Friday, January 30, 2009

Alexandria, Va., turns to ethicist to help with budget cuts
The Community Services Board decided it needed guidance in making some difficult decisions. The approach could become more common, analysts say.
By Laura Olson January 2, 2009
Reporting from Washington -- The Community Services Board of Alexandria, Va., facing budget cutbacks along with many other municipalities in the country, turned to an unusual source recently to help it decide what to keep and what to pare.City staff had worked for several years to establish a new program, called Safe Haven, to provide housing to homeless residents with mental illness. But as the program was finally about to become a reality, board members realized this fall that delaying its start would help them balance the budget. On the other hand, it would mean postponing a service they had decided was badly needed.
So the board turned for advice to its professional ethicist, Michael Gillette.Gillette's advice was that the board, which handles the city's mental health and substance abuse programs, needed to first provide the services it had already promised citizens. Since Safe Haven was a new program, it was acceptable to delay its start in order to uphold those promises.The city decided to delay the new program as a part of its cuts.
Having this type of a discussion about the ethical concerns of budget reductions rarely happens in municipal government, Gillette said in an interview. Cities tend to reduce their budgets by not filling vacant positions and cutting back on library hours and other services."We generally get into very politicized arguments about this line item and that line item," he said. "We almost never have a broader values discussion."Alexandria is not alone in facing major budget shortfalls. Sixty-nine percent of the nation's largest cities reported a declining ability to meet needs, according to a September report from the National League of Cities.However, the ethicist approach of the Alexandria board is rare, said Michael Pagano, dean of the College of Urban Planning and Public Affairs at the University of Illinois-Chicago."An ethicist presents a perspective that is unusual and certainly needed," Pagano said. "It's an approach that asks us to think about the process of arriving at these decisions."Gillette began advising the board as a consultant in 2000 on how to set up an ethics committee. Since 2003, he's been working with the board on the ethics of scarcity, which became increasingly important as the city's budget began to shrink.When the board was faced with severe cuts this fall, his role expanded to helping them make some more difficult decisions, such as what to do about Safe Haven.He holds training sessions for the ethics committee and guides members through complex ethical issues and specific cases, said Deborah Warren, director of the board's child, family and prevention division and the ethics committee chair."We're a safety-net provider," she said. "But we cannot serve all of the people who need our services."Gillette focuses discussions on fairness and how to maximize benefits to those who are the least advantaged. He emphasizes a method that looks at what alternatives a person has for meeting his or her needs, as well as upholding the promises of service to those already enrolled in programs.Using these ideas, Gillette helped the board create a set of guidelines for prioritizing whom to serve first within each program. And when the board was faced with major fiscal concerns this fall -- a reduction of $2.3 million in state and local funds -- city staff used the guidelines to decide where to make cuts."We had a scheme within a service, but not between services about where does that program fit" in the budget, said Michael Gilmore, director of the Community Services Board.Since the cuts were so much larger than in previous years, the past strategy of leaving vacant positions open and cutting back on programs such as transportation for the elderly and disabled wasn't going to be enough.As fiscal concerns grow, cities are likely to try new techniques, as Alexandria has done, to address budget concerns, Pagano said.Response has been positive as other city staffers are becoming aware of Gillette's services.Though some residents have raised concerns about paying a consultant to provide ethical guidance, Gilmore said the staff had appreciated having a professional perspective."The people we have are well-trained and well-educated, but we felt we needed a real expert," Gilmore said. "He's helped us articulate and reformat the problems, and I think it makes us more effective.
In December 2008, the city of Alexandria, Virginia, hired an ethics consultant for $9000/ year. He is supposed to help the city set priorities in a scarce resources situation. In consultation with the ethicist, the city has set funding priorities. Do you think that cities need to hire an ethicist? Why, or why not?

Cities must make decisions to set priorities when allocating scarce resources. City council members, mayors and city managers have available the advice of the city attorney and/or their professional organizations when faced with ethical dilemmas. For example, the International City/County Managers Association provides published information and will respond to ethical questions raised by members of their organization (1). Many Texas cities are members of the Texas Municipal League which also offers articles about ethical decision (2) and will provide advice on ethical matters when requested. In most cases, cities should have sufficient resources available to make rational, ethical funding decisions without the use of a professional ethic advisor.

Although all cities may not need to hire an ethicist in order to set priorities, it may be helpful in certain type of decisions. An independent, unbiased, professional-trained decision from an “outsider” may be more acceptable to council, mayors, citizens, employees, or the press than one derived from inside the political process. This is particularly helpful in the decision to reduce or eliminate services to the public, especially services to the elderly, disabled, or less fortunate. Those types of decisions are ripe for council squabbles, letters to the editor, and bad press. A decision based on the recommendations of a professional may be more acceptable to those with diverse interests which may give it a greater chance for survival in the political process than decisions that are based solely within the organization.

The type of decision Alexandria, Virginia had to make fits the above credentials. The Community Services Board faced a $2.3 million reduction of state and local funds. A new program, Safe Haven, which provides housing for the homeless was scheduled to begin. The professional ethicist suggested the Board focus on maintain the services already in place to help the those with mental health or substance abuse problems, and to delay the start of new programs until funds are available for both on-going and new programs. (3)

(1) See the following website to view the information sources available from the ICMA concerning ethics. http://icma.org/main/topic.asp?tpid=25&hsid=10&ssid1=2530&ssid2=2780

(2) See the following website to view the information available in print from the Texas Municipal League concerning resources for articles about ethics. http://www.tml.org/legal-topics/legal_ethics.html

(3) Olson, Laura. “Alexandria, Va. Turns to Ethicist to help with Budget Cuts,” Los Angeles Times, 1/2/09 http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-government-ethicist2-2009jan02,0,6466351.story

proposed answer to first question

In December 2008, the city of Alexandria, Virginia, hired an ethics consultant for $9000/ year. He is supposed to help the city set priorities in a scarce resources situation. In consultation with the ethicist, the city has set funding priorities. Do you think that cities need to hire an ethicist? Why, or why not?

Cities must make decisions to set priorities when allocating scarce resources. City council members, mayors and city managers have available the advice of the city attorney and/or their professional organizations when faced with ethical dilemmas. For example, the International City/County Managers Association provides published information and will respond to ethical questions raised by members of their organization (1). Many Texas cities are members of the Texas Municipal League which also offers articles about ethical decision (2) and will provide advice on ethical matters when requested. In most cases, cities should have sufficient resources available to make rational, ethical funding decisions without the use of a professional ethic advisor.

Although all cities may not need to hire an ethicist in order to set priorities, it may be helpful in certain type of decisions. An independent, unbiased, professional-trained decision from an “outsider” may be more acceptable to council, mayors, citizens, employees, or the press than one derived from inside the political process. This is particularly helpful in the decision to reduce or eliminate services to the public, especially services to the elderly, disabled, or less fortunate. Those types of decisions are ripe for council squabbles, letters to the editor, and bad press. A decision based on the recommendations of a professional may be more acceptable to those with diverse interests which may give it a greater chance for survival in the political process than decisions that are based solely within the organization.

The type of decision Alexandria, Virginia had to make fits the above credentials. The Community Services Board faced a $2.3 million reduction of state and local funds. A new program, Safe Haven, which provides housing for the homeless was scheduled to begin. The professional ethicist suggested the Board focus on maintain the services already in place to help the those with mental health or substance abuse problems, and to delay the start of new programs until funds are available for both on-going and new programs. (3)

(1) See the following website to view the information sources available from the ICMA concerning ethics. http://icma.org/main/topic.asp?tpid=25&hsid=10&ssid1=2530&ssid2=2780

(2) See the following website to view the information available in print from the Texas Municipal League concerning resources for articles about ethics. http://www.tml.org/legal-topics/legal_ethics.html

(3) Olson, Laura. “Alexandria, Va. Turns to Ethicist to help with Budget Cuts,” Los Angeles Times, 1/2/09 http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-government-ethicist2-2009jan02,0,6466351.story