Whitewater’s Common Council will, tonight, narrow the list of candidates to be her next city manager. In the days ahead, there’ll be an announcement about those finalists, and time to consider their accomplishments before a reception and community forum on 9.21, and council’s closed-session interviews on 9.22.
A good choice matters, of course, but it matters in context: the city’s evolving inexorably, and part of the choice council will have to make is whether to swim with or against the next decade’s currents. (The city can make the most conventional choice possible, as she did with a new police chief, or look forward to what Whitewater of a decade from now will be like, and need.)
Either way, those currents will be just as strong.
A few sundry thoughts appear below.
A Selection for the Whole City. Insiders will be tempted to ask themselves what they want, what would be good for them. It’s the wrong question, twice over. First, the city’s a place of over a dozen thousands, not a place of a few dozen. Second, no matter how one chooses, the only successful administration will be one that looks beyond a tiny few. (If it were not so, the previous administration would still be the present administration.)
A Common Touch. Without this, there’s no lasting selection for the whole city.
An Embrace of all the City’s Groups. It’s a multi-ethnic city. Seeing it otherwise is seeing it falsely.
One also notices — however startling this may be to some — that about half the adults in the city are women. Not one of twenty or one of ten, but half. Our committees and public boards should be more than places for “hanging out with all us old guys.” (Even if it’s said when there’s a lone woman on the board.)
There should be a better representation on all the city’s public boards, not just a few.
Someone who believes as much would be a good choice.
A Limited Role for City Government. The municipal building’s not the White House or Congress. City government doesn’t have to be involved in every aspect of civil society. (Actually, the White House and Congress shouldn’t be so involved in daily life, but one sees my point.)
Honesty about the City’s Problems. A few weeks ago, at common council, the interim city manager described some of the fiscal challenges facing city government. That wasn’t a bad thing to say – it was a good and honest thing to say.
Look around: in the time since he spoke plainly and acknowledged those truths, the city hasn’t collapsed under the weight of those words. On the contrary, more than one person in city government surely has had a burden lifted: one doesn’t have to spin every story out of the municipal building. On the contrary, more than one person outside city government has heard news of the city’s condition without feeling it as a test his or her credulity.
Respect for Good Reasoning and Reliable Data. Distorting data and relying on dodgy surveys doesn’t boost the city; it makes her officials look foolish. The same goes for the habit of applying for one’s own awards, a bad and laughable municipal habit that probably reached its statewide zenith here in Whitewater over the last year or so. A yawning need for praise and adulation isn’t a sound public policy; it’s a personal embarrassment.
Flexibility over Rigidity. We’ve challenges that require flexibility and adaptability. Brittle breaks – it’s as simple as that.
A long view, from a go-slow-and-don’t-crow administration, would do this city good.
