Good morning, everyone.

I want to welcome everyone to the budget committee of the whole.

Today, the county operations service team continues a series of presentations that focus on performance measures.

Today we are excited to take a close look at performance measures tied to core processes and functions that keep that keep our county running, like cybersecurity, procurement, and contracting.

These performance measures are already available to review online in the open performance section of the county's open data portal.

If you want more information about the performance measures presented today, check out the county operations department dashboard, which have additional charts and background information.

And so I want to take a few moments to go off screw up for a moment and set the table with some reflections on how to move forward today.

I want to open up with reminders that we have already passed and approved our biannual budget.

And this is year two, which is an excellent opportunity to design to hear from our leadership who are running programs and leading the administrative component of the organization.

We will hear again more about the key performance measures that have been established at the department level and gain insight into some of the priorities that have been identified by the deputy county managers and directors under the leadership of County Manager Lean Becker.

I know much work has gone into getting us here today, and I just want to thank everyone for that work.

I also know that much good work is happening each day, and that this organization like other counties statewide are experiencing significant pressures from unfunded mandates with state as well as federal call shifts, which we heard a bit about uh earlier this week, but also yesterday.

I'd like us to allow the presenters to complete their presentations as best as we can, and I ask my colleagues and the board to please track any questions or comments that arise.

I want to keep us on schedule.

Today is going to be a four date.

We are here from 9 to 4.

So it's a lot of intake of a lot of information, which I know is going to arise a lot of questions too.

But let's let's if we can hold off with the questions, that would be awesome.

As chair, I would keep tally again on and I would be mindful of opportunities for natural pauses and to also carve out time for questions at the end of each presentation.

We have a long day again, and it will be one that is full of good information and an opportunity for the board and the public to gain insight to the core operation and infrastructure of Ramsey County as we navigate and leave through what comes next in this second year of the biannual.

If very technical or nuanced questions come up, I want to also remind us that we have opportunities to have follow-up discussions, and we can always bring the directors back to do presentations throughout the year as part of our county board meetings.

And we also have a variety of workshops that will be forthcoming.

And so, with that, I want to use our time very well today and put on full display the deep care and commitment that I know the organizational leadership has for our residents and for the people who live within the county who experience our programs and our systems and operational processes.

We will break at 12 o'clock and we will return at one.

As chair, I am honored to open us up with the introduction of our DC.

Coops, uh, Chief Operating Officer Officer and Jesse Bett and share a quick up overview of their agenda for today.

And so with that, I want to welcome.

And would you please just introduce yourself and open us up with today's presentation?

Great.

Thank you, Madam Chair, Commissioners.

Um, my name is Alex Kitza.

I'm the Deputy County Manager for the operations department slash chief operating officer.

Um, thank you for having me here today.

It's a really exciting day to me.

Um, I know we're gonna be here a long time, but it's exciting.

This is a new service team.

This is the first time that we're coming before you as a service team to present our budget, and I think that that deserves a moment of reflection and like wow, we got here.

We did the organizational alignment, we came together, and much of our work um influences all of the departments that you're gonna see over all of your budget hearings over the next couple of weeks.

Um, today you're gonna hear from the operations departments, and we're also joined by the county manager's office, and you're gonna get a presentation at the end of the day of the addenda, which we talked a little bit about yesterday, which tracks the changes from the 26 budget to the 27 budget.

Um, as operations embodies partnership and the idea of one Ramsey County.

We support the work of every department, and by providing things like space, paying a bill, executing a contract, hiring a person, posting notices on our website, handling data requests, collecting property taxes.

That's just to name a few.

That is really important work that not only supports our residents, but supports every employee of Ramsey County.

It serves our residents in direct and indirect ways, and you're going to hear about that from many of the directors who speak today.

It also requires partnership with every department.

We literally cannot do our jobs without all of the staff of Ramsey County supporting the work we do.

We can't make a hire without having someone ask and tell us what they need in that person.

We can't pay an invoice without someone approving it.

We can't execute a contract without a subject matter expert telling us what it is they need out of that contract.

So our work actually kind of embodies all of the work of one Ramsey County.

Today you will hear about the work and how we measure it and how it supports our strategic priorities.

We will touch on every almost every strategic priority, but what you're going to also see is operational excellence is kind of the overarching theme of the work that we do and drives much of how we do our work.

And we will also bring some examples forward of ways that we are finding efficiencies and savings as we think about how we do belt tightening in tough budget times.

As you heard from County Manager Becker earlier this week, we are steadfastly committed to serving the residents of Ramsey County and finding efficiencies in how we do our work in tough budget times.

People are doing that every day in their homes, and we are doing it right here in Ramsey County.

Our new ERP system that is coming.

You're gonna hear it in different ways throughout today, and why it's so important is it is the backbone of the finance and HR system.

It is replacing a 22-year-old system and will change how we do our work.

It'll change how you all interact with when you report your time, when you report your employee expenses, and also how many people in this room do their work every day.

And it's a really important moment for this organization.