Jan 23, 2024

Mired in Dysfunction? Here Are 5 Ways Out

By Kerry Stewart Lengel

Special Contributor


“All politics is local” is a nearly century-old axiom in America. But today, hyperpartisanship at the national level is spreading division and dysfunction to local governing boards across the country.


That was the bad news from a virtual roundtable of elected officials and other community leaders in more than a dozen states, hosted on Jan. 5 by Social Prosperity Partners and facilitated by strategic planning expert Matt Lehrman.


The good news? Not everybody was feeling “frustrated and ignored” — and they offered moral support as well as practical ideas for colleagues looking for ways to promote inclusivity and collaboration.

“Sometimes you find connections with people in ways you never thought you would.”

Highlights from our Jan. 5 Community Chat on “Governance vs. Politics”New Paragraph

Register for our next Community Chat

Our topic on Feb. 2 is “Putting Fear in Its Place,” in which we’ll explore the balance between aspiration and fear as drivers of policy in local government. Matt Lehrman facilitates a virtual roundtable for community leaders on the first Friday of every month (10 a.m. Pacific/1 p.m. Eastern). Free to join, but space is limited, so early registration is encouraged (HERE).

NATIONAL PARTISANSHIP FUELS LOCAL DYSFUNCTION

“We just had an election in November, and the campaign was about who was a Democrat and who was a Republican,” said Rap Hankins, former member of the officially nonpartisan City Council in Trotwood, Ohio.


“It was more about politics than it was about policy, and I’d argue if we didn’t have a city manager’s form of government, it would be chaos in our city.”


Jessica Elston, president of “a strong, healthy school board” in Plainfield, Indiana, said she opposed a movement in the state legislature to make school board elections partisan. “It did not pass in this last session, but I know we’ll see it again,” she said.


Alisa Benson, first-term City Council member in Orono, Minnesota, said she has struggled at times to ignore partisan and personal attacks.


“I’ve had to consciously and continually pull myself away from conversations that residents wanted to engage in sometimes that put social issues or issues on the national scene into our city,” she said.


“I campaigned on civility, and it’s something that I think about all the time. It’s not what the public wants. They don’t want to see dysfunction. Personal attacks are a distraction from issues, and I think that’s effective sometimes, but it’s not a game I want to play.”



NO, THE ‘CHAOS’ ISN’T EVERYWHERE

One chat participant went so far as to call their City Council experience “abusive,” but others had hopeful stories to share, including the Reverend Audrey Hartness Reese, a Presbyterian pastor and City Council member in deep-red Westminster, South Carolina.


“I called and talked to the mayor, who’s a good friend of mine, and I said very candidly, ‘I’m a Democrat,’” Reese recalls, “and his response was, ‘Well, that doesn’t matter when we’re sitting at the table.’ And I really didn’t believe him, but I will say that when we have decisions that are very clearly divisive, we don’t have the animosity that I feel like is sounding more prevalent. It’s a pleasant surprise, because it’s not what I expected in my small Southern town.”


Kwame Kamau James, an African American school board member in Muskegon, Michigan, credited the current board president, who is white, for working to mend racial fences in the majority-black district. “There has been a really concerted effort to work towards some harmony and some team spirit, and it is happening,” he said.



SOMETIMES, THE WAY FORWARD IS … SIDEWAYS

For community leaders struggling with institutional conflict, colleagues offered empathy as well as practical advice.


“They say the people who need to go to therapy don’t go,” said Kitty Moore, a City Council member in Cupertino, California, pointing out that there will always be some officials who care more about scoring political points than solving community problems.


For such situations, roundtable participants had these suggestions:



1. Don’t ignore the problem

In an effort to improve communication on his Michigan school board, James said, “we’ve been very pointed about verbalizing, articulating the harm as it’s being done” when someone engages in personal attacks or other uncivil behavior.


2. Get outside the boardroom or council chambers

Organized retreats can help improve communication for groups mired in conflict, Elston said. “Not only do we learn a lot, but it gives us a chance to talk to each other on a non–subject matter basis. It’s shared events, going out and having dinner together. You start to learn about these people as human beings. What are their interests? What do you have in common? Sometimes you find connections with people in ways you never thought you would.”


3. Bring more voices into the conversation

“I’m sorry that you’re serving on divisive councils,” Reese told colleagues, “because while I don’t know what it’s like to serve on one, I definitely know what it looks like to sit in the audience of one, and it is unpleasant. Hopefully there are ways that you can find some common ground with community members and maybe bring them into the conversation.”


4. Plug in to state, regional and national networks

“It’s always important to have different input instead of just living in your bubble,” said Hankins, who recommends attending conferences held by the National League of Cities as well as state municipal leagues. Added James: “I found a lot of support from the Michigan Association of School Boards, just with training and the opportunity to dialogue with other school board members from across the state, who do face similar issues.”


5. Focus on core values

“When you think about governance and politics, there’s a very thin line,” said Anne Fischhaber of the Eden Valley City Council in Minnesota. “I come at it from this point of view — and this is something I’m planning to work on — start by what we value, and how we plan to work for the community. If residents value certain things and care about them, how do we come to an understanding where we can sometimes do both, or compromise? I’m trying to figure out how to navigate those spaces for the good of the community. And I think that’s why we are all here today. We want to learn from each other and see how we can be better, we can do better.”


About the writer: Kerry Stewart Lengel is a media strategist and independent producer specializing in politics, culture and the arts.

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What to Do in the Face of Incivility

By Matt Lehrman • 07 May, 2024
By Matt Lehrman Social Prosperity Partners In the months before Election Day, the problem of incivility in public life isn’t going away . So, when you find yourself dealing with inappropriate, disruptive behavior, whether by members of the public or by your colleagues, there are three distinct approaches you can take to manage the situation. 1. MAKE THEM STOP — Same in preschool as on a governing board, there’s nothing like a good timeout when emotions get overheated. Take a breath. Walk out of the room. If necessary, temporarily suspend or adjourn a meeting completely. Clear, fair rules with consistent enforcement are key. Whatever the issue, remember your responsibility to your community or organization and its governance. This isn’t a time to “fight fire with fire,” but to deprive the fire of oxygen. 2. MEDIATE — When there is a necessary decision to be made and a mutual desire for dialogue, it can be useful for disagreeing parties to engage a trained facilitator. They can provide the structure, objectivity, and cool-headedness necessary to find a workable solution, although mediation works best when it’s voluntary, that is, not imposed in some way. Remember our mantra at Social Prosperity Partners: “Where people work together courageously, their potential is unlimited.”  3. MOVE FORWARD — At some point, you may simply need to “agree to disagree,” which means either calling the question or moving on to other important business. However, while it’s never good to let perfection be the enemy of progress, remember that issues left unresolved today likely will fester and erupt again later. So make a plan to address them as soon as possible.

Otis White on tapping into citizens’ expertise

By Matt Lehrman • 30 Apr, 2024
By Matt Lehrman Social Prosperity Partners In the first nine episodes of the “Community Catalysts” podcast , I’ve interviewed 3 mayors, a city council member, 3 nonprofit executives, a police chief, and a police detective turned social media strategist. This week, I want to introduce a voice you’ll hear more from in future episodes. In his 22-year career as principal of Civic Strategies , an Atlanta-based consulting firm, Otis White became one of the country’s top strategic planning experts. When I asked him to describe the job for an 8-year-old, he said, “I tried to make cities better by trying to make some of the institutions in cities work a little better.” For four years, Otis hosted his own podcast, also called “Civic Strategies,” produced in cooperation with the Georgia Municipal Association . Those 39 interviews are no longer available anywhere, but Otis has generously gifted his audio archive to “Community Catalysts,” so I will be sharing some highlights from that series on a monthly basis, along with more of my interview with Otis. This week’s takeaway from an elder statesperson in civic planning facilitation? “We’re all experts, but we don’t recognize each other’s expertise,” he said. “ The citizens are experts in what kind of community they want. And they’re also experts, by the way, in fairness. But the experts we think of as experts — planners, city department leaders — are experts in something else. They’re experts not in the what but the how .” Listen now on Apple , Spotify and other podcast platforms .

3 Keys to Building Trust in Your Community

By Matt Lehrman • 23 Apr, 2024
By Matt Lehrman Social Prosperity Partners Trust is the essential ingredient that holds all human societies together. Autocracy reigns when people place their trust in dictators and kings, but for a democratic society to survive and thrive, we must build trust in the values, institutions and processes of representative self-government. This is a job that’s never done, a race without a finish line. Why? Because, as my partner John Little said in our latest Local Leadership Chat, “It takes a long time to build trust, but trust can be lost in a moment.” Some of the participants in our April 5 roundtable had experience rebuilding trust after just such a breach, but everyone understood that maintaining trust with the community is an ever-evolving challenge. Here are three takeaways from our discussion on “The Mechanics of Trust”: 1. Build trust by being ACCESSIBLE How we welcome citizens to public meetings is important, but the fact is, most people don’t have the time to follow the sometimes laborious processes of local governance. It’s important to find opportunities to engage with residents informally . “I’ve set up regular office hours, I buy people coffee one Monday a month, and I try to show up to all the local festivals and events, just to make myself available without agenda to talk to people,” said first-term Mayor Mike Krachmer of Vadnais Heights, Minnesota. Attending community events, such as her city’s pancake breakfast, is also a priority for Alisa Benson , a City Council member in nearby Orono. “I wear my City of Orono name placard, and I just try to go around and meet people. They're not going to come to a council meeting, but they want the pancakes.” 2. Build trust by being RESPONSIVE Just as important as accessibility is your responsiveness — answering people’s questions, returning calls and emails, following up with further facts or new developments. “ People have confidence when they feel that they are getting a response in real time, and when they feel that they are heard when they are overwhelmed or confused,” said Mayor Elaine McLain of Birmingham, Michigan. During public meetings, McLain and Benson both try to actively translate the bureaucratic details into everyday language. “Most folks don’t understand a lot of these concepts and are uncomfortable asking in public ,” Benson said. “So I do the asking for the community.” “One problem,” she added, “is when elected officials are unable or unwilling to say ‘I don’t know’ or to have difficult conversations in public.” 3. Build trust by being TRANSPARENT Most people agree on the need for open meeting laws and transparency in government, but all too often, the legalistic language and formal processes of government can be anything but transparent. To residents attending their first council meeting, for example, the routine business of passing a consent agenda , without discussion or explanation, could create a false impression of back-room dealing , rather than the true but much less exciting reality of committees, subcommittees and long-term budget planning — not to mention Robert’s Rules of Order. “As much as we would love to bring everybody along, most people, until it affects them, we never see them,” said Sona Cooper , Mayor pro tem in the Town of Spring Lake, North Carolina. In 2021, she was the only incumbent re-elected to the Town Council after years of financial mismanagement erupted into a public crisis. “What we have learned is that we have to tell the story and tell the information over and over again ,” she said. “If someone asks for information through a public records request, we have to respond. We can’t hide. So we do a lot of explaining, and that’s how you build trust.”
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