Remarks by Rena Moran
84 remarks on the record, newest first · Page 2 of 4
- Play at 3:49:42
“OK, so we're going to move on to having our chief human resource officer, Patien Ferguson, come up to present on human resources.”
Board of Commissioners · Aug 28, 2026
- Play at 3:51:35
“So I just want to take that time to thank them.”
Board of Commissioners · Aug 28, 2026
- Play at 4:12:24
“May I have a question? Oh, Commissioner McGuire. No. I'm sorry. I'm sorry.”
Board of Commissioners · Aug 28, 2026
- Play at 4:17:53
“I like that so much. I know that HR. for my tenure here has been some bumpy grounds, to say the least. And to take the time to really dig deep and go deeper, I think, is needed. I appreciate your investigating or taking the time to dig deep or want to go deep and find out what's at the root of how we can do better and be better as an HR in relationship to staff, employees, and others. Because it's important to look at the morale. Is it up or is it down? Is retention up or down? And why, if it isn't? If it isn't flat or steady? But building a trust, I think, is really key. And it was good to…”
Board of Commissioners · Aug 28, 2026
- Play at 4:21:40
“And so I'm glad that you have created, along with your staff, created that space for that to happen, right? Because at the end, hopefully, it will get you to a better place. Absolutely. To do the work for the people here. For the people. Yeah. Commissioner Miller.”
Board of Commissioners · Aug 28, 2026
- Play at 4:29:48
“That equivalent piece was, I think, really important, too, because my thought, we do not want to penalize someone for having a degree and spending tons of money to get it and work and the sacrifices that they made. But as we do know, lived experience and years of experience can be as equally as important, too. And so removing that criteria, I'm sure it opened up a pool of people that we could pull in to do this work. Yeah. All right. I don't think I see any other questions. So I just want to thank you, HR's chief resource officer, for your work and for your dedication here. And thank you for…”
Board of Commissioners · Aug 28, 2026
- Play at 4:50:33
“OK, we have a couple of questions here. I'm going to open up with looking at the advisory boards. And I'm just looking at the numbers, the percentage of diversity or the lack of much diversity within the advisory boards. And I think for me, as one who's been over the last few months doing a lot of interviewings to advisory boards is that, how do we find ways to diversify those boards more? And one of the things that I notice is that once folks get on the board, they don't leave. they don't leave. And really, it's not an opportunity for the diversity to be shared, or other people who may have…”
Board of Commissioners · Aug 28, 2026
- Play at 4:52:30
“You know, versus saying, oh, we want to train someone new to come in, or we want to engage someone new. Have we thought about a different protocol process?”
Board of Commissioners · Aug 28, 2026
- Play at 4:59:32
“Thank you. And I would like to say that we have suggested, if there was a great candidate, that maybe we can place him on another board that needed a fill-in. But you are right that we might have to say we need to get more applications in and just you know, say no to the incumbent who's been there for 20 years, 10 years. So, yes. So I do have McMurtry, McGuire, and Dan Jevis.”
Board of Commissioners · Aug 28, 2026
- Play at 5:08:43
“And so before we close out on this advisory board, there's a few things that I would just like to share that I think will be helpful. And we're getting better at notifying commissioners that there's open seats for your district. And I would like us to make that a priority, that before they send us something where a candidate who's already on there that they share that there is an opening in our district and allow us, since we have the authority to appoint members, that they allow that to happen before we are given a list of individuals to choose from. And I think that is important, of course,…”
Board of Commissioners · Aug 28, 2026
- Play at 5:11:31
“I don't know what the process is, what the process came from, what that looks like. That might be helpful for us to all know that too. Because good decision making that is inclusive is important. And so we just like to see that.”
Board of Commissioners · Aug 28, 2026
- Play at 5:11:56
“We need the addendums. Is that coming from? We have one more. So we're going to work on the proposed 2027 budget addendum. That's coming from Director Louie.”
Board of Commissioners · Aug 28, 2026
- Play at 5:20:09
“Well, isn't it also true that the county program aid is based on some factors around anyone that's 500 and over? And by default, that happens to only be like Ramsey County and Hennepin County?”
Board of Commissioners · Aug 28, 2026
- Play at 5:20:54
“Yeah, something is wrong with that number. Right. That equation just doesn't add up. And so that's definitely a conversation that we need to be having with our delegation, our Ramsey County delegation, and maybe even others about the inequities that is built in”
Board of Commissioners · Aug 28, 2026
- Play at 5:22:10
“Well, that's an inequity right there. So when we are at a disadvantage within that .”
Board of Commissioners · Aug 28, 2026
- Play at 5:22:24
“You know, and I get it. It's hard to say to someone else, give up some of your dollars.”
Board of Commissioners · Aug 28, 2026
- Play at 5:22:32
“Well, Ramsey County has been superb at opening our doors to anyone who come to us, right? We don't, you know, we've been very good of serving everyone. And so I don't know quite what that message has been. I've never heard my county delegation individual ever talk about this. Maybe they might be talking to somebody else, but I've never specifically heard them lead on this or have a conversation as they may have solved the inequities within. And how long has this been in law?”
Board of Commissioners · Aug 28, 2026
- Play at 5:23:24
“So it might be time to re-look at that, Stan, if it's been that long.”
Board of Commissioners · Aug 28, 2026
- Play at 5:23:36
“And to create another narrative. Commissioner, what have you seen?”
Board of Commissioners · Aug 28, 2026
- Play at 5:27:30
“Okay. Are we good? All right. Commissioner Ortega.”
Board of Commissioners · Aug 28, 2026
- Play at 5:29:21
“No, I agree. We always have a collective AMC legislative agenda. We always come around common concerns and issues and what needs to drive all counties in general. But I still believe that Ramsey County needs to be a messenger of our message.”
Board of Commissioners · Aug 28, 2026
- Play at 5:29:43
“I think we can always do two things at once.”
Board of Commissioners · Aug 28, 2026
- Play at 5:29:49
“But yeah, it's a 15-year-old conversation, and counties are hurting, and they're going to hurt more. So we get it. I get it. Yeah, for sure. Anything else you want to close? So what do we need to do with the addendum?”
Board of Commissioners · Aug 28, 2026
- Play at 5:30:35
“It's close. So I just want to close with some closing remarks. And I want to say a big thank you to the County Operations Service team for their presentations today and for serving as the operational backbone of this agency. On the heels of the 2026 primary election, we know how important it is to keep county operations secure, efficient, and free from disruption. The next presentation will be on September the 1st from 1 to 4. The Health and Wellness Service team will present their performance measures. As a reminder, we encourage public participation in the budget process. You can…”
Board of Commissioners · Aug 28, 2026
- Play at 16:23
“Good afternoon, and welcome to the Budget Committee of the Whole. Today's focus will be on community services and support. On August the 25th, County Manager Lene Becker provided an overview of the proposed supplemental budget. Today, the community services and support service team kicks off a series of presentations that focus on performance measures for each department. The county performance measure process helps the county improve accountability to our community, understand the impact of budget investments, make data-informed decisions, and identify opportunities for improvement.…”
Board of Commissioners · Aug 27, 2026