The High Calling of City Council Service

Service as a city council member is distinctive in many ways from other service as an elected official. Council members serve the electorate in the community in which they live, work, and raise their families. Oftentimes the families of those elected to city councils have lived in these cities for generations. In a word, council members are typically “woven” into the fabric of the communities where they have chosen to serve. They may feel called to serve because of strong familial, emotional, and economic ties to their cities; or simply a sense of purpose and duty to make their communities better. The calling they feel to aspire to these leadership positions is noble and quite strong, as it is a calling to what often seems a “thankless” form of public service.

In my opinion, elected office in local government offers a greater opportunity to positively impact the lives of citizens than county, state, or national public service. Communities are where our dreams, desires, and values as humans are formed. Each member of the community is a fabric which when woven together becomes a tapestry revealing the past and future potential for the community. There are many who serve their communities. These include educators, clergy, volunteers and others. All who serve community serve as weavers of this tapestry that is community.

Council members, however, serve to shape the governing foundation and evolving structure of the communities. Continuing our tapestry analogy, you might say council members design, construct, and support the loom on which the social and cultural tapestry of the community is woven. This is their “high calling.”

When we think of a “higher calling” we often think of a calling to service by God. While I fully agree with this, I also view local government service as a “higher calling” whether the council member is a person of faith or not. We often consider those who have shaped and formed or protected our society as answering a “higher calling.” As stated, I view those who have served in our armed forces, those who have led our country through trials, as President Abraham Lincoln, or those who have led our country from the darkness of injustice and inequality to the light of civil rights like Martin Luther King Jr., as servant leaders who have answered their “higher calling” and paid the highest price.

While the scale of service and sacrifice of service as a city council member pales in comparison to these heroes, those who serve their communities in these roles choose to answer a “higher calling.” Each of these heroes we remember were men and women whose dreams, desires and values were shaped and formed in local communities served by local leaders; and therein lies the “higher calling” for those who design, build and maintain the loom on which the tapestry of community is woven – our city council members.

Answering the Call – Promises and Pitfalls

Those seeking elected office as council members can expect to be disputed, disliked, defamed, and occasionally vilified. Know this before you run for office, but also know you are in the best company. History teaches us that all those who choose to serve with selfless desire for the betterment of all, have and will continue to experience, negativity, hostility and more, from those they have chosen to serve. More importantly however, history also teaches us that those who choose to serve with selfless desire (servant leaders) leave legacies that take the form of better communities and better societies. They may never be remembered, but their contribution will live on in the form of members of future generations of servant leaders willing to answer a higher calling whether it is on a foreign battlefield or a city council meeting. These are some of the promises which come with being a city council member who serves as a servant leader. Service for self does not hold the same promises.

In my career I have found the following pitfalls which those answering the call may face and should avoid. These include:

The wrong motive for service. Why do you choose to serve? This is the first question those seeking elected office should ask themselves. Service is a calling – a calling to place the community’s interest before personal interest, a supporter’s interest, or the interest of one group. Dr. King said it best in one of his sermons.

“Not everybody can be famous. But everybody can be great because greatness is determined by service. You don’t have to have a college degree to serve. You don’t have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You don't have to know about Plato or Aristotle to serve. You don’t have to know Einstein's theory of relativity to serve. You don’t have to know the second theory of thermodynamics in physics to serve. You only need a heart full of grace and a soul generated by love.” ― Martin Luther King, Jr.

Dr. King spoke of service generated from a “heart full of grace and a soul generated by love.” Note: he did not speak of pleasing oneself or a few constituents. He spoke of selfless service for the betterment of all.
Failing to “Begin with the End in Mind.” In Stephen Covey’s Seven Habits of Highly Effective People (1988), he defines the second habit as “Begin with the End in Mind.” While Covey places this in the context of personal habits which when applied result in us becoming more effective, I choose to apply this habit and the underlying principles to council leadership. Covey explains that “beginning with the end in mind” is the ability to envision in your mind what you cannot now see with your eyes. I believe the ability to see the “city/community of the future” within one’s mind is a critical trait for city council leaders. Council members must understand that they are charged with making decisions for the betterment of community life for future generations. I ask councils to think, decide and act on behalf of those living in the city fifty years in the future. This may be easier if the city has a living breathing master plan which previous councils have followed. This may be more difficult for newly elected council members who feel that their primary obligation is to make decisions which benefit their constituents today. I do not view these as mutually exclusive unless the focus on present problems detracts from the long-range plan of the city.
“Politics” The pitfalls of politics as a council member can be harmful for the future of the community. Former Speaker of the House, Tip O’Neill is credited with the phrase “all politics is local” referencing decisions made at the national level must sit well in small town USA. The phrase also reminds us that we can never escape the benefits and detriments of politics – even in non-partisan city council elections. The challenge and potential pitfall for council members occurs when political motives and actions take precedence over what is ultimately best for the community residents today and tomorrow. Political agendas and/or political favors can undermine quality governance and sidetrack the best future of our cities. Politics can also divide councils. Councils as legislative bodies function best when they are of one mind and purpose. This does not mean that all council members must agree, but it does mean that all council members should have the best long-term interest of their community as the primary motivation.<

Council members have a high calling. They will serve best when they view their service with the understanding that their service helps to shape and form the future generations who live in their communities. Approaching service as a servant leader, the women and men who choose to serve in these positions will have an impact which can positively change not just their community, but our society.

Leadership Challenges for Mayors in Council – Manager Forms of City Governments

After several decades of public service you become aware of pitfalls which can negatively impact the service of elected officials. My leadership experience has been in Council – Manager Forms of government. Having served in numerous cities with this form of government, I have had ample opportunity to study the journeys of newly elected mayors as they struggle to find their way and define their roles.

Mayors in many Council – Manager Forms of government have limited direct power. Mayors preside over the meetings, serve as the spokesperson for the council, may add items to the agenda, and have certain powers in cases of emergencies; their powers are, however, limited in that they can only vote in the case of a tie and typically do not count in the establishment of a quorum.

City Management: It’s not about today.

A constant tension exists between the past, present, and future in the life of a city manager. A manager is confronted with expectations along this timeline from citizens, council members, business leaders, and him/herself.

Those wishing to maintain the status quo will always look to the “good old days” and remind the manager that the city must maintain or in some instances return to the “way things were years ago.” These citizens usually are focused on a tradition, event, or manner in which commerce was conducted in the past. They hold these memories as important and seek to have these and the social interactions they served to create continue. Unfortunately, a manager cannot turn back time nor prevent changes which time creates, and attempts to recreate never seem to fulfill expectations of those seeking the way things were in the “good old days.”

Seasons of Leadership

There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven— Ecclesiastes 3:1

Ecclesiastes tells us that there are seasons in life. Life is a bookshelf with bookends of birth and death. The volumes between are those we choose to write and in many instances, those which we allow life to author for us. The seasons of life go far beyond the major events in our existence. They impact our families, our dreams and goals, and are played out in every area of our lives, including our careers. Our challenge as leaders is how we recognize the seasons and how the choices we make as life carries us from one season to the next.

The High Calling of City Council Service

SWOT Analysis of City Council Leadership Roles and Functions

SWOT analysis is a commonly used planning/management tool. It provides organizations a means to analyze their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. Each of these operational areas contribute to the organization's overall health and potential for growth.

Communities are complex organizations. Community planners often use a SWOT analysis in the development of community master plans. Leadership is always one area of analysis in the development of a SWOT for a city. Leadership, particularly elected leadership may be the most crucial determinant in the health, growth, and prosperity of a community. While this is true for all communities this is particularly critical for small communities. In understanding the roles and functions of municipal elected officials it may be helpful to view them through the SWOT lens. This paper is an attempt to examine elected leadership through this analysis methodology.

Community Leadership Reimagined

The turbulence we are witnessing in our nation’s cities is a symptom of something beyond systemic racism, lack of social or economic justice, or political division. In my opinion it is a symptom of a self-centered and isolated existence which has crippled social development for thousands of years. Positive social change begins with our ability as leaders to think, feel, listen, speak and act with the understanding that it is not about us – it is about the generations which will follow. The decisions we face as leaders must be framed in the context of the future lives of others’ children, grandchildren and even great grandchildren, not simply the lives of those we serve today.