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Case Study 11 – Oakdale Administrator Case
Response to Questions
- How would you address the building problem if you were in Asher’s Position? Explain.
In Asher’s interim city administrator capacity, I would make the tough choice to terminate the project and develop a plan to recoup the costs. The approach is in the community’s best interest. It would help free up the significant amount of public funds that would, otherwise, waste in an unproven development project. These funds can then be employed in future competitive projects.
- As city administrator, how should professional and personal ethics inform your actions in this case?
My actions, in this case, would be based on the ethical duty placed upon my office to protect the long-term economic and social interests of the community, even if it is at the expense of making a few stakeholders unhappy. According to the project’s report submitted by the two independent firms, serious feasibility doubts existed.
- Being a nonelected official, how can Asher be useful as a city administrator in the local political environment (including the press and interest groups)?
Asher can be safer as the interim administrator following the laid down official guidelines in navigating local politics, especially when responding to political attacks or concerns. Instead, the mayor can handle the Oakdale municipality’s political matters. According to Woodrow Wilson’s theory of Politics-Administration dichotomy, establishing boundaries between politics and administration is essential for optimal administrative effectiveness (Svara 52). The administrator has managerial and ethical duty to maximize the community’s economic welfare.
- Was the use of authority in procuring contracts for a project manager and an architect an individual, departmental, or systematic problem? Why?
The use of authority in entering community contracts with significant and long-term impact on the community was a department problem. Angela Donny, the then city administrator, single-handedly but legally sidelined other administrators in determining the best-qualified parties for the job. She isolated every other person. Despite the unethical move, she was not legally obligated to consult the other administrators or provide the request for proposal (RFPs) to the board, which explains why they were unable to dismiss file a legal suit.
- How should Asher address Oakdale’s fiscal issues? What would be the most effective course of action? Why?
Asher needs a different and sustainable approach to helping Oakdale recover its fiscal stability. The most effective approach would be to champion for quality reforms, accountability, and responsiveness in the administration to eliminate the former administration’s corrupt ways. An accountable administration is effective in its ability to execute, especially with limited resources. Moreover, the municipality needs to appropriate Oakdale’s limited resources in competitive, prioritized and proven public projects to optimize the community’s economic interests and offset the impact of the written-off project.
Works Cited
Svara, James, H. “The Politics-Administration Dichotomy Model as Aberration,” Public
Administrative Review, vol. 58, no. 1, 1998, pp.51-58