Ch 3 Politics and the Fire Service Flashcards
Finances often or legally controlled by the _____ branch, but fully administered by the _____ branch
- Legislative (pass law, set budgets)
- Executive aka Administrative (carry
out laws & policy directives) (day to
day)
Most formal definitions indicate _____ to be a general-purpose administrative subdivision that are either a single population cluster, or a specified land area with one or more population clusters
Municipalities
(General purpose vs Special Districts)
Municipalities are either ____ or _____ municipalities
- Charter
- Statute
Special districts tend to fall into two major categories:
Independent (Can establish tax rates)
Dependent (does not have independent tax authority)
Fire protection may be placed in the hands of _____, _____, or _____, which are most frequently distinguished from municipalities, because of their origins in the state constitutions.
- Counties
- Townships
- Parishes
(Most frequently governed by some form of board or commission)
Two forms of governance for most nonprofit fire departments:
1) Democratic form of governance (weak board, entire membership votes)
2) Board – Chief form of governance (board has broader powers and chief treated like CEO)
The (appointed/elected) officials are the persons who are most directly responsible for responding to the needs of the taxpayers.
- Elected
The provision of fire and emergency medical services is typically a _____ government responsibility
Local
Actual governance of municipality typically falls into one of two primary categories
- Council-manager form
- Mayor-council form
In the system, the elected body acts as the legislative branch of the government and typically has authority over policy, ordinances, and most importantly appropriations of money
Council manager system
In this form of mayor council government, the legislative council or commission often exercises both legislative and executive powers with members appointing all administrative officials and department heads, sitting on boards, and working on budget development
Weak Mayor
In this form of mayor council governance, elected mayor has similar powers to a manager and fulfill roles of what side of the government?
- Strong mayor
- Executive
Although this form of government is one of the most common forms of local governance in the United States, the potential absence of formal management education and experience is frequently cited as a downside
Strong mayor (Mayor-council)
This form of government grew significantly and popularity through the 20th century, primarily as a result of many notorious examples of corruption, cronyism, nepotism, and other abuses of power municipality governance
Manager-council form
This form of government is distinctly different from a municipality, in that it does not provide general purpose services, but rather is formed for the specific purpose of governing and funding a designated service or handful of services
Special districts
Special districts tend to fall into two major categories:
- Independent
- Dependent
Which type of special district uses an election for appointment of officials through voting?
Independent
Which type of special district is governed by officials that are appointed by the taxing authority?
Dependent
These governmental entities are most frequently distinguished from municipalities because of their origin in the state constitutions that established them
Counties, townships, or parishes
Counties, townships and parishes are most frequently governed by who?
Some form of board or commission
These fire departments can sometimes be referred to as regional departments since they may cover large geographic areas and frequently cover multiple municipalities
County and township fire departments
When discussing the distinctions between executive and legislative roles, what often differs strongly from the federal model is that in MANY local governance systems, the executive branch is _____.
Appointed by the legislative branch
In many local governance systems, the executive branch is appointed by the legislative branch. This is not true with which one form of municipal government?
Strong-mayor form
Finances have a delicate position with local government where they often are legally controlled by the ____ branch, but fully administered by the ____ branch.
- Legislative
- Executive
Bad decisions or poor management by city leadership will return to which group for ultimate responsibility?
Legislative
The author suggests that the best chief officers tend to be those that gain a respectful perspective of their position in government services. It can be helpful to view this in terms of the time-honored matrix used to gauge importance, which is?
Criticality versus frequency
This is the term given to various personal efforts one makes to find and store information about the environment which they work.
Environmental scanning
What are the four basic documents a new chief officer should read?
- Comprehensive land use plan (vision
the elected officials have for the
future of the community) - Community Budget (projected
expenditures) - Comprehensive Annual Financial
Report (overall financial health of
the community) - Capital Improvement Plan (ALSO PRIORITY)
One of the best ways one can do research into personalities and roles of the other department heads and the elected or appointed officials is with this process.
Group Process
What are some of the informal roles with Group process?
- Gatekeeper
- Timekeeper
- Challenger or devils advocate
- Analyst
- Drama queen
- Average Joe
This municipality position is in an unenviable position, having the best working knowledge of the overall day-to-day operations of government yet they are unable to set policy
City/County managers
Concerning the relationship between the city manager and the fire chief, the ultimate goal should be to develop a strong relationship that what?
Has sufficient communication to permit open conflict
(Professional friendship, air of formality)
When the manager is in a good standing with the legislative body, it’s important to think of the manager as?
The neck that turns the head
The key to a good long-term relationship with an elected executive is?
For the fire chief to see themselves in the executives shoes
Chief officers will frequently interact with their elected or appointed officials in a formal setting. Public meetings can be intimidating for those with marginal public speaking skills, but they are a great opportunity for?
The Chief office to demonstrate proficient management
This version of based-bargaining creates room for discussing and airing issues and concerns. It promotes consensus and consensus enhances, rather than destroys, relationships so that the discussions can be successful again next time.
Interest-based bargaining
(Advanced preparation is essential)
Chief officers will interact with citizens and many different environments, with (all/some/none?) of them being political in nature.
Some
What course of action is best if the political issues of a particular group don’t directly involve the fire department.
Stay neutral
When interacting with citizens groups that are united by a common cause, the important thing is to remain calm. The best approach is to ___. The goal should be to ___ rather than ___.
- Listen
- Gain their trust
- Simply having them agree to the
Chiefs position
What is an important first step for a chief officer in developing respectful and trusting relationships concerning governmental services?
Gaining a critical perspective of where the fire department and the Chief fits into the huge political picture
One advantage a charter municipality has is flexibility, as it:
Allows for a charter amendment provided there are a sufficient number of voters in favor of the change
In Council-manager form of government the manager is appointed and can be dismissed only by?
A majority vote of the legislative body (council)
Three parts to listening
Listening with:
- Perspective
- Interest
- Empathy
Listen to the PIE!!!!
The more common forms of local government that are typically responsible for providing emergency response services (4)
- Municipal forms of government
- Special districts
- Counties, townships, parishes and
others - Volunteer corporations
