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MRSC has joined with Cary Bozeman, Mayor, City of Bremerton, Carl Neu, Director of the Center for the Future of Local Governance, P. Stephen DiJulio, Attorney, Foster Pepper PLLC, and Ann Macfarlane, Registered Parliamentarian, Jurassic Parliament, to bring you the "Council/Commission Advisor." The Council/Commission Advisor will feature a new article each month with timely information and advice you can use.*
Core Values
March 2009
By Cary Bozeman
Mayor, City of Bremerton
As the elected CEO of a public company known as the City of Bremerton I have the responsibility of managing an organization with a annual budget 120 million dollars, 350 employees, and I answer to 39,000 share holders known as citizens. With a budget that is dependent on the income from sales tax and real estate activity, in today’s economy, this is a very difficult challenge: How to deliver quality services to our citizens while our revenue is on the decline.
What I have learned in running organizations for the past forty years is that the leader of the organization must have a set of "Core Values" that they are able to rely on day in, day out, while communicating them to your managers so at the end of the day the organization is managed in a fair and consistent manner. I have developed a set of four core values over the years that guide me in leading the City of Bremerton.
Hire Smart People
First, hire really Smart people who have an interest in life long learning. We live in a knowledge-based society that moves very fast and your managers have to want to get smarter everyday. This means seeking out information, trying new things, listening to what others have to say and generally being willing to take risk to try and get better.
Be Willing to Take Responsibility
My second core value is to understand that our organization will only be as good as the choices we make each day and to be willing to take responsibility for those choices. Our life will be about our choices, not our circumstances. You must surround yourself with people who can pull the rip cord and not just sit on the fence for fear of falling off. Our managers have to be decision makers who will stand up and take responsibility for their actions.
Beware the Status Quo
The third core value is never accepting the status quo and be willing to push out of our comfort zones. Try new things. Never say, "This is the way we have always done things." Bill Gates built the greatest company in the world and changed the world by pushing the technology comfort zones and he’s still doing it. We all get comfortable and when we do we stop growing and our organization stops growing. This is not a culture we want in the City of Bremerton.
Give and Receive Honest Feedback
And the forth and final core value I rely on each day is the idea of giving and receiving honest and supportive feedback. In other words have people who are willing to listen to what you have to say about them and then are willing to do the same for you. It has to be constructive, not used to tear one down, but to help make them better. The feedback has to be honest and sincere.
So, in conclusion, having a set of core values that the leader brings to the table each day, that are easy to understand, and that are a constant part of the company’s day-to-day business is what I believe in. I try and surround myself with managers who reflect the philosophy of these core values.
P. Stephen DiJulio, a partner at Foster Pepper & Shefelman PLLC, focuses on litigation involving state and local governments, and land use and environmental law. Particular experience includes representation of jurisdictions on eminent domain, utilities (water, wastewater, storm water, solid waste systems), local improvement districts, facility siting and contractor litigation. More.
Carl Neu, author and consultant, is recognized nationally as an authority on, and an experienced practitioner of, the theory and application of governance and leadership to city councils and county boards, local government managers, and community leaders. More.
Ann G. Macfarlane is a Professional Registered Parliamentarian. She created Jurassic Parliament to make parliamentary procedure easy to learn and memorable. She provides training on leadership, meeting management, parliamentary procedure and organizational development across the U.S.
Cary Bozeman was elected to a four-year term as Mayor of Bremerton and began serving January 1, 2002. He was re-elected to another four year term that began January 1, 2006. From 1996 through 2001, Mayor Bozeman was the Executive Director of the Olympic College Foundation. Mayor Bozeman served on the Bellevue, Washington City Council from 1976 through 1993. During that time, he was elected by the City Council to three terms as Mayor.
*The Articles appearing in the "Council/Commission" column represent the opinions of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the Municipal Research & Services Center.