Ch 3 Politics and the Fire Service

Question 1

Finances often or legally controlled by the _____ branch, but fully administered by the _____ branch

Answer 1

• Legislative (pass law, set budgets)
• Executive aka Administrative (carry
  out laws & policy directives) (day to
  day)

Question 2

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

Answer 2

Municipalities
(General purpose vs Special Districts)

Question 3

Municipalities are either ____ or _____ municipalities

Answer 3

• Charter
• Statute

Question 4

Special districts tend to fall into two major categories:

Answer 4

Independent (Can establish tax rates)

Dependent (does not have independent tax authority)

Question 5

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.

Answer 5

• Counties
• Townships
• Parishes
  (Most frequently governed by some form of board or commission)

Question 6

Two forms of governance for most nonprofit fire departments:

Answer 6

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)

Question 7

The (appointed/elected) officials are the persons who are most directly responsible for responding to the needs of the taxpayers.

Answer 7

• Elected

Question 8

The provision of fire and emergency medical services is typically a _____ government responsibility

Answer 8

Local

Question 9

Actual governance of municipality typically falls into one of two primary categories

Answer 9

• Council-manager form
• Mayor-council form

Question 10

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

Answer 10

Council manager system

Question 11

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

Answer 11

Weak Mayor

Question 12

In this form of mayor council governance, elected mayor has similar powers to a manager and fulfill roles of what side of the government?

Answer 12

• Strong mayor
• Executive

Question 13

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

Answer 13

Strong mayor (Mayor-council)

Question 14

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

Answer 14

Manager-council form

Question 15

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

Answer 15

Special districts

Question 16

Special districts tend to fall into two major categories:

Answer 16

• Independent
• Dependent

Question 17

Which type of special district uses an election for appointment of officials through voting?

Answer 17

Independent

Question 18

Which type of special district is governed by officials that are appointed by the taxing authority?

Answer 18

Dependent

Question 19

These governmental entities are most frequently distinguished from municipalities because of their origin in the state constitutions that established them

Answer 19

Counties, townships, or parishes

Question 20

Counties, townships and parishes are most frequently governed by who?

Answer 20

Some form of board or commission

Question 21

These fire departments can sometimes be referred to as regional departments since they may cover large geographic areas and frequently cover multiple municipalities

Answer 21

County and township fire departments

Question 22

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 _____.

Answer 22

Appointed by the legislative branch

Question 23

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?

Answer 23

Strong-mayor form

Question 24

Finances have a delicate position with local government where they often are legally controlled by the ____ branch, but fully administered by the ____ branch.

Answer 24

• Legislative
• Executive

Question 25

Bad decisions or poor management by city leadership will return to which group for ultimate responsibility?

Answer 25

Legislative

Question 26

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?

Answer 26

Criticality versus frequency

Question 27

This is the term given to various personal efforts one makes to find and store information about the environment which they work.

Answer 27

Environmental scanning

Question 28

What are the four basic documents a new chief officer should read?

Answer 28

• 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)

Question 29

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.

Answer 29

Group Process

Question 30

What are some of the informal roles with Group process?

Answer 30

• Gatekeeper
• Timekeeper
• Challenger or devils advocate
• Analyst
• Drama queen
• Average Joe

Question 31

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

Answer 31

City/County managers

Question 32

Concerning the relationship between the city manager and the fire chief, the ultimate goal should be to develop a strong relationship that what?

Answer 32

Has sufficient communication to permit open conflict

(Professional friendship, air of formality)

Question 33

When the manager is in a good standing with the legislative body, it’s important to think of the manager as?

Answer 33

The neck that turns the head

Question 34

The key to a good long-term relationship with an elected executive is?

Answer 34

For the fire chief to see themselves in the executives shoes

Question 35

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?

Answer 35

The Chief office to demonstrate proficient management

Question 36

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.

Answer 36

Interest-based bargaining

(Advanced preparation is essential)

Question 37

Chief officers will interact with citizens and many different environments, with (all/some/none?) of them being political in nature.

Answer 37

Some

Question 38

What course of action is best if the political issues of a particular group don’t directly involve the fire department.

Answer 38

Stay neutral

Question 39

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 ___.

Answer 39

• Listen
• Gain their trust
• Simply having them agree to the
  Chiefs position

Question 40

What is an important first step for a chief officer in developing respectful and trusting relationships concerning governmental services?

Answer 40

Gaining a critical perspective of where the fire department and the Chief fits into the huge political picture

Question 41

One advantage a charter municipality has is flexibility, as it:

Answer 41

Allows for a charter amendment provided there are a sufficient number of voters in favor of the change

Question 42

In Council-manager form of government the manager is appointed and can be dismissed only by?

Answer 42

A majority vote of the legislative body (council)

Question 43

Three parts to listening

Answer 43

Listening with:
- Perspective
- Interest
- Empathy

Listen to the PIE!!!!

Question 44

The more common forms of local government that are typically responsible for providing emergency response services (4)

Answer 44

• Municipal forms of government
• Special districts
• Counties, townships, parishes and
  others
• Volunteer corporations