Tied Up In Knots

Covered the local city council meeting last night. As the managing editor and city hall beat reporter for the local newspaper (www.VillageChronicles.net) I track city governance, the issues, the history of those issues, how they pop up from time to time, and how they morph logically into action and quality of life issues.

We have a very good city government. It is responsive to the community and its citizens. Elected officials are well involved in the life of their town and know its history, problems and yearnings. They are solidly committed to common sense. They care deeply about the town and its long term finances. These are the really good points.

Of course there are some negatives; our town is human! As are its reporters. But indulge me a little here. My primary complaint about our civic leaders is that they are not long-term future oriented. Ten to 20 year forward views need to be thought about if the short term issues are to be managed well. Without the long view, the ship of state (city in this instance) cannot navigate the trip down the river very well. It will bang into islands or river banks, caroming down to a future landing point. With short view vision, they can cross the river from point A to point B quite well. But that is quite short term; it doesn’t really get you anywhere.

No; it’s the long view that get’s us where we want to go, or hope to!

Case in point: The Acorn Van Program. A wonderful service to the community for those who are unable to transport themselves to doctors, social engagements, shopping or errands due to medical issues, mobility problems, aging difficulties, etc. This number is in the hundreds, not thousands. These residents, however, are long-term partners in the city’s story, and are rightfully served.

Acorn Van keeps them involved and vital. It was a good feeling to provide this service back in 2003/2004. I was elected to the City Council in 2003 and the van program was one of my first votes. The program was fully implemented in 2004 and has been successful ever since.

But now comes 2012, the need to replace the $50,000 van, and a reassessment of the city’s ability, capacity really, to support the program into the next 5 to 10 years. They can do it of course if needed resources are provided. In this day and age, however, that is a tall task. Staff is stretched thin; money for the new van, although in the budget, can be used elsewhere as funds are tight everywhere; and reliance on the program by riders continues to grow.

What to do? City staff has analyzed the issues side ways, end ways, and upside/downside ways! They conclude that a vendor program provided by a collaboration of local governments would serve the user better, more flexibility and with more options. The cost at this point is not the issue. The city continues to consider ways to subsidize the program so riders are not affected by cost.

But there is a hang up. A good one, really, but for the wrong reasons.

The hang up: personal service to local users at no cost; driver, city management and riders know each other. It is very personal and adaptive. That’s a good thing.

The wrong reason: City Council is attempting to manage the program without structural change. That’s the job of the staff. And they say they cannot do it the way the program is structured currently. Nor do they see the city affording it to keep the end results the same to the user. That is a fairness issue to the rest of the residents.

Council is to be congratulated for their motivation. They are faulted, however, for functioning as management team rather than a board of directors. The latter deals with policy and direction of effort. The end results of what is desired becomes the aim of such a body. Not management.

This is often the problem of governance. The directors become the managers. The managers become the clerical staff.

Managers have stated on record that they cannot personally manage the program adequately without more staff time devoted to the tasks. There will be more money needed of course, and back up plans for van and staff downtime, rider emergencies, and the like. Those changes shift the mission of the city a bit. To avoid that, staff has recommended adopting Ride DuPage. It is a large program serving the entire county. It is used by several communities. Overall costs are similar. Options exist to share costs with riders, or keep them unaffected by rising costs. The end result is the service remains in place on a more professional and consistent basis for more hours and days throughout the year.

The decision the Council needs to make is pretty basic: to continue providing van service to the target population or not; and at what cost to the rider.

The management team (staff) will determine how to implement the decision. The team will even give the Council options if they so choose. But running the program is the job of staff.

Let them do their job. They are very good at it. Efficient, cost effective and deeply caring.

Vending a task is a viable option for programs that outgrow their original parameters. This is such a time.

Praise the Acorn Van Program. From a little acorn did a might tree grow! And the ridership came and grew the program. Now we yield to the necessity of a larger program. Ride DuPage is an excellent option to adopt.

July 10, 2012