Double Standards and the Convenience of Criticizing Public Sector Practice

Frederick City officials have just spent a few days in the fishbowl for sending five department heads on a city business trip last week. But they didn't deserve it.

It's always annoyed me -- the silliness of some of criticizing public sector organization practices, especially by people who appear to have little clue what they're talking about. This bond trip is one of two examples that stick out in my mind over the past year.

Staffing the Big Sales Presentation

Most taxpayers feel that as "investors" (albeit in a non-voluntary arrangement) in the company that is their government, they are fully empowered to express their displeasure at the way government employees function. (In Frederick City's case census stats indicated there are 65,239 residents currently making up "investor" families). How lucky for the knee-jerk complainers to have a public forum to vent their jabs, which are often unresearched and unfounded. (You don't see the trips of local companies' CFOs and COOs questioned in the local press).

Many of these critics, who ranged in both cases from radio commentators, websites and Letters to the Editor in local newspapers, are the same ones who purport to believe government should act more like private business. Do they really mean what they are saying?

The two large corporations I've worked for over the years made a point to send knowledgeable staff to meetings if a critical deal was at stake. That's what our local governments (Frederick City and County) both followed-- common private sector practice of having the best people at the table to answer questions for the rating agencies. That's what you do if you want to close the deal, save the money, make the pitch. You can bet your competitors are doing it, and the audience expects it.

David Dunn, County Manager and Susan Harding, the city's Public Information Officer, were very patient and provided lots of details about who went, where they stayed etc. , I know many people would find that info the "juicy" part of this. But I'm not going there (you can read about it in my attachment if you want) because it just distracts people from my point: government leaders who want to be effective need to run their organizations---and empower their organizations to run--like the best private companies.

Employee Engagement--But Not for Government Employees??

Another recent example of overzealous criticism of a local public sector practice that is commonbusiness practice: allowing Frederick County Government employees time during their workday to come to a public hearing about privatization of government.

All of the large companies where I've worked have held employee meetings on work time to air out changes in company policy, so that they could engage their employees in the new policy. When government leaders attempt to operate like their private sector colleagues, they are taken to task on the radio, in blogs and letters to the editor about the practices that occur in good companies all the time.

I challenge the critics to think twice about what they're saying, whether their motivation is political, or whether they really wish to tear apart government but disguise that with a disingenuine campaign to "make government operate like a private business."

To me its clear that these critics have either not worked in private industry, or have only worked in small businesses (which governments are not) and do not understand what it takes for large organizations to be effective.

I would love to know your thoughts!

*Should government be run more like a business?

*What are the pitfalls and the benefits?

*If you're in private business, share your experiences about why representation is or isn't important at these types of meetings.

*Do private companies abuse their business travel opportunities? How do companies monitor that, and how can the public sector adopt the same controls?

Bureaucratic Creep: Time for the Leaning of Government

I've always abhorred bureaucracy.

Not because bureacracy is frustrating to those who are affected by it.

Not because it's costly.

Not because it's a waste of time and energy.

(all good reasons)

I can't stand bureaucracy because it drains the ability of smart people to think for themselves.

Frederick County government employees have hit the boards with "business-fr

iendly" initiatives aimed to make life easier for the building and construction community (I hope it goes much further into local government than that just that customer group) . At their heart, some of the items on this list unleash people in county offices to use their talent to identify problems--to look for trouble and shoot it.

A local official I know calls it "bureaucratic creep". Here's an example. One day, someone notices a new building project might affect traffic using a nearby state road, so the State Highway Administration gets called in to comment on that project. Someone else with good intentions says, "let's check all our site plans in with the SHA--you never know when t

hey might want to know about whats going on!"

Good communication idea, right? Sure, until suddenly one person at SHA with lots of other job responsibilities has a pile of 20 site plans on their desk-- but only 1 or 2 have a real, direct impact on a state road. Total time increase to get through the new workload: maybe about 275%???. Total delay to the customer waiting to get word when they can move ahead? Who knows!

(PHOTO: 30 N. Market-CommunityDevelopment/Development Review agencies. Leaning local government is beginning here...can we continue on to other agencies please?)

Good intentions that lack a reality check on their usefulness can turn into bad ideas that crush productivity. Good companies, especially those in manufacturing and health care, have set up a process in the last decade that ruthlessly scrutinizes the way they do things in a search for for waste in time, money and energy. Its good to see Frederick County government get on the LEAN train--I just hope it will be extended to other agencies outside those that work with the building community.

Take a look a couple of the changes to the bureaucracy:

*Before, you had to write separate checks to each and every agency in Frederick County that you dealt with, and some agencies had to wait to find out from others if a check was paid before they could release permits and documents. The process for single checks and communication among the agencies is now underway--technology that many businesses in the construction, architecture and engineering field have been using for more than a decade to make the lives of their customers easier.

*TAC Meetings are now getting perfect attendance--or something closer. These meetings were set up years ago to bring a customer together in a meeting with a rep of all the agencies involved in a building project. Until recently, it was not considered a "priority" for all the agencies to be there, but in the current political and economic environment, everyone is expected to show up. These kinds of team meetings with clients have been normal and important in the private sector for any company that wants to be competitive.

*SHA and Frederick County have agreed that it is no longer necessary for SHA to receive or review sign permits if they are not in SHA right-of-way.

These are just a couple examples of bureaucracy de-construction;now let's get on to doing this for many other agencies at all levels of government.

Many of the other "Business Friendly" ideas involve changes to the Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance, Zoning Ordinance, and other more far-reaching policies and go beyond ""bureaucratic creep". Those are a bit different from Lean initiatives, and need to be looked at very carefully for possible impact.

For me, though, anything that engages employees--government or private sector--in getting rid of wasteful, energy draining and brainless processes will result in people who are more creative and committed to their work and their customers.

Frederick County Charter Government: Meat and Potatoes Time

For people who like to get to the nitty gritty of things, your time is here.

The Charter Board is digging into the details of what our proposed government could look like under home rule; with guidance from Vic Tervala, a lawyer known in Maryland for advising municipalities on home rule processes. They are using the Cecil County charter as a markup

model and applying the information they got from their tour of Frederick County to find out public views of what Charter should look like.

Public comment in the past six months has reportedly coalesced around the idea of having elected councilpeople representing districts within the County. In my experience, people want to see more policymakers familiar with parts of Frederick County that don’t get much attention in the current structure. It would be a good idea to add two at-large Council reps is a way to balance out the potential parochialism of the five geographically or election district-based Council members.

Most people, though, are interested in the job description of the County Exec and how that person will be elected and how her or his office would be structured once in. Stay tuned; the next meeting is tonight, Nov 15 at 7 p.m., on the third floor of Winchester Hall.

Two Sides to Every Story

When I used to be a reporter, I loved digging into what motivated the people behind the debates over policies, laws and regulations, no matter what level of government I was covering. It always floored me when policy discussions and decisions by people who could not be bothered to learn all sides of a story, and I had a deep craving to know how people directly affected by an issue or decision would feel. Also, I figured if I noticed something was missing, the people reading the news stories probably wanted to know the context too. I still feel that way---probably more than ever. For anyone who doesn't know it, it's full disclosure time: I ran for public office and lost in November 2010. I spent six months in a campaign for Frederick County Commissioner as a moderate Democrat hoping to bridge the divide between the County's conservatives and liberals, growthers and no-growthers, etc etc. The resulting governmental climate hasn't wholly been a good one, to my minds' eye. And not just because I lost, which would lead most people to think that naturally I have an ax to grind. No, it's a bit different because I actually agree with some of the changes the new Board of County Commissioners has made, especially those that have made it easier to do business in our community. What I dislike is the process the majority of the current group uses to make their decisions. They're in such a hurry to accomplish their To Do list, that there doesn't seem to be time to discuss whether there are ways to do things better, more inclusively, or with all the facts at hand. The due diligence, information gathering, and looking under rocks to make sure all the possibilities have been considered is lost---sometimes, I think, purposefully. After all, its easier to make decisions that fit your mindset when you don't have the information that cause you to change your mind! After taking the past year off from politics and taking stock of the decisionmaking, this blog is my way of using my voice again---but not on an election ballot. Through this bi-weekly blog, I'll take random issues of the day, sometimes local, sometimes national, and try to look at them through the eyes of people in our community who are directly affected by them. Sometimes it may be the average Joe (I hear Joe the Plumber is running for president, isn't that amazing); sometimes it may be the decisionmakers themselves who are my topics or inspiration. I also invite other moderate voices to use this as a place to discuss what's happening in our community. If you're interested in being a guest blogger, have an open mind and no ax to grind and pledge to be civil and avoid polarizing language, just let me know and we'll talk. As always with bloggers, I hope I'll get lots of comments; ideas from you, the readers, about topics that need to be explored. I hope I can do my part to add a little depth and context to the issues of the day---and help those of us who really want to understand that there are two sides to every story.