Serving our Municipalities
By Albert B. Kelly
In a few short weeks, November 17th to be exact,
I will begin my term as president of the New Jersey League of Municipalities,
an organization that focuses on municipalities large and small, and the issues
that impact all aspects of local governance.
I’m honored to serve a term as the League president, but I’m
also mindful of the many challenges we face. At a time when so much of the
governing that happens, whether nationally or statewide, is filtered through
the lens of partisan politics, cities may be our best hope for progress and
innovation.
I say that because in cities, day to day, it’s often about
the basics like plowing snow, trash pick-up, recycling, filling pot holes and
similar fundamentals. Nobody really cares about ideology when the storm hits,
they just want the roads passable when the snow stops.
It’s much the same when it comes to quality of life in
communities and neighborhoods because down at street level is where people live
their lives, raise their children, work and play. Partisan politics be damned
if it interferes with the progress we need to make there.
The other thing about municipal government is that it’s not
“one-size-fits-all”, or least it shouldn’t be. Every city is different with its
own problems, challenges and possibilities. What makes sense for one city might
not work in another.
And often, that’s the point of the spear when it comes to
municipal government versus state government versus federal government. These
larger layers of government impose policies and regulations in a
one-size-fits-all manner.
Throw in a little ideology, whether it’s about poverty,
race, ethnicity, crime, housing, health, or whatever and that’s generally where
the wheels come off and we end up with gridlock and a lot of cynicism if not outright
bitterness.
That’s why the League is so important, because we take the
broad brush strokes applied by state government and view them through the lens
of municipal government.
Sometimes it’s changing or amending a proposed law, but just
as often it’s about preserving the independence and autonomy of cities to
govern and innovate in ways that best serve their unique constituencies.
Urban cities are different from rural communities and both are
different from suburbs. Each marks progress in their own way and yet there are
common threads that apply to all. Part of the League’s work is to know the
differences between the common threads and what’s unique.
Both have their value and the common threads form the
foundational pieces of municipal government; my guess is that everything else
is what positions cities to be what many have termed the “laboratories of
democracy”.
All of that is to say that I start my term mindful of the
great potential that is part of municipal DNA. At the same time, I come to my
term with a desire to learn and my hope is to use this opportunity to nurture
and grow the sense of collaboration and sharing that the League of
Municipalities offers.
I am regularly amazed and impressed with the innovation and
creativity of my colleagues and counterparts, some of whom are part-time
officials working on fulltime problems. For many, it is a labor of love- for
their communities, their neighbors, and the possibilities.
I’m also mindful of the fact that we have to do more with
less. That is a challenge, but also an opportunity. Government, even municipal
government, doesn’t function in a vacuum. Government can’t do everything nor
should it try.
If we’re willing, there’s a lot we can accomplish together
by teaming up with academia, business and industry, the nonprofit community and
the faith-based community. At the local level, all of these are stakeholders
and its often municipal government that is the point where they can all
intersect.
Maybe that’s some of where municipal government can do its
best work- by bringing these stakeholders to the table and letting them do what
they do best.
Part of my focus over this term as League president will be
to build a framework where these stakeholders can flourish to the benefit of an
entire community. That may include proposing new statutes, new or different
funding sources or fine-tuning what’s already on the books.
Behind all of it, will be the beating heart of Bridgeton, my
community- the place I worry about and fret over, the place I’m proud of, the
place I get excited about and sometimes defensive of…the place I call home.