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VIEWPOINT
By
Trav Skallman
With
city and county council elections recently completed, now
may be an opportune time to discuss a problem that has concerned
me for several years. During my more than a quarter of a
century involvement at Blaine city hall, it became obvious
how long it took for elected officials to become aware of,
and be knowledgeable about the problems and responsibilities
of city government.
It doesn’t matter what a person’s background or
education has been, unless a person has had training or
experience in local government, they will not understand
much about the restrictions and procedures required by municipal
laws of the State of Washington. Many times people are not
aware of the skills required for working as a group and
a responsible agent of the public.
In our present society with its strong emphasis on individual
achievement, it is not surprising that we find many, many
people who do not understand or comprehend the meaning of
teamwork or cooperative team effort. This is true in private
enterprise as well as public.
It has become essential that we find some method of training
our elected officials. With escalating costs and growing
complexity of financing and operation of our local governments,
just having a person with good common sense is not enough.
He or she still needs training.
I suggest that every person elected to a city council, county
council, school board, etc., should be required to attend
evening classes for a minimum of three months at public
expense immediately after the November elections.
There are to me three basic areas of understanding among
several that need to be studied. The first is the chain
of command. The chairman of a council committee is not foreman
of the crew. The concerned chairman should work through
the administrative officer, whether it be the mayor or someone
else. Employees must know whom they are working for, or
morale is destroyed. Lack of this understanding also makes
the supervisor’s job impossible.
The second very important area is the need for understanding
some basics of municipal financing and law. We can’t
expect all elected officials to be accountants or attorneys,
but we can require that they learn some basic principles.
When reports are then given out, people would have the ability
to analyze what is happening in a particular department
or operation. This understanding is necessary in private
business also. Local government is probably more complex
and detailed.
A third area is the comprehension of what is involved in
small group communication. People on councils, boards of
directors, committees, etc., need to be aware of the attitudes
and behavior that one needs to practice in a group that
hopes to solve problems and accomplish objectives.
Such things as a willingness to listen to the other person,
without judging them or the ability to offer suggestions
and proposals without antagonizing other members of the
group, are so very important in small group activity.
There are many other areas of knowledge needed to become
a competent council person or board member. These three,
I believe, show the urgent need to begin a training program
for local government officials. We human creatures know
very little automatically. We need to be taught.
(Originally written a number of years ago, Trav believes
his idea continues to hold great merit.)
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