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MRSC has joined with Carl Neu, Director of the Center for the Future of Local Governance, P. Stephen DiJulio, Attorney, Foster Pepper PLLC, Ann Macfarlane, Professional Registered Parliamentarian, Jurassic Parliament, and George Raiter, Cowlitz County Commissioner, 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.*
| City Budget Woes: RESET “deja vu all over again”
November 2011
By Carl Neu,
President of Neu and Company and Director of the Center for the Future of Local Governance™
I-1183, state budget crisis, the Governor’s Budget Reduction Alternatives, federal gridlock/paralysis on deficit reduction, downgrading of U.S. and Euro-zone growth projections show us Yogi Berra, when he coined the phrase
“deja vu all over again.”
also proved to be an economic prophet.
In the September, 2009 MRSC Council/Commission Advisor article entitled “RESET Stewardship for City Governments: 2009-12”, I warned city officials of the need to RESET their perspectives and comprehension of the harsh realities that lie ahead. Those realities still are with us, proving to be seemingly intractable, and inflaming and intensifying political and ideological passions nationwide.
Rodney Clouser, a professor at the University of Florida, provided at an October Florida Advanced County Commissioners Conference his summary of the Three Phases most U.S. communities have experienced since 2000.
THREE PHASES
Most communities have experienced:
2000-2012
- Normal and satisfied: 2000-2004
- Fat and Happy: Yeah, there are problems on the horizon, but we’re okay: 2005-early 2007
- Skinny, challenged and PO’d: Mid 2007 - ??????
An October, 2011, research document from the Association of Washington Cities entitled “An update on city fiscal conditions” conveys that many city officials have a “grim outlook” about their cities’ fiscal future. The survey portends the continuing prospect of revenue and budget cuts” and decreased capital expenditures.
A League of Minnesota Cities official recently observed that “all seems doom and gloom, ‘we want no more of sitting in the soup’. How do we seek the positive side of what we are experiencing?”
The Chinese use the same character for the words CRISIS and OPPORTUNITY. There is opportunity, but to realize it we must forge new perspectives and start thinking ANEW. The “good old days” pre- 2008 are gone, irretrievable, and no longer useful in creating the solutions to the challenges we face. An opportunity can be found in three phrases: Bold Leadership, New Balance, and New Normal.
Bold Leadership: Bold leaders make things happen that might not otherwise happen and seek to prevent things from happening that just might happen especially if we fail to act. (Does the fiscal collapse of the Euro-zone and U.S. sound familiar?) Municipal leaders in these times must focus on:
- building enduring institutions
- investing for sustainable futures
- being aware of the needs, as contrasted to the wants, of people and society.
- making tough and unpopular stances that may be required “to do the right thing”.
- making policy decisions that are expedient, timely, and deliberate.
New Balance: In the October, 2011 MRSC HR Advisor article entitled “Labor Relations Policy Development – The New Balance – Smaller Concessions”, Cabot Dow presents “the comparison of the old vs. new balance” that emerges when one examines the significant differences between past and present [and projected future] environments. Dow focuses on labor policy; a big factor in municipal government costs and growing state/local government – public employee conflicts resulting from the economic concessions current fiscal conditions necessitate. Example: the recent public employee union’s referendum victory in Ohio carries an optical myopia. It doesn’t solve the multi-billion dollar budget deficit, it will lead to layoffs as city budgets contract, and senior employees will keep gold-plated entitlements while less senior employees are fired and new hires find themselves in prolonged job searches and unemployment. The New Balance, a really good phrase, requires balancing public expenditures with available revenues and balancing public expectations with what the public is willing to pay for. Municipal officials have no other alternative but to balance reality in revenues and reality in expenditures. Only the federal government and Vermont can deficit spend to achieve their illusion of “balance”.
The New Normal. The New Normal is the mindset that recognizes the necessity of the New Balance. It is, in the paraphrased words of Oregon’s Governor Kitzhaber, having to replace old business/government models with new models critical to our future and sustainable success.
OLD NORMAL (What we used to do: Old Models)
Establishing
a focus on the future and creating the new
models/practices
needed to establish and sustain the future
NEW NORMAL (What we need to do: New Models)
Rick Davis, City Manager of West Jordan, Utah identifies five new perspectives and skill sets for attaining the New Normal:
- Ability to recognize, accept, and effectively communicate the brutal realities.
- Ability to understand what your citizens really want[need] from their local government [and are willing to pay for].
- Ability to realign municipal functions and services with citizen expectations.
- Ability to empower staff and inspire innovation.
- Ability to allow others to help: staff, citizens, business and civic groups, etc.
RESET no longer is just an option for federal, state and local governments. It is an absolute necessity – the alternative many are trying to sustain by “hook or crook” is both disingenuous and fraught with disastrous consequences most especially for our economy, citizens, and the entire American public.
Take a time out in your city and do, if you already haven’t done so, these three things:
- A really substantive discussion on the roles of council and staff and how both will work together to define, RESET, and concentrate on achieving the New Normal for your city.
- Establish venues and procedures where council and staff really focus on vision, strategy, innovation, public engagement and operational improvement.
- Break the Old Normal of how you used to do things. Redefine how in the New Normal you will spend your time and use resources, meetings, communications tools, etc.
Thomas Jefferson believed local governments are the civic laboratories of democracy. He also believed the real fountainheads of the innovations, necessary to sustain and advance the “American Experience”, are the nation’s state and local governments. Alexis de Tocqueville observed that in the United States – “power is leased from the citizens to the towns, and the counties and to the state [and ultimately the nation].” The opposite approach is best described as tyranny which during de Tocqueville’s life reigned in Europe – a concept we, the American people, escaped from in 1776.
The call to municipal officials everywhere: be the innovators in the civic laboratory which is your city. It starts with RESET to a new vision - new dream (New Balance and New Normal) for your community. Goethe, a 19th century German philosopher, stated “Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it”. But as one wise city manager admonished, “Make sure it is your dream, or you will become a player in somebody else’s dream”. So true!
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.
Marc R. Greenough's practice is focused on municipal law and public finance. He serves as bond counsel, underwriters' counsel, and disclosure counsel on general obligation, revenue, and special obligation financings by state, local, and tribal governments. 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.
George Raiter has been a Cowlitz County Commissioner since January 2001. He has held various positions in the community, including Longview City Council from 1978 - 1986, City of Longview Mayor, Cowlitz Planning Commission from 1996-1998 and the State Legislature from 1989 - 1991. In addition to his public service, George has worked in private industry for Weyerhaeuser Company 1987-91 (Regional Environmental Manager) And Reynolds Alumunim 1972-87 (Quality Manager, Plant Manager)
*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.