"The more we know" is a recurring theme in my efforts to add to the community conversation. I have contended for decades that small town government lacks the resources to find optimal solutions to community challenges such as our communications infrastructure, our pension plans funding and our beach management practices. Many of these challenges are technologically complex even for much larger communities with departments of specialized workers. I have always worried that we are making poor choices because we fail to recognize our limitations as a small town with only a few minimally trained workers in each department.
The previous town manager frustrated many commissioners and town staff with his unwillingness or inability to investigate a range of options for the many issues that confront any small municipality over time. He was known for quickly forming uninformed opinions and then refusing to get off the dime even in the face of overwhelming evidence that his positions were unproductive.
The journey is the destination. This is an adage that might serve well as a road map for a town government with limited staff resources and an unpaid commission. Small communities must rely on outside advice, hopefully from disinterested experts in various fields of knowledge. Small town governments must resist taking the short route and taking the advice of the first "expert" to come down the road or worse yet an "expert" who espouses some sort of political agenda. Making the journey the destination requires a commission that is ever vigilant to well camouflaged propaganda and motives.
Traditionally our town manager has assumed the role of "decider" since the town manager presents the commission with most, if not all, of its information. He also formulates the choices available to the commissioners and in general holds most of the cards. The current commission has been a good deal more active than previous commissions. I feel that this has been positive for our community even though I may disagree with some of their policies. I hope the commission will enjoy a long honeymoon with the new town manager and work as a team to intelligently formulate informed decisions concerning some fairly complex problems.
It is easy to make decisions in an information vacuum. The more we know about all the challenges confronting our community, the more likely we will make better decisions. The problem as I see it is knowing when you need to know more. Often problems appear to be easily understood when in fact there are subtle nuances that complicate the decision making process. Taking time to throughly examine issues may be the only way to arrive at any sort of sound conclusions.
The journey is the destination. This is an adage that might serve well as a road map for a town government with limited staff resources and an unpaid commission. Small communities must rely on outside advice, hopefully from disinterested experts in various fields of knowledge. Small town governments must resist taking the short route and taking the advice of the first "expert" to come down the road or worse yet an "expert" who espouses some sort of political agenda. Making the journey the destination requires a commission that is ever vigilant to well camouflaged propaganda and motives.
Traditionally our town manager has assumed the role of "decider" since the town manager presents the commission with most, if not all, of its information. He also formulates the choices available to the commissioners and in general holds most of the cards. The current commission has been a good deal more active than previous commissions. I feel that this has been positive for our community even though I may disagree with some of their policies. I hope the commission will enjoy a long honeymoon with the new town manager and work as a team to intelligently formulate informed decisions concerning some fairly complex problems.
It is easy to make decisions in an information vacuum. The more we know about all the challenges confronting our community, the more likely we will make better decisions. The problem as I see it is knowing when you need to know more. Often problems appear to be easily understood when in fact there are subtle nuances that complicate the decision making process. Taking time to throughly examine issues may be the only way to arrive at any sort of sound conclusions.
Ask a Question
- Do Background Research
- Construct a Hypothesis
- Test Your Hypothesis by Doing an Experiment
- Analyze Your Data and Draw a Conclusion
- Communicate Your Results
The bottom line is that our town government needs to cast a broader information net in the future. We need to enlist more experts in the process. We need to insist that these experts be truly disinterested contributors. Decisions need to be based on a sound understanding of the problem and an open-minded approach to resolving the problem.
We are a small community with limited governmental resources. We are not alone in this. I have found that there is already a wealth of information available by consulting with other communities with similar problems. What we should not do is assume we know everything.
See also: http://lbk-folk.blogspot.com/2011/02/skeptical-advice.html
We are a small community with limited governmental resources. We are not alone in this. I have found that there is already a wealth of information available by consulting with other communities with similar problems. What we should not do is assume we know everything.
See also: http://lbk-folk.blogspot.com/2011/02/skeptical-advice.html
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