Doing Less with Less

Local governments -- at the city, township, county level -- are the front lines of democracy and canaries in the coal mine in many respects. Syndicated columnist Neal Peirce is one of the great chroniclers of local government issues. Another is Bill Barnes, director for emerging issues at the National League of Cities. Barnes' December post is about how local leaders have already gone through the "doing more with less" phase. Now he says, "many are figuring out how to do less with less."

Unlike the federal government, which regularly pulls budgetary tricks to gloss over problems or ignore them until they become crises, local governments have to balance budgets and deliver services that constituents depend on, day after day.  It's a lot harder for mayors or city council members or city managers to hide from the people they serve.  Or use partisan rhetoric to duck accountability or spread blame.

So local government is where you see in stark terms how things are working -- or not. Barnes says now is the time to "test local and regional systems for capacity to weather probable scenarios" that result from the continuing recession, which may drag on for years.  He notes local leaders have been in "airbag situations -- saved from devastation but temporarily stuck in place and unable to see ahead" and therefore have been focused on the "immediate and urgent."  

NLC's Center for Research and Innovation is one of the incubators of ideas and strategies for managing a way to stronger local communities and looking ahead with longer-term strategies. 

While the Washington region, inside the Beltway, is not hurting as badly as many others throughout the U.S., Congress would be wise to spend more time with local leaders to glean insights into innovation, cooperation, accountability, courage, and doing less with less.

Manage This

As a kid, I spent many years growing up about a mile or so inside the Beltway in Fairfax County, Va. before there was a Beltway. Even then, in the 60s, you could hear the roar of the road in the distance, in the evening.  Now I'm about a mile outside and my son and I often hike through the wooded parkland that abuts the Beltway. It's nice land although the velocity of the water after a storm seems to scour away most of the life in the creek.

And it's lousy with deer who venture boldly out into the yards to eat your plants. We saw a sign posted in the woods the other day that said something like, "Deer Management Area" with a beginning and ending date.  That was it, except for a tiny notice in small print at the bottom, which said for more information go to www.fairfaxcounty.gov/living/animals/wildlife/archery/archery-program.htm.  Leif read it. It was a sort of "aha" moment for him.  That's what you call the "fine print" I explained. Read the fine print.

The Roar of the Beltway

When I step outside my front door each morning, I can hear the Beltway.  It's a dull roar.  It never goes away completely.  It's like background noise -- a hum, a buzz. Not unpleasant really.  I walk down to the end of my driveway and pick up the Washington Post and the New York Times and I try to thumb through them, the national and political news anyway, with my espresso roast from Beanetics. I check Google news alerts. Forward an article, perhaps.  Then I drive east toward Washington, stopping at the water, and climbing into a tall building with a view of the Potomac and the airport.