4 Promoting the community’s future
Promoting the community’s future, creating a positive community legacy, and striving for economic viability and sustainability are ongoing and vital functions for local government managers. These tasks require new ways of thinking because of today’s rapid social, demographic, economic, and technological changes.
Since the previous edition of this book, the world has changed dramatically. Ushered in by the watershed events of September 11, 2001, and a prolonged weak economy, “the first decade of the twenty-first century is not a happy time for state and local governments. Most of the states and many localities face stringent financial times.”1 Global economic competition, serious social concerns, decaying and inadequate infrastructure, and persistent environmental problems present enormous challenges to local government.
Other, more positive changes need just as much attention: a growing and more diverse population, new technological advances in communication, e-government, and increasing citizen participation in all aspects of local government. The community-building process has broadened to encompass many new participants.
Unlike their historical counterparts who often viewed the future as a linear extension of the past, today’s local government professionals, elected officials, and community residents are beginning to accept the necessity of developing plans and strategies that guide the community through present-day change toward an acceptable future. The goal should be to create a positive community legacy.
Planning the community’s future is a broad-based activity that compels managers to engage citizens, retool their organizations regularly, and reevaluate their roles and relationships with elected officials. Local government managers need to know how to react fast to changing circumstances and plan skillfully for a variety of contingencies. Willingness to share information with the community and knowledge of public relations and marketing are necessary skills for managers.
John and Carol Nalbandian note:
Of the many forces affecting local governments, two emerging trends will shape the future of local government professionals. The first is the movement to modernize the organization. The second is the movement to build and maintain a sense of community, capturing the essence of governing at the local level.2
This chapter explores what local government managers can do to create community, build sustainable economic development projects, develop viable community visioning and planning mechanisms, and promote their communities in a positive, ethical manner consistent with ICMA’s professional development management practices.
The expanding role of the manager
Local government managers are ideally positioned to affect the future. Working with the governing body, they help shape public events by helping policy makers decide what to do and how to do it. Good management, like good planning, anticipates the future as well as affects the future. Making the right decisions today leads to the right things tomorrow.
New challenges and expectations for leaders in local government are greater than they were in the early days of the profession, but the rewards and contributions are also much greater. Local government managers need to have a better understanding of the world of elected leaders and of the disappearing boundaries between managing an organization and participating in policy leadership.
Promoting and leading
The manager must identify opportunities to promote the community, and thereby promote the local government’s strategic goals and enhance its image as an effective organization. The role the manager assumes should reflect the community’s culture, structure, and politics as well as the manager’s skills and personality.
Managers must overcome the profession’s traditional passion for anonymity. Public relations, community relations, and economic development have become critical components of the local government strategic planning process.
Mark M. Levin
Building a viable, sustainable community requires technical skills and political savvy, especially when high-profile economic opportunities present themselves to the community. Special projects demand a great degree of political skill in dealing with elected officials, developers, media, citizens, and neighborhood groups. In smaller communities without designated economic development staff, the local government manager needs to be involved from the very beginning of economic development activities. Managers who are well-grounded in the history and culture of their communities and who can express the policy preferences of their elected bodies will be able to speak with authority to potential developers. Number 3 of ICMA’s “Practices for Effective Local Government Management,” Functional and Operational Expertise and Planning, addresses the necessary skills (see Appendix B).
The manager’s job is to market the community, build community, and interact with the community.
Jan Dolan
When controversial projects come forward, the local government manager takes on mediating and negotiating difficult issues. Most elected officials try to avoid controversy and look to the manager to articulate the guiding policy of the elected body. The local government manager must accept these responsibilities and serve as an enthusiastic spokesperson without supporting anything that puts the community at economic or financial risk.
Watching the big picture
Governance requires public managers to look two directions at once—both inward towards their jurisdictions and its day to day operation, and also toward the broader environment in order to produce a wide range of social goals and services that could not have been produced through jurisdictional prerogatives alone.3
In the past, managers were mainly concerned with the internal organization and left the translation of the community’s desires to elected officials. Managers—and their staffs—need to build political capacity so they can assist the elected body in framing community issues. They need to seek and explore community-wide collaborative relationships as the scope of government continues to change.
Managers have an obligation to take the road less traveled on occasion, and I believe city councils expect this type of attitude in working through the issues in the community and leading the organization.
Gary Sears
In a rapidly changing environment, the local government manager can anticipate, react, and adapt quickly only by keeping the big picture in view. The manager cannot afford to think only about local issues because regional, state, federal, and global issues affect every community. For example, the competition for new jobs is no longer confined to one community. A successful manager must spend mental and even physical time outside the community (see Chapter 7 on the importance of networking) in order to meld local concerns with outside trends to achieve a viable, sustainable community.
Supporting planning activities
How does the manager reconcile active promotion of the community’s future, taking into account physical, economic, social, and environmental factors as well as regional and global issues, with the everyday reality of traditional organizations, which are sometimes slow to respond and willing to accept short-term gains at the expense of long-term benefits?
If a city generally does the right thing consistently, citizens will realize the government is competent and, therefore, when you have a problem, they will usually give you some slack when it occurs.
Terry Ellis
Without question, significantly more planning is now done in the United States than at any other time in the country’s history. Although the success stories about regional transportation, air quality, firefighting, crime-fighting activities, and even economic development projects are becoming better known, planning efforts between levels of government, even within a single jurisdiction, are too often disjointed and fragmented.
Coordinating jurisdictions’ master plans so that artificial boundaries do not hinder regional planning is a major task. Coordinated local planning that receives adequate funding, that expands and combines comprehensive planning with strategic and contingency planning to include social and environmental issues, and that unites economic development and managed growth with other planning activities is a tremendous asset for the local government manager.
Another major task is making sure that community plans are based in economic reality. Plans should express the community’s ideals—for example, smart growth and limited sprawl—but they must also take into account the market environment. A plan that ignores market realities is not likely to succeed.
Bridging the gap between theory and politics
The local government manager’s job is apolitical although it exists in the midst of a highly charged political system. Local government administrators who help develop and implement policy must understand the political context in which they work. Because the best solution, idea, or project, no matter how well developed, will go nowhere without political support from the majority of elected officials, it is no longer possible to imagine separating administration from politics.
A manager may at times be required to take the lead on behalf of the mayor and the council on issues that have major political implications. For example, the chief administrative officer (CAO) of the unified government of Wyandotte County/Kansas City, Kansas, became the point person during International Speedway Corporation’s search for a site to construct a NASCAR track in the Kansas City area. The mayor asked the CAO to take the lead in researching the project, making the presentations, and speaking for the elected officials. The administrator was cast in a role he never thought a manager would perform: simultaneously lead staff in an objective analysis of a complex project and build political support for it.4
Political savvy is the ability to see all sides of an argument, to know who will be for and against the issue at hand, to maneuver the issue through the policy maze, to understand where members of the elected body stand on the issue and why, and to navigate the process issues—who to tell, when to tell, and how much to tell.
Professional managers seek a planning process that is a technical, rational, orderly procedure, based on guiding principles developed over the years as well as local and national standards applied to master planning, community facilities, and standard zoning issues. What makes the job of local government administrators so interesting, however, is that the decision-making process is sometimes irrational. A politically savvy manager understands that other issues, some obvious and some not, come into play and, in many cases, the technical recommendations of staff should not and do not override the political views of the elected officials. “One of the best ways to have top staff develop political savvy is to provide opportunities for interactions and communication among elected officials and top staff, and to maintain continuous discussion with your staff about the relationships between you and the elected officials.”5
Managers must be on firm ground, constantly reaffirming with your elected officials how you are doing.
Bill Pupo
The local government manager needs to be able to translate important technical information for the elected body, and also translate the political desires of the elected officials back to staff. The manager translates council goals into actions and helps the council formulate new goals. It is also the job of the manager to help resolve political conflicts in the community.6
ICMA’s Professional Development Management Practices address some of these issues in number two, Policy Facilitation: facilitative leadership, facilitating council effectiveness, and mediation/negotiation.7
The changing scene in local government
A number of critical issues within cities, towns, and counties need equal attention: the pace of change, tolerance for diversity, rejuvenation of downtowns, generating revenue sufficient to meet needs, maintaining the viability of neighborhoods, preventing urban decay, dealing with smart growth issues, and involving all residents in the community in decision making.
Demographic change and cultural diversity
To accommodate the needs of an increasingly diverse population, local governments must show flexibility in the mix of services they deliver. They must also develop new communication and information systems so that all residents can participate in the building of community.
As their populations become a “majority of minorities,” many U.S. cities are following the paths of Miami, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Houston, Newark and Trenton, New Jersey, and Montgomery, Alabama, where elected and appointed officials are developing new and stronger outreach programs to encourage minorities to actively participate in community building and policy development. All managers also face the aging of America. In 2000, 12.4 percent of the population was 65 years of age or older. That percentage is projected to grow to 13.2 percent by 2010, 16.5 percent by 2020, and 20 percent by 2030.8 (See Chapters 2 and 5 for more extended discussion of diversity issues.)
Economic globalization and competition
A community’s efforts to attract or retain businesses will succeed depending on how well it competes—not only with neighboring jurisdictions but also with cities in China, India, Korea, Mexico, Europe, and elsewhere.
For the first time in centuries, metropolitan regions throughout the world, rather than nations, have emerged as cohesive economic units that operate as important players in the world economy.… Economic activity does not come to a halt when it reaches a jurisdictional line. Political boundaries, though important to local leaders, are artificial and don’t reflect the way global economies operate.9
Jurisdictions need to cooperate and gain economic power by sharing their tax bases.
Economic development is one of the most challenging activities of local government because competition for a stable, sustainable tax base is controversial and politically charged. For the local government manager, economic development offers the opportunity to exercise entrepreneurial leadership, and as in the private sector, entrepreneurship brings both rewards and risk.
The sharing of resources and consolidation of services with nearby cities will become a necessity, and the traditional territorial lines will have to be crossed in cooperation, not competition.
Leonard Martin
Infrastructure concerns
The ability of a community to promote its future is linked directly to the existing and future quality and capacity of its infrastructure: streets, highways, parks and recreational facilities, civic centers, sports stadiums, water and sewer systems, and fiber-optic networks. High-speed data transmission networks are important not only to potential high-tech companies, but also to local fire, police, public utility departments, and even to other local entities such as school districts and the community college. Communities must combine capital facilities planning, programming, and budgeting with other strategic and contingency planning.
A city or county is probably doing the best it can for its long-term economic growth and viability if it concentrates first on basic needs—making sure that basic services and infrastructure are competitive in terms of both quality and price. Extending infrastructure ahead of development within planned-growth boundaries can place a jurisdiction at a competitive advantage for attracting new businesses. But this option must be weighed against the risks of tying up capital funds and pushing up tax rates and fees charged to current payers to cover the cost of new development and future benefits.
Infrastructure improvements can be defined differently when they are meant to attract e-business companies. E-business companies do not need to be near central transportation corridors or close to other businesses; they do however need high-speed data transmission capabilities:
Indeed, the story of second and third tier markets and rural communities all over America is the ability of forward-thinking governmental officials to level the economic playing field by providing the kind of high-speed connectivity that fast-moving companies need.10
Both Cedar Falls, Iowa, and Hawarden, Iowa, have developed cooperative municipal telecommunications utility ventures in rural areas where market and technology services can be limited. Through creative financing and with their voters’ hearty approval, they have invested in fiber-optic technology to provide cable television and high-speed Internet service. Competing head-to-head with incumbent utilities, they helped lower average rates charged to their citizens and met an underserved need for responsive, local customer service in a nonmetropolitan setting.11
Managers need to insure there is a real consensus on what type of community the locality wants to be, and to have a good master plan, adequate infrastructure, and the personnel capable of efficiently executing its policies.
John L. Maltbie
Environmental concerns
The environment has been a perennial issue on the agendas of local governments, but air and water pollution, erosion of natural resources, depletion of open space, and rapidly filling landfills are still common challenges facing city and county officials. Cities and counties designated as “nonattainment areas” by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will be restricted in their economic development because of the various compliance mandates they face. To recruit businesses as well as retain firms already in residence, communities need to retain a good quality of life and high environmental standards—a delicate balance. On the one hand, quality of life and a healthy environment can attract and retain businesses; on the other hand, both can be adversely affected by the results of successful economic development.12
The capacity of the environment to take punishment is limited. To preserve and protect both the environment and the quality of community life, local governments must factor in the environmental impact of economic decisions and programs.
Regionalism
The problems faced by local governments are not confined to the boundaries of existing jurisdictions (see Chapter 7). Transportation, water supply and quality, solid-waste disposal, land use, and economic development are among the issues with regional ramifications.
A manager cannot promote a community’s future in isolation from the future of surrounding communities, especially if the jurisdiction is near a core city. Because the formal consolidation of local governments remains politically unacceptable, it is the regional councils of government that serve as the vehicle for regional cooperation and coordination. Local government managers therefore need to participate in their region’s council of governments. For example, transit and transportation—with their high costs, need for connectivity, and need for economies of scale—usually cross jurisdictional boundaries, especially in metropolitan areas, and should be treated regionally.
In addition to cooperating with leaders of other jurisdictions in the region, local government managers must also work closely with citizens and neighborhood groups to create as broad a base as possible for local government decision making.
Syracuse, New York, for example, put together a successful citizen involvement program called Tomorrow’s Neighborhoods Today (TNT), which involves neighborhood residents, businesses, and organizations in comprehensive planning for their neighborhoods. TNT identifies and builds upon community assets, and develops workable plans and priorities for Syracuse’s neighborhoods. The plans direct the city’s resources in the most important areas in the most cost-effective way. Their process strengthens the democracy that is critical for a healthy city, improves the quality of life, and builds Syracuse’s capacity to solve problems and create a desirable future.13
The professional expertise of the government staff must be blended with the values, perceptions, and desires of local residents to arrive at a successful plan for development patterns, land use configuration, public services, recreational amenities, and other facilities. Officials have to find out what residents want the community to look like and then they have to figure out how they can contribute to that vision. (A more comprehensive discussion of community power and citizen involvement is provided in Chapter 2).
The planning function and community strategic planning
The manager’s central place in the community makes the manager a key player in the community’s efforts to chart the future. Local government managers have to understand the broad goals and strategies involved in comprehensive planning, strategic planning, and contingency planning, processes differentiated from other managerial activities primarily by their focus on the future.
Types of planning
Comprehensive planning takes a long-range look at a community and provides general concepts and a vision of how the community should develop and how proper land use designations can affect the health, safety, and welfare of the community. The comprehensive plan should be an expression of citizen preferences and a guide to public and private decision making. The comprehensive plan must include requirements mandated by state law and other elements that the elected body and the citizens feel are necessary to build the community: a transportation plan, open space development, redevelopment goals and objectives, urban design elements, a housing plan, quality-of-life issues, economic development elements, and a fiscal element. Zoning ordinances and land use designations must be consistent with the goals and vision developed in the comprehensive plan.
The role of the local government manager is to assist and guide elected officials and citizens in the development of a comprehensive municipal planning document and vision statement. The manager ensures that all stakeholders in the community have ample opportunity to participate in this important process. Also, the manager, with the guidance of elected officials, coordinates the comprehensive plan with adjacent jurisdictions, agencies of the county (or, if a county, agencies of municipalities), the state, and, when possible, with the regional association of governments. Although comprehensive plans largely involve technical planners, the local government manager must oversee the plan because it sets the tone for the physical development of the community and receives the most attention from the public.14
Strategic planning involves a shorter time span, and the critical issues and available resources that a community faces determine the orientation. A strategic plan may embrace all aspects of the local government or may address critical issues of one department. One example of an item to be decided strategically would be the number of police personnel and fire stations needed over the next five to ten years. The strategic plan is a management tool that helps assess direction on important issues.
A contingency plan is a more flexible, dynamic plan. It is a resource investment plan, based on immediate and future what-if scenarios, that usually involves a human resources plan, a capital plan, and an action plan that evolves as unanticipated conditions occur. Most contingency planning focuses on disaster preparedness and recovery, and contingency plans are used to understand and anticipate the potential impact of a disaster by testing, training, and observing the effects of holding back or shifting resources when necessary. This chapter deals with contingency planning only to the extent that it is a component of a comprehensive strategic plan.
Community strategic planning
Effective strategic planning identifies the critical current issues that an organization—in this case a community—must confront. Community-wide strategic planning often serves as a supplement to—but not a replacement for—comprehensive planning. Strategic planning can provide managers with the cornerstone they need to develop effective processes to promote their community’s future.
Strategic planning cannot predict the future; it is a guide that uses somewhat different techniques than traditional planning to help create a vision for the community. “The external environment changes so rapidly and so unpredictably that the capacity to get a fix on it is severely limited. Planning under these conditions must be fluid.… Thus plans are best reviewed as ‘strategic guides’ rather than fixed paths to the future.”15 Memphis 2006 (Tennessee), and Scottsdale Vision 2000 (Arizona) are two successful examples of major community visioning efforts.
Strategic planning has weaknesses and limitations as well as strengths. If managers recognize the weaknesses and limitations inherent in the process and do not expect miracles, strategic planning can be an effective management tool in conjunction with contingency planning and community-visioning processes.
Table 4–1 compares the characteristics of comprehensive planning and strategic planning. Except for the concept of widespread participation that is critical to both processes, the two are significantly different.
Comprehensive planning tends to be long range (20 years or more), oriented toward the community’s physical development, and idealistic. Strategic planning has a much shorter time horizon (usually about three to five years), focuses on critical issues, and advocates realistic change. It is designed as a management as well as a planning tool.
Strategic management emphasizes an ongoing process that integrates systematic planning with other management systems. It employs a strategic-planning process that is externally oriented, issue focused, and opportunity seeking. It entails active leadership that can direct organization-wide systems of strategic management and be capable of mastering the events and consequences of rapid change.16
Table 4–1 Comprehensive and strategic planning
|
Comprehensive planning |
Strategic planning |
|
1. Long-range |
1. Short-range |
|
2. Land use/physical orientation |
2. Orientation determined by critical issue |
|
3. Not tied to available resources |
3. Tied to available resources |
|
4. Rational model base |
4. Rational and institutional elements |
|
5. Strategies omitted from plan |
5. Strategies as part of the plan |
|
6. Widespread participation |
6. Widespread participation |
|
7. Planner driven |
7. Executive driven |
A common thread runs through comprehensive, strategic, and contingency planning. Necessary overlaps occur in each process, and elements of one plan are often referenced during the development of other planning documents. For example, while a municipal utility department develops a long-range water supply plan for 2050, it must have a concurrent strategic plan to guide it in determining whether to buy natural gas for the power plant on the spot market or develop a contract with a supplier at a locked-in price that could, depending on future spot-market prices, result in higher costs. The same department must have contingency plans for water rationing in case of drought and for enhanced security in case of terrorist attacks.
The strategic-planning process Unlike traditional planning in which the base elements of the plan—land use, housing, transportation, and open space—are essentially predetermined, the focus of a community’s strategic plan depends on issues that emerge from an initial environment scan. Strategic plans vary significantly from city to city and from county to county. A community whose tax base has eroded because of a decline in population or the loss of a key business may identify economic development as critical to community survival. In contrast, a community that is close to a growing metropolitan area, has land available for development, and has maintained a balance between resources and demand for services may see the need to control growth as more critical.
Local planners often make assumptions about community goals and frame them in terms of improved housing, transportation, land use, and general quality of life. In strategic planning, however, the development of a mission and goal statement is crucial. When the mission statement is being developed, it is imperative that all affected parties become involved. The resulting statement, although general, charts the direction of the community.
The following statement from Carlsbad, California, is typical: “Our mission is to provide top-quality services to our citizens and customers in a manner that enhances the quality of life for all who live, work, and play in Carlsbad.”17 The Carlsbad city council took this process one step farther and developed more elaborate guidelines to enhance the mission and vision statement (Figure 4–1).
The SWOT process The essential features of local government strategic planning are captured in the acronym, SWOT: strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. The community assesses its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats and then devises strategies to address critical issues.
Table 4–2 presents a simple SWOT analysis after economic development had been selected as a key issue facing a community with a declining population and a declining tax and business base. The city intends to use its existing economic development department to obtain new, high-technology businesses. If a jurisdiction is too small to have its own department, it may need to work with the local chamber of commerce or form a partnership with an existing agency that specializes in economic development. Even when the city has its own economic development operation, it will need to cooperate with external agencies. Table 4–2 implies that community-wide efforts should focus on upgrading the school system, developing economic incentives, and developing a modern infrastructure system to accommodate new e-business. Individuals involved in strategic planning must consider intercity competition and, possibly, a divided council. If its economic development program is successful, the city should be able to expand its economic and tax bases.
Figure 4–1 Statement of Carlsbad, California
CARLSBAD CITY COUNCIL | FIVE-YEAR VISION STATEMENTS
City Council continues to clarify and pursue the vision of Carlsbad that reflects the pride and quality of life for all who live, work, and play here.
Carlsbad…
Carlsbad Efficiently and Effectively…
Source: Raymond Pachett, city manager, Carlsbad, California, February 2003.
Once the SWOT analysis is complete, planners must move on to develop an action plan that includes goals, objectives, and strategies for each critical issue. Implementation may be assigned to existing governmental units, such as the economic development office, or new organizational mechanisms may be created. For example, an economic development committee consisting of representatives from different city departments, the council, the business community, and unaffiliated residents could be established to oversee the city’s economic development activities. Continual monitoring and updating complete the strategic planning cycle.
The desired outcome is that substantial progress be made toward addressing the critical issues within a two- to five-year period. Strategies and programs designed to address most critical issues are not likely to be terminated after two or three years. If significant progress has been made, however, those programs can continue as regular local government activities while other issues assume critical status.
|
Critical issue: Economic development |
||
|
SWOT |
External analysis |
Internal analysis |
|
Strengths |
High-tech concentration |
Economic development office |
|
Weaknesses |
Education system |
No city-chamber cooperation |
|
Opportunities |
Economic expansion |
Expanded tax base |
|
Threats |
Intercity competition |
Split city council |
The specificity and direct-action orientation of the strategic planning process make it distinct from comprehensive planning. Managers have at their disposal action strategies tailored to address the critical issues as they attempt to guide the community toward identified goals. Moreover, strategic plans are flexible and can and should be amended when a new opportunity or a new threat arises.
The participants Public-sector strategic planning begins with the recognition that a high level of participation from a broad spectrum of interested people is essential. Open participation is grounded in democratic principles. Moreover, widespread participation results in greater understanding and acceptance of the process and the plan, which, in turn, increase the probability of successful implementation. Successful managers understand that the increased chance of success is reason enough to promote a process open to all who have a stake in the results, including neighborhood organizations, chambers of commerce, civic organizations, and unions.
The role of the local government manager in strategic planning is to act as organizer, coordinator, and facilitator of a process that will benefit the entire community. The local government manager most often provides the initial impetus for the strategic-planning effort and later continues to provide leadership and support. In return, the manager receives information that has a direct bearing on the future of the community—information that can be used to take advantage of strengths, correct weaknesses, maximize opportunities, and respond to threats as the community moves toward a less uncertain future. A special responsibility of the manager is to prevent the process—which can become bogged down in paper and swamped by detail—from overwhelming the intent of strategic planning.
Local governments are extensively involved in economic development—in developing infrastructure, building cultural facilities, and fostering downtown renewal. Local governments compete to diversify their sources of revenue, increase employment opportunities for their citizens, develop a sustainable tax base, create a positive image for business growth, and attract new businesses. Gaining a competitive advantage is an art and a skill that local government managers need to sharpen.
Very few local jurisdictions can rely solely on the private sector to promote economic development. Businesses are participants in the process and can help develop innovative approaches to create and maintain jobs, but usually they do not develop the vision and plans necessary for long-term sustainability. Consequently, new public-private partnerships and formal collaborative efforts are on the rise, and the local government manager is in a unique position to assist the community in developing a plan for economic revitalization and viability.
Bryce Stuart, city manager of Winston-Salem, North Carolina, offers this description of his local government’s cooperation with the private sector:
With regard to economic development promotion in our community we have arrived at a division of labor that works well for us. The job of recruiting new business investors from outside the community through marketing is assigned to a not-for-profit corporation organized by the private sector. They provide the primary funding, and we contribute some public funds for their marketing budget. It’s their job to take the prospective clients and seek to meet their various needs as best they can. We at the municipality are prepared to step up to the table with creative approaches to providing the customary infrastructure and services, and we also have loans and grants from public funds that we will consider applying if enough new tax base or new jobs are created.18
The new economic playing field
Local government managers must be careful not to limit their definition of economic development to attracting big-box stores, manufacturing plants, and large call-center operations. Managers must help the elected body understand that a major factor in economic development is helping local businesses grow. Existing businesses usually do not object to the local government bringing in new job opportunities or increasing the sales tax base as long as they have an opportunity to share in the growth and expansion incentives.
In addition to broadening the goals of economic development, the manager can lead the community to think beyond short-sighted solutions. Economic development activity frequently consists of offering financial incentives, such as tax abatements, to prospective new industries or to existing industries considering major expansion. It is difficult to measure the results of these incentives because many factors influence business location decisions. Sometimes, to the chagrin of the affected community, businesses enjoy incentives for a specific number of years and then leave town when the agreement ends. Also, local governments may be tempted to give away more in incentives than they receive in the form of new jobs and increased tax revenues.
Some communities are holding recipients of incentives accountable by, for example, tying payments, tax rebates, infrastructure improvements, and similar measures to specific milestones. Sometimes the industries are granted the incentives only after the project is complete and the goals established for the incentives have been met. To encourage new companies to hire residents, a local government can offer a specific dollar amount for every employee the company hires from the community. Some communities are retaining major industries already in residence by offering them incentives as well.
The manager’s role in economic development
The local government manager, working with citizens and elected officials, develops the capital expenditure budget to help new businesses locate in the community and to help retain and expand existing enterprises. The manager must make sure the basic social and capital infrastructure are available to meet the needs of arriving businesses as well as the needs and desires of the businesses and residents already there.
Requirements may include improved streets, traffic-congestion relief, new parking places, upgraded recreational and cultural amenities, safe neighborhoods, streamlined administrative procedures for developers, land assembly for development, better public transportation, adequate water and sewer facilities, and improved data-transmission links. Carrollton, Texas, is one of many jurisdictions that have streamlined administrative processes to accommodate new building. Other communities have invested in fiber-optic networks, worked to reduce crime, or secured brown-fields remediation grants to attract developers.
Creating the mechanisms that can address the many requirements of economic development in a coordinated and effective way is the manager’s job. The manager must pull together the many interests involved in the community and help the elected body create a comprehensive and cohesive economic development strategy for the community.
The manager should also see to it that the community is kept informed of major economic development projects. Occasional press briefings that give the media the opportunity to ask detailed questions and other forms of open communication are especially important for large or controversial projects. The manager can also act as a facilitator for neighborhood groups and the developer when community issues have not been resolved. When necessary, the manager can act as a buffer for the elected body until all the issues are understood and tentative solutions have been reached.
The role of the manager in building the community is usually first approved by the elected body because the manager will be highly visible in this role. When the manager does not play a major role in economic development projects, the internal focus of the projects can become fuzzy and elected officials will not have a buffer to shield them if the project runs into trouble. Knowing whether to be in the background or in the forefront is part of having the political savvy necessary to manage the community.
I believe that part of the role of the manager is to be a realistic cheerleader, constantly pointing to the successes, but also working to manage the expectations of the public.
Cynthia Seelhammer
Most local government managers enjoy the economic development process. It is fun, exciting, challenging, and stimulating to compete in the new global economy, to make the community more livable, to provide the opportunity for more jobs, and to help create a broader, more resilient tax base. New businesses, especially those well known regionally and nationally, create a high level of excitement in the community—excitement that can be positive or negative depending on the history of the company and its potential new neighbors. On highly visible projects, local government managers must guide elected officials through the maze of existing and ad hoc neighborhood groups, special interest groups, and business and developer associations on their journey to the best policy choices.
This part of the job is called “issue anticipation,” and it requires the manager to understand the desires of the elected body and of the community. It is the manager’s job to be the risk taker who guides the elected body through the pros and cons of each economic development proposal, especially if the governing body does not want to be in the forefront of a controversial issue.
The local government manager should be the leader open to economic development opportunities, but, depending on the size of the community, managers should not necessarily get involved in the day-to-day activities of the project, particularly if a dedicated, professional economic development staff is available. Sometimes it is a distinct advantage for the manager to work behind the scenes and become the main negotiator only after ideas and concerns rise to the surface.
The notion of the city manager as a developer is based on my belief that the role is to help “develop” the hardscape and softscape of our communities, staff, and organization.
Raymond R. Patchett
Economic globalization
It is no longer viable to model the U.S. economy on factors that exist solely within geographic boundaries of the United States. Foreign trade, trade deficits, multinational corporations, and international finance all contribute not only to the national economy, but also to state and local economies. Economists, government officials, and business representatives no longer refer to a national economy; the global economy now affects everyone. For local government managers, this situation has two major consequences:
Increased global competition will require many local governments to adopt new economic development strategies designed to allow them to compete directly in the international arena. At an ICMA national conference, Darryl Griffin of Waitakere, New Zealand, described the Waitakere council’s vision: “an eco-city that is sustainable, dynamic, and just. Waitakere wants to be known internationally as a sustainable city that celebrates and sustains its people, has a strong economic base, honors the environment, and builds on its culture and heritage.19
Global competition will continue to intensify. It will require local government managers to be more innovative and to work in a cooperative spirit with other governments in their region to provide the most favorable economic package they can to attract new business. Border cities are finding opportunities in their uniqueness. For example, the cities of El Paso, Texas; Las Cruces, New Mexico; and Ciudad Juaréz, Chihuahua, México, call themselves the “Border-Plex” and maintain interactive business relationships based on the Mexican maquiladora program, the North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), shopping, and business services on the U.S. side of the border.
Technology and the information revolution
The United States has experienced a shift in employment patterns to information-based jobs as a result of international competition, rapid technological change, and an increased demand for knowledge and information. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that the number of information jobs in June of 2003 was 3.2 million, or about 2.9 percent of the total work force.20
Computer companies and companies that use computer-based technology need state-of-the-art telecom infrastructure if they are to locate in a community. Consequently, local governments have to offer highly skilled workforces able to meet the demands of computer-based and other high-tech jobs that are replacing the manufacturing jobs of the past. The labor pool and local job-training programs offered through the community college or the state economic development agency can act as major incentives for a company to locate in a new community.
Even with the shift to recruit high-tech industries, the local government manager must still be concerned about environmental issues, however. High-tech industries are sometimes very “dirty” because of the natural resources required to support the industry and the by-products of the manufacturing process.
Relocation competition
Some local governments look toward cooperation with nearby communities to achieve economic viability, but political realities sometimes get in the way if elected officials make pledges to invigorate older areas of the city, bring new job opportunities to the community, and increase the tax base. Until cooperation among jurisdictions and shared tax bases become the norm, competition will remain strong and sometimes create long-lasting tensions between the elected and administrative staffs of competing jurisdictions.
Convinced that attracting new business will create jobs and expand the economy, local officials continue to place business-relocation strategies at the heart of their economic development programs. Advertising campaigns in the best Madison Avenue style tout the community’s virtues—a pleasant climate, a well-developed transportation system, cultural attractions, and proximity to entertainment opportunities such as sport teams. Government representatives attend trade shows and business conventions; some local governments even send trade missions to foreign countries.
As competition for relocating businesses intensifies, cities, towns, and counties develop and strengthen their incentive packages. Local governments use combinations of tax, financial, and special-service incentives to create business environments of lower costs and thus higher profits. Local governments often must include incentives in their economic development packages.
Economic incentive packages, especially tax reductions, rebates, and tax increment financing options, depend heavily on state regulations as well as local government assumption of risk.
Economic development practices have evolved from a loose assortment of a limited number of inducements to the use of many diverse, yet highly focused incentives. They include but are not limited to land subsides, low interest financing, flexible zoning laws, infrastructure improvements, the use of land for private purposes, and the facilitated processing of building department bureaucracies.21
Another technique is the economic development district, often at the county level. Economic development strategies can be costly and risky, depending on the size of the project, the complexity of the issues to be worked out, and whether state or federal funding is used.
Debate continues over incentive packages that seek to attract or retain business. It is difficult to know for sure what part an incentive package plays in the decision-making process or how much is enough to attract the business. If both parties think they have gained from the transaction, it is probably the correct bundle of incentives.
When major national or regional businesses approach a jurisdiction for possible relocation assistance, it is a mistake not to hire the necessary experts, including lobbyists, public relations firms, financial experts, lawyers, and accountants. Those who propose the project as well as the other entities that may be competing for the development will seek their own advantages. The return on investment for professional services could far outweigh the up-front costs. Expert help will ensure the measure of trust and understanding that elected officials and the public will demand.
For most smaller economic development projects, however, the local government manager and the internal economic development team can provide the necessary information to assist elected officials with their decision about assistance and incentives. In smaller jurisdictions that do not have a development team, the manager can ask for assistance from a nearby university or college or the state’s economic development agency.
Competition will continue to fuel the use of incentives. Few local governments are willing to risk eliminating incentives offered by competitors, but a local government that pursues a multifaceted strategy of business attraction, retention, and development increases its probability of success.
Local governments must also pay attention to variables such as the type of business, the location, the number and types of similar businesses in the community, jobs that will be available, and the image of the company. Not long ago, for example, large retail big-box stores were welcomed by many communities, which offered numerous incentives to attract them. Now citizens pack many council, town, and county chambers to oppose the big boxes. To avoid some of these problems, communities that wish to grow should develop economic plans and vision statements and review them every few years.
If a community does not achieve success when it pursues a specific company, it can take steps to improve its chances when another opportunity arises:
Regional approaches to economic development
There are wonderful success stories of regional cooperation and sharing when it comes to infrastructure projects such as wastewater and water facilities, landfills, street and bridge construction, and recreational and open-space amenities. Why are these efforts not duplicated when it comes to economic development activities? In some special projects, they are: “Proponents of regionalism have asserted that more optimal outcomes are achieved when local governments recognize their interdependencies and act in a coordinated way.”22 In some areas, counties have brokered business attraction successes that benefited a whole region.
In an ideal world, jurisdictions would offer fewer incentives and would share revenues to increase the tax bases of each participating jurisdiction. However, political boundaries and political processes still engender intense competition for large and highly visible projects such as car dealerships, hotels, malls, and sports facilities. The jurisdiction that lands the project is perceived as the only winner. Yet, there is another winner: the business or project developer that obtained the economic package that closed the deal.
Intergovernmental cooperation creates win-win development For many years the town of Queen Creek, Arizona, and the town of Gilbert, Arizona, operated with an intergovernmental agreement (IGA) setting a mutual boundary in the un-incorporated county land between them. Neither town could annex this land in the future. When a developer proposed a major residential development, golf course, and resort to be built on more than 1,000 acres of orange groves straddling the agreed boundary, the two towns had to reappraise the IGA. The developer wanted all the land annexed by Gilbert, the larger of the two towns, and did not want to deal with two different municipalities. A complication was that Queen Creek’s general plan required low-density development and preservation of the orange groves, while Gilbert’s plan allowed densities on its side of the property to be three times as high. The two communities amended the IGA to allow the entire development to annex into Gilbert. In return, the developer agreed to keep the lots on what would have been the Queen Creek side at a density of one home per acre, thus adhering to the spirit of the Queen Creek general plan. The developer adopted a citrus theme, ensuring that some of the ambiance of the orange groves would remain. The developer also agreed to pay Queen Creek $1,200 per house built on what would have been the Queen Creek side to make up for the loss to that town of development impact fees. And the two towns agreed to share all sales tax revenue from the golf course, resort, and ancillary uses for 10 years after construction.
Source: Cynthia Seelhammer, town manager, Queen Creek, Arizona, January 2003.
Memorandum of understanding for sharing retail sales revenues In 1996, Tempe, Arizona, and Chandler, Arizona, found themselves in competition to build an outlet mall. One developer had optioned land in Tempe and another had optioned land in Chandler; both sites were along a major freeway, about seven miles apart. The developers understood that the economic viability of each project depended on being first and that only one outlet mall could be built. Both developers wanted economic incentives and a quick approval process.
At the encouragement of the developers and because both cities had a lot to lose in terms of revenues, prestige, and ancillary business developments near the proposed mall projects, the mayors of each city directed their city managers to develop a framework for a successful cooperative arrangement. Both city managers and their staffs were soon in the forefront of the negotiations between the two cities and the developers. The result was that the outlet mall was developed in Tempe, but a memorandum of understanding was signed to provide the city of Chandler some much-needed short-term revenue and some permanent revenue sharing between the cities in case the commercial development within either city turned out to be unsuccessful. The agreement called for Chandler to receive an immediate reimbursement of its preliminary expenses and to begin receiving revenue from Tempe when the outlet mall was completed. In return Tempe was to receive revenue from Chandler when major retail developments were completed in that city. The developers benefited by joining forces to build one successful outlet mall and sharing in the economic benefits it produced.
At the beginning of 2003, the two cities discussed ending the perpetual revenue-sharing agreement because by that time both had successful commercial developments and they would be exchanging revenues of almost identical amounts but still generating significant accounting work and paperwork in the process. If one city’s commercial development had been successful and the other’s unsuccessful, the shared revenue would have been critical, but this was not the case.
Following on the precedent set by the two cities, Tempe and Chandler in 1998 signed another memorandum of understanding to share the revenue of a new car dealership, which located in Chandler near the border with Tempe.
Sources: Lloyd Harrell and Gary Brown, previous city managers of Chandler and Tempe, Arizona, conversations with author in February 2003.
What are the lessons learned from successful regional cooperation in economic development activities?
Economic development decisions are based on relationships and not just on the money you’re giving.
Lloyd Harrell
Before launching or continuing an economic development program, the local government manager must ask two key questions:
For many years the answer to both questions was a resounding “yes.” The consensus was that an effective economic development program would produce a strong and expanded tax base.
After more than two decades of experience with economic development programs and a continued increase in the number of local governments actively involved in economic development, a growing number of managers are realizing that development has costs. In some cases those costs may outweigh the benefits.
Direct costs can be measured in terms of dollars and cents. Indirect costs are byproducts of economic development and growth. Negative consequences can include increased demands for services, overburdened infrastructure, business closures as a result of increased competition from a large national company, and quality-of-life and environmental concerns. Indirect costs must be calculated in order to determine the net benefit from the new development along with the opportunity costs of the project.
Costs of employment Economic development should create jobs, but not all new businesses bring new jobs for local workers. Many relocating businesses bring their top executive staff with them and offer their current employees the opportunity to move with the company, and their recruitment for new employee usually does not stop at the jurisdiction’s boundary. Some local governments require companies to hire a specified number of employees who live in their jurisdiction in return for incentives. Some communities give specific cash amounts for hiring a certain number of local employees for a given period of time.
Increased demand for services The capacities of municipal and county service delivery systems may have to be expanded to accommodate the increase in demand by the new businesses and the people they bring to the community. Other local government entities, such as school districts, may be especially affected by development. New growth should be able to pay for the increased services, but the ability of a city or county to respond to new service demands may be curtailed by tax abatements and other incentives that were a condition of the development agreement.
Overburdened infrastructure Business development and population growth can place a significant burden on a jurisdiction’s public buildings, parks and recreation facilities, water supply and sewage disposal systems, and the transportation system. Moreover, much of the infrastructure will need to be in place before the new business can begin operation. Expansion is particularly difficult in communities where the existing infrastructure must be improved simply to handle pre-growth demand. Unless a community is experiencing slow, gradual growth, it is far from certain that development will generate enough funds to finance infrastructure-related costs that result from development. The issues of infrastructure capacity and the financing of infrastructure improvement are important in any economic development plan. Many communities require infrastructure to be in place before development proceeds.
Impact on quality of life Development proponents suggest that revenues generated by new economic growth can be used to improve the community’s quality of life; they can fund low-income housing, recreational programs, and programs for the elderly, for example. Community officials may hope that new revenues can be used to strengthen and improve existing basic services such as solid-waste collection, street maintenance, and general customer service, but if revenue generation lags behind growth, existing resources must be stretched thin to accommodate demand. Even when growth generates enough new revenue to meet increased demand, it is unlikely that there will be excess revenue for previously existing problems.
Who pays the bill? Residents of a community, not the developers, pay for most of the costs associated with growth. Established residents pay their portion through general and special taxes as well as user fees that defray the cost of maintaining and periodically upgrading the infrastructure they use. New residents, however, face a double whammy. They pay the same package of taxes and service fees that established residents pay, but they also pay an additional share of the costs of growth—either directly, through special assessments and impact fees, or indirectly, through the higher price they pay for property because of the passed-on costs of exactions and development fees.
Whether or not citizens or the media raise questions, local government managers must weigh the pros and cons of each incentive offer to make sure that it is fair. The challenge of economic development incentives is that outcomes can be both tangible and intangible. It is the intangible outcomes that are difficult to sell to the public.
The intersection of growth management, smart growth, and economic development
Growth management is a response to what are perceived as urban mistakes: urban sprawl, visual uniformity, traffic congestion, lack of open space, lack of public transportation, lack of diverse neighborhoods, and lack of sustainability. Growth management is often described by terms like smart growth, sustainable development, sustainable growth, and sustainable communities, which will be used interchangeably here. Growth management is a comprehensive term, but it is not always an appealing one; today’s favored expression is smart growth.
Economic development and growth can have serious environmental consequences. For a growing number of state and local officials, businesspeople, neighborhood associations, and citizens, stopping growth is not the goal. Instead, forward-looking communities are developing smart growth alternatives. Smart growth is a new term, and it captures a new enthusiasm for good ideas that are not brand new. The objectives of smart growth do not differ greatly from the traditional objectives of land-use and density controls.
Objectives of smart growth
Smart growth objectives and techniques
ICMA’s Smart Growth Network defines smart growth as “development that serves the economy, community, and the environment. It provides a framework for communities to make informed decisions about how and where to grow.”23 It aims to foster a positive business climate and reduce the negative consequences of development. In these and other ways it can actually enhance economic development.
A sustainable community can only be built in concert with those who inhabit it.
Richard Bowers
Smart growth requires planners to realize three main principles:
Smart growth principles, the general plan, and design guidelines require constant attention and renewal. The manager should encourage the development of a community visioning process before the general plan and guidelines are developed. Everything follows from the visioning process. The local government manager must move the ownership of the community-building process into the community itself. “Admittedly, putting smart growth principles into action requires changes in the way communities function. It requires that local governments, lenders, community groups, zoning officials, developers, transit agencies, state governments, and others agree to a new way of doing business”24 Only in this way can the community be sustained in the long run.
The objectives of growth management and smart growth are quite compatible with economic development if the overall goal is to combine development with the preservation or improvement of the community’s quality of life. Most, if not all, of the objectives of smart growth would be welcome by businesspeople seeking to relocate, expand, or begin a business.
The roots of smart growth lie in the politics of environmentalism. Many early environmentalists wanted to stop growth. As concerns about growth became more widespread and began to appear on mainstream political agendas, the no-growth concept was modified to permit managed growth, which in turn evolved into smart growth principles.
The main obstacles that any smart growth plan is likely to encounter still come from the political arena. For example, some developers and homebuilder organizations lobby and pressure local elected officials not to add new requirements—often characterized as burdensome—to their projects that would increase costs to their buyers. Pragmatic and realistic managers and political leaders find that smart growth principles gain acceptance when they are combined with politically popular issues like economic development, quality of life, and sustainability.
Smart growth is a holistic approach to community building that involves improving the quality of life for those who want to make their city, town, or county a better place in which to live, work, and play. Because each community is different, there is no single formula for achieving smart growth. The community must rely on its own visioning process, including continuing, open, and meaningful dialogue with residents.
A comprehensive plan that includes smart growth, economic development, quality-of-life concerns, and sustainability has the potential for establishing a broad coalition that will champion smart growth policies. A smart growth process that is designed to promote planned, desirable development can provide a significant benefit for everyone. A community does not have to label its plan as a smart growth plan, but it needs to adopt the principles that best suit the needs of the community. Giving a name to a specific idea or principle is not the goal. Livability is.
Two examples of smart growth plans that have received wide support and are being implemented successfully are in Flower Mound, Texas, and Boulder, Colorado. The Flower Mound smart growth program is a comprehensive, community-based growth management strategy that adopted 29 criteria as a checklist to foster growth management. Boulder has been a leader in growth management and smart growth issues for more than four decades and, therefore, provides an effective case study for those searching for effective growth management ideas.
Community-building with citizens
Community building is the art, craft, and science of proactively involving the citizens in all phases of local government. It happens in both formal and informal settings, when citizens volunteer for boards, commissions, ad hoc committees, and community projects and services; attend citizen training programs; attend public civic and social events; communicate with their elected officials in an open, twoway process; and are generally happy that they live in the community.
Community building requires a spirit of inclusiveness. It is as simple and as complicated as allowing every resident to have a sense of belonging and a feeling of ownership in the governance process.
Why can some communities continually receive voter approval to pass bond issues? Pass a transit tax with no sunset provision? Attract and provide economic development incentives for large cultural and sports facilities? And re-elect the majority of the public officials that choose to run again? The answer in many cases is that most individual citizens identify with the community.
Indicators that the community feels connected include:
The manager’s role in community building
The secret to community building lies in the manager’s sincere commitment and comfort with the processes of civic engagement, in other words, giving citizens and elected officials the opportunity to shape a vision that provides a sense of purpose and to recognize publicly those who participate in the process. It is important to have a vision that seeks to move from strictly business-driven principles to community-driven principles, provides a context for decision making, and is coupled with a strategy that can be shared by all. The role of the local government manager is to encourage and summarize but not control the final outcome.25 Business as usual will not build a sense of community.
One key to community building is understanding what the community really cares about. The local government manager has to have a strong sense of social consciousness and be able to develop collaborative processes that include listening, encouraging, balancing ideas, and maintaining a sense of humility.
Local government managers must encourage critical thinking in the community. Eran Vigoda’s definition of the nature of collaboration is a simple but direct statement of what collaboration means in today’s political context:
… [C]ollaboration which means negotiation, participation, cooperation, free and unlimited flow of information, innovation, agreements based on compromise and mutual understanding, and a more equitable distribution and redistribution of power and resources.26
Looking for new ways to engage citizens is especially critical in parts of cities and counties that are in decline—that have for a long time been bypassed by the marketplace and even by public investment. Even if neighbors are hostile toward the jurisdiction, the local government manager must respond with openness.
A major theme of this chapter is the importance of meaningful citizen involvement—from comprehensive planning, strategic planning, visioning, and smart growth to economic development and community-building activities. In summary, if the residents of your community were interviewed today, would they give your jurisdiction high or low marks for open communication and forming a collaborative relationship with them?
It is important for managers to understand that, even though the elected body employs the manager, local government managers work for the citizens of the community, and a legal and ethical bond requires that managers be inclusive in all they do. Communities provide abundant sources of ideas about the future and how to get there. It is up to the manager to tap into as many of these sources of advice as possible. Not only is this often an avenue for coming up with innovative ideas, it is also an excellent way of getting people committed to the planning process and to particular courses of action. After all, a plan created in a vacuum undoubtedly will remain a vacuum.
New communication techniques and innovative strategies
Successful community building or civic engagement—the terms are interchangeable—means finding new avenues for meaningful two-way communication. The continued rapid advancement in new communications technology will revolutionize this process in ways not envisioned today.
Electronic government (e-government) can have a tremendous, positive effect on how elected and appointed officials communicate with residents. It can be accomplished in real time, so that feedback on issues can be analyzed almost immediately. Results from an ICMA e-government survey indicate that 47.5 percent of cities and towns report that e-government has increased citizen contact with local government officials.27 Bellevue, Washington, and Phoenix, Arizona, are two examples of cities that have positive, effective contact with their citizens and business communities via the Internet. Their e-government services are broad in scope, interactive, and are good examples of value-added services for those with Internet connections while the governments still maintain convenient access to existing services for those without.
Because large numbers of people do not own or know how to use computers, communities need multiple avenues to inform and communicate with residents: 24-hour hotlines for specific issues and complaints, around-the-clock local government cable programming, newsletters in several languages (depending on the makeup of the community), citizen academies or universities, public hearings in the neighborhoods, an ombudsman to help residents solve problems, neighborhood association training programs, and town halls. The list is long and growing.
Volunteerism is another important part of citizen involvement. There is no better way to learn about government than through volunteering for boards and commissions, mentoring programs, neighborhood cleanup projects, block watch committees, neighborhood associations, and government booster clubs or assisting part time in various departments of the jurisdiction. Current and future volunteers must be provided learning opportunities and adequate training. If the jurisdiction is large enough, it may be able to hire a full-time volunteer coordinator to develop and administer all volunteer programs. Citizens want to be involved in their community and will take the time to participate in issues and projects that they feel will make a difference in their lives. Opportunities are endless and limited only by our imaginations. Examples of jurisdictions that have well-developed and results-orientated volunteer programs that assist with city services and nonprofit organizations are Hillsborough County, Florida; Virginia Beach, Virginia; and Glendale, Arizona.
Relationships built on trust build better communities.
Steven S. Cleveland
Citizen training programs sponsored by the local government can also prepare citizens to take leadership positions within their communities and run for political office at the local and state levels. Training in citizen academies, city universities, and leadership programs can take place no matter how small the jurisdiction, with city staff, elected officials, and educators as presenters and trainers. Most city staff and others who donate their time to teach enjoy the opportunity to share information and ideas with citizens. The citizens, in turn, make a lot of new friends at city hall.
A number of innovative training programs take place at the local government level. Glendale, Arizona, has a formal training program for board members of private homeowner associations. In many communities, homeowner associations are proliferating and have governance activities of their own. When the developer turns over the homeowner association to the residents, it is probable that the new association board members have not had formal training in finances, hiring, contracting, utility obligations, dues structure calculations, complaint procedures, or dealing with problems that intersect with the local jurisdiction. Local governments form better partnerships with homeowner associations when they trust and know each other.
Public relations activities
Public relations activities in government are not intended to sell but to inform. Local government has an obligation to inform citizens of projects that will affect their lives before the project events take place. If an issue is to be decided by the public, even more information must be shared. The more controversial the project, the greater the amount of time that should be allocated for conversations with citizens. The manager must develop a working plan and decide how much effort to put into public relations for the issue at hand. This is where the manager’s political savvy comes in.
Anticipating and framing issues are critical skills for the success of any project. Managers who wait too long will find that someone else has framed the issue first, making the process suspect and making it difficult to take the initiative. The objective of public relations is to give all stakeholders—even self-appointed ones—timely, accurate, and appropriate information about the issue as well as a voice in the process.28
A jurisdiction faces no bigger problem than losing credibility because it did not pay adequate attention to community involvement and the public relations process. Below is a checklist that many mangers might find appropriate.
Community involvement checklist
Developing a positive legacy for the community
Two questions are fundamental:
The inability of traditional, comprehensive planning to deal with current issues has forced local managers to develop expertise in strategic planning, contingency planning, economic development, and smart growth concepts as they seek ways to guide their communities toward the future.
Managers must teach the importance of forming a vision of the community of tomorrow, the importance of initiating processes that promote that vision, and the importance of implementing plans and processes that link vision to action. These are logical and sequential activities from the perspectives of both planning and management. In organizations of the past, planners supplied the vision, managers initiated, and staff implemented. Today, however, local managers perform proactively in all three.
The activities discussed here require skills and attributes identified in ICMA’s “Practices for Effective Local Government Management.” Managers who master these skills will be able to promote the future of their communities.
Vision
The local government manager, whether in a large or small city or in a rural or urban county, works at the center of a complex set of public and private institutions that explicitly or implicitly, through action or inaction, make an impact on the community’s future.
On the broadest scale, the manager’s role involves facilitating—finding planning expertise and economic development expertise, creating a purposeful agenda for civic action, involving the local government and other public bodies in future-oriented processes, and supplying leadership. Developing a vision with community participation is important, but the manager must be flexible. When circumstances change, the vision changes as well as the strategy. Moreover, the professional local government manager is different from other chief executive officers in that the vision must be shared by elected officials.
Finding expertise Despite their prominent role, managers cannot single-handedly plan the future of the community. Diligent care is required to develop a competent professional staff that can design plans and programs to achieve the desired future. Finding experienced, able individuals is by no means easy. Some governments may need the expertise of short-term consultants from the private sector as well as staff of local or regional universities or colleges to assist in planning and economic development. University public affairs departments, planning departments, and business departments often sponsor class projects that need fieldwork. They rarely charge a consulting fee and have minimal expenses.
Creating a purposeful agenda Community agendas for action are known by many names—general plans, master plans, community development guides, goal documents, vision statements, and economic development strategies. Agendas are also designed for many purposes—to promote smart growth, to renew downtowns, to preserve a historical heritage, or to protect critical environmental areas. The process of creating public agendas and policies can be difficult at times because formulating and carrying out policy are woven into the political fabric of a community. (For more detailed discussions on creating public agendas and policy, see Chapters 2 and 6.)
Whatever it is called, the community agenda is fundamentally a document for purposeful action—a call for the community to do something. Helping to shape the community’s agenda for action requires a manager to be a visionary who can act as catalyst and then let go. The manager’s role is to:
Providing leadership Managers stand at the intersection of many contending interests that promote competing visions for the community. Moving the community forward and responding by creating consensus on critical issues demands that managers mediate the often conflicting views of various groups and interests.
Managerial leadership is a constant essential in the planning and promoting of the community’s future. The local government manager is both a leader and a manager. Leadership is important in facilitating the creation of community goals and priorities, in ensuring council or commission involvement in directing staff analysis, and in relating promotion and planning to other activities of the jurisdiction. Also important is soliciting and responding to ideas—by observation and by structured and unstructured processes that involve the public, elected officials, community interests, staff, and department personnel.
The successful local government manager knows that promoting the future of the community involves a deep, personal understanding of the needs of human beings. The manager must be politically savvy and willing to assume the roles of broker, negotiator, and facilitator—and remain aware of competing and conflicting interests as well as opportunities to tap resources or foster coalitions and collaborators to promote overall community goals.
Initiation
Being a visionary is not enough. The manager must also be an initiator and an enabler who educates, oversees process, and implements. As an initiator, the manager gets involved in comprehensive planning, strategic planning, contingencies, economic development, and smart growth—all to achieve community goals and objectives.
Education The manager as educator is an extension of the manager as leader. The manager must educate the general public, community leaders, neighborhood groups, staff, and elected officials about the importance of the community’s future, a positive legacy, and the processes and techniques for success. Members of the public are more likely to support and participate if they understand the stakes and their role in promotion and planning.
Teaching can be subtle. Work sessions and retreats can explore and explain details of the community’s future. The local government manager’s annual or semiannual performance review is a good opportunity to clarify government visions and goals.
Organized meetings—less technical than those held with staff and council—of business leaders, civic groups, educational organizations, and neighborhood associations can inform the community about why visioning is critical, what goals the jurisdiction hopes to achieve, and how it plans to achieve them.
Extensive media campaigns—ads in local newspapers, e-mails to citizens, Web sites, cable television, inserts with utility bills, articles in the city and county newsletters, direct mail to residents, and town hall meetings—inform the community and encourage participation in visioning and planning.
Process oversight Promoting the community’s future brings together various departments and private as well as public citizens. But responsibility for oversight resides in the manager’s office. Unlike comprehensive planning, with its defined and accepted series of steps, the methods of promoting a community’s future vary among jurisdictions. A rural county may be able to use strategic planning alone to monitor critical issues and design action programs. A large city may combine strategic planning, contingency planning, development, and smart growth to promote the community’s future.
Implementation A winning football coach cannot design an intricate game plan and then, on game day, discard the plan in favor of making-it-up-as-you-go. Some players may prefer the flexibility of making things up, and the team may still win the game, but uncertainty and disorganization increase the risk of losing.
The manager, too, must implement by linking planning and action. Action strategies cannot guarantee success, and new information or unanticipated events will likely cause course corrections. But success always requires implementation—whether through the budget process, other monitoring, public-private relationships, and plan review and revision.
Linking promotion, planning, and budgeting The typical 20- to 30-year time frame of comprehensive planning makes it difficult to relate the comprehensive plan to the yearly budget cycle. The much shorter time horizon of strategic planning and contingency planning make the link between planning and budgeting easier to attain. Managers can demonstrate to the elected body the need for funding improvements to the water supply and water reclamation system, for example, if the strategic plan identifies these public work projects as critical problems. Full support is even more likely if public works improvements can be tied to an economic development program to attract and retain business.
Capital improvements budgeting, which funds long-term, large-scale capital projects financed through public borrowing and amortized over a number of years, has been a major instrument of planning since the 1920s (see Chapter 5). Capital improvement programs (CIPs) allow for multiyear systematic scheduling of local physical improvements based on sound planning, public demand for the improvements, and the local government’s ability to pay for the improvements. Effective CIP planning is essential if community infrastructure is to be maintained for use by residents and as part of the community’s economic development efforts. Deterioration of infrastructure may deter new businesses from locating in a jurisdiction, discourage expansion of existing businesses, and contribute to businesses leaving for greener pastures.
The local government manager should require that the CIP be linked with the comprehensive and strategic plans and with economic development efforts. Forging this link is critical to effective implementation of short- and long-range plans and economic development objectives.
Linking the public and private sectors Economic development activities, because they offer excellent opportunities for ongoing relationships between the public and private sectors, often yield joint funding for programs that benefit both sectors. Economic development programs funded solely with public funds are not likely to receive approval of the elected body or the blessing of the public. A local government manager, in conjunction with elected officials, plays a key role in establishing and maintaining new public-private relationships. The city or the county must make sure that any one group cannot subjugate community goals, especially when the community has developed a smart growth plan as the guiding framework for economic development and quality of life.
Central to economic development is the truth that all dollars are interchangeable. This is the basis of negotiation between private interests and the local government. If a developer wants assistance from the local government and the local government wants to help, frequently the manager or the staff can identify cost savings or less costly interventions that will help the developer achieve a successful project. A parking variance, for example, to a developer might have the same financial impact as a cash grant.
For the entrepreneur, real estate development is an exercise in risk management—assessing potential risks, mitigating them where possible, and accepting them only when prudent—and interaction with local government is one of any developer’s greatest risks. Uncertainties and delays associated with approvals and permits result in higher costs. A manager who can reduce that risk plays a very effective role in economic development. A developer prefers an honest analysis from government staff of the likelihood of getting approvals—even if the answer is negative—to going through a lengthy process with little chance of success.
Public-private partnerships have recently been described as an innovative approach to local economic development. The manager should recognize what the private development community has known for some time: local government is a partner in every development. Sometimes jurisdictions are even equity partners, but more often they are not. Nonetheless, jurisdictions ought to work with every developer as a potential partner and expect to be treated the same way.
The following is a practical exercise that will give the reader the opportunity to think through and apply the concepts in this chapter. After you complete your answers about how you would proceed, discuss your views with several colleagues. An exchange of views can point out differences and add meaning to the exercise.
Who? What? When? Where?
Assume you are a city manager in a suburban community of 75,000 residents, 10 miles away from a core city of 300,000 residents and adjacent to another city of 50,000 people. All three cities and the surrounding unincorporated areas are growing rapidly.
The cities have competed for economic development projects for the past eight years. After every announcement of a new economic development project, members of your city council believe there have been winners but they have been the losers. Council members in your city are now looking for a big win and indicate to you “it’s our turn now.”
Background
The first regional mall in your area was completed seven years ago in the large core city. It was a stand-alone project with no direct economic spillover for your city. The heated competition for the mall left lingering distrust among the jurisdictions.
You are currently involved in detailed negotiations with a developer to build the second regional mall, and your city is the favored location. There is tremendous, positive public anticipation about a forthcoming announcement. Your council has already discussed publicly the many benefits of the mall locating in your city—increased sales tax revenue, a new destination point for visitors, a stimulus for attracting other ancillary businesses, and boosting the image of the city.
Concerns
As the deal nears completion, you are approached by managers from the two neighboring cities who ask you to work together with them to develop a regional partnership in which new infrastructure costs could be shared, new regional bus routes could be developed, and a revenue-sharing formula would be developed for future joint large economic development projects in the future. The regional association of governments in your area is also asking your city to take the first step to bring the region together and set an example for the future.
Your elected officials see this project as more than fulfilling this year’s economic goals; they see it as completing the community’s vision of developing a vibrant, sustainable community.
Discussion
What is your recommendation to the city council and why?
Notes
1 N. Joseph Cayer and Lewis Weschler, Public Administration: Social Change and Adoptive Management, 2nd ed. (San Diego, Calif.: Birkdale, 2003), 88.
2 John and Carol Nalbandian, “Contemporary Challenges in Local Government,” Public Management 84, no. 11 (December 2002): 6–11.
3 Jack W. Meek, Keith Schildt, and Matthew Witt, “Local Government Administration in a Metropolitan Context,” in The Future of Local Government Administration: The Hansell Symposium, ed. H. George Frederickson and John Nalbandian (Washington, D.C.: ICMA, 2002), 145–153.
4 John Nalbandian, “The Manager as Political Leader: A Challenge to Professionalism?” Public Management 82, no. 3 (March 2000:): 7.
5 Jane Kazman, ed., Working Together: A Guide for Elected and Appointed Officials (Washington, D.C.: ICMA, 1999), 28.
6 Ibid.
7 “Practices for Effective Local Government Management,” Washington, D.C.: ICMA, 2004. http://icma.org/main/bc.asp?from=search&hsid=1&bcid=120.
8 Jennifer Cheeseman Day, “Population Projections of the United States by Age, Sex, and Hispanic Origin, 1995–2050,” publication no. P25-1130 (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Census Bureau, February 1996), 10.
9 Peter Calthorp and William Fulton, The Regional City: Planning for the End of Sprawl (Washington, D.C.: Island Press, 2001), 17–18.
10 Ron Starner, “Wired Cities,” Site Selection Magazine, January 2001, 43–47.
11 See Small Communities: Collected Best Practices (Washington, D.C.: International City/County Management Association, 2002) for these and other examples of creative collaboration.
12 Steven G. Koven and Thomas S. Lyons, Economic Development: Strategies for State and Local Practice (Washington, D.C.: ICMA, 2003), 65–66.
13 Syracuse, N.Y., Web site, www.syracuse.ny.us/tnt.asp.
14 For additional information about comprehensive plans, see Charles J. Hoch, Linda C. Dalton, and Frank S. So, ed., The Practice of Local Government Planning, 3rd ed. (Washington, D.C.: ICMA, 2000) for a thorough discussion of comprehensive planning as well as other types of planning.
15 Cayer and Weschler, Public Administration, 141–142.
16 Jack Koteen, Strategic Management in Public Organizations and Non-Profit Organizations, 3rd ed. (Westport, Conn.: Praeger, 1997), 20.
17 Raymond R. Patchett, city manager, Carlsbad, Calif. provided the material in 2003.
18 Bryce Stuart, city manager of Winston-Salem, North Carolina, interview, March 2003.
19 Darryl C. Griffin (summary remarks presented at the ICMA annual conference, Philadelphia, Penn., 2003).
20 “NAICS 51: Information” (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2004), www.bls.gov/iag/information.htm.
21 Roger I. Kemp, ed., Economic Development in Local Government: A Handbook for Public Officials and Citizens (Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Co., 1995), 1.
22 Julie Cencula Olberding, “Does Regionalism Beget Regionalism? The Relationship between Norms and Regional Partnerships for Economic Development,” Public Administration Review 61, no. 4 (July/August 2002): 480–489.
23 Getting to Smart Growth: 100 Policies for Implementation (Washington, D.C.: ICMA, n.d.), i–ii.
24 Ibid.
25 Richard Bowers, former city manager, Scottsdale, Ariz., interview, March 2003.
26 Eran Vigoda, “From Responsiveness to Collaboration: Governance, Citizens, and the Next Generation of Public Administration,” Public Administration Review 62, no. 5 (September/October 2002): 529.
27 Barbara H. Moore, ed., Academic Exchange (Washington, D.C.: ICMA, Fall 2002).
28 Lance Decker, Over My Dead Body!: Creating Community Harmony Out of Chaos (Phoenix, Ariz.: LL Decker & Associates, 2001), 28.