Opinion as contributed by Mike McDermott
from http://mcdermottforcouncil.com
Tipp City requires innovative thoughts that will pave a way to long-term success. But what is innovation really? I like to consider innovation as new ideas that work.
Innovation when it comes to our city services is the creation of new products and services, or the implementation of new organizational structures and management processes. You may be saying.. “Wow Mike, that sure sounds like growing the size of government” Well to answer you succinctly, Tipp City ain’t Big Government and I never said anything about spending.
Delivering Innovation begins with Listening
Introducing changes to delivery-level public services critically depends on consulting with services users and achieving a deep understanding of citizens’ needs and expectations. This strategy would create an environment of more intensive “customer engagement”. That’s right. Asking residents what would benefit them and not hiring an out of town consultant for a high-ticket whitepaper about what other towns “just like Tipp City” would benefit from.
But Listening Hurts
Say I am eating breakfast at Sam and Ethel’s and I overhear a resident mentioning a way that they could save energy costs by installing solar panels on their roof. It sounds like a great idea eh? Residents paying for the upgrades out of their own pocket, and lowering their demand on our public utilities. Oh but the troubles aren’t on the surface, they lie underneath. Tipp City has ordinances that prohibit the installation of residential solar panels. In addition, I am sure we have a fancy white paper floating around that helped Council come up with that ordinance that says that solar panels can be “eyesores”, “distract drivers and low flying planes”, and maybe bring the wrath of PETA for the numerous pigeons that may get stuck in the roof-mounted panels. Not to mention the hundreds/thousands of residential litigations that would ensue if a resident actually mounted said ‘eyesore”.
So that is why those expensive consultants are called on. They are paid specifically to come up with every conceivable problem that may be encountered, often presenting a conclusion that is over-cautious and frankly… depressing.
Austerity Hurts
Over the next 5 short years, Ohio municipalities like Tipp City will be looking at large state cuts that demand some sort of equivalent cost-cutting measure to take place. With our aging population and the pressures of young Ohioans migrating to states with higher employment, there is a need for long-term strategically focused change in the design and implementation of public services that are not simply a result of budget cuts and efficiency savings.
In this time of financial austerity, funding is so intensively rationed and apportioned that resources for new projects are generally starved out and different authorities tend to ‘hunker down’ and try to wait out lean times – perhaps accumulating ideas but not acting on them until the fiscal climate improves.
This flawed understanding may be forcing us to consider not only eliminating the out of date or “luxury items”, but also some risky or painful cost-cutting measures, such as service shutdowns, moving full-time activities to part-time (i.e. utility department open on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays) or even more radical reorganizations that eliminate capabilities and city services all together (like shutting down the Aquatic Center).
Innovation can Help
Tipp City faces a time of both crisis and opportunity. The period of austerity will challenge conventional wisdom and existing practice and may pave the way for the pulling down of barriers and inspire new and innovative thinking.
Tipp’s City Council will no doubt embrace a range of different strategies in deciding how to address the challenges of responding to funding cuts and austerity conditions. My goal for seeking a seat on City Council is to add this perspective of thought and service innovation (and listening) that is currently lacking.
Mr. McDermott’s campaign is paid for by the Friends of Mike McDermott, Rick Mains Jr. Treasurer 115 S. Tippecanoe Rd. Tipp City, OH 45371
