As 2020 approaches, Orange County is setting its sights on several old and some new goals.

Chair of the Board of Commissioners Penny Rich says among the county’s chief concerns is tackling the issue of affordable housing and homelessness, especially with the coldest months of the year approaching. She believes that the new director of housing and community development Emilia Sutton could be a big help in that fight.

“We need to take this on ourselves,” says Rich. “We have land, we need to figure out how to get it done. We’ve got a new housing director, I think she’s fabulous and hopefully she’ll be able to work with us.”

Education remains among the county’s top concerns as well, and Rich says she wants to work with Durham Tech to provide more options for post-high school education for students that may not want to commit to a four year university. She also hopes the school can help with housing the now displaced skills development center.

“As we think about Well taking over the skills development center, where do we move those folks to?” Rich asks. “Durham Tech’s campus is going to need to grow, so how does that happen? And how do we get that investment in there.”

The county wants to get a head start on the upcoming budget and involve the Pre-K through Grade 12 area schools in the decision making process more than they have in the past also.

“Where we end up in May, after we get the April budget from the schools, isn’t just ‘surprise here we are’,” says Rich. “It takes months and months and months to get there, so I think we have to do a better job of educating folks on how that happens.”

The Board of Commissioners will hold their first meeting of the new decade on January 21.

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