of each Commission meeting. If you can’t make it to a meeting, send those thoughts to me, and I will be happy to read them on the floor.

(Mike Hill is a second term Carter County Commissioner proudly serving Appalachian Trail Community #41. Follow on Facebook @workinhardindistrict2, E-mail at mikehillcommish@yahoo.com or simply turn up at “office hours” most Saturdays at 9:30 at Smoky Mountain Bakers.)