City of Davison, Michigan

Since the College football season kicks off this weekend it reminded me of the above quote from an old football coach I had. This coach was big into building character and pushing yourself to be the best at what ever you do.

I often have employees ask how they can improve in their chosen career. Of course, it changes from person to person, and the conversation is even a little different for those still in college and just launching into a career.

I am always honored by the request to help and only hope the little things I say can help someone reach whatever level they aim for. There are about a dozen things that I think are important for employees that live in this fishbowl we call public service and I thought I might share a few of them.

Think Big; don’t be afraid to dream when you envision what could be.

Set Goals; How do you know if you are being successful unless you lay out what you want to accomplish?

Stick to it; if you have chosen a direction and a goal do not abandon it at the first hurdle, roadblock or other challenge.

Be flexible when adapting to Change; change is one of the only things that is constant. So, don’t be so rigid that you can’t adapt.

Acceptance; accept that others have knowledge that you do not have, learn from it and use it.

Work smarter. Hard work normally proceeds success, but so does working smarter than the competition. Use the right tools to create efficiencies that free up time to do other stuff.

Have discipline; everyone faces a time when doubt creeps in, be disciplined enough to believe in your abilities and keep working towards your goals.

Success is not a destination; Success is a journey and along the journey, there will be many failures.

Respect others decision; people make all kind of decisions for all types of different reasons and experiences, you don’t have to agree with their decisions but it helps to respect that person is making their own choices.

Start a skin farm; grow thick skin, most people want or demand those in public service to be just like them but a little better. People want us to be able to relate to them as normal people, but also want us to be more knowledgeable than they are, more ethical than they are, etc…

I will end this with what another football coach use to say; “What you give, you have forever, what you don’t give you have lost.”

Hope all have a great Labor Day weekend.

At the last City Council workshop there was very good dialog between Council Members, citizens, Land Lords and some representatives of the area’s Land Lord Association. As you may guess, the city is looking at adopting a Rental Residential Property Ordinance.

The City of Davison has been wrestling with this for years, according to one Council Member “..at least thirteen years.” This is one of those issues that people can disagree on a philosophical basis. What really brought this closer to the front burner was the 2000 Census data that showed the City of Davison having almost 50% of our residential property as being rental property.

We knew we had many rental properties, but this number even stunned those at city hall. There were many speculations of how and why this occurred, but with that many rental properties, it raised many other concerns.

At last year’s City Council Goals and Objectives workshop, City Council made it a priority to develop a rental Ordinance in 2007. Instead of making it a political process the City council gave direction to the planning Commission to see what other communities are doing and work with our staff and consultants to come up with a balanced Ordinance that addresses Rental properties within the City of Davison.

After much leg work and input from a lot of sources here is what the purpose of the Ordinance is from Section one of the proposed Ordinance:

Section 1. Purpose. It is the Purpose of the City of Davison Rental Registrations and Inspection Program adopted herein to assure that rental housing in the City is maintained in good, safe, and sanitary condition and does not create a nuisance or blighted conditions to it surroundings. To ensure these conditions and to aid in the enforcement of the Property Maintenance Code, Building Code of Ordinances, the City Council hereby establishes this rental Registration and Inspection Program for all applicable residential units within the City.

The full Ordinance can be found at our web site.

Through this process, one thing we heard from the Land Lords was municipalities don’t give the landlords enough time to repair items that their tenants do to the rented properties. We believe we have addressed this in Section 8,c)(5) e).

Another thing we heard from the public was how many families can live in one unit? We hope to have addressed this in Section 13. a).

Cost was another concern (we are looking at about $35 per year {to be set by city council}) for inspections.

Like most Ordinances, it is hard to please everyone. Some want all property inspected, others want all businesses included, and still others who say there should be no government involvement in any type of business.

It looks as though the City Council will have the Public Hearing in October. Things like this are always very interesting to see go through the process. Like everything we do here in Davison we attempt to get as many people, views into the process, and keep it in the public view.

During trying times I am often asked how or why I keep a positive outlook on the world. The simple answer is because I choose to be a positive person. I think it is more productive to work on solutions, learn, and better yourself and your community than to pick people apart and drag others down with you.

We don’t always get to pick when the defecation hits the rotating oscillator (bad stuff happens), but we do get a choice on how we respond to it.

My mom once gave me a quote by an unknown author. It was about being a winner versus being a loser. In my younger days I played and competed in a lot of sports so I thought that is what the writing was about. How silly of me and how wise of my mother.

Winner vs. Loser

The Winner- is always part of the answer;
The Loser-is always part of the problem;

The Winner-always has a program;
The Loser- always has an excuse;

The Winner- says “Let me do it for you;”
The Loser- says “That’s not my job;”

The Winner- sees an answer for every problem;
The Loser -sees a problem for every answer;

The Winner- sees a green near every sand trap;
The Loser- sees two or three sand traps near every green;

The Winner- says, “It maybe difficult but it’s possible;”
The Loser- says “It maybe possible but it’s too difficult,”

Thanks Mom, I chose to be a winner.

Can’t we silence those train horns? I’ve had two people in one week inquire about the Quiet Zones (QZ) status of Davison’s railroad crossings. Some may remember that back in 2005 we looked at attempting to have train horns silenced as the forty some trains pass through our city every day.

Laws regarding train crossings are guided by the Federal Government and the State of Michigan. Trains must sound the horn 15-20 seconds prior to the trains arrival at the highway rail crossing, but no more than a ¼ mile in advance of the crossing.

The creation of QZ’s were to provide for some flexibility to some low risk locations. We, in Davison, worked with the Federal Railroad Administration (out of the Chicago branch) to see if we could qualify to become a QZ.

The QZ concept utilizes a risk index approach that estimates expected safety outcomes. This is a way to look at the likelihood of a fatal or non-fatal casualty resulting from a collision at a road rail crossing.

The average risk within the proposed QZ is then compared with the National Significant Risk Threshold (NSRT).

To make the long application short, Davison faced an uphill battle. We have three road crossings in a three block span, we have a five lane State Highway (M-15), and pedestrian crossings at all three crossings. To add to our formula is our history of accidents at the crossings. We have had a fatality at our crossings which help shoot our safety number near the top of the charts.

With our history, the type of roads, and the road layouts it makes us a very long shot to qualify to be a QZ without major infrastructure reconstruction and reconfiguration.

We have looked at several ways to reconfigure these rail crossings, but none are cheap or come with anyway to fund them. The most promising is to lower the roads under the R/R tracks. This would not be easy, but not impossible. Our R/R crossing is approximately fourteen to fifteen feet above the road services, so I am told we would have to lower the road under the crossing by about fifteen to sixteen feet to get the appropriate bridge height for traffic to clear. Then we throw in the 4% maximum grade slope and engineered storm drainage system and we would have a great project.

Nobody (agency or person) wants to stab at the cost of something like this yet, until that time, Davison area residents will probably continue to hear the two long, one short blast as the train approaches and then one long blast as the locomotive occupies the intersections.

Don Dunklee’s latest rant against the City of Davison, its employees or people who want to improve the businesses environment downtown. I have had several people ask me, what did the city or more specifically I ever do to Mr. Dunkleee?

I have met Mr. Dunklee and remember him as a nice guy. I remember helping him out when he was manager of one of our Rite Aid stores. Yes, he was doing a charity fun raiser and the Mayor and I, along with some others stood behind a plywood cut out and received pies in the face to raise money for charity. I even believe Mr. Dunklee won regional store recognition for the event.

I remember Don as the store manager who would greet you with a wave and cheerful hello when you walked into his Rite Aid at the corner of State Street and Flint Street.

I remember when I interviewed Don and several other local people when our Community Development Director position came open. I actually think Don was still managing the Rite Aid at the time.

Like most people, Don has disagreed with decisions of government. And like many, Don has taken the opportunity to vent and air his grievances using “Letters to the Editor”. I think this is good.

What concerns me is when someone believes only they have the “answer”, and attempt to stifle someone else’s same basic right to air their thoughts. Mr. Dunklee in his last installment to the Davison Index states this about this blog “…be considered a waste of taxpayers money as it appears to be the personal/political opinion of its writer.”

It might shock Mr. Dunklee, but there are many people who keep up with what is happening in Davison via this blog. It is really anything but political. You have never seen, and I hope never will see me nor my staff campaign for or against anything on this blog.

What you may see is a different perspective, some information you may have not known, or even some basic information on how our local government works. Mr. Dunklee hints a possible impropriety (even though he probably knows of none by the wording he uses) when he states “If the city manager were an elected person, one could argue he is “campaigning” at taxpayer expense, a violation of several laws.”

I do support Mr. Dunklee’s right to speak or write his opinion. Like most people, he brings up an interesting view on some issues, but I wish he and others would not stoop to insinuate wrongdoing, or criminal behavior when there is none. This actually detracts from any credibility and looks as though they are just attempting to vilify and slander others.

I was asked yesterday, “When are we going to be done changing and done with all of these improvements?”

I hope never.

Nevertheless, the issue is can we catch up so that the changes won’t be so drastic? To quote our Treasurer, “To change is tough, but not to change is fatal.”

Life is really about change and adaptation. In municipal services, it is no different. Some services become obsolete while new request for different services come into demand. Some of these are subtle others get more drastic.

Part of the challenge as a City Manager is to keep the community up to speed with what options are available. This is not only for services but also options that are available to cut cost and save the limited resource that is the tax dollar.

“Now that we upgraded our computer software we should be good with information technology for awhile, right?” On the contrary, we are just starting to reap the benefits of the software. Efficiencies in the hours we spend, the checks and balances and quicker response to citizen inquires have all seen improvements. However, we can offer more. How about online bill payment for utilities and taxes for starters?

With each improvement, we should be able to do more. With good tools, it should make us more productive, not just keeping the status quo.

The easiest way to keep moving forward is to keep pace with the changes, and then the changes do not seem so drastic and costly. The hardest challenge is keeping aware that change is a part of everyday life and when we stop learning and adapting we will no doubt fall behind.

A seasoned city manager once told me that a good manager has five years worth of stuff in the background always fermenting and being cultivated. Some of our projects take five years worth of planning and vetting, so I think we are in good shape.

This morning while driving into the office, I tried to get my sports fix. The Detroit Tigers are starting to struggle, but football season is just around the corner. I flipped to the Sports radio station, and what are they talking about? High School Musical II.

I admit I watched it Friday night. In fact, my daughter Tessia had about 10 pre-teen girls in our basement watching the sequel to High School Musical. Plenty of popcorn, juice and giggles I can assure you.

But on sports radio?

It was the most watched cable event since cable TV came into our living rooms. This just goes to show that there is a real hunger for family entertainment. When I think of our events in Davison, the family events is what draw the most people.

Our Farmers Market on Friday has entertainment geared towards families.

Friday Night Outdoor Movies downtown put on by John Lyles Karate folks is all family focused.

Pumpkin Festival in October, is geared towards kids of all ages (even kids who have been around for 50 years).

Parades, Who likes parades more than families? There is a reason Davison is king of parades in Genesee County.

The kids normally grab Families to go on tours and help families learn what’s around. Some of our most popular tours include:

Fire Station
Police Department
Skellenger Water Treatment Plant
Historical Museum

In addition, who could argue with Abernathy Regional Park and its family appeal?

So, I guess the fact that when there is a family friendly movie released I shouldn’t be surprised that everyone would be talking about it.

I just hope sports radio comes back in time for football season.

We are at an interesting time in the Public Safety arena. Some in the emergency response field call it frustrating. Our legislators in Lansing are attempting to shore up funding that we use to fund our 911 call centers, but it is taking a long time and time is starting to run out.

The current law is sun setting and they have not approved a new vehicle for funding. The old law had a fee on every landline telephone that went into funding 911 dispatch centers. Technology comes along and now less people have actual landlines and more are wireless.

The change from landline to wireless did not see a drop in call volume to 911 centers, it actually drastically increased the numbers of calls we receive. This is good for emergency services; people who witness something can call and get quicker response. However, with the dropping of the number of landlines the funding has gone down as the volume of calls has risen.

There is an answer, and the solution seems to be a fee charge for each device instead of landline. Since there are more “devices” in total those actual fees could drop per unit and still maintain the needed funding.

The frustrating part is there is the rumor that these bills seem to be held up in Lansing. This could be because someone wants to prove a point. I would hate to see the 911-system jeopardized over politics, but I do understand it could happen.

The Flint Street Road Project is on schedule an we hope to get the project done under budget. This is a mill and resurface project that is scheduled to go from Aloha Street to about 500 feet short of State Street.

This project is being completed using Federal Funds and the Michigan’s Jobs Today Program, which covers the local match that we would normally have to contribute. The City of Davison, our regional Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO), and our engineers (ROWE, Inc.) have done a great job of collaborating with MDOT to bring dollars back into Davison to repair this stretch of roadway.

We will have a preconstruction meeting within the next two weeks and hopefully I will be able to update the start/finish dates so that people can change their traffic routes as necessary.

How do I put the Harvard Executive Education Program into words? I have been wrestling with this for the two weeks that I have been back to the “real world”.

The Kennedy School of Government (KSG) was one of the most challenging intellectual activities that I have had the opportunity to partake in. It is not your typical academic exercise. The “Case Study” method, the amount of material covered, and the people all contributed to improving on how I can better exercise leadership.

The Case Study method is based on real life situations and events. Reading a case gives a person background information on the major decision makers and people who either exercised leadership or decided not to lead. In class, we often took different views on who acted well and who flopped. There was healthy debate as we tried to come to understanding how and who makes decisions (and sometimes more important, how the decisions were implemented).

It is very difficult to explain the case method without living through one of these debates in which the Harvard Professors agitate, and prompt great discussions. The process helps one understand why you think as you do and helps you understand your own thought process better.

The amount of material covered was a large factor in this process. We would leave our apartments by 6:45 AM every morning and it wasn’t uncommon to return to the apartment around 9:30 PM and then read a couple hundred pages for the next day’s classes. I had forgotten how exhausting reading for retention could be.

The people that taught, administered and went through this session were the glue that helped push each person to expand their leadership capabilities. Every day you had to bring your “A” game to debate some very successful people. Not naming names, but by position we had: several successful Mayors, a couple State Senators, a few State Representatives, a Handful of Fire Chiefs and administrators, The Commissioner of the Pennsylvania State Police, about a dozen City/County Manager types, a Police Chief of New York City, Directors of non-for profit agencies, Rights or Advocacy Group representatives, some “Think Tank” and academic people (hope you get the idea)…

Where people came from was just as impressive and played into how people think. Just about every State was represented (also the District of Colombia and Puerto Rico), as well as people from Mexico, China, Ireland, and New Zealand.

Like most things in life, it is the people that make the difference. There are many people who did not agree with everything I said (hard to believe I know), but for the most part all the discourse was done in a civil fashion. Civil doesn’t mean without passion, but more to the point you can have lunch or dinner with someone you do not see eye to eye on every issue with.

How does this impact The City of Davison?

To start, we are doing a lot right. We encourage public input (almost to a fault). We face some challenges that people all around the globe face. This ranges from people who are one issue driven to people who are never happy with anything. There are anti-government people to people who believe the government needs to provide everything from cradle to grave. There are folks who believe in the traditional religions and others who choose the new religions of things like environmentalisms.

Overall, most at KSG all want to create more “public value”. What that public value is (at KSG or in Davison) and how or if it should be implemented will always be the question that local officials have and always will debate.