Let's Talk About the Important Issues

How can we get our community to focus on the imporant issues? I have a proposal.

One of the key concepts I have taught in Leadership Shiawassee for the last several years is Stephen Covey's idea of "first things first." Life is busy, and often we give our time and energy to issues that are in our face at the moment. Sometimes this is unavoidable, but if we are constantly in a reactive or crisis mode we may overlook those issues which are important, but not necessarily urgent. I believe this is one of the challenges currently faced by our city government.

As I talk with voters, concerns about jobs, the economy and the large number of vacant homes in our community come up often. Recently, I sat down and read through the City Council minutes for the last year (you can follow the link on the lower right side of this blog if you want to do the same). Distressingly, the issues of our economy and foreclosures have come up very rarely. Other topics have also been overlooked.

There may be good reasons for the City Council's time to be taken up with other matters. However, when the issues important to the community are not front and center on the City Council agenda, then it becomes easy for progress to be stalled, for staff to become sidetracked to other issues, and/or for the community (and community partners) to lose sight of the goals the City has for its future.

I have a four part proposal to make First Things First for the Owosso City Council:

1. PRIORITIES Select a few (no more than four or five) key issues to be the top priority for the City in the year (or two) ahead. Such goal setting is the responsibility of the Council, but should be done with the informed guidance of staff and a wide range of community input.

2. PLAN A specific work plan for each of these items should be developed by staff and approved by the Council. For some issues, there is already an outline of a plan (see the Blue Ribbon Committee Report); for others it may be necessary to assign it to a group like the Planning Commission to put together a plan. It is important to not get bogged down in process here. One quick way to achieve a plan for a topic such as economic development would be to hold a one-day summit of key players, partners and the public to identify action goals.

3. PROGRESS Schedule regular reports for City Council meetings on each of the priorities. This helps keep these issues foremost for pubic action, allows the private sector and public partners to align themselves with City efforts, creates accountability for elected officials and City staff, and lets the electorate know what their local government is doing. These reports on important issues should be, literally, at the top of the agenda.

4. PUBLIC INPUT Finally, I would like to see our City Council move to a meeting structure used by the Owosso School Board for several years to help improve dialogue with the community in their decision-making. The idea is for the first meeting of the month to be one of discussion and the subsequent meeting to be one of action. With this format important topics are considered, potential ideas identified, and input sought from the public and interested parties without the pressure of urgent decision-making cutting short discussion. Then two weeks pass in which Council members can seek out public opinions and concerns before taking formal action. Obviously, there are some issues which are straightforward and/or urgent for which this format is not needed, but I do believe it could help Owosso move forward effectively on those issues which are most important to the future of the community.

We elect City Council representatives with the hope that they will take the time to identify, understand and act on the important issues facing our community. I hope these ideas can help keep these first things first on the City's agenda. What do you think? I would love to hear your thoughts and ideas.

Public Safety letter to editor

The following appeared as a letter to the editor

I am running for City Council because I believe our local government needs to take a more comprehensive, informed, and strategic approach to the issues facing our community. Attending recent City Council meetings, I have observed that one such issue is public safety. At the meeting Monday night (Ocotber 5), the City Council had three separate discussions about our police services: 1) possible, though as of yet undefined, reform of the position of the public safety director; 2) options for cooperation with the State Police MAGNET team to reduce drug crimes in our city; 3) the initiation of neighborhood watch programs in response to a community policing grant.

Regardless of the specific merits and challenges with each of these issues, I am concerned that the City Council took up each of these issues in an ad hoc, unprepared, and inconclusive way. We need a comprehensive review and then thoughtful adoption of a strategy for police protection in our community. Public safety (police, fire, ambulance) is the most important service local government provides and the single largest component of the City’s budget.

Rather than making reactive decisions to proposals brought before it, the City Council needs to provide leadership. We need our elected representatives to step back and define priorities and goals for our public safety services, look at the variety of options available to the City, analyze financial implications, and adopt a long-term plan that gets us the best public safety for the least dollars. Most importantly, this public safety plan should be developed with the input of the citizens of Owosso, with the advice of city staff and employee unions, and in consultation with other law enforcement and public safety partners.

I was disappointed that on Monday night the three City Council members currently running for re-election either said nothing during these discussions, asked for basic information about public safety programs, or criticized law enforcement personnel. I was impressed that Councilman Ben Frederick, who is not up for reelection, did his homework and put together the motion to fund the MAGNET program.

It is not surprising that some members of our community feel a need to circulate petitions in an attempt to reform our public safety programs. I generally don’t support petitions because I believe that our elected representatives should be addressing the issues of concern to the public, adopting effective policies, and then ensuring that our tax dollars are well spent in the operation of vital municipal services. That is why I am running for office.

We need City Council representatives that can take a big picture view of issues, are willing to take the time to become informed on matters before it, and then can provide the leadership necessary to put in place effective and comprehensive programs. The City’s difficult budget situation was also mentioned at Monday night’s meeting; if we are to successfully negotiate the stormy financial weather ahead, we need elected representatives that are able to chart a course and stick to it.

I welcome your ideas and questions about public safety, specific police services, and the role of City Council in providing leadership on these and other issues.