Nick West temporarily takes over EM office.
Emergency Management Director Kay Stephens is the new director of Employee Relations/High Performance Organization coordinator for the county.
Stephens, who has been with the county for 23 years, spearheaded the county’s relief and recovery efforts in Hurricanes Fran and Floyd, as well as the Nov. 16, 2006 tornado and other disasters. In her now post, County Manager Eddie Madden said Stephens will help the county provide specialized training and opportunities for current and future employees, as well as developing and implementing the county’s new High Performance Program (HPO).
“Mrs. Stephens will coordinate leadership teams compromised of county employees as well as others outside the organization that will help streamline the day-to-day functions of county government with a focus of developing and training a highly qualified, well-supported staff and improving the efficiency of the various departments of the county,” Madden said in a press release Wednesday. “Kay is a dynamic leader and is a perfect fit for the newly formed position.”
One of her first job assignments will be to lead what has become a hallmark of Madden’s administration: coordinating the “Lean Task Force” designed to streamline county government services and operations, eliminate redundancies, improve interdepartmental communication and save tax dollars. Madden has placed extra emphasis on improving customer service and county stewardship of funding since he was hired in March.
“Our goal for the Task Force is to streamline our processes and modernize our systems to make Columbus County government more user friendly,” Madden said.
The EM director’s job will remain open for the time being, Madden said. Assistant County Manager Nick West will step into the Emergency Management role on an interim basis until a decision can be made regarding the vacancy.
West is responsible for a number of county departments, including Building Inspections, Fire Marshal, 911 Dispatch, Transportation, Safety, Maintenance, and Soil and Water Conservation. He was previously the chief of the Elizabethtown Fire Department before becoming assistant county manager Oct. 18.
