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Her journey to here began
conventionally enough. Born and raised in California,
Lloyd-Jenkins was one of seven children. She received a
bachelor’s degree in business administration from California
State University, Hayward and jumped into what she describes
as “the lucrative business of the dot-com boom.”
Lloyd-Jenkins clearly
remembers September 2011, and how the companies who had once
been on top folded. She and her co-workers were told they no
longer had jobs.
“We didn’t see it coming,”
she said. “We were escorted to our vehicles by security.” It
would be six months before she found employment. “I lived
off of savings and unemployment until someone told me about
a job opening in the Human Resource Department in Alameda
County. “I took the job thinking it would be temporary while
I waited for the boom to end,” she said. It never did.
Lloyd-Jenkins would work there for 11 years
Along the way she got her
MBA in strategic management – also from Cal State – moved to
the department of Budget and Finance and met her husband,
Cordell Jenkins, pastor of Abundant Life Ministries in
Toledo. Still, she did not see herself where she is today.
Even after her husband returned to Toledo, Lloyd-Jenkins had
no immediate plans to join him.
“I always thought that I
would work in the private sector and recruitment,” she said
“I was content with the long distance relationship with my
husband, and with where I was.” But eventually she started
to search for job openings on the Lucas County website. She
had the qualifications and the experience, but it would be
two years before the administrator position became
available. Lloyd-Jenkins was chosen out of 100 applicants.
As administrator,
Lloyd-Jenkins works under the direction of County
Commissioners Carol Contrada, Pete Gerkin and Tina Skeldon
Wozniak. Her duties are multi-faceted, and encompass the
enforcement and execution of board policies that include
supervising and assisting heads of departments in their job
function.
“We try to make collective
decisions that benefit everyone,” she said.
Lloyd-Jenkins is also
required to attend board meetings, give recommendations to
the board concerning policies, and procedures, keep the
board informed of the financial condition of the county,
monitor department budgets and prepare new budgets for the
fiscal year. Also, the administrator has the power to
interpret county laws, rules and regulations to insure that
county programs are within those laws through interactions
with county prosecutor.
Currently the department
is working on labor/wage negotiations, and Lloyd-Jenkins is
hopeful that her team will be successful in the ability to
give county employees, who have not had a wage increase in
six years, raises. “Since there has been a slight uptake in
county revenue we need to look at raises for employees,” she
said. “When an employee has not received a raise in that
long morale is clearly affected. We can’t forget about
taking care of our employees.”
Another task that the
office is working to fulfill in the near future is building
a more efficient county jail. Lloyd-Jenkins says she would
like to see the now nine-story building transformed to a
more manageable and cost effective one-story facility. Right
now they are looking at all of the elements needed in order
to make this happen, including location, revenue options and
staffing ratios. But the office must also decide on how
funds will be allocated for counseling, re-entry programs
and education.
With so much to do the
hours required from her are long and unpredictable. And
although Lloyd-Jenkins says she is physically in the office
50 to 60 hours a week, there is always the potential for the
late evening call. She experienced this recently when the
power at the jail went out. “We had generators but we still
had to figure out how we were going to feed and take care of
the inmates as well as maintain the safety of the
employees.”
Still, as first lady of
her husband’s church, Lloyd-Jenkins has to divide her time
between her faith and politics. When asked how she balances
her faith and her job Lloyd-Jenkins says “I’m not ashamed of
my faith. I can separate the two. But I also, at times, have
to make some tough decisions.” She emphasizes that her
peers know who she is and what she stands for, and in spite
of her busy schedule she still wants to be an example. “I am
working to change a culture around here and dispel the
notion that administrative government positions are only for
white males.”
Lloyd-Jenkins stresses
that county employees have been warm and welcoming to her,
but that coming from a place where diversity was normal,
into Lucas County, which is structured differently, she
realizes how important her presence in the community is “My
ministry and the impact that I have on people are important.
It should be normal for people to see others who look like
them.”
And the advice that
Lloyd-Jenkins gives to the coming generation is to “Be
prepared, have a plan and a vision. For me college was not
an option.”
Her push right now is the
desire for the community to know how the government works.
“Many people don’t know that this is not an elected
position,” she said. “I was appointed to this position.
April is National Counties Month. Get out on social media,
attend a board meeting, go to the website or pick up the
phone and call.” |
