Nancy Edmonds Hanson
hansonnanc@gmail.com

When Steve Larson became Clay County’s administrator 18 months ago, he had a good idea what he was in for: growth, and plenty of it. “I like challenges,” the affable manager confides. In a county that’s one of the fastest growing in Minnesota, there was bound to be plenty of that.
But what caught him by surprise, he says, was the meetings. One after another, they have consumed the days since the county commission appointed him to replace Brian Berg in the head job in July 2018.
“I’d been at meetings here with Brian Berg plenty of times before I got this job,” Steve says, pointing toward the conference table in his third-floor courthouse office. “I knew one ran right into the next, but wondered why he’d jump up in between to check his computer. Now I get it. After a full day of meetings, I’ll come back and find 45 emails stacked up waiting for me, all needing something right away.
“There are days I never sit down at my desk.”
Growth has been a “given” in the complex of offices that comprise county government – not just this year, but for the past 20. During that time, while Steve was rising through the ranks of the Regional Juvenile Correction Center next door, Clay County’s population grew by more than 25%, making it one of the most rapidly expanding (on a per-capita basis) statewide, including the Twin Cities metro area. Though staffing of its many-faceted agencies and services has grown in that time, its expansion is far less than the population it serves.
Today Steve manages a structure with an overall budget of $95 million and some 600 permanent and seasonal employees. The county campus – the three-square-block area on the north side its agencies occupy – has boomed with major construction initiatives. Beyond the 66-year-old courthouse, the county complex on the north side of Moorhead includes the new Joint Law Enforcement Center, built at a cost of $54 million and shared with the city of Moorhead, as well as nearly complete Clay County Correctional Center, an investment of more than $35 million.
Near the jail, the West Central Regional Juvenile Correction Center is close to completion of a $7.5 million expansion project. Along with youth from 10 to 18 or 19 drawn from Clay County, it serves Cass in North Dakota and nine more Minnesota counties south and east of Moorhead.
That’s where Steve, then a criminal justice major at Minnesota State University Moorhead, came to work for the county.
“I came to the juvenile center as an intern in 1995. Essentially, I never left,” the Wheaton, Minnesota, native reports. “It was a good fit. I went on to volunteer, worked part-time after graduation and just kept going.” He was secure supervisor for the facility for ten years, then moved up to become its director in 2010. As a veteran of its programming vision, he applauds the soon-to-be-introduced opportunity to build on its educational and mental health services. “We can focus more on trauma,” he explains. “Almost every kid there has endured not just one, but multiple events. It’s exciting to have this opportunity to build on the strong services already in place.”
As he took the reins to help steer the whole county structure, he knew – he says – that strong leadership was a hallmark. “We have terrific department heads and a board of commissioners who have a clear vision for Clay County,” he says. He speaks, he says, from experience, having worked with similar boards in the counties the juvenile center serves. “I feel strongly our board is one of the best. They have different perspectives and different ideals, but in the end I see them always putting Clay County first. That isn’t always the case in every county.”
Big challenges lie ahead, he says, for a county that has grown to 64,000 residents. He points to several that have paramount importance.
“Permanent flood protection, of course, continues to be a top priority of our board,” he observes. The county has been navigating the intricacies on the Minnesota side of the often-controversial project. Most recently, the commission voted two weeks ago to move forward with legal action, if necessary, for the Corps of Engineers to gain access to 17 farms whose owners have refused to allow their entry to conduct soil testing related to the project’s design.
A second, less controversial priority for 2020 is to see long-standing plans for a new solid waste transfer station become reality. The 40-year-old building on Highway 10 is where garbage trucks bring the material they collect before it’s sorted and transferred to the county landfill and other disposal sites. The county and city of Moorhead are jointly seeking $8.5 million from the state of Minnesota to build a larger facility equipped to handle household hazardous waste as well tires, construction debris, appliances and electronics. “We’ve been close a couple of sessions, but not made it to the end. We’re hopeful next year,” he says. “This time it’s the Pollution Control Agency’s number one priority.”
Workforce recruitment and retention, Steve says, presents another looming challenge – so much so that it’s included in the county’s strategic plans. “We used to see lots of employees receiving plaques recognizing 20, 25 or 30 years of service at commission meetings,” he muses. “Some do still come through, but long-term employment isn’t as common as it used to be. Today, employees don’t only change jobs more often – they’re changing their entire careers.” As a result, challenges abound in ensuring full staffing in many areas, including public health, law enforcement, the county attorney’s office, social services and the juvenile center.
Finally, the administrator says, there’s the other side of the growth-and-employment coin: Space. “We don’t have any,” he says. “There’s just one open office on our entire campus. Here in the courthouse, we’ve turned every spare foot of space into offices – conference rooms, break rooms, even closets.” The courthouse was last expanded 15 years ago, when a parking lot and four courtrooms were added and the lobby remodeled. Four months ago, the commission hired a consulting firm to assess its needs, present and future. Its report is due after the first of the year.
“Challenges make life interesting,” Steve reflects. “Today’s experiences open up windows and doors to opportunities you might not otherwise see. There’s a lot going on here in Clay County. It’s always interesting.”