Drafts and Overdrafts

[XLFD]

What would it take for you to get interested enough in the local municipal budget to take some time out of your busy (or recuperative) evenings to see what's going on?   Last fall, a village manager in Wisconsin saw a host of financial issues on the horizon and was able to convince his bosses on the village board and his staff to attempt to get more of the citizenry involved through a more interactive forum.  This was related in a 11-13-2018 article in Strong Towns, which follows:

How Do You Get Your Community to Care About the Budget?

 I first read one of Chuck Marohn’s musings on the American experiment in suburban growth during what must have been my first year of grad school at the University of Nevada, Reno. I was a 22-year-old hoping to get my footing in a older professional-focused Master of Public Administration program surrounded by 30 and 40-somethings. I felt like I was missing something as I was taught that the “strongest” cities were those creating fancy business parks and subdivisions in farm fields. All of us believed that was the “best practice.” However, as I continued to read the writings of Strong Towns as well as other thinkers like Nassim Taleb, Bent Flyvbjerg and Robert Putnam, my mental paradigm shifted toward something completely different.

When I started my first post as a municipal manager I implemented strategies using small, incremental, and neighborhood-based methods. I tried the “classic hit” revitalization strategies, like using Tax Increment Financing to create a revolving loan fund, offering facade improvement grants, and promoting brownfield redevelopment. But some elected officials had other ideas. I serve at the pleasure of elected bodies, and they made the decision to attempt an expansion of the industrial park and build a new subdivision (without actual private-industry interest in either). I did my best to inform and work with the Board, but ultimately we parted ways, leading me to the back-to-basics path I’m on today.

Once I started as administrator in Winneconne, WI, I began sharing articles from Strong Towns with not only my Trustees but also with staff and the Plan Commission. There were many takeaways and all pointed to the same idea: start doing things differently! However, as with only a handful of introspective communities across the country, we started to realize in what bad shape our finances really were. My department heads started to see the writing on the wall: the structural deficit in our budget, the maintenance backlog on infrastructure, the simple fact that we could not replace vehicles and equipment in a timely manner. Things were going to have to change moving forward.

This realization lead to the formation of our Fiscal Year 2019 Budget, which we will approve this month. As financial issues continued to pile up, I was able to convince the Board and staff to expand the conversation so everyone, citizens included, has a chance to understand what is going on. However, as Chuck Marohn, Grant Henninger, Sarah Kobos, Dana DeMaster and others at Strong Towns have noted, our traditional public input methods are HORRIBLE! So we took a cue from Dana (almost her whole article!) and utilized a common language across the great state of Wisconsin: beer.

I hosted the first “Budgets and Beers” event in Winneconne at a local restaurant and invited the public. Advertising on social media and word of mouth brought 25 people in for Spotted Cow brews and a discussion about the challenges of the 2019 budget and beyond. I plan to hold more Budgets and Beers events in the coming weeks as a way to bring the public into the conversation.

If we want people to take an interest in our communities, we have to make it understandable for them and easier to participate. Once we are able to close this gap between what we need the public to understand and what they actually grasp about our city finances, we will move toward collaborative discussion and decision-making to make our communities more antifragile.

I cannot imagine where my career and the future of Winneconne would be without the informal guidance and hard work of so many people at Strong Towns, and I will do my best to make a difference in my community with that knowledge!    ---- Mitchell Foster, VM of Winneconne

You may recognize that name as the new city manager of Ludington, whose only article in "Strong Towns" happens to involve driving public engagement on municipal issues. Members of the public in Ludington should be grateful that we have such an eclectic individual at the helm of our city following a couple of decades where the direction has been erring towards secrecy in pushing through unpopular and/or unnecessarily costly public projects without any meaningful public participation.  

Due to the many challenges facing our city and their budget concerning unfunded pensions, costly water & sewer infrastructure improvements, inadequate streets, rising wages & benefits of city employees, etc., at a time when large area employers are emigrating out and $100 million in school construction has been approved, we need one or more of these around budget time to have an honest and open discussion about priorities and realities.  

I suggest, since we don't want to plagiarize his earlier effort of 'Budgets & Beers', holding Drafts & Overdrafts meetings this fall at area establishments.  The 'overdrafts' as a tongue-in-cheek recognition that we have had and will have a lot of credit card spending taking place on the water & sewer infrastructure projects before they are paid off.  Hosts should be expected to pay for the first round of beverages and for one suitable appetizer to further entice the citizenry to attend, as they will receive plenty of advertising for the expense.

Even so, attendance may suffer greatly if the City of Ludington cannot convince the public by that time, that the City is wanting to shed their policy of the last two decades of elite indifference to what the public wants, and is willing to actually listen.  Mitch Foster made great inroads on that front by hosting the six ward meetings earlier this spring and having the LPD conduct their own this summer.  

Still, much of the elite old guard holds power and maintains their own sphere of influence over city hall.  Their policy has been to squash those who question city hall orthodoxy on municipal issues by labelling them and libeling them with the most unfriendly terms in public forums.   For meaningful interaction with the public to succeed in Ludington, City Manager Mitch Foster will have to use all the leadership skills he has to neutralize those forces, so that the public will feel safe enough to finally speak freely once again. 

[Freedom Seeker]

Maybe we could add:. Tokin' and smokin'!

[Willy]

I'm glad Mitch seems to be unlike Shay. My problem with his proposal is what you stated. The "old guard". Like the "deep state" the old guard in town will not give up easily or play fairly. They might even try to send Mitch packing. Another thing that bothers me is that Mitch thinks a mug of beer is going to get people off their couches. Let's be honest the citizens of Ludington just don't give a damn. If they did we would not be in this mess. Just look at the recent school bond. 100 million more in debt for God's sake. I know it includes revenues from the entire school district but unless my math is wrong that's $12,500 for every man, woman and child in Ludington.