PM

Data collection is such an important part of management but the actual data collection is booooring.

Need An Answer

With all these voices, it’s hard to read where we stand as a community. We all wish there was an easy answer. After all, taxes haven’t gone down. But city revenue has clearly gone down as state aids and construction has plunged — and both show no signs of an early recovery.
Considering the many competing demands and often scarce resources that confronts the City today, how can management decisions best address the needs of the community? Well, maybe it’s time to ask residents directly for the important part of the answer.
A citizen survey is a high quality, low-cost, scientific service designed by the National Research Center, Inc. in partnership with ICMA, to help busy local government managers make effective decisions informed by a well-rounded view of citizen opinion.

Today's Quote

A disposition to preserve, and an ability to improve, taken together, would be my standard of a statesman.
Edmund Burke

Organization Question

Continuous improvement means not being satisfied with “a good job,” but always striving to do a better job and improve services. When did what was done in 1970 become the benchmark for doing a good job?

Ready For The New Year

Evaluation is a data driven process. Selecting the right technology to collect the data can involve several data collection strategies. Since we are adding expansive amounts of new data while reducing the number of employees available to do the work means exploring strategies and methods that will be using data from systems no longer used to project the new needs.

Super Majority

A slight change in organization format is now required, but no significant change to what will occur.
The newly approved budget incorporated the separation of the Clerk/Treasurer duties. The approved budget recognized the changes in the scope of the job over the years and resulted in the City Manager opting to appoint a Finance Director and incorporate the Treasurer duties into this position. The charter ordinance would have separated the Clerk’s statutory duties from the Treasurer’s duties because the tasks of the Treasurer and Finance Director are similar and the statutory duties of the Clerk are consistent with the Human Resource activities.
The City Manager will have to create minor administrative offices that are attached to the Clerk-Treasurer and Deputy Clerk-Treasurer positions and appoint persons to fill those positions without confirmation by the Council. Such officials serve at the City Manager's pleasure and may be removed without notice and hearing or a finding of cause.
The manager’s authority includes the appointment of department heads and subordinate employees, preparation of the budget, and creation and termination of minor administrative offices. Sec. 64.11(3), Stats.

Funds

The Government Accounting Standards Board (GASB) issued Statement 54 “Fund Balance Reporting and Governmental Fund Type Definitions” in February 2009 and is effective with the 2011 reporting year. These new requirements will mean the Council needs to officially set a fund balance policy and provide the required definitions.
GASB 54 separates fund balances into five categories. Under the old standards, there were three categories; Reserved, Designated and Undesignated. The new categories are more descriptive and focus on how the City plans to use the funds. The resolution provides the definitions for the new classifications and sets a fund balance policy.

Passing Thoughts

In times like the present, men should utter nothing for which they would not willingly be responsible through time and eternity.- Abraham Lincoln

Yes, I have said a lot of things I wish I could take back. A man who sees and reacts to the world through his strengths and weaknesses is different than the man who can see and react to it through others strengths and weaknesses.

To speak ill of others is a dishonest way of praising ourselves. – Will Durant

Aw, the true definition of politics today. We all do it and enjoy our clever conversations. My favorite answer to give and least liked to receive is they all do it.

The measure of a man’s real character is what he would do if he knew he would never be found out. – Thomas B Macaulay

A man contained by nothing other than the values he exposes in public; I wonder what it would be like – never seen it and don’t know if it could really exist. I’ve seen men who want to be good make mistakes and men who want to be bad accidently do something good.

Look at the word responsibility—“response-ability”—the ability to choose your response. Highly proactive people recognize that responsibility. They do not blame circumstances, conditions, or conditioning for their behavior. Their behavior is a product of their own conscious choice, based on values, rather than a product of their conditions, based on feeling. – Stephen R. Covey

I once thought I was responsible – now I’m not sure. What principles’ should determine if you’ve been responsible or not. As I work on continual learning – my perspective has changed.

Know Nothing

Mr Kraus, I also know members of the new "Know Nothing" Party.

Love Sidewalks/Hate Special Assessments

Wisconsin Statutes prescribe the procedures by which cities must follow to specially assess property for local improvements. The Wisconsin Supreme Court, discussing special assessment procedures, has stated that "[t]he power of a municipality to levy an assessment against a private owner is one which exists by right of statute, and the restrictions of the statute must be met if the assessment is to be deemed valid." Elaborating on this point, the court has further declared that "[a] special assessment, to be valid, must be levied pursuant to and in strict compliance with the statutory powers of a municipality." Municipal statutory powers to impose special assessments include both the complete procedure set forth in Wis. Stats. § 66.0703 and the power to adopt an ordinance setting forth a local special assessment procedure under Wis. Stats. § 66.0701. Chief among the requisite procedures are notice and hearing. Failure to comply with mandated procedures may result in the voidance of the special assessment.
The Council is being asked to pass the preliminary resolution that establishes the 2012 sidewalk project area as Stony Road and Plainview Terrace. This resolution authorizes staff to start the plans and develop estimated assessments.
For sidewalk projects, the Public Works Board conducts preliminary public hearings to discuss the project and the proposed special assessments. All affected property owners are notified by mail of the public hearings. The notice includes a brief description of the project and an estimate of the total cost. At the preliminary public hearing, the Board will hear all interested persons regarding the proposed assessments and will consider all written objections and statements before the final plans are prepared for the City Council.
The Board decides whether or not to recommend the proposed assessment to the City Council. It then goes to the City Council for public hearing and Council action in accordance with Wis. Stats. § 66.0703.
This Resolution is the actual start of the process. Staff will use this resolution as authorization to start preparing a set of design plans for comment at the final resolution public hearing.

The Big War

The big war starts this weekend. I'm going hunting.

Class War

Wider than ever.

New Perspective

I became a City Manager because I wanted to make sure that government was doing what I thought it should be doing. Wow, twenty five year's later my perspective has changed. I have adapted to my environment and discovered that there was more than just me that had to be considered.
The first five years on the job were spent learning how to get things done. Government spends as much time slowing the process down as the private sector spends speeding them up. The budget, notices, permits and meetings take time - a lot of time and the processes aren't necessarily intuitive from the cost effective point of view. For some reason, every person in the city thinks they should be notified and given an opportunity to comment.
The project priority system and financing don't function on a direct revenue generation system. Even though you know that the street floods because of inadequate storm sewer and destroys public and private property does not mean the project will be done because it affects a limited number of members within the community and the taxes raised don't have to be spent on the problem.
Fortunately, I had some mentors who were willing to help.
The next five years are about assessing what went right and figuring out how much was screwed up the first five years and fixing the problems. This involves trying to bring the organization along with you after the first five years. You also begin to understand the other players in your environment and how to effectively interact with them.
Now I'm settling in and starting to become effective and then I take another job. But, now I have certain skills that make this new job easier and the most important is the desire to continue learning.

Resistant?

"Change has a considerable psychological impact on the human mind. To the fearful it is threatening because it means that things may get worse. To the hopeful it is encouraging because things may get better. To the confident it is inspiring because the challenge exists to make things better."
- King Whitney Jr

Had a staff meeting yesterday regarding the proposed changes for 2012. The meeting went pretty well, but there are some that don't like the idea of computerized time clocks, tablets for recording daily activities or the need for an email address. I thought that everyone already had an email address.
The days of getting called to the job site, fixing just enough of the problem to get it to work and heading back to the shop are over. Most of the city's staff are good critical problem solvers, but now they have to record the activity for further evaluation. I have provided the daily report form to start the process.

Now Perform

So, we’ve cut our management staff pretty substantially for a small city. We have also eliminated two street department laborers positions. With aging streets and sidewalks that need to be maintained, a library and a parks operation facility that need to be built, fixed and/or adequately staffed and residents’ safety that must be insured, how can we strive to provide quality municipal services?
I want our citizens to understand that the City values the quality of the existing systems and how well maintained systems maintain our quality of life.
The city is going to have to focus on improving processes to maintain all the existing services or end up going through prioritizing essential functions. The recreation, parks and forestry departments add to our city, but are not essential functions and in some ways duplicate similar services provided by other organizations. Police, fire and streets are still functions the city should perform.
We have to stop and evaluate our operations and make some of these decisions.

New Budget Year

I know that you can’t manage it if you can’t measure it. So, what should we be measuring and why? We can generate policy, even if it is generally extrapolation. The level of planning and budgeting is quite extensive and at the end of the period we have provided the required outcomes. We have always been an organization that is result focused and do a good job of achieving the outcome. All our work effort has gone into the achievement of the outcome and no one has taken the time to measure inputs along the way. The output or workload data is generally available and needs the input data to generate performance indicators.

Without measurement, we cannot fully evaluate the outcome. We were probably effective from our perspective, but what about from the perspective of the Council, taxpayer or utilizer? Their satisfaction with the outcome is the real measure of effectiveness. It is standard that driver satisfaction relates to the smoothness of the pavement. So, if when filling potholes, you create a bump instead of a hole, are you effective? I know that you think you’ve been effective because the pothole is filled.

Was the process efficient and is the method use to make the decision intuitive of non-intuitive? I want to know the level of input compared to the value of the outputs. We are always busy, with measurement and evaluation we might be able to design process improvements and maybe we could produce more with less. Here we need to be able to measure efficiency, not workload or
utilizer satisfaction.

We are going to have to improve our efficiency or work a lot of hours because there are less of us then before with more outcomes expected.

Up From The Grave

Well, Addy is once again experiencing the cold Wisconsin wind in her bones.
http://lakemillsleaderonline.com/main.asp?SectionID=2&SubSectionID=176&ArticleID=5734

Legal Note

Settlement of a lawsuit “with prejudice” bars a second action based on similar allegations involving the same parties.
Yeah!

Our Budget

The prevailing balance of interests and pressures in the City’s determination of public expenditure management is unlikely to reflect a social equity, pro-employee, ethics driven, orientation in any simple sense. It is also likely to reflect complicated information sharing processes, generally held in private rather than public discussions, and designed to exclude groups from the decision-making. It is very likely that any attempts to eliminate walking quorums and other forms of illegal meetings will run into both overt and covert resistance. The adoption of formal budget policy goals by the City will lack commitment and have an insufficient support to achieve meaningful results.
Ideally, therefore, for people interested in understanding the politics of a given budget process it would be valuable to have information about the following: a) The formal structure of roles and responsibilities within the budget process; b) The formal rules governing decision-making, political choice and accountability within the public expenditure management system; c) The networks of stakeholder power and influence (outside the formal allocation of roles and responsibilities), which influence the outcomes of the budget process; d) Incentives for action (covert as well as overt) affecting the decision-making of politicians and officials during budget formulation and execution; e) The latitude for independent discretionary action of bureaucrats at all levels of the budget execution process; f) The norms and values prevailing in key institutions within the budget formulation and execution process.

How Are You Involved?

The Rice Lake City Council has taken a step that I find interesting and I’m going to follow the process for a while. The new resolution requires an agenda item called “Conflict of Interest disclosure and protocol” or something similar. They added this after a problem with a contracted engineer not disclosing a conflict.
The resolution requires staff, contractors and developers to provide information on any conflicts or potential conflicts of interest that may occur during any agenda item at the meeting and the procedure they will use to resolve the conflict. I assume that the Council’s ethics code would provide direction on clear conflicts of interest, but potential conflicts raise another question. Will requiring the discussion at the beginning of the meeting raise the level of attention to ethics problems and encourage the participants to take the high road and recuse themselves from participating in the decision-making process?
The first item I would add to this process is to include the Council members, committee members and board members. Rarely do these participants think about their conflicts before the meeting and as the meeting discussions develop, they are less likely to remove themselves even when they finally realize they may have a potential conflict.
This has the potential to establish a culture of ethics at the top of the organization. Frank conversations about what may create a conflict and the resulting actions may generate an organization that minimizes ethical lapses.

Solar Powered

The Wisconsin Public Service rate order requires purchasing the output of photovoltaic generation within the community. The attached PSC rate file provides the conditions and rates under which Lake Mills Light and Water will purchase electricity from small photovoltaic producers.
Lake Mills Light and Water (LML&W), a member of WPPI Energy, wants to offer a special energy purchase rate to its customers that generate electricity using solar photovoltaic (PV) systems. The special rate, $0.30/kilowatt-hour (kWh), is available to all the LML&W customers on a first-come, first-served basis for systems up to 4 kilowatts (kW) up to an overall program cap of 10 kW DC. The LML&W program is part of a larger solar buyback program being offered by WPPI to its member utilities, which has a total program limit of 300 kW. The 10 kW program cap may be increased to up to 30 kW if sufficient capacity is available under the parent WPPI Energy program.
It is important to note that this is not a net metering arrangement. Instead, the customer continues to pay their normal retail rate for electricity that they purchase from the utility. All of the energy generated by the customer's PV system is metered separately and exported directly to the grid. The $0.30/kWh incentive is applied to all of the energy the system produces for a period of 10 years, under a written contract with the LML&W. The customer receives payment as a monthly credit on their electricity bill. LML&W then resells the energy to WPPI Energy.
This arrangement requires the installation of a second generation meter at the customer's expense. Participants are also charged an additional metering fee of $1.00/month. Systems and components are required to comply with all applicable national, state, and local electric codes, rules, and regulations, including the State of Wisconsin's Standard Interconnection Rules. WPPI Energy takes title to all renewable energy credits (RECs) or other environmental attributes produced by systems enrolled in the program.

On The Verge

"Change has a considerable psychological impact on the human mind. To the fearful it is threatening because it means that things may get worse. To the hopeful it is encouraging because things may get better. To the confident it is inspiring because the challenge exists to make things better."
- King Whitney Jr

If the budget passes with the reorganization, we are going to need well defined profiles of each position. These position profiles consist of documented routines, responsibilities, and levels of authority. These position profiles should be developed and distributed accordingly. Work assignments can be restructured and reallocated with documented clarity and explanation. As roles change, the individuals with new responsibilities will have documented instructions to follow, accompanied with guidelines, schedules, metrics, and reports of previous performance. It makes the transfer of responsibilities easier to manage and quicker to come up to speed.

Position Profiles are very different from job descriptions. A job description is typically a bulleted list of activities that may be performed by a particular job title, and the list of desired qualifications. This comes in handy when posting a position for hire, but is entirely inadequate as a position profile. A position profile should describe in detail the daily, weekly, or monthly routines performed by a person in a position. The position profile should include the metrics to measure performance, so there is an understanding as to determining the effectiveness of the job performed. The position profile should include a clearly defined level of authority for making decisions relevant to the completion of job related activities. For example, does this position have the authority to make a final decision, recommend, or influence a decision that has economic impact? It is good to have these things defined, especially when someone new inherits
the responsibilities.

Today's Quote

“I don't think Enron is that unusual. After all, we have a chief executive class which act like dictators of small Latin American countries.”

Sherron Watkins

Ethics Treatment

There's a book out called the Lucifer Effect that I notice when reading CityEthics.org. The jist of the blog was that the book talked about treating ethics as disease prevention rather then disease treatment.
Another words, just treating the individual's problem fails to cleanup the organization. The culture of the organization provides the opportunities for choosing "to" or "not to" act ethically.
So, when the Council President removes himself from an issue with a possible conflict that has been ignored for years - it has the potential to send a message to other members that there is a cultural expectation. I know the cynic will say that it was done to avoid a hard decision, but I like to believe that there was a higher motive.

Business With City

Does a personal relationship interfere with your objectivity in performing your duties because you interact, directly or indirectly, with this individual on behalf of the city? You should make sure other decision-makers are aware of this relationship and be fully prepared to outline your decision-making process.

Today's Quotes

Every man has his secret sorrows which the world knows not; and often times we call a man cold when he is only sad. - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Because;

One cannot be deeply responsive to the world without being saddened very often. - Erich Fromm

What Are they Thinking

Probably different than me.

Praise

Maintaining a positive attitude during the most significant economic downturn in my lifetime and the related political changes that we are experiencing in government must certainly be considered a challenge. I have never been a rah-rah kind of guy. I have always expected that people around me will perform their parts as expected and it should not require any encouragement. I don’t mind being praised – I just don’t expect it and I treat others the same. It’s too bad really, because I do have a great appreciation for what my team is able to accomplish and willing to try.
The quote, "By sticking it out through tough times, people emerge from adversity with a stronger sense of efficacy" by Albert Bandura is consistent with what I think we have been able to structure for the next budget with a desire to make it work. I am sure we will have some failures, but given some grace, I think we will be able to make some substantial changes for the better.
May be I’ll be able to get over my feelings of “this is where we should have been to begin with” and dish out some highly deserved praise.

Incivility

The goal is to remain civil when those around you have no regard for others. The key is to be able to respond with accurate or objective information without resorting to yelling or attacking a personality. Sometimes the majority of your own information is subjective and you have to be firm in your position based on what you believe is right without resorting to personal attacks.
A well run meeting can help keep incivility in check, but again this takes strong leadership and a framework of competency.

Complexity

“The capacity of the human mind for formulating and solving complex problems is very small compared to the size of the problems whose solution is required for objectively rational behavior in the real world.”
Herbert Simon

Competent

A competency framework defines the knowledge, skills, and attributes needed for people within an organization. Each individual role will have its own set of competencies needed to perform the job effectively. To develop this framework, you need to have an in-depth understanding of the roles within your organization. Within the elected structure of government – what one group views as a competency framework is viewed as goal blocking by another group.
The qualities like honesty, reliability, love and sincerity, these values--deep-seated beliefs that lead to judgments about right and wrong--but they have to do with individuals and how we lead our lives individually.
Learning how political values influence public policy development as opposed to the lives of the individuals who make policy is a skill not easily learned or taught. The primary political value in our culture is responsiveness of governmental officials to public wants and needs. The value of responsiveness is reflected in demands for representation, efficiency, individual rights, and social equity.
We no longer desire to consider the discussion of politics as choices among conflicting values without demeaning the individual. There is no desire to compare or give credence to the difference between political and administrative values and perspectives. There is only might makes right.
There is no longer any desire to become competent at the full range of political skills.

Next Question

The challenges of self-government are often greater in small communities because they must deal with the ever-more-complex laws and regulations of the 21st century without the specialized staff of larger cities. In small cities, the clerk covers multiple job scopes, the manager has to make decisions with limited information, and the public works director is probably a “one-man show.”
It may appear that small communities have fewer and smaller problems, but the fact of the matter is that they only have fewer and smaller resources to deal with those problems. Compared to bigger communities, they typically have smaller staffs, less revenue, and less available expertise, particularly in areas such as finance and planning. Although people want to paint rosy images, small communities face the same problems and deal with the same issues as the biggest cities. Regardless of a community’s size it must, at a basic level, provide the services and facilities necessary to promote the health, safety, and welfare of its citizens and it must develop adequate revenue sources to pay for those services and facilities.
It’s easy to think of a city as a stand-alone entity. They have their own borders and unique laws and ordinances. But cities operate within a larger government framework. They were created under the state constitution and general laws as “municipal corporations.” In essence, cities are creatures of the state, exercising local powers only within the limitation of state law.
Running a city has become much more complex in the past 25 years. State and federal mandates, complicated human resource issues, liability and risk management, growth management laws, complex contracts and agreements, difficult budgets, and many other tough issues face cities today. It is increasingly difficult for a small city manager and city clerk to deal effectively with all these issues.
Now we are being driven to answer performance questions as much as budget questions. It means that we, in fact, need to figure out metrics for performance efficiency and effectiveness. Businesses that succeed and make money constantly assess themselves and improve in all dimensions of their business; metrics are the cornerstone of their assessment, and the foundation for any business improvement.
For us the selection of metrics is secondary to gathering data, if you can’t track your progress; how are you going to determine how you’re doing. Small communities have historically failed to value gathering data and most positions are filled with tasks that don’t include gathering the data. As we eliminate positions – how do we start including the time to gather data?

Ready

I have passed a Hunter Safety course and will be completing the necessary paperwork to carry. I will not be waiting to be shot. I think a 9mm should do the job. Jim always wanted to carry at Council meetings – now is his chance.

Good Blog

Liberty is most certainly a good, but when it is universalized it destroys itself. Liberty is only a virtue when held in tandem with the common good. Societies do not achieve liberty by pursuing liberty alone. Liberty is the byproduct of a just society. It is the pursuit of justice which ensures personal liberty, not the other way around. The pursuit of liberty without an equal commitment to the common good has a trajectory and momentum which is not trained toward democracy, but fascism. In a world of laissez-faire capitalism and absolute individual liberty, might is the only right -- that's fascism.
A strong commitment to the common good is the necessary counter-weight to personal liberty. The common good forces personal freedoms to be held in tension with the values of community and justice. No one can enjoy absolute liberty without undermining the fabric of a just society. Liberty is not an absolute. It must always be held in balance with the common good and the pursuit of social justice.
Tim Suttle, Pastor, writer, musician

Another Stone

The Main Street Program has requested that the City accept a donation of personal property (trash cans) that are to be placed on Main Street. The Main Street Program is requesting the City accept the trash cans (personal property) and continue to maintain and service the trash cans.
The Council has not identified providing this type of service as a core program or a priority service; it must remain focused and help the organization stay the course. Elected officials must have the courage to say “no” when groups make new demands. These kinds of Council reactions to new demands may mollify constituents making the service request, but such referrals of non-priority items to staff simply divert scarce staff resources and undercut the local government’s ability to perform.
To what extent does the service have to be delivered, or simply be made available, or, instead, be capable of self-service? And we need to address these fundamentals with the customers themselves. For if we are to reduce the cost of local government substantially, this will be achievable only if we can get residents to serve themselves.
The Main Street Program would need to provide a bill of sale to complete the transaction.
Approval of this motion allows the City Manager to accept receipt of personal property from the Main Street Program.

Today's Thought

“You cannot dream yourself into a character; you must hammer and forge one for yourself.” James Froude

Disinterred

I hate it when everybody thinks they are lawyers. Leave the interpretations of the law to lawyers and judges and respond appropriately when a decision is made. Peoples' biases lead them to suggest answers that aren't there and open questions that put the city in weak legal position.
The requirement to get a court order should not be difficult if the position being claimed is accurate. Make yourself duly authorized and move on unless you're worried about being able to secure a court order, than may be this political route is better.
I really want to see how the Corporation Counsel views the coroner's position, may be I'll be enlighten!

Selection Time

The City has had an ongoing Agreement with the Strand and Associates to provide engineering services as necessary as requested by the City Manager or authorized staff on a retainer basis. The Agreement had not been updated in the last ten years.
The City Council requested staff take RFQs for engineering services. The City defines professional services as services that require technical expertise or knowledge of a specialized field. This procedure is used for acquiring a variety of services, including: architects, engineers, planning consultants, etc. The selection of the consultant is based upon use and evaluation of a RFP or RFQ process. The City assembles a selection committee that solicits general qualification proposals and letters of interest from the consultants.
The City Manager formed a selection committee to select the best qualified firm and negotiate a contract with the selected firm.
The selection committee for consulting engineer looked at specialized experience and technical competence; capacity and capability of performing the work in question; and past record of performance. The committee reviewed sixteen proposals and selected four firms to interview. The committee evaluated the firms and recommends the Council award the contract to Strand and Associates.
The qualification, capacity and experience of Strand and Associates would be difficult to match or surpass by a new firm. Strand and Associates has provided competent and responsive service to the City and its residents over the last twenty years.

Today's Quote

Conscience is the mirror of our souls, which represents the errors of our lives in their full shape.
George Bancroft

A Long Walk

I love competition, have a patient determination, and at times am very insecure, and I hate the feeling of failure -- but I know that failure is a necessary part of risk-taking. I always ask myself if the risk is worth my house, family and reputation. Still, I want to live like Teddy Roosevelt’s “Man in the Arena.”
The problem I have is that I can’t enjoy the fun of failure in the public sector anymore. The current political environment I find myself in creates organizational problems that suck the fun out of everything.
According to the First Splendid Truth from the book “The Happiness Project” by Gretchen Rubin, to be happy, we should think about feeling good, feeling bad, and feeling right, in an atmosphere of growth. Happiness research confirms that people get a big boost from learning new skills and from novel experiences, which provide that atmosphere of growth. However, while novelty and challenge bring happiness, along the way, they also bring frustration, insecurity, anger, fear...happiness doesn't always make you feel happy.
Here are her suggestions to help when feeling self-doubt and self-anxiety:
1. Do a good deed. Be selfless, if only for selfish reason; you’ll benefit as much as the person you’re helping. When I’m feeling low, forcing myself to do something for someone else's benefit seems particularly hard, but then it gives me a big boost. As Montaigne observed, “These testimonies of a good conscience are pleasant; and such a natural pleasure is very beneficial to us; it is the only payment that can never fail.” In the same vein…
2. Make small gestures of good citizenship. Bring your old magazines to the gym so other people can read them. Pick up trash that other people have left on the subway. Sign up to be an organ donor.
3. Keep a resolution. Not only will you benefit from exercising or cleaning out your garage, you’ll also get a boost from the mere fact that you made a commitment and stuck to it. Feeling so overtaxed that you can't face the thought of trying to keep a resolution? Try this one: Make your bed. Just do that one thing. I know it sounds a bit preposterous, but many people have told me what a lift they've received from that small act.
4. Become an expert. There’s great satisfaction in mastery. Pick a subject that interests you, and dig in deep: the American Revolution, the works of Chekhov, wine, etc.
5. Boost your energy. Studies show that when you’re feeling energetic, you’re much more likely to feel good about yourself. For a quick shot of energy, take a brisk ten-minute walk (outside, if possible, where sunlight will also stimulate your brain), listen to some great music, or talk to a friend.
6. Challenge yourself physically. This tip doesn’t work for me, but I know that many people feel great after para-sailing, white-water rafting, surfing, or rollercoaster-riding.
7. Face a fear. Some fears are physical (see #6), but not all fears. You might push yourself to speak in public, ask someone on a date, make a gesture of friendship toward an acquaintance, or begin an intimidating creative project. In these trying situations, I often comfort myself by repeating "Enjoy the fun of failure." And it's true, even when my effort fails, I feel good about the fact that I gave it a shot. As my sister the sage reminded me recently, "You've got to put yourself out there." Which is hard, but gratifying.
8. Make something by hand. There's something particularly satisfying about making something with your own hands, whether it's a loaf of bread, a photo album, a piece of furniture, or a fly-fishing fly. It's tangible, it's creative, it's right in front of you. Similarly, making visible improvements like cleaning out a closet can give a big boost. I get an (inexplicably) large boost just from changing a light bulb.
Now I do most of these things in some form or another on a regular basis. The one thing I don’t do now is challenge myself physically anymore. Maybe that will increase my happiness.

Today's Quote

Men stumble over the truth from time to time, but most pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing happened.-- Winston Churchill

Still Productive?

Are we just an organization that has no natural threats to our existence and have evolved into a culture of complacency? Or is this happening because we have a weak, divided, and distracted council that fails to provide the clear sense of direction, momentum, and goal focus needed by the executive management team? Or is it a combination of both issues?
It is clear that it's more important not to be wrong than it is to be right. Right now our organization has no power to change, i.e. only the power to veto or passively oppose innovation, but nobody has the power or capacity to originate and champion initiatives. Our culture survives by avoiding blame and accountability which means you can't take risks so that if anything goes wrong you get to blame the system.
It’s also apparent the there is a conflict between the manager and the council that has left the organization without a rudder. Lacking a clear focus and a set of meaningful priorities, people within the organization are beginning to focus their efforts into activities of their own choosing. Without a sense of higher purpose, department heads put their own priorities and political agendas above the success of the organization. Ultimately, the result will be that no area within our organization will have the resources to be minimally effective at achieving any results. This is potential the desired result of factions within the council.
How will we adjust?

Pavers

The City uses a combination of concrete and brick pavers for walkways around the municipal building and the walkway to the commons. Consistently the brick pavers settle, creating a tripping hazard. The pavers life expectancy is also much short than concrete and has higher long term maintenance costs. The pavers allow for water infiltration in areas that are highly paved. The council discussed during a budget session the idea of considering the options for paving these areas.
The circular paver areas are approximately 325 square feet. The area converted in Ford Court this summer cost $18 a square foot for a total of $5850 plus $500 for sample casting.
Administrations’ current policy is to replace the pavers with colored and stamped concrete as needed and use the left over pavers for maintenance of other areas.
Staff has provided a quote for the replacement of one paver patio area for the Council to see the options and possible costs associated with each option.
Option 1: The first option is to replace the red pavers with standard concrete with an estimated cost of $2,953.
Option 2: The second option is to replace the sand base with a concrete base for the pavers to be placed on at an estimated cost of $4,833.
Option 3: The third option is to replace the red pavers with colored and stamped concrete that would provide a similar visual effect of the red pavers at an estimated cost of $6,846.
Option 4: The fourth option is to remove all the red pavers, redo the sand base and replace the pavers at an estimated cost of $3,490.
Option 5: The fifth option is any other option the Council determines.
The Council may determine how it wants to maintain or replace the pavers. The item would need to be placed on an agenda.

Governed Well?

What happens when a minority asserts the right to withdraw its consent to be governed? Purge

What Changed Today

Innovation can be defined generally as changes in behavior. More specific definitions of the term have resulted in many good, but no convincing ultimate definition. An important reason for this is that the meaning of innovation has also been constantly adapting. Early definitions were restricted to original products and processes that could be used in commercial applications in the private sector. Later definitions broadened their scope, to including social innovations (e.g. organizational, institutional and political innovations), innovations in services, and recognizing that the public sector could innovate.

It's Alway About Information

I would like to develop a Decision Support System. The DSS would provide a set of opportunities directed toward improving the effectiveness and productivity of managers and professionals, boosting the organization’s efficiency and effectiveness, and rationalizing the decision making process within our organization. The system would help us develop accurate, timely and relevant information to help individual managers in the organization deal with an increasingly turbulent economic environment and the growing fiscal pressures. The major problem of having a DSS is having relevant information to feed into the system.

Can I Fix That?

As I look out into the hazy blue outside my window today – I feel unusually torn. There are so many good and bad things happening that it’s hard for me to keep my balance. Am I happy or depressed? Normally I wouldn’t waste time thinking about it, but people seem to want to force me to think about all the happenings.
My attorney called the other day and said I have good news and bad news, but every issue I’ve dealt with this week has gone that way. The soccer coach has good news and bad news, Employee Trust Fund the same and the same for my family. If I were looking into the sky of my mind it would be cloudy and overcast on the left and bright and sunny on the right.
Let’s think about what I can fix and not about what I can’t.

The Conspirator

From as early as “The Republic”, it was recognized that the powerful control justice or more accurately injustice. I would have thought that in two thousand years we would have figured the problem out, but it is clear to me that even in the American system that money and influence defines the result more than what is right.

Today's Quote

In the long run men hit only what they aim at.
— Henry David Thoreau

All In A Day

As provided by State Statute, the Council’s only employee is the City Manager, and its members shall deal with the administrative service solely through the City Manager and neither the Council nor any committee or member thereof shall give orders to any subordinate of the City Manager, either publicly or privately. The provisions of this section do not prohibit the Council, while in open session, from fully and freely discussing with the city manager anything pertaining to appointments and removals of city officers and employees and city affairs.

You Could Be ...

The City should select a consulting engineer based on qualifications and not price. Consulting engineers design and provide management services for large expenditure items, such as buildings, roads, environmental services and land use planning. When a client wants to be successful, choosing the right services from the best engineering expertise should be the primary consideration.
Our selection process will use conversational interviews focused on understanding the firm and the person who will be the city’s primary resource by learning about their values, strengths and weaknesses. We want to assess “fit” with our values, culture and community. Our process will included one conversational interview of one hour per firm. I want the engineer selected for intelligence, persistence, and cultural fit.
Because the City uses the engineer like staff, the exact amount of work to be done in any given time period cannot be predetermined and the hourly rate plus fee compensation is used. The engineering firm bills its actual costs (salaries and overhead) and then adds any costs over and above the rate as a fee on top.
Our consulting engineer does the preliminary investigation and reporting services that are required when the feasibility of the project needs to be established, or where there are a number of possible alternatives for the characteristics, performance and location, etc., of the project. Establishment of the project’s financial viability and preparation of submissions to staff for funding are often involved in this phase. Risk assessments for each alternative may be undertaken for major projects. This phase may include the investigation, application for and obtaining of required documents, licenses and any other initial permits or consents necessary before the project can be implemented.
The consulting engineer is often involved in meetings to discuss proposed private projects. The consulting engineer makes recommendations to staff that administer the City's storm water retention ordinances, utility extension policy and floodplain regulations. The consulting engineer makes recommendations to staff about reviews and approvals of off-site improvement plans and right-of-way dedications.
The consulting engineer makes recommendations to staff about all construction in the public right-of-way before the issuance of permits and inspection of all improvements including water, sewer, storm drains, streets, curbs, gutters, bikepaths/sidewalks, drainage, fire lines, hydrants, street lights and other public utilities such as gas, power, telephone, and cable television.
The consulting engineer reviews development plans for private developments within the City limits. Plans are reviewed for compliance with City of Lake Mills Engineering Standards. The consulting engineer will be able to provide information regarding public utilities, driveway locations, offsite roadway improvements, drainage issues, discharge location, discharge rate, offsite drainage improvements, and general site layout issues related to the parking layout or drainage.
The design of projects generally involves three phases: Project Feasibility Reporting; Investigating and Reporting; and the Detailed and Construction Design phases. Services offered during the final stages of the Design phase include administration of the bidding process, contract administration and assessment of construction standards. The engineer is expected to provide construction monitoring supervision and quality assurance that aligns with the city’s interests.
If you can do this – you may be the City’s consulting engineer.

Wage Slave

American financier Jay Gould after hiring strikebreakers, he said "I can hire one-half of the working class to kill the other half." I assume this is the philosophy being used in modern elections.

Budgets For 2012

I have sent the 2012 Budgets to be printed for the First study session. The State still needs to provide more information on ratios and the like, but I think I have that pretty well covered.

Lake Street Retaining Wall

The options for repairing the retaining wall next to the old municipal building on W Lake Street. The costs are still approximate, but they give an order of magnitude that these options should come back at.

1. Eliminate the retaining wall and grade a grassed or landscaped 4:1 slope off the edge of the sidewalk on West Lake Street. This would take up approximately 25-feet of the existing parking area. The parking area would need to be reconfigured, and some stalls would be lost up against the building. A small wall would still be needed at the old muni building to maintain access to the basement doorway. A new connection between the parking lot and Lake Street would be constructed. An inlet already exists in the pavement north of this area for drainage. Cost for grading, removals, fill material, new stairway and restoration is approximately $12,000.

2. Provide a new cast-in-place concrete wall with a railing. The wall would be approximately 5-feet tall (exposed) with a 4-foot frost wall and footing. This would require removal of the sidewalk on Lake Street as well as some of the pavement in the parking lot to construct the footing. Cost for the wall, railing, sidewalk R&R, wall removal, and CGC investigation is approximately $40,000.

3. Provide a modular block wall with a railing. The wall would be approximately 5-feet tall (exposed) with 1-foot buried. This option would also require removal of the sidewalk on Lake Street for geogrid reinforcement. Cost for the wall, railing, sidewalk R&R, wall removal, and CGC investigation is approximately $36,000.

Site Plan Review

When the City requires site plan review - it is not offering to do the site planning. The developer of the site has to make the initial plan that is designed to meet the city codes. The reviewers respond to the plans by determining if the plans meet code and may provide suggestions for how to meet code.
Sometimes reviewers will ask the developer to incorporate perspectives that include the neighborhood, other developments and special features of the site. The goal is harmonious community development.

Allegory

Once there was a valley with a stream running through it. The stream was clear and dependable. The stream supported all the communities that lived in the valley. One day an army moved onto the mountain to the left of the stream and soon thereafter an army moved onto the mountain to the right of the stream. Soon each army was spinning around trying to pull the stream up their mountain. Eventually the spinning pulled all the green out of the valley. The noise distracted the people of the communities and left them confused and wandering. The communities finally crumbled and the people turned around to see what they’d lost and the only thing they found was that the stream was still there and was as clear and dependable as ever.

Proposal Selection

The firms who have been selected to be interviewed are:
Strand
Vierbicher
MSA
Ruekert/Mielke

Today's Quote

The two words 'information' and 'communication' are often used interchangeably, but they signify quite different things. Information is giving out; communication is getting through. Sydney J. Harris

You Want To Be A City Manager

Today's question was what adivce would you gave someone starting in a new position. There was the listen to the Council, learn to understand your organization and be flexible advice. But what simple advice is there that takes you to the next level? Leadership, ehtics, effort, intelligence?
I started simple - tell the truth. In the world of politics and spin - this can be a very hard requirement. There are managers out there that are relative from the tips of their toes to the tops of their heads. Customer friendly, compassionate listening, group huggers often cannot stand up and say what needs to be said - the truth.
And in this current enviroment, telling the truth maybe a wasted effort because the one who really needs it will find someone to tell them what they want to hear. Just like going to church.

Culture

The internal and external dynamics of an organization define the culture. Culture defines the methods for aligning with the organizational mission. Culture can be used to as one method for aligning long term agents with the interests of an organization.

The Principal-agent Problem

We have talked about incomplete contracts before and this problem is associated. Conflicts of interest and moral hazard issues arise when the city hires contractors to perform specific duties that involve low bid requirements and incomplete contracts because the best interests of the city and the contractor will not be aligned. The principal-agent problem develops when the city attempts to create a contract that has incentives to align the contractor's interests with those of the city. The city (the principal) attempts to create incentives for the contractor (agent)to act as the principal wants because the principal faces information asymmetry and risk with regards to whether the agent has effectively completed a contract.
The principal-agent problem can be associated as part of agency theory. It has similarities to game theory in that the "rules" are changed to favor specific actions favored by the principal.
An example of how the principal-agent problem occurs between the contractor (agent) and the city (the principal) is when they hire them to provide the highest quality street at the lowest cost. The contractor’s primary incentive is to provide the minimal amount of quality allowed by the contract to meet the low bid requirement; the incentive is structure to compensation the contractor for price not quality. The contractor is less likely to be concerned about quality because it fears losing business by being too costly.
If the city (the principal) hires a contractor (the agent) to construct a street without observation, all you can observe is how the street looks when you happen to view it. The contractor could have failed to properly construct the base, as required, or could have laid the pavement in one three (3) inch layer. By hiring an engineer to monitor the contractor's behavior, the city has a record of what the contractor actually did, although at some cost.
The contractor has information and expertise that the city does not have-indeed, that is why they are contractors. The city can observe the final street, but does not have the time to observe the contractor’s efforts. To complicate matters further, even when the contractor’s behavior can be observed, the city does not generally have the expertise to evaluate it. Everyone can see the final product (street), but it takes very detailed knowledge to understand how high the quality could have been if the contractor had acted differently.
The engineer hired to do the observation is also a contractor. They are hired because they have information and expertise that the city does not have-indeed, that is why they are engineers. The city cannot ensure that the engineer’s interests are perfectly aligned with the city’s interests. To complicate matters further, the city does not generally have the expertise to evaluate the engineer’s performance. Everyone can see the final product (street), but it takes very detailed knowledge to understand how high the quality could have been if the engineer’s interests were perfectly aligned with the city.
City hires staff and lawyers with some of the relevant expertise to monitor contracts, but again this is costly.
These examples illustrate the principal-agent problem. This is the problem of designing mechanisms that will induce agents to act in their principals' interests. In general, unless there is costly monitoring of agents' behavior, the problem cannot be completely solved. Hired staff, lawyers, engineers and contractors will generally wish to pursue their own goals. They cannot ignore the city’s interests, however, because if they perform badly enough they will lose their jobs. Just how much latitude they have to pursue their own goals at the expense of the city’s interests depends on many things, including the degree of competition, risk, contracts and moral hazard.

A Line Item Review?

The problem with line item review is identifying the total cost of each municipal service and how changing line item spending levels affects the priorities of the service. The problem with a program budget approach is that considerable time is required to establish and maintain the system. Also, programs tend to overlap, both between departments and within the same departments, which can make collecting data difficult.

Have You Seen These Lately?

The principles of good governance – transparency and accountability; fairness and equity; efficiency and effectiveness; respect for the rule of law; and high standards of ethical behavior – represent the basis upon which to build open government.

State Policy for Local Government

In recognition of the fact that a representative government of the American type is dependent upon an informed electorate, it is declared to be the policy of this state that the public is entitled to the fullest and most complete information regarding the affairs of government as is compatible with the conduct of governmental business.

Budget Ideas

The Council’s goal has historically been to maintain a stable levy and level property tax rate. From 2000 to 2004 the City’s property tax rate was very flat, changing only hundreds of a point. The property tax cap and strong growth in the equalized assessed value started the drop in the property tax rate in 2005 and has dropped a full point. The change in the housing market is evident in this chart as equalized rates are affected by assessed value.

The Political Reality

Trying to develop authentic relationships in this profession is a hazardous activity.

What are You Looking?

What do you want to hear? What's important to you? Are you here for the good or the bad?

And the Definition Is ...

Integrity - adherence to moral and ethical principles; soundness of moral character; honesty. The opposite of dishonest.

RFQ

Received 16 engineering proposals. The proposals have been distributed to committee members with a preliminary review date of 8/3.

And The Motion Is

With a brief prepared and submitted to the Court. It is now about the information contained in the brief regarding the facts of the case, the legal issues to be decided, how the law ought to be apply, and the decision desired.

Twilight

In that space between light and shadow, science and superstition, I now feel I live. I have filed the 2012 budget under Apocalypse. The strange realities that work their way into the fabric of my life seem so out of place that it takes time to fully comprehend the new expectations.
Is this the new norm or will there be a swing in some other direction and will there be some level of stabilization eventually?

How Long is Too Long?

An employee who believes that a supervisor or appointing authority has initiated or administered, or threatened to initiate or administer, a retaliatory action against that employee in violation of s. 230.83 may file a written complaint with the division of equal rights, specifying the nature of the retaliatory action or threat thereof and requesting relief, within 60 days after the retaliatory action allegedly occurred or was threatened or after the employee learned of the retaliatory action or threat thereof, whichever occurs last.

How's This Work?

The City will maintain and ensure a working environment free from any form of employee harassment, including sexual harassment and intimidation. Harassment is a form of discrimination and if based upon a person's protected status, may violate Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Wisconsin Fair Employment Act, and these policies and procedures. Harassing behavior shall not be tolerated under any circumstances.

Harassment consists of unwelcome conduct, whether verbal, physical, or visual, that is based on a person's protected status, such as sex, color, race, ancestry, religion, national origin, age, disability, marital status, veteran status, citizenship status, sexual orientation, or other protected group status. The will City not tolerate any form of harassing conduct that unreasonably interferes with an individual's work performance, or that creates an intimidating, hostile or offensive working environment.

Harassment may include, but is not limited to: (1) verbal harassment, including epithets, derogatory comments, slurs or ethnic jokes; (2) physical harassment or physical interference with movement or work; or (3) visual harassment such as derogatory or sexist cartoons, e-mails, writings, drawings, or posters.

People watching People - Transparency

As more Wisconsin cities start to use contracting for areas that they have never contracted before, the criminals will start to take advantage of such environments and to change such environments to optimize them for crime. Cities’ must establish effective controls which are essential to limiting procurement abuses. Most cities’ will have inadequate personnel, controls and other practices that will make the environment prime for abuses.

A Little Hot Today

It’s been said that the harder a man strives to stand on principle the more he is bound to face personal attack. In my line of work, public administration, this has certainly been true as attacks can come literally from out of the blue. A longtime colleague can take you on with a laundry list of complaints after years without a word. The next day, an attack might come from a person whose child received a parking ticket. Neither may be a real attack but perception is reality and when someone disagrees with us, we can’t help but to get worked up. The key is in choosing the appropriate response for each workplace moment of inevitable stress.

Self Evaluation

CHARACTER, INDIVIDUALITY, PERSONALITY refer to the sum of the characteristics possessed by a person. CHARACTER refers especially to moral qualities, ethical standards, principles, and the like.

“Many a man's reputation would not know his character if they met on the street.”
Elbert Hubbard (1856 - 1915)

I Need A ...

Special assessments are one of the permitted statutory forms of charges made by the City against property to pay the cost of improvements constructed to serve the respective properties. This is one manner in which the City apportions the cost of constructing street and utilities to those properties within the City that are benefited by the improvements.
The City of Lake Mills does not use special assessments at the level of most cities. We have used it in the past for new sidewalk construction at amounts generally under $100,000.
Substantial use of special assessments skews tax rate comparisons between municipalities as do fees and other pass through policies. I have never been involved in a citizen initiated special assessment other than small stormwater projects, but I see other city’s use them regularly.
There is a lot of work involved in the process for improvements for a single lot.

Walking Quorums

Some people may need a reminder that the following is illegal.

The requirements of the open meetings law also extend to walking quorums. A "walking quorum" is a series of gatherings among separate groups of members of a governmental body, each less than quorum size, who agree, tacitly or explicitly, to act uniformly in sufficient number to reach a quorum. Showers, 135 Wis. 2d at 92, quoting State ex ref. Lynch v. Conta, 71 Wis. 2d 662, 687, 239 N.W.2d 313 (1976). In Conta, the supreme court recognized the danger that a walking quorum may produce a predetermined outcome and thus render the publicly held meeting a mere formality. Conta, 71 Wis. 2d at 685-88. The court commented that any attempt to avoid the appearance of a ''meeting" through use of a walking quorum is subject to prosecution under the open meetings law. Conta, 71 Wis. 2d at 687.

Reapportionment

The purpose of this ordinance is to have the Lake Mills’ City Council approved an ordinance to reapportion the municipality’s wards and districts based on the results of the 2010 U.S. Census.
The city’s charter requires Lake Mills to maintain five districts; however, all governing bodies are required by law to adjust legislative boundaries based on the results of the most recent federal census in order to ensure fair and equal representation.
The county notified the City that they have completed their reapportionment and they are now waiting for us to complete the city’s reapportionment. The current ward boundaries cross county boundaries and are not in locations that segment the city into the required population district, so there needs to be some adjustments to accommodate the population and boundary requirements.

Yeah, It's Important

As a City Manager, I have developed reasonable levels of knowledge in the theory, policy, principles and practices of the city management profession as applied to the United States, including fundamentals of modern executive and administrative planning, management, and control. Thorough knowledge of federal, state and local laws, regulations and policies applicable to structure, functions, programs, and practices in conducting public services through City government.
This does not mean that I am also a lawyer, engineer, zoning administrator, safety coordinator, etc. My skills show in the fact that I’m committed to safety and have identified changing conditions within the organization requiring me to recommend an appropriate action for you to take.
When I arrived the city had limited safety training, no written program and no safety manager. The City now has written policies and procedures for workplace safety and departments that meet the base state regulation and may have monthly meetings, videos for most training situations and outside training. However, with reduce management staff and a culture that does not always value safety – the MEUW program offers an outstanding way to maintain the commitment the City makes in the personnel handbook:
“The City is committed to providing a safe and healthful working environment in compliance with relevant federal and state safety laws and guidelines.”
Safety programs are important because it has become too costly to have employees injured on the job. Many cities have no idea what the total cost of accidents and injuries were to their organization. When most organizations compile their true costs, the costs are almost always greater than the safety program. If for monetary reasons alone, you institute a cost effective safety program, you will be financially rewarded.
The City also has to seriously consider it’s the moral obligation that as an employer it must provide a safe and healthful work place. A moral consideration may not motivate some decision makers very much, some possibly not at all; but after a serious injury the top decision makers of the organization are usually emotionally upset as they contemplated the pain and disability created as a result of the accident. These genuine feelings almost always result in corrective action taken to prevent a re-occurrence. Decision makers cannot undo the serious consequences of these past accidents but future accidents can be prevented.
Another benefit of the moral response is the improved morale for employees. No one wants to work for a company that has little or no regard for him as a person. Often we assume that worker's primary motivation is monetary. Many studies show it as being fourth or fifth out of ten, rating below job security, job satisfaction, etc., once income is sufficient to cover the basic needs.
Employees tend to have a surprising lack of innate self-protectiveness on the job. However, when provided with good job instruction, proper feedback on their performance and some basic training in safe work procedures, will do the job safely.
The City also has a legal obligation to provide a safety program. There are numerous federal and state laws and codes that must be met. State and federal agency requirements can be met with a properly designed and implemented safety program.
The greater goal is to engage the workforce at all levels within the city and do so in a manner that actually changes the culture. Culture ultimately determines results.

Reports

Wow, the Audit and CMAR reports were very good this year. Amazing what happens when you have time to pay attention to the details. Hopefully, the process review will keep this going.

Who Knew?

Policies:
1. The City will provide appropriate sites for additional commercial and industrial development near Interstate 94 and other major transportation corridors that maximize the benefit of the City’s location within the region and minimize the impact of traffic and other externalities on residential and natural resource areas of the community in accordance with recommendations of this Plan.
2. The City will provide opportunities for neighborhood scale shopping and services that can serve the local needs of future residents and neighborhoods.
3. The City will maintain and develop necessary utilities and other services to support increased economic development.
4. The City will continue to use TIF, State and Federal grant programs and other economic development tools to provide incentives and assistance with redevelopment of blighted, abandoned or underutilized commercial and industrial property.
5. The City will work to ensure that development within TIF districts provide above average returns to the City in the form of increased property tax revenues and employment.
6. The City will establish and enforce minimum design standards for all commercial and industrial development within the City in accordance with the recommendations in this Plan, the Northside Neighborhood Plan, the City of Lake Mills Redevelopment Opportunity Analysis, and other plans.
7. The City will refine its zoning and land division ordinances to ensure they are not in conflict with and forward the recommendations of this Plan.
8. The City will refine specific design criteria for the downtown that preserves the historic context and character of the downtown with regards to building materials, bulk, setback, exterior design, and signage in accordance with the recommendation of this Plan.
9. The City will work to improve administration, coordination, and communication of the City’s development standards and other economic development programs.
10. The City will work with local, county, regional, state, and federal entities to make Community Development Block Grant and other economic development programs more responsive to City needs.
11. The City will explore the creation of a Business Improvement Districts and other private/public economic development strategies to improve businesses and cooperative marketing of the downtown and the City as a whole.

WWTP

The City has received bid documents for Sludge Hauling for the Lake Mills Wastewater Plant and the Council must accept or reject the bids. The work includes sludge removal, hauling and land application of municipal sludge from the Lake Mills Wastewater plant. Because this bid is for a service, rather than public construction, the bid law does not apply and you do not have to award the work to the lowest bidder.
Staff reviewed the bids and recommends the Council award the bid to Schwind Trucking, LLC, W 9194 CTH “T”, Glenbeulah, WI 53023. Schwind Trucking, LLC was the lowest qualified, responsible and responsive bidder at $0.0275 per gallon.

The Next Move

Well I'm glad someone is asking the question about equal protection. Seem pretty high handed to separate out types of public employees that way.

Even In a Western

"Even those who fancy themselves the most progressive will fight against other kinds of progress, for each of us is convinced that our way is the best way."
— Louis L'Amour
The Lonely Men

Truth is Defense

A public official may sue for defamation, but to prevail they must establish that the defamatory statement was made with actual malice. That is, the public official must prove by clear and convincing evidence that the defendant made the alleged defamatory statement with actual malice - either with knowledge that the statement was false or with reckless disregard as to the truth of the statement.
A conditional constitutional privilege based on First Amendment considerations for those who make written or oral statements concerning public officials was established by the Court. Within the terms of that conditional privilege, statements concerning a public official, even if proven to be false, would not be the basis of civil liability unless actual malice—i.e., actual knowledge that the statement was false or a reckless disregard for whether the statement was false or not—was shown.
A true statement is the ultimate defense to any action for libel or slander. It is not necessary for the defendant to prove the literal truth of the precise statement, and slight inaccuracies in the statement published are immaterial to the success of the defense. Nor is it necessary to prove that the statement was true in every particular. All that is necessary to establish the defense of truth is that the matter was substantially true.

Budget

The first draft is complete with significant organizational changes incorporated.

I Don't Get This!

The Wisconsin Joint Finance Committee made changes to the Governor's budget. Generally positive - yet this item makes no sense - Increases the dollar threshold for determining when the prevailing wage laws apply to municipal public works projects from $25,000 to: a) $48,000 for single-trade projects; b) $234,000 for multiple-trade construction projects conducted by towns, cities and villages with less than 2,500 population; and c)$100,000 for all other multi-trade municipal public works projects.

Why would smaller municipals have higher dollar limits?

It Works

Site Plan Review is a way to ensure that development proposals meet development policies, regulations and standards. It allows our community through the staff to evaluate the elements of each unique site against the zoning ordinance.

Zoning regulations create a three dimensional site envelope and set basic site layout standards, but by their nature, these regulations cannot be use and site specific. Site Plan review allows you to drill down through details of the use and site to evaluate for compliance with the intent of the zoning code.

It's On

Talked to my lawyer today. I'm feeling pretty good. Let's hope greed results in the right reaction.

Today's Quote

“Men stumble over the truth from time to time, but most pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing happened.”-- Winston Churchill

Finance Director/Treasurer

Under policy direction from the City Manager, plans, organizes, manages and directs the programs and activities of the Finance Department; serves as City Treasurer and Risk Manager; manages and participates in preparing financial analyses and reports; participates in and coordinates development of the City budget and long-range financial forecasts; oversees utility billing, business license and other permit administration, billing and collections; provides expert professional assistance and support to City management and the City Council on financial, accounting, financing and related matters; and performs related duties as assigned.

Oh yeah, here we go.

ECONOMIC ANALYSIS

The external economies and diseconomies of land use mean that urban property markets have uncompensated externalities that result in unrestricted markets not functioning in such a manner as to achieve Pareto optimality.
It is generally consider obvious that the presence of external effects in the urban property market drive the desire for zoning. In other words, if one happened to own a house for their own residential use and a meat packing plant wanted to move on to the adjacent lot, it would no doubt be upsetting because of the possible odors, noise, congestion, etc., which might lower the property value of the house.
In fact, all zoning restrictions – use, height, area and density are efforts to eliminate possible externalities which are generated by uses or property features that might impose undesirable effects upon other properties in the area.
An external economy will increase the value of affected properties and external diseconomies will decrease the value of affected properties. If one neighbor decides to repaint his house and spruce up his yard so he can get a better price when selling it, he also at the same time is slightly improving the market value of other houses in the neighborhood, creating a “external economy” benefiting his neighbors. On the other hand, another neighbor who is a grade-A slob and lets the external appearance of his house run down creates an "external diseconomy" by depressing the attractiveness and thus the market value of the whole neighborhood.
Most of the critiques of zoning fall into four broad categories. Two concern fairness or equity and the other two are based on considerations of economic efficiency. Zoning is said to be: (A) unfair because it benefits some landowners at the expense of others; (B) exclusionary, and therefore unfair to those excluded from a particular community; (C) inefficient insofar as it adds large transaction costs to development decisions, outweighing the benefits (if any) of zoning; and (D) inefficient in that it "distorts" land use allocation decisions, resulting in inefficient patterns of land use.
Ultimately, resting a defense of zoning upon the controversial and unverifiable claim that these consumer surpluses are always (or even usually) sufficiently large to make zoning an efficient welfare-maximizing institution is difficult. However, the case against zoning on efficiency grounds is also not clear-cut once the consumer surplus is taken into account. Given that we are necessarily uncertain about which course of action will maximize aggregate welfare, it is reasonable to choose a course, zoning, that would simultaneously protect the stability of existing neighborhoods and likely maximize the welfare of current neighborhood residents.

REQUEST FOR QUALIFICATIONS

The City of Lake Mills is seeking a qualified consultant to assist city staff in the provision of General Engineering Services. The Consultant shall function as an extension of the City’s resources by providing qualified technical and professional personnel to perform the duties and responsibilities assigned under the terms of the Agreement. The services under the proposed contract would start on October 1, 2011. The full Request For Qualifications information/instructions are available at the Lake Mills Municipal Building, 200D Water Street, Lake Mills, Wisconsin 53551 or on the City Website www.ci.lake-mills.wi.us.

To be considered, five (5) hard copies, and one (1) digital copy labeled “Lake Mills General Engineering Services RFQ” must be received at the City Clerk-Treasurer’s Office, 200D Water Street, Lake Mills, Wisconsin 53551 by 2:00 P.M. on Thursday, July 14, 2011. The City reserves the right to reject any or all proposals submitted.

It is anticipated that the selection of a General Engineering Services Consultant will be completed by September 6, 2011.

Fairness and the Law

No society can, of course, be a scheme of cooperation which men enter voluntarily in a literal sense; each person finds himself placed at birth in some particular position in some particular society, and the nature of this position materially affects his life prospects. Yet a society satisfying the principles of justice as fairness comes as close as a society can to bring a voluntary scheme, for it meets the principles which free and equal persons would assent to under circumstances that are fair. [John Rawls, A theory of Justice]

John Rawls, in defining what he calls “justice as fairness” puts forth the following two key principles:

First: each person is to have an equal right to the most extensive basic liberty compatible with a similar liberty for others. Second: social and economic inequalities are to be arranged so that they are both (a) reasonably to be expected to be to everyone’s advantage, and (b) attached to positions and offices open to all.

The law can and should be seen as the connection of freedom and fairness. We all scream that we want freedom, but we should also realize that absolute freedom is not possible in any society. Still, some level of fairness is possible and in statutory form can be seen as the only means of providing for freedom in ways that benefit society as a whole. Laws are made in our society to presumably protect the rights of all citizens. But fairness, while facilitating freedom, also thwarts it in the form of law. A property owner may wish to have the freedom to build anything they desire on their property, but the law, in place to protect the welfare of the community, says this is not acceptable. What is the quid pro quo in such cases? The property owner is giving up a particular freedom in exchange for a communal contract that all must give up such a freedom for the welfare of all. Law then, is an agreed to set of proscriptions, a covenant, that benefit all and, while limiting individual freedom, facilitates or enforces fairness.

http://evans-experientialism.freewebspace.com/sansom_freedom.htm

Political Theory

One of my favorite papers on political theory and/or economics wasn't written by a political theorist or an economist. It was written by a biologist. In 1968 Garrett Hardin wrote one of the most famous papers ever to be published in the journal, Science. He titled it, "The Tragedy of the Commons".

Garrett Hardin’s dilemma of the “tragedy of the commons” states that multiple individuals who act in their own interest will tend to destroy a common resource.

The scenario by which Hardin’s theory is often explained is that of cow herders sharing a common, finite parcel of grazing land. The grazing pasture will support only a limited number of cows.

But, human nature being what it is, individual herders will tend to put as many of their own cows as possible into the common grazing pasture. The benefit of taking more than one’s share is enjoyed exclusively by the individual herder while the cost (being the gradual degradation of the grazing land) is spread amongst all the herders.

In a reverse way, the tragedy of the commons reappears in problems of pollution. Here it is not a question of taking something out of the commons, but of putting something in — human waste, or industrial waste, and farm wastes into water; noxious and dangerous fumes into the air; and distracting and unpleasant property uses. The calculations of utility are much the same as before. The rational man finds that his share of the cost of the wastes he discharges into the commons is less than the cost of purifying his wastes before releasing them. Since this is true for everyone, we are locked into a system of "fouling our own nest," so long as we behave only as independent, rational, free enterprisers. (http://www.constitution.org/cmt/tragcomm.htm)

In a nutshell, one or more persons acting selfishly will eventually ruin the resource for everyone.

Hardin’s theory can, of course, be readily applied to many aspects of modern life. As individuals, our actions – excess consumption of fossil fuels, overuse of pesticides, cattlemen leasing national land on the Western ranges – provide individual benefits while harming the population as a whole by degrading shared resources.

I recommend reading the article.

Today's Quote

Truth stood on one side and Ease on the other; it has often been so. --Theodore Parker

Face to Face

For some of our electric utility customers, including seniors on fixed incomes, energy expenses can be a financial burden. In fact, there are those in our community who cannot afford the cost of energy to meet their basic needs.
For those who cannot afford such an expense, this can lead to difficult decisions about how to allocate their limited resources. The City Utility has an Energy Assistance Program that is designed to help income-qualifying households cover their energy costs and reduce the financial burden that they face.
We regularly encourage people to establish their income eligibility through the federally funded Wisconsin Home Energy Assistance Program (WHEAP). If approved for WHEAP, people may receive energy assistance through our program.
Our Energy Assistance Program is funded with the portion of Public Benefits dollars specifically set aside for income-qualifying individuals and families.
We also have an emergency fund where people may qualify for assistance. Historically this fund has handle people who were chronically unemployable for some reason and failed to apply to Wisconsin Home Energy Assistance Program (WHEAP) for some reason. From the time the program started until 2009, the same people usually applied for the benefits. Starting in 2010, the applicants have changed.
The changing economy has put people who have never been in the social support system before into a situation where they need the support and they don’t know where to start. They have always been employable and had a short term system of support in case of health or employment issues.
Reviewing and awarding these grants has become a heart rending experience which everyone who wants to determine who does or does not get social assistance should experience.

Family, Friends and Communities

Fight or flight was designed to save your life; it is that design that gets our blood boiling when something happens beyond our control, leaving us wondering if we can fix it. In the past, these ‘threats’ would result in a fight or flight — thus releasing that pent-up stress. Now, however, we are left to deal with the built up hormones in other ways.
Just how stressful can anyone’s life be before it’s too much? I’m amazed at how many families are out there enduring incredible amounts of stress. Still, most of us pick up the sticks and carry on. We seem to find support from family, friends and communities that ultimately make life livable.

Engineering RFQ

I finished the first draft of the RFQ this afternoon. Plan to post it June 2, 2011 and a final decision by September 6.

Main Street Pedestrian Mall

State statute requires that pedestrian malls be designated by the Council. After referring the matter to the plan commission for report under s. 62.23 (5), and after holding a public hearing on the matter with publication of a Class 1 notice of the hearing, the governing body of any city may by ordinance designate any street, road or public way or any part of a street, road or public way wholly within its jurisdiction as a pedestrian mall and prohibit or limit vehicular traffic in the pedestrian mall. Creation of a pedestrian mall under this section does not constitute a discontinuance or vacation of the street, road or public way under s. 66.1003 or 236.43.
This ordinance follows State Statute for converting the alley south of Lake Street running between Main Street and the alley to the east as a pedestrian mall. This allows the city to prohibit vehicular traffic in the pedestrian mall while maintaining the public way.

Assumptions for Economic Analysis

Utilitarian theory: primacy of self interest (even in the name of larger collective interests)
Two sets of actors:
1.) Consumers seek to optimize “utility” (satisfaction)
2.) Producers seek to maximize profit
Voluntary choices get made by both parties based on constraints to resources. Efficiency is how best resources get used. Efficiency arises when there is no possible means of redistributing resources that would make one party better off without making someone else worse off.

Sense of Humor

In a environment of mostly irrational people and
processes, a well-formed sense of irony is helpful.

Brush Pickup

The purpose of operational standards for the removal of yardwaste, is to remove branches, brush, and Christmas trees from the landfill stream and reduce fire hazards in the City and to balance health and aesthetic performance with operational and budget constraints.
The main needs associated with this solution are to provide residents with a means to meet the statutory requirement to remove yardwaste from the landfill stream and the city ordinance to not burn yardwaste in the City. The City opted for two annual free brush pickups and monthly fee based pickups. The program use to require a truck and a chipper with at least two laborers to drive up and down both sides of every street in the city to determine where there was brush and then chip the brush. The City staff suggested the current program because the customer calls and provides an address that the crew can drive directly to and eliminates the time, gas and “wear and tear” on equipment which with the cost of gas was pressing budget constraints. The small fee was used to encourage customers with small amounts of brush to haul it to the yardwaste center themselves. The City also provides an annual Christmas tree pickup early in January. Occasional the City provides free citywide pickup due to weather related conditions.
The staff has completed the spring brush pickup for 2011. The question has been asked if the City would provide an additional pickup because the poor weather this spring has delayed spring cleanup for many residents. The Council would need to determine if this is a weather related pickup that falls under the current policy or if there needs to be a modification of the current policy.

Original Storm Water Plan

The Woodland Beach Road/Ferry Drive intersection experiences flooding from relatively small storm events. Flooding problems in the basin consist primarily of water ponding across streets, yards and homes at the intersection. The flooding problems are usually caused by inadequate storm drainage facilities in the area.

There are 11.5 acres that drain to four undersized inlets that drain into undersized pipes handling another 12 acres of drainage area. The entire Woodland Beach Development does not have even one storm inlet. The City storm water management plan at the time of the development must have been miraculous evaporation.

This would be consistent with the plan in most of the older areas of the city.

LOS Issue

The primary responsibility of Council membership is to formulate City goals. In formulating these goals, the Council must be careful to represent general interests of the City, not special interest groups. Council members must work with the City Manager, but they should not become directly involved in the administration or operation of City departments, and should not direct the administrative staff to initiate programs, conduct studies or establish official policy without approval of the City Council as a whole. As the Municipal Code requires, no Council member is to individually “order” the City Manager, Department Heads, and others to do anything. Only a majority of the council may instruct the City Manager to do something.
The policy process starts by determining that something needs to be done. Such determination is usually based on an awareness of community conditions. In this case the discussion of need is painting the parking stripes and curbs around the Commons.
The process of finding appropriate solutions relates to what resources are available, what the scope of responsibility is, and the manner in which an answer to the problem should be formulated.
The purpose of operational standards for the maintenance of roadway lane line markings, crosswalks and stop lines; as well as the painting of curbs, medians and parking stalls to balance safety and aesthetic performance of the roadway markings with operational and budget constraints.
The three main needs associated with these solutions is pedestrian safety, vehicle safety and parking control. The curb marking are used to delineate “no parking” areas. The City staff has opted to use primarily signage over curb painting to provide for year around visibility and alleviate budget constraints. There are areas and situations where staff still prefers to paint curbs. Parking stall markings are not safety related and are provided to assist in providing for the maximum amount of spaces available. Handicap parking is an enforcement issue and again there is both signage and painting for year around coverage.
The staff has since 2004 completed all street related painting just prior to the start of school in the fall to provide the best marking visibility at the start of the school year. The primary reason for pavement markings is safety related and the beginning of school activities generally demand the most safety needs. The ordering, storing and maintenance of equipment operationally works best with the once a year gearing up for painting. Staff has not painted every area every year. The paint may last up to three years, although the aesthetics may be somewhat lacking.
The Council may want to provide some policy direction for modifying this current administrative practice.

Today's Quote

“Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are.” John Wooden

Understand the workings of dishonesty

Here's a webpage on how to be honest.


http://www.wikihow.com/Be-Honest

Honesty is a hard taskmaster that can teach many a tough lessons to the young man at work and in relationships. Even silence can be dishonest.

Economic Shrinkage

These two articles appeal to me. I think that there is a certain amount of truth to both discussions. Politics will never associate with either discussion and so any fix is probably a long way off.
http://endoftheamericandream.com/archives/bye-bye-american-pie-10-reasons-why-americas-economic-pie-is-rapidly-shrinking

http://www.npr.org/2011/04/16/135464226/reagans-budget-director-taking-no-sides

Majority Voting Rule (Cont’d)

Three factors that determine an individual’s attitudes toward public-goods expenditures:
1. Some may like public goods more than others.
2. Individuals’ incomes may differ. Poor individuals may have a higher marginal utility of private goods than others.
3. Nature of tax system.
Median voter controls majority voting:
1. The majority voting equilibrium level of expenditures is the level that is most preferred by the median voter.
2. Equilibrium for public goods is either inefficient or non-existent.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_Choice_and_Individual_Values

Just Think

Why do people seem to prefer intuitive rather than equally valid or more valid nonintuitive alternatives? Intuitive decisions arise because intuitions often seem to be common sense that everyone can understand, and the subjective ease leads people to hold their intuitions with high confidence.
Intuition and intuitive knowledge comes to the individual without requiring a slow rational process, not much thinking is required. The intuitive decision is often hard to explain because each individual uses acquired knowledge that is deeply personal and unique to them. It use to be a general belief that intuition was an irrational process but I don’t feel this is true, because a decision is made intuitively does not mean our brain is disconnected from the process, it just means our subconscious recognizes “cues” and signals derived from experience and learning and then the individual reacts based on previous experience and learning. It is misleading to say that such a process is irrational, the process simply doesn’t use the well recognized rational processes of evidence and deduction. Every day there are countless choices that people make without much thought. They tend to apply rules and copy solutions from their own or others past experience rather than solve every problem they encounter on a daily basis.
We need to take this ability seriously as it leads to important insights; it can also betray us because quick judgment is highly influenced by the environment and predispositions.

Why

A person who believes they are telling the truth even though the objective evidence strongly supports the claim that they are lying is deceiving themselves into believing the lie because they desire the results. A belief so motivated is usually considered more flawed than one due to lack of ability to evaluate evidence properly. The former is considered to be a kind of moral flaw, a kind of dishonesty, and irrational. The latter is considered to be a matter of fate: some people are just not gifted enough to make proper inferences from the data of perception and experience.

Hang'in There

History has demonstrated that the most notable winners usually encountered heartbreaking obstacles before they triumphed. They won because they refused to become discouraged by their defeats.
Bertie C.Forbes

My Whole

Concentration has been defined as "the ability to direct one's thinking in whatever direction one would intend".
I have the ability to concentrate on tasks most of the time. But at other times I can’t focus on the task at hand, my mind keeps returning other issues.
It helps when I’m feeling good physically - i.e. feeling rested, relaxed and comfortable - and my emotions are calm and benevolent, then I tend to be positive about things. This in turn allows me to feel good about what’s going on around me, which makes me more able to concentrate, if only because I don't have to worry about how awful my life is.
Sometimes what I feel responsible for is just too much for me to get my head around. When I think about it, it appears to be beyond my ability to control and I feel helpless. Both contribute to losing concentration because it all feels impossible.
In such circumstances, I need to look for ways of break the task up into smaller discreet parts that feel manageable. Then treat them as individual tasks, summoning up your concentration for each of them separately. It then doesn't need so much effort to fix them all together later on to make a complete whole.

Utilitarianism and Equity

1. Utilitarian Social Welfare Function http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/utilitarianism-history/

2. First Theorem: Under certain conditions, competitive markets lead to an allocation where there is no rearrangement of resources (no possible change in production and consumption) such that someone can be made better off without, at the same time, making someone else worse off. http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/justice-distributive/

3. Second Theorem: If we don’t like the income distribution generated by a competitive market(Crusoe and Friday), we need not abandon the use of the competitive market mechanism. All we need to do is redistribute the initial wealth, and then leave the rest to the competitive market.

4. Two notions of utilitarianism are Pareto-efficiency. http://www.investopedia.com/terms/p/pareto-efficiency.asp

5. and the Kaldor-Hicks principle. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaldor%E2%80%93Hicks_efficiency