Leon Churchill Discusses the Hurdles That City Managers Often Face
Few jobs are as challenging as being a city manager, which entails overseeing an area’s facilities and resources so that local officials can focus their attention on passing and implementing laws.
San Ramon, CA, November 27, 2014 --(PR.com)-- Few jobs are as challenging as being a city manager, which entails overseeing an area's facilities and resources so that local officials can focus their attention on passing and implementing laws. As such, people in this profession face many challenges, some of which are tackled by city planner Leon Churchill in an article posted on www.articlespy.com.
Entitled “Overcome These Hurdles With Community Planners Like Leon Churchill", the piece identified four dilemmas commonly experienced by city planners. The first is lack of communication, which Churchill says is a two-way problem. As often happens, city planners fail to fully explain the details and benefits of a project they are implementing. Likewise, constituents keep their thoughts and criticisms about the plans to themselves. Hence, a system that encourages open communication must be established.
Next is lack of collaboration, wherein city planners shoulder all the responsibilities associated with a project. Churchill reminds city planners that government agencies and even the private sector must be engaged since they have more resources, and thus can help make the execution of plans more successful.
Third is the issue of clashing interests. Sometimes, people are against proposed plans because these disturb the status quo. In such cases, city planners must exercise all their diplomatic skills to convince constituents of the merits of a certain project.
Last, but possibly the biggest problem, is short-term planning. All projects, even the smallest ones, will have long-term effects on the community. Thus, city planners must ensure that projects must not solve immediate problems only to cause bigger ones down the line.
As an experienced city planner and former city manager, Leon Churchill hopes that the article will help his colleagues avoid the common pitfalls of the job and allow them to better serve the citizenry.
About Leon Churchill Churchill is the former city manager of the City of Tracy in California, and has served many government functions throughout his career. He graduated from the University of Virginia School of Architecture with a degree in city planning, and earned a master's degree in public administration from the University of Kansas. Leon Churchill has now moved on to the private sector as a Urban and Regional Planner/Real Estate Professional, but he looks back on his public service career knowing he has helped many communities.
Entitled “Overcome These Hurdles With Community Planners Like Leon Churchill", the piece identified four dilemmas commonly experienced by city planners. The first is lack of communication, which Churchill says is a two-way problem. As often happens, city planners fail to fully explain the details and benefits of a project they are implementing. Likewise, constituents keep their thoughts and criticisms about the plans to themselves. Hence, a system that encourages open communication must be established.
Next is lack of collaboration, wherein city planners shoulder all the responsibilities associated with a project. Churchill reminds city planners that government agencies and even the private sector must be engaged since they have more resources, and thus can help make the execution of plans more successful.
Third is the issue of clashing interests. Sometimes, people are against proposed plans because these disturb the status quo. In such cases, city planners must exercise all their diplomatic skills to convince constituents of the merits of a certain project.
Last, but possibly the biggest problem, is short-term planning. All projects, even the smallest ones, will have long-term effects on the community. Thus, city planners must ensure that projects must not solve immediate problems only to cause bigger ones down the line.
As an experienced city planner and former city manager, Leon Churchill hopes that the article will help his colleagues avoid the common pitfalls of the job and allow them to better serve the citizenry.
About Leon Churchill Churchill is the former city manager of the City of Tracy in California, and has served many government functions throughout his career. He graduated from the University of Virginia School of Architecture with a degree in city planning, and earned a master's degree in public administration from the University of Kansas. Leon Churchill has now moved on to the private sector as a Urban and Regional Planner/Real Estate Professional, but he looks back on his public service career knowing he has helped many communities.
Contact
Leon Churchill
Casey Carpenter
510-260-7178
missrickeynero.com/
Casey Carpenter
510-260-7178
missrickeynero.com/
Contact
Categories