By Jennifer Eisenbart
Editor
In his first State of the County address, newly elected Racine County Executive Jonathan Delagrave laid out his philosophy to county residents.
“During the months leading to the April election, I spoke with many people throughout Racine County, and described two of the major areas I plan to focus on,” Delagrave.
“The first is to create a Racine County-ready workforce,” he added. “The second area I will focus on is a topic I am passionate about – mental health services.”
Delagrave’s speech, presented Tuesday night to the Racine County Board and guests, focused on those topics and also the general financial state of the county.
Delagrave said that he wants to see a county workforce trained for the jobs that are available. From there, he said, there would be “a ripple effect.”
“New businesses will want to locate here and our current businesses will have the skilled workers needed for these businesses to stay and expand here.”
Focusing on that – as well as providing adequate mental health services – was just the start of Delagrave’s comments.
He provided a quick overview of the county’s finances – which included an AA1 bond rating, the second highest possible.
However, while unemployment rates have dropped, Delagrave said they were still too high. A changing workforce, he said, means more jobs are available for skilled workers.
He said one of the challenges now is the gap between the number of jobs available – and lack of skilled workers to fill them.
“Employers often are not able to find workers who are qualified for the good jobs that are available,” he said. The county’s STRIVE initiative will help pull workers into those positions, Delagrave said.
“We will have a Racine County-ready workforce to meet the demand of our current and future employers,” he said. Delagrave added that help is coming from the Racine County Workforce Development Center, as well as Gateway Technical College.
Delagrave also touched on public works, praising the work of winter road crews, and looking at the single largest construction project in Racine County this summer – work in the Raymond area, as well as 1.5 miles of road reconstruction on Honey Lake Road in Burlington and about a mile of Highway W in Waterford.
Delagrave praised the work of the Racine County Sheriff’s Office – particularly with active shooter situation in Union Grove earlier this year.
As for his leadership philosophy, Delagrave said he would be guided by the principles of “servant leadership.”
“Traditional leadership generally involves the accumulation and exercise of power by one at the top of the pyramid,” he said. “Servant leadership is different – it shares power and put the needs of others first and helps people develop and become sustainable. Decisions by our staff – from the top down – will be guided every day by this philosophy.”
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