the work.
1215 words, a 5 minute and 16 second read
There has been a ton of conversation in my favorite city lately about whether or not we should have an elected ‘Mayor’. If you have not been following along, this also leads to the next question about whether or not the form of government we have in Oshkosh is the best one for us. We have a council/manager form at current (elected councilors and appointed city manager). I have received lots of emails and read lots of comments from folks who would prefer a model with an elected mayor instead of a city manager. That is, mayor with much greater legislative powers (and perhaps a more ‘representative’ field of other aldermanic councilors). I have opinions on this, and will get to them at the bottom of this article, but to me that’s not the most important thing to discuss at current…because right now…
that. does. not. matter. … what does is…
and right now, we don’t always do it.
I don’t want this to sound too snarky…but:
If you believe that perhaps Oshkosh needs a system of governance that is aldermanic (representatives elected from individual wards) with an elected highest official that has LOTS of power…I have got some great news for you!
There is a PERFECT example of that literally in your backyard. It’s called: your Winnebago County Board of Supervisors!. That is precisely the model used there. If you think that is the picture of efficiency…well…we disagree a little bit as those are not the words I would use to describe it.
I am not saying that model could not work just as well, but neither will be as functional as it should be if the folks who live here, and the folks elected, do not put in the work.
job 1 for any elected official, in any office, is to be conduit between their community and the operations (city hall/county workers/etc).
This starts and ends with communication and transparency. In my book, I do hold those elected to a higher standard as well, as I think that basic correspondence and transparency really is the first part of the job.
A few months back, I wanted to email all of my federally elected officials. There is a great site to do that (if you did not know). The offices of every single one of those folks got back to me (one a lot later than the other two)… but importantly, all of them!
Often in my role with the WI Restaurant Assoc. I would send emails to state officials. I cannot find a good link to email all reps at the state level, sadly. Results at this level a little more hit and miss. Over the 14 years on that board I would say the 70% of the time folks at least acknowledge an email (which might only be a couple per year). I’m not going to name names on who does not reply in this newsletter, but do want to mention bright spots where they occur. Dan Feyen has responded to every single email I have ever written to him, even though we don’t always agree. Even better, he sometimes goes out of his way to call to discuss instead! This is a fella who does care about his job and his community, and as his constituent, I appreciate that!
If you’ve been following along on this page, you heard me lamenting recently the fact that there was no ‘contact all supervisors’ button at the Winnebago County Website (they did, however, add a ‘SURVEY’ to get feedback from you about the site! … the ‘SURVEY’ is here). Because I believe there should be a button to contact all supervisors… I built them (just for you!). Whether I am elected or no, those buttons will remain. I have used them twice lately to reach out to those running for that office and those currently seated. 3 out of 10 running replied. 5 out of …geez…36 of those seated took the time to get back to me. Not great.
I probably email all city councilors more than most folks (there IS a button for that…it’s the link in this sentence). I would guess 4-6 times per year. Over the 16 years I have been back in Oshkosh and active in my community, at least half of the councilors who served during that time never even acknowledged a note. I’m not talking about only current group FYI…(though there are some of the brightest spots there, as Mike Ford in particular, gets the goldest star from me as he ALWAYS has replied…and lots others at current good as well).
Overall, at least in my experience, the level of elected officials who is the least apt to correspond is at the most local level. That is not only surprising to me (as these are your literal neighbors…folks you’re apt to see out and about) but also the most detrimental, as this is the level of governance where correpsondence and transparency is most necessary and valuable as it can most rapidly impact your daily life.
There are only a couple of steps to the ‘work’ i am describing in this article.
1. Vote.
2. Proactively speak up to those you voted for.
3. Hold accountable to the conversation the folks you are reaching out to.
That’s it. And at current, we do none of those very well or enough.
Perhaps (and I hope that this is the case) there will come a day where we can truly discuss the merits of differing forms of gonvernance. Right this second, without improving the basics, there would be no difference if a change was made, and thusly, no real point in discussing it. We’d still suffer the lack of correspondence and understanding of issues that comes from not doing the work now.
If you have written me, or commented on social in the last couple of months, you will know that I do reply. To everyone.
(Seems like a good place for the email button just in case you have not pressed it yet):
I honestly believe that this simple first step of open conversation on all things, at all times, will go a long ways to improving a lot of aspects of your local government. If elected, I expect you to hold me to it.
SO…about the position of ‘Mayor’:
I do believe it is important to change it. It is confusing to folks to vote separately for a position that is exactly like 6 others. That confusion does inhibit the effectiveness of your local government, as people perceive our ‘mayor’ can do more than he or she can.
There has been some less than great reporting on this subject that makes it seem as if the discussion involves appointing someone from the general public to a council seat. That is not the case. What has been discussed is appointing FROM the elected councilors a ‘council president’ who would run the council meetings. Nothing more. I do understand the point that a referendum was used to add the position of (powerless) mayor, and that perhaps a referendum should be used to remove the position as well. I am not sure that matters much either.
If it were entirely up to me, here is how I think it should work:
Oshkosh elects 7 councilors. (3 in one cycle, 4 in the next). That’s it! (no titles needed as they really do serve no purpose).
If we don’t all put in the work, effectiveness will not come anyway…so I will keep my focus there, and hope you will do the same.
As always, appreciate the reading and feel free to holler with any and all comments and questions.