Brea City Manager Speaks at ASPA Luncheon Meeting
By Frank Albers
Dr. Frank Benest
(Photo Courtesy of City of Brea)
If you missed the monthly luncheon meeting for February, you missed a great program. The program was held in conjunction with the Municipal Management Assistants of Southern California (MMASC). Our lunch speaker was Frank Benest, city manager of Brea, California, who gave a lively and informative presentation on engaging citizens in the budget process. When people hear the word budget," eyes start to glaze over. Yet the budget process, as we all know, is of fundamental importance to the kind of services government can provide and the direction we want to take a community. Why should public administrators want to involve the public in the process? Don't we have the expertise to address problems in our communities? Don't we know what's best?
Dr. Benest's answer to these questions is a resounding "No! Not without input from the public we serve." The trick is how to engage the public in what is perceived to be an arcane and technical process. Most often, people get information through a public hearing process. But many do not attend. Those who do attend will probably be told what is going to happen. There is a tendency to educate, to "tell and sell." And then there is the question of trust. Roughly
75% of the public doesn't trust the infor- mation they receive from government. Overcoming these barriers and building trust through engagement rather than informing the public is what we should strive toward.
Engaging the public is a two way process. It's a dialogue and the public should do most of the talking. The decision makers, the staff, should be actively listening. They should respond to what they hear but the first and foremost aim is to elicit the hopes and concerns of the public. Benest advocates the creation of an environment where we promote a "public judgment" on issues versus trying to respond to "public opinion" which is just a snapshot of people's thoughts at a point in time. Public judgment is the product of a dialogue where the public and the decision makers are learning from one another, responding to one another and working together towards an end.
Dr. Benest mentioned examples of municipalities where various processes are being used to engage citizens. These include Battle Creek, Michigan; Arlington, Texas; Sacramento, California; and, of course, Brea. These processes and techniques include such things as citizen surveys, values workshops and surveys, focus groups, town hall meetings, study circles, and budget simulation exercises.
Dr. Benest has come a long way from his first job in the public sector as a rock concert promoter for the City of Covina. He was recently asked by the Office of Vice President Gore to consult with the "National Performance Review," the Clinton Administration's effort to reinvent government. He has a workbook out called "Marketing Your Budget - Creative Ways to Engage Citizens in the Bottom Line." It is available from the Innovation Group to ASPA and MMASC members at a discount price. Contact Bill Mascenik, ASPA's vice president for Membership at (310) 543-3514 for further information.
