Hearing and Deputy Mayor Essay

Part 3 - Community Politics
Case #3 "Unknown taxpayer preferences"

3) From the information given in the case, set up a priority list of the budget cuts that Catler should recommend to the council. The city of westview is in dire need of money influx but still there are lot of non essentials that’s included in the budget proposal. Recommended cuts:
1. Postpone the acquisition of the new bicycle squad, which will require more money spent toward training. 1. Instead of opening all three libraries on Sunday, open the main building. This would also decrease the need to hire all of the new library staff, etc.
2. Purchase only one dump truck. Since it is going to be used for snow plowing, do we need two large dump trucks to perform this task? Would two smaller trucks suffice due to the fact that it only snows roughly 4 months out of the year
3. 10 new Police cruiser is way over the line. Why not buy 5 for the moment and five when the indicators are back on the green.
4) Should Catler communicate with King, Maxwell, and other interest group leaders in advance of the meeting? If so, how should he handle the communications?
I believe that Mr. Catler should communicate briefly to the leaders of only the interest groups that are affected by the budgetary cuts. This should be a very controlled and information only meeting with Deputy Mayor Nichols and Dr. Patricia Brooks as witnesses. This will hopefully diffuse any potentially negative outcomes that might have arisen if they had been "blind sided" by an open press meeting. Even if these groups don't agree with the new budgetary cuts, hopefully they will leave the meeting with a greater respect for his thoughtfulness for informing them in advance.
5) Obviously, the mayor and the deputy mayor are deeply divided over this issue, and Catler knows he could easily be caught in the middle. How should he handle his relationship with the two council leaders? Catler could indeed be "caught in the middle" of differing opinions by two council leaders if he were to allow it to happen. However, he should remain professional and remain dedicated to improving the town that he is managing. It is often far too easy to fall into moments of weakness allowing personal feelings or beliefs to interfere with factual information. I believe that both the mayor and deputy mayor want what is best for the town of Westview. It is their views of what is best for Westview that are not in sync. With that in mind, I feel that Mr. Catler should be able to use that common denominator in a positive manner to encourage cohesiveness between the two leaders.
6) What changes should Catler propose to make in the budget process to avoid similar situations in the future? Perhaps the most obvious occurrence is the frequently overbearing presence of the interest groups and their influence of the budgetary process. Maybe he could propose a separate hearing for special interest groups without having them be present at the actual budget public hearings. Another issue that might be to the city manager's advantage for the next budget preparation process would be to propose that each

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