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Case Study 11 – Oakdale Administrator Case
Response to Questions
- In Asher’s 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.
- My decision 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 city administrator, Asher is safer 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.
- The use of authority in entering community contracts with significant and long-term impact on the community in the due process’s absence is both illegal and unethical. The coercive approach employed by Mayor Hoffnagel’s administration is prosecutable, as it was against the laid down procedures, mostly when they failed to consider requests for proposals (RFPs) in selecting a qualified contractor. Also, without consulting the experienced Board of Aldermen, the administration was unethical. They risked the existing and future economic welfare of the community.
- In addressing Oakdale’s fiscal issues, Asher needs first to foster accountability and responsiveness in the administration to stamp out the former administration’s corrupt ways. Accountable officers are effective in their ability to execute, especially with limited resources. Moreover, the municipality needs to employ Oakdale’s limited resources in competitive 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, 51-58