2010 SECoPA Sets Impressive Course in Wilmington

By Kenneth Hunter, Guest Blogger

The picturesque riverfront of Wilmington, North Carolina, was the scene for academic and practitioner discussion and collaboration during the 30th Southeastern Conference of Public Administration (SECoPA), held October 13th-16th.

The conference, held at the Wilmington Hilton Riverside, was attended by 326 academics and practitioners, including 123 current students of public administration.

More than 70 sessions were held where academics and practitioners at the federal, state, and local level presented research on topics ranking from finance and human resources, to nonprofit management, environmental policy, and comparative theory. Along with heavy representation from institution in the southeastern US, the conference also saw presenters from across the country, as well as visitors from India, Singapore and Turkey.

Traditional sessions were complemented with special offerings featuring Wilmington’s new convention center and collaborative visioning process. A pre-conference presentation by the Alliance for Innovation focused on the importance of innovation, partnerships and organizational renewal in the current environment of government fiscal crisis.

Plenary luncheons featured presentation of annual SECoPA awards, along with engaging presentations by Meredith Newman, ASPA President, and the Honorable Carolyn Justice of the North Carolina General Assembly. Dr. Newman’s presentation focused on the need to improve response capacities in anticipation of potential crisis and disaster, while Representative Justice focused her remarks on the importance of a personal commitment toward ethics for those in public service.

Winners of 2010 SECoPA awards include:

Donato J. Pugliese Award
Professor Ed Jennings, University of Kentucky

Senator Peter B. Boorsma Award
Professor Alan Rosenbaum, Florida International University

Distinguished Public Service Practitioner Award
William E. Solomon, J.D., Miami-Dade Parks & Recreation

Robert Kline Award (Best Master’s Student Paper)
Meredith Howes, University of Kentucky

Morris W.H. Collins, Jr. Award (Best Ph.D. Candidate Paper)
Winner – Gina Scutelnicu, Florida International University
Honorable Mention – Matthew Howell, University of Kentucky)

Attendees were impressed with the conference’s positive atmosphere, along with the visible work put forth in organizing and hosting the event by the University of North Carolina at Wilmington’s MPA Program.

“(UNC-Wilmington Professor) Tom Barth and company are to be congratulated for putting on a first rate conference,” said past SECoPA Chair, Dr. Steven Condrey. “The annual SECoPA conference is a clear model for other regions to follow in designing a conference that unites the academic and practitioner communities.”

As conference chair, Dr. Barth declared this year’s SECoPA a rousing success. ““It was gratifying to see the wonderful mix of faculty, students and practitioners at theSECoPA 2010 Conference.”

“I have discovered first-hand what makes the annual conference so special….tremendous cooperation, collegiality and a welcoming atmosphere for many students and practitioners who are presenting for the first time,” Barth added.  “However, it was also special to see so many leading scholars from the field also in attendance, sharing their insights and offering suggestions.  Thank you to all the SECoPA 2010 participants!”

During the final evening reception, attendees learned about plans for the 2011 SECoPA, scheduled for September 21st-24th in New Orleans. A raffle and silent auction were also held, raising $1,370 for the SECoPA Endowment Fund.

“Once again, I left a SECoPA Conference energized about the many panels I attended and proud to be a part of an organization that takes its work seriously,” said incoming SECoPA Chair, Dr. Dorothy Norris-Tirrell.

To learn more about SECoPA, visit their website, http://www.aspaonline.org/secopa.

ASPA Member Kenneth Hunter is an MPA graduate of The University of Georgia with more than a decade of experience in local government finance. Kenneth is the Budget & Evaluation Manager for the City of Rocky Mount, North Carolina, and serves on the Executive Committee of the Association for Budgeting & Financial Management and is a Board Member and Webmaster for the North Carolina Local Government Budget Association. You can follow Ken online via Facebook & Tumblr.

The Best of Times, the Worst of Times

Dickens’ classic book “A Tale of Two Cities” begins, “It was the best of times; it was the worst of times.” That’s a pretty apt description of the world Americans inhabit right now.
On the plus side, advances in transportation and communication allow us to travel the globe and connect with others in ways our parents could never have imagined. Medical science has given us longer, more comfortable lives. Technology has improved our productivity, and brought education, books, and the arts to millions who otherwise would lack access to them.

The best of times.

And then there is our experiment with self-government, which isn’t going so well.

It’s partly the economy, of course. During times of economic distress, people get testy. Prejudices emerge. (Attacks on immigrants and Muslims, especially, are getting ugly.)
But it’s not just the economy. We also seem to be in the throes of a massive cultural backlash, driven primarily—although certainly not exclusively—by old, angry white guys. Most of these angry folks cannot articulate what it is that makes them so furious—probably because they really don’t know themselves. They just know that the world they were born into (or think they were born into—that “leave it to Beaver” world that existed, if at all, for a very few families) has changed.

If you listen to Tea Party activists for even a few minutes, you cannot help but be struck by the fact that they cannot describe policies they support, although they can certainly identify what they are against—much like a cranky two-year-old, or that character from “Broadcast News” who was “mad as hell and not going to take it anymore.”
Conventional wisdom tells us this rage will translate into the election of several of the crazier candidates who have emerged from the primaries. We are a week away from an election where a lot of irrational folks are energized and large numbers of reasonable citizens are dispirited.

If, as many of our pundits predict, this angry electorate votes indiscriminately against moderates and incumbents, opting for extremists who display little or no recognition of the complexities of the issues (or even basic understanding of the world we inhabit), we will all suffer the consequences. If we turn the apparatus of government over to the “simple answer” ideologues—the creationists and climate-change deniers, the folks who want to repeal Social Security and the Civil Rights Act, the conspiracy-theorists who have convinced themselves that President Obama is a Muslim who wasn’t born in the United States—the consequences will be grim.

We have never needed sane and steady public servants more than we need them today.

Which brings me to another quote that seems apt right now: “All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good people to do nothing.”

If reasonable people don’t vote in large numbers, and the ideologues and crazies and know-nothings take the reins of power, “the best of times” will become “the worst of times” in no time.

The People Managing Part of Managing

Many conversations among many public HR professionals (I’m sure this holds true for private sector HR professionals as well) rarely fail to mention in frustration some of their program managers who don’t like, don’t want to, or just can’t do the people management piece of their jobs.  They were great nurses, engineers, biologists, investigators, programmers, case workers and so on. But when they were promoted to become managers they struggled with the people managing piece of their jobs. They generally don’t like to set clear expectations for their subordinates, nor do they like following-up on what they need to follow-up on, hold their subordinates accountable, evaluate performance, and any and all of the legwork a manager really has to do in order to be a successful people manager.  They appear to expect their employees to learn or develop by osmosis, so they don’t actively train or coach.  They, however, typically like their technical program duties which they will do to the detriment, and sometimes as an escape or refuge from, their people management responsibilities. 

But why do they become managers?  Well, that is the sure way to get more money and prestige.  They may also think, initially, that they can handle the “soft art” of people management because they expect their subordinates to share their professional attitude and zeal.  They may even deal with some issues for a while, and even contact their HR departments for help.  But when HR emphasizes to them time and time again the importance of documenting important conversations and events, setting expectations, following up, reviewing performance, reprimanding, and so on they generally scale back their HR engagement. They may at first even question HR’s understanding of the day to day activities associated with managing a program.  But later, they typically stop contacting HR altogether because they know what they are going to be asked to do, and they subsequently retreat to the comfort of their program activities ignoring their people management issues.  This can go on for a while, or even for years, as the manager continues to avoid dealing with the people management issues.  Problem employees often sense the uneasiness the manager displays and they escalate their behavior. Other employees feel the manager is not taking care of problems and they resent having to do not only their work, but that of others who seem to be getting away with murder. 

A breaking point eventually arrives.  That point can take any one of several forms: Other employees go to the union or the manager’s manager or HR, good employees start leaving the agency or the department or section, work product deteriorates to the point noticed by stakeholders, some employees charge harassment or discrimination (because they are given more work than others), the list can go on. At that breaking point, the working relationships are in shreds and may be irretrievably damaged and pressure may be on the manager to exit.  Or, it may be just the wake up call the manager needed to start people managing.  That latter scenario is rare:  Managers who don’t like the people management piece of their job are seldom reformed.  Most HR professionals spend most of the time in these situations trying to contain the damage.  Good HR departments with strong training components can provide some tools and support for struggling managers who want to do better, but this is seldom effective if it is not done proactively.

The most important proactive way to avoid such situations is to make sure organizations hire good people managers by instituting or maintaining robust selection regimes that are designed to make appropriate hiring or promotional decisions. But in this age of severe budget cuts, the most negatively affected areas are the very areas that would mitigate this problem: Recruitment and Training. The realistic outlook is there will always be program managers who don’t like, don’t want to, or just can’t do the people management piece of their jobs.

What is considered a “public good?”

The “Great Recession” has forced many governments to take a look at the services they provide and determine whether or not they should continue providing those services. Many times, these discussions are centered on what are truly public goods and thus a necessary component of government operations. I think I greatly underestimated this discussion until I heard about a story out of Tennessee which sparked a national debate.
An Obion County resident had decided to forgo paying for the annual $75 fire service fee – insurance, so to speak. You see, Obion County does not provide fire services to its rural residents (outside the city limits); local municipality South Fulton provides fire protection via fee for service to rural Obion residents. This is done as opposed to a tax levy whereby all residents of Obion would receive fire services. Well, one family recently learned the consequences of not paying that fee.
On September 29th, a fire started at Lance Cranik’s house. Once detected, he quickly called 911 and was told that fire crews would respond shortly. Ten minutes later Lance found out that the fire department would not be responding because the family had not paid their fee. The fire department did show up but only to ensure that nearby houses (where their owners had paid their fee) did not succumb to the Cranik fire. The Cranik’s offered to pay the fee on the spot but were rejected and thus, lost nearly everything, including family pets. The irony of the situation was that this was not the first time the Craniks forgot to pay their fee and were victims of fire. A few years back a chimney fire threatened a son’s home. The fire department responded anyways and the family paid up the next morning.
The situation has sparked a national debate on whether or not the fire department (or at the very least – the responding firemen) did the right thing. Unfortunately, it is not a black and white issue. I wonder what would have happened if the firemen decided to respond despite the order not to and a fireman was injured? Isn’t it likely that the workman’s comp claim would be denied? Others challenge that it is like car insurance – since when does Allstate allow individuals to buy insurance after an accident?
This debate has been raging in Obion for the last 20 years. County Commissioners voted on 10/18 to hold a referendum in February 2012 to determine whether or not this service should remain as a fee or to implement a fire tax. At a basic level, this is a discussion of public goods. “Public good” was first coined by Paul Samuelson in 1954 as “…[goods] which all enjoy in common in the sense that each individual’s consumption of such a good leads to no subtractions from any other individual’s consumption of that good…” (Wikipedia, Public Good). Simply put, a public good is a good that is non-rivalrous and non-excludable. Is it possible for a fire to be excludable? In rural areas where there is a distance between properties it is possible.
With the budget constraints that many jurisdictions are facing, excluding services such as fire protection, are certainly decisions that many are contemplating. There is a fine line here – who’s responsibility is it?

Our Hidden Students

As an assistant professor in a community college, my primary objectives are the education and success of my students. As both instructor AND academic advisor, I have the privilege of getting to know students on multiple levels.  College life is filled with opportunities and explorations, as well as obstacles and trepidations.  Unfortunately, the challenges of the college years are often exacerbated for sexual minority youth. One need only read the stories of Tyler Clementi, Jorge Steven Lopez Mercado, and Raymond Chase to know just how difficult it can be for these students.

According to a 2003 assessment conducted by the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, more than one-third of GLBT undergraduate students have experienced harassment. Fifty-one percent of GLBT respondents conceal their sexual orientation or gender identity to avoid this harassment and other forms of intimidation. More than 40% of respondents to the survey reported their campus to be homophobic. Perhaps the most frightening aspect of this survey is that the 15 colleges participating in the survey are among the very few who have GLBT student centers. What does this say about the safety and well-being of sexual minority youth in the other 5000 colleges around the country?

If we are true to our commitment to offer equal access to higher education, we must make our campuses safer and more accepting of our sexual minority students—gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgendered, questioning and intersexed youth and young adults.  A number of resources, such as the Task Force, GLSEN (Gay and Lesbian Student Education Network), and PFLAG (Parents and Friends of Lesbian and Gays) offer suggestions if you are interested in more information.  Here are a few ideas:

Our institutions can help by recruiting LGBT faculty and staff, and faculty and staff who are allies to their LGBT colleagues. They should also have documented policy against harassment and other hate crimes against sexual minority students and employees. Moreover, there should be a mechanism in place for reporting such behaviors.

As faculty, we can help by integrating LGBT content into our curriculum. We should stand as allies to our sexual minority students, identifying ourselves as Safe Persons and our classes and offices as Safe Spaces. We should  use inclusive language, avoiding gendered pronouns and using words like “partner” instead of girlfriend/boyfriend. We should make no assumptions:You do not know who is gay or straight in your classroom! And most importantly, we should not tolerate anti-gay/lesbian comments or behaviors. Address hateful acts and comments immediately by creating a teachable moment. We are, afterall, educators.

Robyn-Jay Bage, M.P.A. is a nonprofit CEO and community college Assistant Professor

Honey! Did You pay the fire bill?

NOTE: The following represents the analysis-based opinion of the author and do not reflect those of his employer or any other affiliations.

WARNING!!! The following includes positive perspective on a Conservative commentator’s take on a public policy issue.

By Kenneth Hunter, Guest Blogger

South Fulton, TN, is the northern point of what I refer to as the “Tri-Cities” of Northwest Tennessee (along with Union City and a frequent destination during my college days, Martin). In case you’re wondering, they’re “South Fulton” because they border Fulton, KY.

Now that I’ve offered an essential geography lesson, let’s discuss how this little slice of heaven  took center stage in the age-old debate over the “Tragedy of the Commons.”

South Fulton is in Obion County, where unincorporated residents do not receive fire protection services from their county government.  Fire departments are established in each of Obion County’s eight municipalities.

Prior to a couple of years ago, South Fulton’s fire department would not respond to any calls beyond its jurisdiction boundaries. In response to requests from neighboring residents, the City decided to offer fire protection within its “rural services area” for a $75 annual fee. This is offered as an opt-in plan, though the City does make multiple efforts to make sure all eligible unincorporated residents area aware of the plan.

Last week, the home of Gene and Paulette Cranick, unincorporated residents who were eligible for but chose not to pay the fire service subscription fee, caught fire and eventually burned to the ground. Despite numerous 911 calls and pleas for assistance, the South Fulton Fire Department would not response.  The department did respond once a neighboring resident who had paid for the service called in to report that the fire spread to his property. In that situation, firefighters only did what was necessary to avoid the spreading of the fire to the subscriber’s parcel.

The Cranicks, who opted not to pay the subscription, offered to pay for protection costs on-the-spot. However, South Fulton’s policy was firm: payments must be made in advance.

Since reaching the ether of the Internet this weekend, the story has made national news and generated public debate. It established prevalence as a topic on popular national shows hosted by Glenn Beck and others, as well as in commentaries by the New York Time’s Paul Krugman and contributors to National Review’s popular blog, The Corner. On the day this article was written, the topic “firemen let house burn” was among the top 10 topics discussed on the Internet in the US, according to Google Trends.

For some, this issue has touched an emotional nerve. Others see this as a critical test of upholding a more libertarian model for citizen participation in and funding of government services, seeing whether or not practices can be upheld to make sure that circumstances do not devolve where the oft-discussed “tragedy of the commons” develops itself.

I realize there are those who read this article who are completely dumbfounded that fire protection is not a service guaranteed at some level for all American residents and landowners. This is a reality, and it serves as one of the primary reasons I prefer to locate to incorporated areas with their own fire departments, funded with property tax dollars.

For some, especially in rural areas, the “government that governs least governs best” is more than a slogan. It is a way of life they are willing to embrace, good or bad. Those desiring additional services, and willing to contribute what is necessary to provide them through taxes or fees, find themselves locating to incorporated areas, even if they bring the cities and town to them through annexation.

The reality, however, is that in far less and far more serious situations, South Fulton’s fire service solution for surrounding unincorporated residents represents issues that all local governments find themselves with. We know there are services we provide that are sought both by residents within our jurisdiction and those living beyond. We must have the means, structurally and legally, to collect equitable revenues across the board so all recipients are active contributors to the continued delivery of effective service.

The greatest challenge we face, regardless the service, is when we are faced with actually telling someone “no” because they did not pay. In the case of the Cranick’s, City of South Fulton officials made a conscious decision not to offer a “last second” option in order to ensure that the potential for “free loading” service recipients was minimized. If the demand for services with these unincorporated areas is too great, and payment for services is not effectively enforced, South Fulton’s resources may be stretched too thin, negatively impacting its ability maintaining quality service for in-jurisdiction residents and businesses who provide most of their needed finances.

Should participation in paying for government services be a means of testing eligibility for the sake of equity? In cases like this, as cold as it sounds, I believe it should. So did Glenn Beck, who drew a comparison to the potential for similar problems under proposed healthcare reform. Whether you agree with Mr. Beck or not, his openness to seriously examine the potential ramifications of the original intent-focused, limited government ideology he is actively promoting shows significant maturity. Unlike many who discuss the essential balance between freedom and personal responsibility, Beck shows a willingness to honestly identify likely positives and negatives for all parties involved.

Overall, the public debate on this issue has incorporated multiple arguments and viewpoints. While some make the heart string appeal for moral imperative and delivery regardless of location, financial realities of services like fire protection make it far more difficult. As a local government budget professional, I cannot imagine the difficulties South Fulton and similar cities face because of the lack of similar services for unincorporated areas.

Other alternatives are available. I am grateful not only to live and work with a great, professional fire department here in Rocky Mount, but also have counties where unincorporated areas maintain volunteer fire districts funded with tax levies. Through a series of mutual aid agreements, our City and the rural volunteer departments supplement each others’ services as necessary to ensure the highest possible quality to our residents.  It may not be a perfect solution, but compared to the limited options that face residents in Obion County and other areas without guaranteed fire service, it is an honest slice of heaven.

Without sitting down and talking to elected officials and administrators for South Fulton and Obion County, there is no way to really understand the circumstances that forced South Fulton to maintain a hard line on fire protection beyond its jurisdiction limits. It would be interesting to see if issues such as annexation, city-county disagreements, or other means of political infighting often prevalent in rural areas (the closest explanation I can find to suggest how terse relationships are in the area is this local story).

Regardless the debate, the incident does remind residents and the elected representatives of the importance of fire protection. Ironically, or otherwise, Obion County’s Commission Budget Committee approved an agreement between the County and all of its municipalities (except South Fulton) to offer fire subscriptions to unincorporated residents, utilizing City departments. It appears that the plan replicates South Fulton’s program to include the entire County, offering an option for utilization by all property owners.

The economic challenges facing and awaiting local governments across the country, not to mention the likelihood that necessary State and Federal budget cuts will impact funding for local (subsidized) programs, will force us to evaluate not only how select services are offered, but also the distribution of benefit across populations. The South Fulton incident will serve as an opening salvo in a battle over delivery guarantees and the means we utilize to make sure they can be provided without creating financial heartache for governments, or their taxpayers.

ASPA Member Kenneth Hunter is an MPA graduate of Thee University of Georgia with more than a decade of experience in local government finance. Kenneth is the Budget & Evaluation Manager for the City of Rocky Mount, North Carolina, and serves on the Executive Committee of the Association for Budgeting & Financial Management and is a Board Member and Webmaster for the North Carolina Local Government Budget Association. You can follow him online at http://facebook.com/kwhunter or http://kwhunter.tumblr.com.