Everyone should work in local government at least once
When I accepted the job and took the opportunity to work for the City of Syracuse in the newly formed Office of Innovation, I knew that it was an exciting opportunity. I didn’t know what to expect, but as I prepare to leave this position, I’m convinced that everyone should try working for a local government at some point.
Running a city is hard
In Syracuse, the approximately $250 million annual budget funds upwards of 1,800 staff, is responsible for maintaining hundreds of miles of road, water pipes, and sewers, responding to tens of thousands of calls, permitting new projects, and providing public spaces for people to enjoy. That each household pays a few thousand dollars per year to support the work is incredible and shows just how well things generally work. Sure, there are always opportunities for improvement, and sometimes radical change is needed, but generally, people have figured out how to make things work on a day to day basis, and every day, the trash gets picked up, potholes get filled, and parks are open. Not too many other organizations provide such a broad range of services, and departments consistently do their jobs, even though they could use newer equipment and more staff.
In Syracuse specifically, entire departments switch their jobs when the seasons change. Staff dedicated to street repair move to snow removal, and the cycles continue. The maintainers of city government ultimately make things happen every day, and almost always have the best ideas for where improvements could be made — they just need to be asked.
Impact
The issues people care about most are likely those that exist in the areas surrounding their homes, on their commutes to work, or where their kids go to school. City government has impacts on all of those places — funding education, fixing sidewalks and roads, making the neighborhood more walkable. The coolest thing about working for a city government is that your job impacts those things every day. For the staff who make the city run each day, they provide a service that positively impacts residents across the city. In my job, if I made a recommendation that a department chose to adopt and implement, I could see the change right in front of my house. Federal and State government policies impact far more people, but in city government you see the change much more directly, and it happens in the community in which you live.
Connection with smart and passionate people
In my five years with the city, getting to meet community members that love their hometown and want to see it thrive has been a privilege. City staff have almost always cared deeply about their jobs and their craft, and any disagreement I’ve ever had has generally been about approach rather than stubbornness against change. Colleagues that work for other cities have always been generous with their time and guidance, and always willing to share helpful approaches to managing a challenging issue. People care about cities for many reasons and because of that you get energy and excitement from doing the work, because you know someone might get the help they need, or maybe you’ll get to brag to one of your counterparts about the latest success.
Comfort with gray areas
Nothing is ever straightforward when it comes to cities. Even for something that seems extremely obvious, there is someone that likely has a decent counter-argument. Zoning change? Street paving plan? Snow clearing routes? If there were simple ways to change the process, it likely would have been changed already. Staff who have dedicated decades to their work have figured out a good way to make a process happen well. Changing it may well be worthwhile, but there are probably drawbacks that you need to get comfortable with. There are a number of projects I’ve worked on where I will leave convinced I was right and the person who disagreed is just wrong. At the same time, there are an equal number that I thought had simple solutions, but it quickly became clear that they did not. This gives you a good perspective on all things in life, and also teaches you which issues to really push hard for change on, and which ones are probably fine to leave alone for a while.
Conclusion
Local governments are special. Thousands exist across the country, but all are different. The opportunities to make change that will directly benefit the community are rewarding and finding passionate public servants is exciting and keeps you wanting to go to work every day. Some will choose to spend their whole careers making cities run each day, others (like me) will come and go. I’m grateful to have been given the chance and recommend you take that chance if it presents itself, too.
