Pearls of Wisdom - Priceless Gems for Local Government Officials

Pearl of Wisdom # 64

2012-02-15T09:00:00.002-06:00

Simple Truths About The Constituents of Local Government Officials

The vast majority of constituents will forget what their local government officials say while they are in public office.

The vast majority of constituents will forget what their local government officials do while they are in public office.

Few, if any, constituents will ever forget how their local government officials made them feel while they were in public office.

Pearl of Wisdom # 63

2012-01-30T07:29:00.002-06:00

There is a "significant difference" between local government officials who worry and those who are concerned.

Public officials who worry are the ones who only see the problems in their communities. Public officials who are concerned generally are evaluating possible solutions to improve their local communities.

Pearl of Wisdom # 62

2012-01-17T07:42:00.001-06:00

Local Government Officials should daydream often as to how life in their local communities could be better; for it's often their daydreams that become the blueprints for how they achieve true success in public office.

Pearl of Wisdom # 61

2012-01-05T06:55:00.002-06:00

Successful local public official understand one basic and very important concept: It is important that they go from a failed idea in local government to another without losing enthusiasm.

They know that Babe Ruth and Hank Aaron did not hit a home run every time they went to bat.

Pearl of Wisdom # 60

2011-12-27T11:09:00.000-06:00

Professional opinions expressed by senior public employees and department supervisors have a tendency to quickly devalue as they are brought up for discussion during public meetings or public hearings.

Pearl of Wisdom # 59

2011-12-06T07:24:00.000-06:00

Most information that is collected in a unit of local government has a propensity to deteriorate in quality as it moves upward toward the local public officials. The rate of deterioration increases dramatically when the information that has been collected is being discussed in a public meeting or public hearing.

Therefore verify, verify and verify any information you have before you go public with it.

Pearl of Wisdom # 58

2011-11-23T07:21:00.001-06:00

In local government, just like in corporate America, assigning the blame when a problem is detected is always easier than actually fixing the problem.

Pearl of Wisdom # 57

2011-11-09T07:17:00.002-06:00

They best way to understand any project undertaken by a local government unit (i.e. City, Village, County, Township, School Board, Borough, Parish, District etc.) is to remember that the first 90% of the project will take approximately 10% of the time; it will be the last 10% of the project that will take up 90% of the time.

Pearl of Wisdom # 56

2011-10-21T09:00:00.000-05:00

If you're an elected or appointed local public official expect to receive fallout "when anything hits the fan" - even if you were out of town, in the hospital recovering from open heart surgery and had absolutely nothing to do with it.

Pearl of Wisdom # 55

2011-10-12T07:50:00.001-05:00

You never know for sure when it will arrive, but there comes a moment during every public hearing when you know nothing more productive can possibly come out of the rest of the meeting.

Pearl of Wisdom # 54

2011-09-26T06:52:00.002-05:00

Nothing will be more infuriating for you as public official than that very moment when you are in a heated discussion with a political adversary or speaking out in a well attended public meeting and you suddenly realize that you are totally wrong in what you have been saying.

Pearl of Wisdom # 53

2011-09-14T07:42:00.001-05:00

We all know it is very important to send out the minutes of any public meeting in a timely manner, but we sometimes forget ...

Only two delegates to the Continental Congress actually signed the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776: John Hancock and Charles Thomson.

Most of the the delegates did not sign the Declaration of Independence until August 2nd; and the last signature was not added until 1781 - five {5} years later.

Pearl of Wisdom # 52

2011-08-30T07:15:00.000-05:00

It’s a good idea to save the phone numbers of many of your political adversaries and community antagonists in your cell phone so you know which calls not to take when you are in an important meeting or enjoying quality time with your family.

Pearl of Wisdom # 51

2011-07-24T07:13:00.003-05:00

The question is not whether your town, village, city or county wants business development ...
The question is what does your community offer businesses and their employees who might consider relocating to, or establishing a new business in, your community.

Pearl of Wisdom # 50

2011-07-16T07:23:00.001-05:00

Eliminate double standards in Local Government -
Don't have one standard for government employees and another for the elected or appointed public officials who serve in local government.

Pearl of Wisdom # 49

2011-07-07T07:19:00.010-05:00

Remember your term in public office will be short so focus on:

1) Speaking slowly

2) Forgiving quickly

3) Laughing often, and

4) Walking away with absolutely no regrets.

Pearl of Wisdom # 48

2011-06-30T08:41:00.001-05:00

In local government “Good Judgment” comes from experience -- and experience in local government seems to only be acquired from previous bad judgment.

Pearl of Wisdom # 47

2011-06-22T07:13:00.008-05:00

There are Three Ways Local Public Officials Learn

Some learn by reading - so give them documentation regarding the subject

Some learn by observation - so take them out for a tour of the problem

Some learn only by trial and error - get out of their way and hope they figure it out

Pearl of Wisdom # 46

2011-06-15T07:39:00.002-05:00

Never pass up a good chance to shut up and just listen.

Pearl of Wisdom # 45

2011-06-08T07:26:00.001-05:00

There are two well known and widely accepted theories on How to Raise Property Taxes without causing any pain in your local commumity - neither of them work.

Pearl of Wisdom # 44

2011-06-02T07:07:00.000-05:00

99.3 % of all the problems, controversies and delicate issues you and your colleagues will have to face, confront or deal with were either created or initiated by the actions or lack of actions taken by the board, councils or committees that preceded you in local government.

Pearl of Wisdom # 43

2011-05-27T07:04:00.001-05:00

No matter how much you accomplish or personally try to accomplish during your term in office there will always be a handfull of advesaries - constituents and/or community residents who will insist you didn’t do enough while you were in office.

Pearl of Wisdom # 42

2011-05-19T23:09:00.001-05:00

When your unit of local government is confronted with a crisis or an extremely difficult situation trying to find a viable solution you can live with might be a lot easier if you ask yourself: "How would my Mother or Father handle this situation?"

Pearl of Wisdom # 41

2011-05-06T06:59:00.002-05:00

Following state statues can often prevent you, and your colleagues, from solving the unique problems plaquing your unit of local government or commumity. But rest assured find cost effective or creting ways to resolve our unique local problems will never ever be accepted as a valid excuse for not following state statues.

Pearl of Wisdom # 40

2011-05-01T07:03:00.001-05:00

Anyone can do a better job then you in local government provided they aren’t elected or appointed to your seat or position.

Pearl of Wisdom # 39

2011-04-22T07:18:00.002-05:00

To err is human; however most policy handbooks written by local units of government are designed in such a way that fogiveness is seldom allowed

Pearl of Wisdom # 38

2011-04-17T07:37:00.002-05:00

Never delay scheduling the end of a board/council/borough/parish meeting. For the good of everyone in the room keep your public meetings short and finish on meeting.

Pearl of Wisdom # 37

2011-04-11T07:06:00.000-05:00

98% of the all the controversial and major issues your current public body will deal with during your term in office will be filed under "miscellaneous." five years from now.

Pearl of Wisdom # 36

2011-04-06T07:21:00.002-05:00

Never forget the pats you receive on your back one day from your constituents are just a few centimeters away from being voted out of office at the next election.

Pearl of Wisdom # 35

2011-03-03T07:36:00.007-06:00

As a duly elected or appointed local public official you can only explain the comlexities of the issues confronting your commumity to your local residents - you can not understand them for them.

Pearl of Wisdom # 34

2011-02-25T07:11:00.001-06:00

Public employees who spend all their time at work are typically not hard working ... they are boring.

Pearl of Wisdom # 33

2011-02-17T07:20:00.001-06:00

Assigning two departments 100% of the responsibility for the compeletion of a specific function or special project in your unit of local government ensures that each department will have only 10% accountablity if that function or project fails.

Pearl of Wisdom # 32

2011-02-11T07:06:00.004-06:00

The only known way to change the spots on a leopard is to alter its DNA. Unless you, or one of your colleagues, are genetic biologists it is generally cheaper, quicker and wiser to get rid of a leopard with the wrong spots and replace them with a new leopard who has the spots where your unit of local government needs them.

Pearl of Wisdom # 31

2011-02-05T14:03:00.001-06:00

An uninpsired, unmotivated and untrained staff within a unit of local government costs more to maintain and operate than a local government staff that is motivated, inspired and well trained.

Pearl of Wisdom # 30

2011-01-27T06:49:00.000-06:00

Wearing bib overalls, flannel shirts, tennis shoes, DeKalb ball caps, Harley Davidson leather vests, Hooter's or Jack Daniels T-shirts and plunging necklines (etc) seldom help to make a favorable impression when meeting with State Officials, business leaders or reporters from major media outlets.

Pearl of Wisdom # 29

2011-01-22T07:11:00.001-06:00

Don't walk in front of public employees - they may not follow you. Don't walk behind public employees - they may not know which way you want them to go. When you are a local government officials always walk beside your public employees and give them directions, advice and feedback along the way.

Pearl of Wisdom # 28

2011-01-15T07:13:00.001-06:00

It may be that your sole purpose as an elected officials is to lighten the load for others who live in your community.

Pearl of Wisdom # 27

2011-01-07T10:21:00.002-06:00

As a local public official it is incumbant upon you that you learn as much as you can about how your unit of local government operates and functions, as well as all it's strenghts and weaknesses. Public officials who only possess good intentions are absolutely worthless. Its those Government Offcials with current knoweldge and hands-on experience who get things done and create the results a commumity needs and people will remember.

Pearl of Wisdom # 26

2011-01-01T07:25:00.005-06:00

If you can't be kind when describing the values and strengths of one of your board/council colleagues in local government, at least have the decency to be extremely vague in your description.

Pearl of Wisdom # 25

2010-12-21T08:04:00.006-06:00

Some mistakes we make in Local Government are too much fun to only make once.

Pearl of Wisdom # 24

2010-12-16T07:17:00.004-06:00

You might not be the only person in the world, however for a handful of people in your community you do represent the world.

Pearl of Wisdom # 23

2010-12-12T08:22:00.004-06:00

Try hard not to put both feet in your mouth at the same time when speaking in public, because then you won't have a leg to stand on.

Pearl of Wisdom # 22

2010-11-27T22:07:00.009-06:00

You seldom know when it will strike, but there definitely comes a critical moment in all public hearings when you begin to rehash the same point over and over and you begin to realize that nothing productive will occur during the rest of the public hearing

Pearl of Wisdom # 21

2010-11-16T07:30:00.002-06:00

Most of the bad decisions you make while in public office will be the great stories you remember and often tell when you are out of local government.

Pearl of Wisdom # 20

2010-11-12T21:57:00.002-06:00

Few things will be more frustrating than that moment during a public meeting when you realize the point you have been supporting is wrong

Pearl of Wisdom # 19

2010-11-08T07:30:00.002-06:00

It’s a good idea to keep select key local resident's phone numbers in your phone just so you know which calls you do not want to answer when they call.

Pearl of Wisdom # 18

2010-11-04T19:30:00.001-05:00

Following established current policies may not always be in the best interest and may not always get the job done

Pearl of Wisdom # 17

2010-11-01T19:30:00.003-05:00

If it weren’t for the last minute, most local government budgets wouldn’t get approved.

Pearl of Wisdom # 16

2010-10-18T07:30:00.004-05:00

The most successful people you will ever meet in government will be some of the most interesting people you will meet in your entire life.

Pearl of Wisdom # 15

2010-10-04T07:30:00.004-05:00

During an election year, there are two basic rules to follow if you want to get elected or re-elected to a public office:

One: Try to stay in the middle on all controversial issues

Two: Don't go anywhere near the edges on controversial issues.

Pearl of Wisdom # 14

2010-09-20T07:30:00.005-05:00

Silence can often be misunderstood but never, ever can it be misquoted.

Pearl of Wisdom # 13

2010-09-06T07:30:00.003-05:00

Remember: You can only explain the issues affecting your community to your constituents ... and the other local residents. You can never understand the issues for them.

Pearl of Wisdom # 12

2010-08-23T07:30:00.011-05:00

The consequences are significantly different if a Public Official shows apathy, sympathy or empathy. As a Local Government Official it is imperative you only convey empathy!

{P.S. If you don't know the difference please contact Local Government Resources and let us explain the difference. Email us at localgovt@betterpublicofficials.com}

Pearl of Wisdom # 11

2010-08-09T07:30:00.002-05:00

In disagreements with your colleagues always fight fairly. Never resort to name calling.

Pearl of Wisdom # 10

2010-07-31T21:37:00.001-05:00

There is no excuse for ever being marked absent at a public meeting - if you can not make a meeting call ahead and explain to the meeting Chair why you won't be at the meeting and ask to be recognized as excused.

Pearl of Wisdom # 9

2010-07-12T07:30:00.002-05:00

When you see an individual in your commumity without a smile - make sure to give them one of yours.

Pearl of Wisdom # 8

2010-06-14T07:30:00.001-05:00

Never Trade Luck for Skill.

Pearl of Wisdom # 7

2010-06-01T07:30:00.001-05:00

There are three critical steps to remember when you speak in public. 1) Be Brief 2) Be Brilliant and 3) Be Done

Pearl of Wisdom # 6

2010-05-17T08:00:00.002-05:00

When dining in public remember to bring your food to your face - not your face to the food.

Pearl of Wisdom # 5

2010-04-30T07:30:00.003-05:00

If you always do what you've always done - don't be surprised if you always get what you always got.

Pearl of Wisdom # 4

2010-04-15T19:30:00.006-05:00

Never forget the 3 G;s: Look Good, Sound Good and above all Smell Good

Pearl of Wisdom # 3

2010-04-01T07:30:00.006-05:00

If good schools, good roads and a good workforce are the only reasons you and your colleagues can come up with as to why new businesses should locate in your commumity ... don't hold your breath waiting for new businesses to come.

Pearl of Wisdom # 2

2010-03-15T07:30:00.005-05:00

Talk slowly - Think quickly - Act wisely

Pearl of Wisdom # 1

2010-03-01T07:30:00.009-06:00

Two types of local public officials tend to rise to the surface in their communities: Cream and Scum.

Remember communities are always better served when Cream is at the top.