Editor’s Note: Getting all the pieces in place

Getting all the pieces in place

Sarah Wright | Editor

Awell-oiled wheel doesn’t squeak. Likewise, a well-oiled municipal government quietly serves its residents, who often remain unaware of its inner workings and simply continue their lives uninterrupted. Why crack open a machine and look inside when it does its job without noise? This, of course, ignores engineers-intraining who delight in opening things up and seeing how they work, but I digress.

Many components go into a well-run city government, from transparency, solid planning and a well-maintained budget to employee development and good community relations. Also, taking Thumper’s advice — “If you have nothing nice to say, say nothing at all” — to heart goes a long way. One need only read the recent news headlines about how one city council has sidelined progress by failing to heed this advice and now has members of the city government and the public demanding some members step down.

While these elements cannot entirely prevent hiccups along the way, they help mitigate their effects and can allow cities to weather genuine crises — since a well-oiled municipality builds trust with its residents and employees. It also continually seeks to maintain that trust.

Writer Denise Fedorow reached out to several cities that are plotting their futures with new or refreshed comprehensive plans and looking to build trust and buy-in from residents. Of the ones she contacted, two — Hamilton, Mont., and Laurie, Mo./ Lake of the Ozarks Council of Local Governments — responded and shared their approaches, which heavily focused on gathering a wide swath of perspectives. Who knows a community better than the varied individuals who live in it?

In a series of public meetings, organizers uncovered community needs and desires. These all combined to develop plans that appeal to a majority of residents.

Trust must also be cultivated with city employees, too. A part of that is creating opportunities for development, a great environment to work in, listening to feedback and implementing changes when sound. Recognition also goes a long way. Writer Julie Young spotlights Milton, Ga.’s, approach: an employee recognition program to celebrate those who go above and beyond the call of duty.

Such steps cannot only lessen employee turnover, but also make such a workplace more desirable to attract talented candidates.

Also, within this municipal management issue, we’ll be looking at different ways municipal officials are supporting their communities. This includes Providence, R.I.’s, program to ease residents’ immigration struggles. Finally, we share Round Rock, Texas’s, own program that gives residents access to yard tools, which help them stay within code compliance.

Becoming a well-oiled machine is not always a simple task. It requires levels of self-reflection and flexibility to move beyond the way things have always been. It will also look different from locality to locality. But as Theodore Roosevelt once opined: “Far and away the best prize that life has to offer is the chance to work hard at work worth doing.” And best serving one’s community is work worth doing.