"A few perspectives" by John Cullen

Resident John Cullen submitted this today:

Found “enduring” the recent BFHA forums to have been well worth the time spent. Sorry more folks didn’t avail themselves of the opportunity to observe the myriad characters anxious to lead the city and make decisions for you. Hope the airing of the forums comes through, is at a convenient time and that it will get record ratings. Steve Collins noted that they may have been painful to endure at times. Welcome to city government. There may be moments for city leaders which some may construe as glamorous, but generally city service is a very time consuming, rigorous, tedious and frustrating grind. You all only have to endure it for a few months every two years. Hope you suck it up, do your best to investigate the candidates and make informed choices.

Kevin McCauley has been skewered to a degree for his comment/admission that it took a year and a half to get to a point where he may have felt confident in approaching his duties as a councilperson in full. To me, this is a blatant indication that the cooks at the grill shouldn’t be trusted with dinner. As involved as one could possibly be as a government outsider, starting work as an actual councilperson or mayor would still be a staggering dress down. This city has a budget of $164 million dollars and is not run like a business. At the very least, the Housing Authority, Water Department and Department of Education operate somewhat autonomously and their relationship with the city is different than the core city departments. There are also special categories of government created as needed to address specific issues, such as the Hoppers/Birge pond committee, the Roberts property committee, Pine Lake, the Downtown Bristol Development Authority… There is also the daily grind of spontaneous issues. And then there are the State and Federal requirements, relationships and issues. How do you deal with these things as a new councilor or mayor? First of all, you find out what kind of tissues you are allowed to use, by statute, as the tears well in your eyes. Or, more likely, you reluctantly inquire about the toilet tissue. Hopefully there is not a pending controversy in this area requiring a vote…

City government functions in a very specific manner to hopefully assure there are prudent and representative decisions made. This promotes tedious processes which protect the public but slows down decision making. Getting to a point where an official can actually vote on something involves wading through all kinds of murky waters and figuring out how to deal with all types of obstacles, overcoming each and arriving at the “we’re actually going to do this” level. Grunt. And then a bunch of “anonymous” folk tell them they’re spineless, mindless, partisan, have conflicts, ambitions, ulterior motives… And these are folks who haven’t gone through the grind Kevin McCauley has trying to not only understand, but master how you actually can get something progressive done within a city government structure such as Bristol’s. I would suggest these “anonymous” folks keep it in their pants unless they are willing to walk in Kevin’s or any other elected officials’ shoes or legitimize their complaints with an identity so they can be addressed by the party you have an issue with. I think it would be highly likely they will be more courteous with you than you have been with them.

Kevin McCaulley should not be denigrated for stating what is a reality for most any public servant entering a first term. There is a great deal to learn if you want to be effective – not flashy. Capable, competent and, hopefully, effective. His honesty in this regard is refreshing and indicates he has not only recognized how complex the governing of this city is, but also that making the city a better place is not a straightforward and easy task.

Because the scope, complexity and cost of Bristol’s city government has accelerated dramatically over the past ten years, it seems prudent that we, as citizens, have a stabilizing influence in place to establish continuity in our government, as well as a base to work from. When we change our direction every two years with new councilors and/or mayors we inevitably take a step back before we ever can have the opportunity to move forward. There is a severe learning curve, and each “new” official wants to do things as they see fit or as they see their constituents want things done. The areas affected by these “new” ideas/approaches tend to involve very limited aspects of government, but all the rest of the operation needs to move on. Often times, these “continuing operations” become neglected until they themselves become an issue (can you say police department?). A city manager would afford stability, continuity and a source for information that could cut a dedicated and hard working councilor like Kevin McCauley’s road to a feeling of competence way down. And since I perceive Kevin’s perspective on what equates to competence is very high, it could make for a very short case of the runs for all new elected officials.

Establishing a position of city manager does not require ceding any authority for running the city to an individual. The city manager would be beholden to the officials you elect. Any candidates from the “anonymous”? Ellen Zoppo functioned somewhat as a de facto city manager during her term as councilor. She understood the “ropes” and helped other elected as well as salaried officials navigate the complexities of the various layers of government with the simple pretense of getting something accomplished, or at least getting possibilities to the point where they could, subject to popular approval, become reality. She was vilified and cast aside at least to some degree because she didn’t spend enough time assuaging constituent’s needs and concerns to their satisfaction, legitimate or not, when she understood there was time better spent dealing with what could and needed to be dealt with for the benefit of entire population of Bristol. And she was the one comfortable enough with how government works to be a realist regarding wants and wishes. She was, consequently, compelled to say no when other elected officials may have said “I’ll look into it”, whether they did or didn’t or produced or didn’t. A true city manager would provide the councilors and mayor the greater opportunity to embrace ideas without raising false expectations. The position would establish a baseline for all our elected officials to work from that does not exist now. The base line now has the potential to flop around every two years, and that is a significant impediment to progress. Life and the encumbrances of laws and governmental relations are changing rapidly – too rapidly for my liking – but there seems no stopping the “progress”. But we can’t afford not to adapt to the change, and quickly – after all, you’re reading this as you are on a blog site. And what is a blog? Microsoft Word hasn’t even caught up with it on their spell check. What’s next? Are you ready? Is Bristol ready?

Be well,

John Cullen

PS All the candidates who participated in the BFHA forum and are running to become Bristol’s future leaders are to be commended and thanked for their sincere desire to make this city a better place. We are fortunate to have a very capable slate of candidates and my perspective is that some choices will be rather difficult. That is good news. If you disagree with them on an issue or in general, I think each or them would accept and possibly learn from that if it was couched in a positive manner. Regarding this site, lose the callousness, run yourself or pound the sand in private.

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Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com