Fayette County

officials and staff have worked for years to come up with an acceptable

mission statement, but when a statement finally was fashioned, it was

the work of a single staffer.

Nina Madrid,

who works in the county's Information Systems Department, was taking a

management class and decided to work on writing a mission statement for

the county government as her class project.

"She did

lots of research," according to Carol Chandler, assistant to the

County Commission.

On her own,

Madrid came up with a mission statement that the County Commission enthusiastically

approved during its meeting Thursday night. The commission also directed

staff to have the statement framed and placed prominently in every department.

"If in

fact she thinks and believes and works like this mission statement, I'm

glad she works for us," said commission Chairman Greg Dunn.

Here's the

statement:

"Our mission

is to create an effective and cost efficient network of county government

services that is responsive to local needs and perpetuates a lifestyle

of quality for present and future generations. In performing this task,

we are committed to executing our duties with the utmost integrity and

in a manner that generates trust and confidence between our public officials

and employees and the county's residents and taxpayers."