4 Olmsted County Commissioners Honored For Decades of Service

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Rochester, MN (KROC-AM News) - A public celebration was held today in conjunction with today's meeting of the Olmsted County Board to honor four retiring members of the governmental body.

Matt Flynn is the longest-serving member of the County Board, having joined in 1997. Both Jim Bier and Ken Brown started their first terms as County Commissioners in 2002, and Stephanie Podulke has been a member of the County Board since 2011. Their final meeting before officially entering retirement is scheduled on December 20.

The County Board, meeting as the Administrative Committee, today approved creating two new senior social worker positions to serve as liaisons to the public school districts in the county. The people hired to fill the positions will work with the schools "to help identify and support students and families facing housing emergencies." The $240,000 annual cost of the new staff will come from the nearly $800,000 the county is set to receive annually in Local Homeless Prevention Aid from the state.

Olmsted County today released an updated Community Health Means Assessment. The 2022 version is the fourth since 2013 and is a collaborative effort involving Olmsted County Public Health Services, Mayo Clinic, and Olmsted Medical Center. The online and interactive report identified the three priority issues significantly impacting health in Olmsted County as mental health, drug use, and access to healthcare.