[Re-posted from Almanac blog]
Atherton, posted by please stop, a resident of the Atherton: other neighborhood
This Wednesday a very important vote on employee’s compensation/benefits will be made by the Council to chart the course of Atherton’s employees and managers for the future. This will be a last ditch effort by a group of Councilmembers who see Atherton as a business where the mission is to deliver the product at the lowest possible cost using the fewest and cheapest employees one can find. Given the wording of the pending resolution the rational is built on “savings”. Likely the business backgrounds of the various personalities involved see their duty as business managers. They see the need for this hurried vote as they realize change is coming. The new moderate mixture of council members will likely see Atherton as a small town government serving the residents and responding to their needs for safety, roads and infrastructure.
The last ten years of Atherton’s governance is not pretty. It has been marked by a toxic mixture of various Council members who are at war with each other, with multiple departures of key employees, and costly lawsuits. There is no vision to replace decrepit town buildings. The recent effort at placing a library in the Park was a total disaster in that the will and appeals of the majority of the residents was totally ignored from the beginning and then when using the ballot box was overwhelming slapped down.
While it appears that the resolution on compensation and benefits will probably be passed unless it is immediately pulled as an agenda item. The timing is just wrong in that a new council will not be allowed to consider the matter. The old Council has no business making long term decisions in the final minutes of their term that a new Council will have to live with over a long period of time. The voters have indicated they want a change in the nature of Atherton’s government. The remuneration issue has not been explained in terms of fiscal need or discussed in public meetings. The resulting effect will be not being able to attract the best employees available. What this vote will produce is more employee turnover, less effective employees and in the end more expense for the taxpayers of Atherton.
This vote will have consequences in upcoming contract negations with the sworn police officers. It would not be a surprise if many are planning to leave right now as they see what the future holds in Atherton. Many communities are seeking trained police officers from adjacent communities (lateral transfers) and enhancing benefits. For instance Antioch, California is considering making benefits more attractive as they find training and experience are costly items.
http://www.contracostatimes.com/ci_22055565/antioch-looks-at-ways-entice-veteran-police-officers
The need for a renew of the Parcel Tax is obvious but the intent of this vote is to do away with it having “saved” costly employee expense. The private funding effort of a new Town Center which residents endorsed will likely stall in absence of a long-term vision for the Atherton Police Department and other town service employees. As a new library or remodeled one is mixed into Town Center concept it likely too will stall.
While the result of the Wednesday vote can possibly be undone in the months ahead, it will be a reflection of today’s dysfunctional Council for a long time. Atherton residents should demand a responsive government and are tired of the last ten years of poor governance. Atherton is not a business but an organization to serve the needs and reflect the will of the residents. The lame duck council should not vote on anything of a long term nature right now but take their victory lap, have their party and get out of the way.
Forbes Magazine, it so happens, has an excellent recent article on this very topic:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.forbes.com/sites/johntharvey/2012/10/05/government-vs-business/
Some excerpts:
The idea that government should be run like a business is a popular one with both Republicans and, albeit to a lesser extent, Democrats. But this betrays a basic misunderstanding of the roles of the private and public sector. We should no more want the government to be run like a business than a business to be run like the government.
Those popularizing this notion feel this way because they see business as more efficient. This must be the case, so the logic goes, or the entity in question would lose market share and go bankrupt. Only the fit survive.
Bear in mind, first, that “efficiency” in the private sector means profit. Hence, to ask that the government be run like a business is tantamount to asking that the government turn a profit.
The problem in a nutshell, is that not everything that is profitable is of social value and not everything of social value is profitable. Reality TV, pornography, fashion, sports, and gambling are all of questionable social value, but each is quite profitable and exists in the private sector. Meanwhile, few would argue that the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, police department, fire department, libraries, parks, and public schools are of no social value, and yet they could not exist if they were required to be profitable.
To reiterate, the key issue is this: not everything that is profitable is of social value and not everything of social value is profitable. The proper role of government is the latter. Those arguing for a business model for government must necessarily be ready to shut down all government functions that do not earn a profit, regardless of their contribution to our well being. And, if the public sector is being run properly, that should mean every single one.
The point, however, is that saying that government is inefficient because it does not turn a profit is the equivalent of saying that Peyton Manning is a poor quarterback because he doesn’t hit enough home runs. He’s not supposed to.
From: "Don Way"
ReplyDeleteSubject: The November 28 Council Agenda
Date: November 26, 2012 5:50:57 PM PST
Dear Athertonians:
We have a town governance problem. Maybe there have been Brown Act violations; maybe not. Maybe the Mayor has overstepped his authority in giving instructions to the town manager; maybe not. Maybe decisions are being made for the personal interests of some council members rather than for the good of the town; maybe not. However -- the notion of a forced unpaid "furlough" over the Holidays to save $14,000 is silly and insulting to our employees. The notion of taking $6,000 from the town's treasury to fund a party is equally silly. BTW, I offered the Mayor to contribute as a volunteer to such a party, as I believe it should be funded by voluntary contributions, not tax revenues, if it happens at all. I have not had a response. As far as a lame duck council meeting in closed session (which is OK) to consider a compensation plan for our police officers designed to make them quit, that is NOT OK. Atherton residents voted a very clear mandate in our recent elections: KEEP OUR LOCAL POLICE.
-- Don Way, 124 Patricia Drive