As I continue my journey to understand how government works, since I apparently didn’t pay attention in school, I have discovered that our elected officials are only as effective as the staff that feeds them information.
This might be obvious to most reading this post. But perhaps I am not alone in the need to better understand how our government works.
It differs by government level
At the federal level, elected officials hire analysts and attorneys to read what must be reams and reams of information that provide background on decisions to be made by the elected body. We’ll take a leap of faith here and assume that the analysts and attorneys provide unbiased pros and cons so that the elected officials are well prepared to understand the upside and downsides of their decisions.
At the state level (at least in Florida), elected officials maintain staff for the same purpose. The staff gathers information which ostensibly includes hearing the constituents’ concerns and questions and sharing that with the elected decision-makers. After all, that is what those running for office promise, isn’t it? To listen to their constituents?
At the local level, however, elected officials don’t always have staff that support them by collecting, vetting, and reviewing information to discern the full background for the decisions that they must make. At the local level, many decisions come down to land use. This is a multi-faceted topic, with legal, engineering, environmental, economic, and human considerations integrated in the background.
These are not easy decisions for elected officials to make. Much of the background is factual – engineering, environmental, or economic. Some of the information is open to interpretation – the legal precedents and case law. And then, there is the human factor – often emotional and highly personal and not necessarily looking at the big picture, but rather on the impact of the decision on them personally.
So how do these local elected officials read, digest and interpret all the information required to make an informed decision?
The answer probably depends on the elected official.
A deeper question that may be appropriate is, how do the elected officials know that the background information that they are provided is unbiased and complete?
Enter local government staff.
This differs by state, as each state’s constitution prescribes the role and responsibility of local government. I have studied local government as prescribed by the state of Florida but can’t talk to other states. Florida constitution prescribed local commissioners who then appoint an administrator as the executive responsible for the staff.
Unlike federal and state officials who engage their own staff, this staff is a loosely gathered group of experts, hired by the local government for their expertise in a particular area, whether that is engineering, land use and planning, building code enforcement, facilities, and maintenance, transportation or other critical parts of a local government infrastructure.
The appointed executive of the local government serves at the pleasure of the elected officials. This is a leadership position that has an overwhelming impact on what the elected officials see and hear.
This is a position of trust, above all else. Trust that the incumbent will lead with integrity, honor, and transparency so that elected officials and citizens can believe that decisions made by the elected officials are made with the best interest of everyone in mind.
Local government decisions are not easy. Every decision FOR development takes away something – trees, quiet, the view… But development must occur as that drives the economic health of the community.
We have experienced first-hand how local government staff conveniently missed details of a major hotel design to push the approval through. The only reason the development was not approved was because a citizen group researched the proposal, compared it to the land development code, and pointed out the flaws in the proposal.
Leadership
The top-appointed executive of a local government has a profound influence on every decision that is made.
They wield that influence by setting a standard of excellence, accountability, and transparency. They do it by driving hard questions and requiring deep problem-solving. They do it by being in touch with the staff that makes everyday decisions and establishing a true north. They do it by setting expectations and measuring progress. They do it by ensuring that their subordinate leadership are trusted, collaborative, inquisitive, and not afraid to be wrong.
It really does take a village
It is overwhelmingly easy for local government to fall off the rails. It can happen at any time or place. That is where citizens come in.
It is our responsibility to be informed and become active with local government so that our voices are intelligent and non-emotional.
It isn’t as hard as it seems to be well-informed about local government. They plaster their rules and decisions all over the internet, and if it isn’t there, a public records search may be in order.
If we don’t take the responsibility for our lives and our livelihood seriously and become involved, we deserve what we get.
