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LEADERSHIP and PROFESSIONAL LOCAL GOVERNMENT MANAGERS: Before, During, and After a Crisis

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LEADERSHIP and PROFESSIONAL LOCAL GOVERNMENT MANAGERS: Before, During, and After a Crisis LEADING EDGE RESEARCH LEADERSHIP AND PROFESSIONAL LOCAL GOVERNMENT MANAGERS: Before, During, and After a Crisis RON CARLEE, D.P.A. Old Dominion University April 2019 ABOUT THE AUTHOR RON CARLEE, D.P.A. Old Dominion University Director of the Center for Regional Excellence, Strome College of Business Visiting Assistant Professor, School of Public Service Principal, Leaders2C, LLC After a career in local government executive positions, Ron Carlee joined Old Dominion University in the 2016-2017 academic year. As a practitioner, Carlee was city manager of Charlotte, North Carolina; chief operating officer of the International City/County Management Association (ICMA); county manager of Arlington, Virginia; and director of health and human services for Arlington, Virginia. He also held other positions in budgeting, purchasing, information technology, and parks and recreation. Prior to joining ODU as a full-faculty member, he taught as an adjunct professor at the George Washington University Trachtenberg School of Public Policy and Public Administration, beginning in 1994. He continues to work with GWU’s Center for Excellence in Public Leadership. Carlee has written and presented extensively on local government in the areas of ethics, social and racial equity, and emergency management. His graduate teaching focuses on leadership, local government management, ethics, racial equity, and budgeting/finance. Carlee’s emergency management experience includes managing Arlington County’s response to the 2001 terrorist attack on the Pentagon during his first year as Arlington county manager. As the senior civilian overseeing the local response, Carlee led the Arlington Emergency Operations Center and the interagency operation. Third-party evaluators have praised Arlington’s performance at the Pentagon for the high level of interagency coordination. Carlee also managed Arlington’s response to the 2002 sniper attacks in the metropolitan Washington region and to Hurricane Isabel. He championed the successful creation of Arlington’s Office of Emergency Management. Arlington provided multiple deployments to assist with hurricane damage in Florida, Louisiana, and Mississippi, including the coordination of a Northern Virginia regional response to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. Further, he managed response to police shootings early in his career in Birmingham, Alabama, and late in his city manager career in Charlotte, North Carolina. Other emergency management–related activities include: participant from the inception of the National Homeland Security Consortium, serving two terms as tri-chair, in 2009 and 2010; involvement with Urban Area Security Initiative from its creation; providing leadership to the Chief Administrative Officers’ Homeland Security Committee for the Washington National Capital Region; and presentations to panels of the National Science Foundation, Institute of Medicine, and the Emergency Management Society, Scotland Chapter. Dr. Carlee is a Fellow in the National Academy of Public Administration and has a doctorate in public administration, George Mason University; master’s in urban studies, University of Alabama-Birmingham; and bachelor’s degree from University of Montevallo, Alabama. 2 ICMA LEADING EDGE RESEARCH CONTENTS PREFACE ............................................................................................................................. 7 INTRODUCTION AND EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ...................................................... 8 Crises Can Occur Anywhere, Anytime. ...................................................................... 8 Weather ................................................................................................................................... 8 Flooding .................................................................................................................................... 9 Wildfires ................................................................................................................................... 9 Winter Storms ......................................................................................................................... 9 Mass Shooting ......................................................................................................................... 9 Police Shooting ........................................................................................................................ 9 Other Crises Not in this Report .................................................................................10 Demonstrations ....................................................................................................................10 Technological Crises .............................................................................................................10 Common Lessons from Unique Places and Events................................................11 Cases Reviewed .............................................................................................................11 Report Organization .....................................................................................................12 PART I. DISASTER SUMMARIES – TALES OF CITY MANAGERS .......................13 City of Peoria, Illinois — 2013 Flood .........................................................................14 Introduction: 2013 Flood – Colorado: Lyons, Longmont, and Boulder.............14 Town of Lyons, Colorado — 2013 Flood ............................................................................14 City of Longmont, Colorado — 2013 Floods .....................................................................15 City of Boulder, Colorado — 2013 Floods .........................................................................16 Introduction to 2017 Hurricane Harvey, Texas ......................................................17 City of Pearland, Texas — 2017 Floods from Hurricane Harvey ....................................18 City of Friendswood, Texas — 2013 Floods from Hurricane Harvey .............................18 City of Alvin, Texas — 2017 Floods from Hurricane Harvey ...........................................19 City of Baytown, Texas — 2017 Floods from Hurricane Harvey ....................................20 City of Washington, Illinois — 2013 Tornado ..........................................................21 City of Ventura, California — 2017 Thomas Fire ....................................................22 City of Gatlinburg, Tennessee — 2016 Chimney Tops 2 Wildfires .....................23 City of Sanford, Florida — 2012 Shooting of Trayvon Martin by George Zimmerman .............................................................................................24 LEADERSHIP AND PROFESSIONAL LOCAL GOVERNMENT MANAGERS: BEFORE, DURING, AND AFTER A CRISIS 3 City of Punta Gorda, Florida — 2016 Police Shooting of Mary Knowlton .......26 City of Orlando, Florida — 2017 Pulse Nightclub Shooting ................................27 Summary .........................................................................................................................29 PART 2. LESSONS LEARNED & RECOMMENDATIONS ......................................29 Leadership .......................................................................................................................30 Leading Up: Defining the Roles of the Mayor and Council ............................................ 30 Leading Down: The City Manager’s Role with Staff ........................................................ 33 Managing Oneself ................................................................................................................ 33 Thinking Ahead .................................................................................................................... 35 Managing Relationships ...................................................................................................... 35 Managers Supporting Managers ....................................................................................... 38 Summary - Roles of City Manager ..................................................................................... 38 Preparation and Response ..........................................................................................39 Planning in Advance ............................................................................................................ 39 Improvise ............................................................................................................................... 40 Assess Risks to the Community ......................................................................................... 40 Assess Operational Capacity ............................................................................................. 41 Employee Support .........................................................................................................42 Health and Safety ................................................................................................................ 43 Mental Health Support ....................................................................................................... 43 Pay Policies ........................................................................................................................... 43 Victim Assistance for Employees ....................................................................................... 44 Media Management ......................................................................................................45
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