By Mark Rambo
As a manager, parent, spouse, colleague, and friend, I find myself doing a lot of listening, encouraging, and nudging people to make good decisions. Or perhaps I should say, my perception of good decisions based upon my own personal and professional experiences, education, successes, mistakes, age, various sci-fi shows, and a seasoned sense of humor.
At some point in your career, you too have probably reached the realization that the culmination of these experiences and influences are the crux of your own personal moral code. An internal compass, guiding you through the daily challenges of being a municipal manager.
This past year, there have been many questions, conversations, and frustrations expressed among our members involving Tenet 3 of the ICMA Code of Ethics, which reads:
Demonstrate by word and action the highest standards of ethical conduct and integrity in all public, professional, and personal relationships in order that the member may merit the trust and respect of the elected and appointed officials, employees, and the public.
Violations of this tenet are actionable by the ICMA and/or the MME, more specifically:
- Guidance for Professional Respect: Members seeking a position should show professional respect for persons formerly holding the position, successors holding the position, or for others who might be applying for the same position. Professional respect does not preclude honest differences of opinion; it does preclude attacking a person’s motives or integrity.
- Advice: Be wise and take the high road. It is likely you are either a current manager, previous manager or both. If you are a current manager criticizing a previous manager through a lens of hindsight, then you are simply charging the universe with a karma you cannot escape. Manage in the present as now is the only thing you can influence.
- Guidance for Length of Service: For chief administrative/executive officers appointed by a governing body or elected official, a minimum of two years is considered necessary to render a professional service to the local government. In limited circumstances, it may be in the best interests of the local government and the member to separate before serving two years. Some examples include refusal of the appointing authority to honor commitments concerning conditions of employment, a vote of no confidence in the member, or significant personal issues. It is the responsibility of an applicant for a position to understand conditions of employment, including expectations of service. Not understanding the terms of employment prior to accepting does not justify premature separation. For all members a short tenure should be the exception rather than a recurring experience, and members are expected to honor all conditions of employment with the organization.
- Advice: You don’t know what you don’t know, so listen to those who know. You will find that the longer one has been in the profession, the more passionate they are about protecting the reputation of the council-manager form of government and meeting the two-year commitment. An experienced manager knows it takes a minimum of two years of working in a community to truly understand the outcomes of their decisions… good and bad. Being able to experience these outcomes positions emerging managers for higher levels of leadership and more informed decision making. Embrace this commitment for the betterment of the community, profession, and yourself.
While it is understood that every situation and community are unique, you always have a choice. With each of these choices, you are encouraged to consider the ethical tenets of our profession while listening to your own moral code. Be aware, be informed and make good decisions regardless of personal convenience or advantage. This is the way.
Mark Rambo
Chair, Ethics Committee
Deputy City Administrator, Kentwood