Hartwig tells county officials about regenerating government
Making his first keynote address, Adam Hartwig, a municipal consultant and strategist, told members of the County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania about his four-point framework to regenerate government.
Hartwig, the senior director of operations at Alliance for Nonprofit Resources in Butler and a former manager for Winfield and Middlesex townships, spoke to 100 association members at a May 13 conference in State College.
In his “Regeneration Starts from Within” address, Hartwig said he outlined four components officials can use to improve operations and gain public trust. The components are operations and culture, the budget, communication and integrity.
“It starts in our operation and in our culture. How we can design our internal processes and procedures to line up with what we value and the goals we want to achieve,” Hartwig said.
Government leaders can lower barriers for success and make it easier to accomplish good work, he said.
Budgeting was the next topic.
“I made the point that our budget is our biggest statement of our values. It shows where priorities lie, where we put most of our time and effort,” Hartwig said.
The budget, he said, is a government’s largest communication tool.
“It tells the story of where we want to go as an organization or government. We can say we value certain things, but if the budget doesn’t reflect that, do we truly value those things?” Hartwig said.
Communication should be considered part of a government’s infrastructure, he said.
“I asked them to view communication as infrastructure in communities. Communication can be seen as an afterthought or negative. I encouraged them to develop clear communication rhythms throughout the years to provide residents with facts. We need residents to be partners in our regeneration efforts,” Hartwig said.
Officials should prioritize their communication practices so residents don’t view them as just another layer of government. Serving with integrity is necessary to gain public trust, he said.
“Government can’t be viewed as a rigged process. We need two-way communication with residents and they need to trust we’re doing our best for them and have their best interests at heart,” Hartwig said.
He cited Butler County as an example of government responding to public need by upgrading its emergency radio system and assisting police, fire and emergency medical agencies convert from analog to digital service.
“The commissioners made a commitment to residents and emergency services to fund a significant portion of the costs for radios and mobile devices, which was not mandated by the state or FCC. They chose to do it because it was the right thing to do,” Hartwig said.
As an example of government working with residents for change, he said South Bend, Ind., reimburses residents the cost of repairing or replacing the sidewalks in front of their homes.
He closed his address by encouraging officials to recommit themselves to the work they love.
“I asked them to serve as catalysts for regeneration, for being the change they want to see in their organizations. I asked them to look back on their first day on the job and remember the enthusiasm they had,” Hartwig said.
