There has been a lot of buzz lately about a new dynamic in governing. This “Power Inversion" is the focus of a new book (and article by Thomas Friedman of the NY Times I want to Be a Mayor) by the Brookings Institution scholars Bruce Katz and Jennifer Bradley, entitled: “The Metropolitan Revolution: How Cities and Metros Are Fixing Our Broken Politics and Fragile Economy.”
Katz
and Bradley frame the opportunities best: Although only states and the federal
government are recognized by the U.S. Constitution, cities and metropolitan
areas enjoy considerable powers. There is an inextricable link between fiscal
devolution and the shaping of economies in cities and metropolitan areas. A
large share of financing for local services, for example, comes from revenues
generated at the municipal level. Given these fiscal tools, cities are able to
access municipal bond markets and utilize innovative financing techniques, such
as tax increment financing (TIF), to support specific economic development
strategies and projects. Cities and counties also have the power in most states
to go to voters with ballot initiatives to ask for bond issues or dedicated tax
sources to support smart, targeted investments. All these financing tools
leverage additional funding and resources from the private sector.
Municipalities also have enormous ability to grow and shape their economies
given their substantial control over local land use, zoning and planning. The
design and implementation of these powers helps set the framework not just for
the physical landscape of the city, but also structure of industry and
residential and commuting patterns.
Against
this backdrop, directly elected Mayors play both formal and informal roles
within cities. In many cities, Mayors are the CEOs of the local government,
responsible for the overall management of city agencies and departments and the
appointment of board members and even senior staff members to quasi public
agencies. The best U.S. mayors also extend beyond their formal remit and help
set the broader competitive vision for the city, in coordination with
corporate, university and civic leadership, and develop strategies to achieve
that vision. The informal power to convene is probably the least respected tool
a local elected official possesses, but the most important one when addressing
issues as multi-dimensional as the desired shape and structure of a
metropolitan economy. Mayor Bloomberg understood this in the early days of the
Great Recession when he and his Administration reached out to dozens of
corporate and civic leaders to discern options for economic revival and
diversification, a process which ultimately resulted in the Applied Sciences
District.
America’s
metropolitan revolution seems thoroughly attuned to the pace and tenor of
modern life spawned by technology and globalization. We are living in a
disruptive moment that worships speed, extols collaboration, rewards
customization, demands differentiation and champions integrated thinking to
match and master the complexities of modern economies and societies. The
metropolitan revolution is like our Age: crowd sourced rather than closed
sourced, entrepreneurial rather than bureaucratic, networked rather than
hierarchical.
Dr. Benjamin R. Barber, an internationally renowned political theorist, takes this philosophy even further in his upcoming book If Mayors Ruled the World. In this book, Dr. Barber boldly theorizes
Let cities, through a
global “Parliament of Mayors,” run the world.
Why cities? They already occupy the commanding
heights of the global economy. They are home to more than half of the world’s
population, a proportion which will continue to grow. They are the primary
incubator of the cultural, social, and political innovations which shape our
planet. And most importantly, they are unburdened with the issues of borders
and sovereignty which hobble the capacity of nation-states to work with one
another.
Why mayors? Through rigorous research and extensive
surveys, Dr. Barber demonstrates that regardless of city size or political
affiliation, local executives exhibit a non-partisan and pragmatic style of
governance that is lacking in national and international halls of power. In the
immortal words of former New York mayor Fiorello La Guardia, “There is no
Democratic or Republican way of fixing a sewer.” Through these
qualities of leadership mayors have retained the trust of citizens in their
office, helped cities become beacons of good governance, and spearheaded
city-to-city collaborations in order to better address shared problems. Hear more from Dr. Barber below.
Within this framework, we
also have a recent article by ICMA Executive Director Bob O’Neill Public Service and the Limits of Specialization.
Bob’s point, contrary to limiting specialization,
is that local governments must buck traditional organized structures. In as
much as Katz and Bradley write that we are “living in a disruptive moment that
worships speed, extols collaboration, rewards customization, demands
differentiation and champions integrated thinking to match and master the
complexities of modern economies and societies”, O’Neill similarly challenges
local government leaders by writing “The question for government leaders is
this: How do we take advantage of the enormous power of specialization yet
organize around the issues that matter most to those we serve? It stands to
reason that if new ways of thinking about the impact of organizational
structure and leadership can transform public-safety operations, then the same
would be true for departments and agencies throughout all levels of
government.”
How to Get Started
Inspiring stuff, isn't it?
We at CPBB love the thought of
this opportunity. In fact we can't get enough of it. The next 10 years could be
a defining period for local governments across the Country, and for your local
government. We are living and participating, being called upon in perhaps the
single most important time in the history of our institution.
However, with such extraordinary
opportunity ahead of all of us, there is also tremendous challenge. For many of
our organizations, it seems our resources are already scarce, and made worse by
the problems plaguing Federal and State levels. How are we to rise to the
occasion of the decade of local government, with the seemingly insurmountable
stress already upon us?
 |
| Pete Peterson at CPBB Summit July 2013 |
At the 2013 Priority Based Budgeting Conference in Washington D.C., the Davenport Institute's Pete
Peterson captured the essence of the issue with a quote from Stephen Goldsmith,
(“The Red Ink Tsunami: Why Old Ideas Can’t Fix the New Government
Perma-Crisis”) -- “For a variety of reasons today’s budget deficits
are different. Government at all levels now faces an inescapable reality – the
promises of public services exceed our ability to pay for them – and will do so
regardless of when the recession ends. The steady increase in the quantity and
cost of public services, coupled with the needs of an aging population and
public pension costs have produced a long term, structural deficit."
How does local government seize
this incredible opportunity, how do we embrace the “Decade of Local Government”
when revenues are static or declining, citizens can't and more importantly
won’t contribute more tax dollars and the perception held by so many of them is
that their city or county is wasteful and inefficient? Or, how do
we initiate the kinds of great ideas that Katz and Bradley have observed,
as well as Bob O'Neill's concept of leveraging the great
specialization in our communities?
This is what drives us - this is
the work we're involved in. This is what Priority Based Budgeting is ALL about.
The reason we're so elated with Friedman's "I Want to Be Mayor" and
O'Neill's concept of leveraging specialization is because these are the
outcomes that PBB leads to – PBB is a means to the ends, a systematic way of
evaluating what we do, what others in our community are doing, and always with
a focus on the Results we're trying to achieve. Furthermore, through the lens
of PBB we are able to tie in the resources (financial, human, physical), ALL
the resources that a community has to offer, and direct them towards the
societal results we want to achieve.
Many communities we've worked with that, through implementing Priority Based Budgeting, have leveraged financial stability to launch a variety of innovative and creative programs that foster future success for the benefit of their citizens.
Five Priority Based Budgeting
Community Success Stories:
The CPBB itself continuously seeks innovative and cutting-edge trends to incorporate into our work for the benefit of the communities we serve. See the following recent posts:
Priority Based Budgeting and The Power Inversion: Case Studies in the “Decade of Local Government”
The X Factor, Citizen Engagement & CPBB
From Scarcity to Abundance: Resource Liberation Through the Power of Shared Services
Are YOU Running Government Like a Business?
We commend Friedman, Katz,
Bradley and O'Neill for helping show us what is possible in this Power
Inversion and in the Decade of Local Government. It IS exciting. Now it's up to
us to seize the opportunity!!
If you're thinking of jumping into the world of Fiscal Health and Wellness through Priority Based Budgeting we would certainly like to be part of your efforts! Contact us to schedule a free webinar and identify the best CPBB service option(s) to meet your organization's particular needs.
No comments:
Post a Comment