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.