Too many times, when working in local government, I heard the same whining about councils needing to focus on core service delivery (usually at social BBQ, which was always appreciated).
Stick to your knitting, they said.
Great! Awesome. Let’s save some money!
We’ll just focus on waste and roads.
Waste? That means we’ll just collect household bins.
Oh, wait – hang on – you also want recycling and organics? Alright, we’ll add that.
Oh, and you need recycling programs so people actually know how to recycle?
Okie dokie. And ‘dog poo’ bag dispensers in parks? Nobody likes to step in it. And park bins to throw away the filled bags? Of course!
Wait a sec, who’s designing, building, and maintaining these parks? Are they just for passive recreation, or do you want to play sport?
Ah, you want to play cricket and football. Boys and girls. Alrighty, we’ll add sports to the list. But that’s it.
We’ve got the roads covered. We’re done.
Oh! Except for bridges, footpaths, drains and street maintenance.
And you want children to cross roads safely? Then we’d better get school crossing supervisors.
Wait a minute. You actually want restaurants and cafés to be safe to eat in as well? You’ll need public health experts for that.
And you’d like to park your car close to the restaurant so you don’t have to walk too far? Fair enough.
But you don’t want people parking for 10 hours outside your house? You want to park close by because you live there?
Better bring in the local laws team…
And while we’re at it, let’s not forget:
• Emergency management support
• Libraries
• Land-use planning, building codes and affordable housing advocacy
• Recreational facilities and leisure centres
• Maternal and child health, seniors’ support and youth programs
• Business support and neighbourhood revitalisation
• Governance and local elections
And, of course, we want these “core services” to be delivered by people who actually understand our local area and needs. This is the conversation that plays out every time you engage community about the functions expected from local government.
The list gets longer, not shorter, the moment you think for more than a minute about cutting a service. Even the “hidden” services that make core service delivery possible.
Internal communicators, change managers and inclusion experts do invaluable work. Because we actually want government employees who are informed, accountable and engaged.
(Studies show engaged employees are more productive)
We know this because we benefit from their efforts every day… without even noticing. They are the silent partners of the engineers, planners, managers, accountants etc. who keep everything running.
All levels of government have an opportunity to be more efficient and effective.
But let’s have this conversation respectfully and thoughtfully.