My work for you continues …

Many people ask me “what does a county commissioner do?” Well, it IS a full-time job, but the best way to explain what a county commissioner does is to first understand what the county does. 

Besides all the things everyone can see every day like county parks and trails, libraries, road maintenance and repairs from our transportation division, our county jail and attorney’s office, and public safety from our sheriff’s office, the function of a county goes well beyond what you might imagine. 

When you hear that the state or federal government has initiated a new policy or service, in most cases, they don’t actually do the work. County government is the administrative arm of the state and federal government and has the responsibility to administer and implement their policies and initiatives. 

Counties across America do the heavy lifting for the State and Federal Government and are the functional arm of other governmental entities to figure out implementation. County commissioners guide, approve and oversee this work.

So, let’s follow the money … State and federal dollars are passed down to the county to pay for services they “mandate” or want done. County commissioners serve on various committees and boards to help guide this activity to provide these services and approve how these dollars are spent. It is deciding how dollars are spent that makes the difference of who is your County Commissioner. 

For example, I am chair of Human Services, which is responsible for delivering over half of the services provided by Anoka County and has over 1,000 employees. Overall spending and benefits distributed through Human Services in Anoka County is about $1 billion a year, but 93% of these dollars come from or are distributed by the state and federal Government. 

Serving as chair of human services is a huge responsibility. There are five divisions that I oversee: corrections, social services and behavioral health, economic assistance, job training and public health and environmental services.

I also serve on 20 other committees and boards. In these positions I can affect roads that get repaired in our area as well as protect our parks, trails and golf courses in our area to help maintain our quality of life.

I hope this helps to explain the work I do with Anoka County as I represent District 3, which includes Centerville, Circle Pines, Columbus, Lexington, Linwood, Lino Lakes and eastern Blaine. I very much enjoy this job and please, contact me anytime or for any reason at Jeff@JeffReinert.com. For more information go to my website at www.JeffReinert.com. 

Jeff Reinert, Anoka County Commissioner

District 3