Memorandum for the Deputy Mayor

MEMORANDUM FOR THE DEPUTY MAYOR

From: [NAME WITHHELD], Policy Analyst

Subject: Industrial Cleanup Program Rift

This memorandum summarizes the issues surrounding the controversy regarding the recent deterioration of the Industrial Cleanup Program, and outlines a proposed remedy to the situation that will keep the cleanup process on track, through identification of the background, issues, stakeholders, values and finally alternative policy recommendations.

I. Background

The Industrial Cleanup Program is in acute jeopardy of failure due to initial internal miscues and reactive posturing from players in the public, private and NPO sectors. The City is facing an Industrial Cleanup Program policy melt-down without immediate preventative action and damage control.

The most pressing issue is restoration of across-the-board project confidence by reconciling the issues between main policy players and their associated divisions in this process including; Hank Mallory, Director of the Environment; and Dean Currie, Director of the Cleanup Purchase Program (Brock, 1995).

II. Issues

The following issues should be considered as we attempt to effectively remedy this situation and initiate policy that will take all constituencies, both internal and external, into account:

· the failure of an opportunity for a vital public, private, non-profit collaboration

· the general loss of confidence and trust in future public sector projects

· the long-term environmental damage at risk if project [team] fails

· local intra-governmental disintegration if issue not remedied

· future policy implementations possibly affected by the solution

· potential power [policy] shift from government to local NGOs

· potential loss of experienced, valuable local policy makers

III. Stakeholders

The People of Pinedale, the Pinedale City Council, the City of Pinedale: may suffer from increased pollution, a significant decline in environmental protection at the local level, loss of jobs and revenue, and an overall loss of trust and confidence in their local government. Failure of this collaborative policy effort will result in the potential for significant negative impacts on the local quality of life. This will negatively impact the Mayor in the upcoming elections.

NPO/Environmental Groups: may lose effectiveness in dealing with community health and environmental issues without an ongoing ability to successfully complete collaborative public/private/NPO projects. They may also gain more leverage in policy implementation in this arena if public sector failure occurs, but would likely rather have the ability to collaborate with local government due to the potential synergy.

The Mayor: is concerned with the fallout and negative perception of local government should this become a major policy failure. He is also concerned about the upcoming election, and that outcome will impact the future of this project and the current Staff. He wants the problem fixed, with minimum campaign related impacts.

Beverly Miyata, Deputy Mayor: will be negatively impacted in future policy decision making processes and program implementations should this become a major policy failure. Future political ramifications in both the private and public sector endeavors could be a possibility.

Hank Mallory, Director of the Environment: could suffer immediate disciplinary actions including termination, and will be negatively impacted in future policy decision making processes and program implementations should this become a major policy failure. Future political ramifications in both the private and public sector endeavors could be a possibility. He will blame Dean Currie.

Dean Currie, Director of the Clean Up Purchase Program: could suffer immediate disciplinary actions including termination, and will be negatively impacted in future policy decision making processes and program implementations should this become a major policy failure. Future political ramifications in both the private and public sector endeavors could be a possibility. He will blame Hank Mallory.

IV. Values

The following value-based issues should be considered:

· maintain local confidence in an effective, proactive City government

· maintain a healthy community through a collaborative environmental approach

· maintain a healthy economy by attracting and assisting business growth

· maintain public trust through successful collaborative program implementation

· reduce hazard related liabilities through effective environmental cleanup

· maintain environmental protection for a higher quality of life for residents

V. Recommendations

A rapid and highly visible reconciliation of the issues is crucial at this juncture in order to keep the project on track, and restore and maintain confidence in the process. This remedial process is also vital to maintaining the integrity of City government’s policy processes and effectiveness in terms of future policy implementations. Please note the following recommendations and options for corrective action:

· Establish a Critical Incident Management Team (CIMT) for review of the situation and advisement of acute remedial recommendations

· Reconcile the issue between City government policy makers (Miyata, Mallory, Currie) ASAP in order to restore a cohesive effort

· Maintain the original consolidation plans for the involved environmental divisions and move forward with private/NPO collaborative efforts

· Hold project update and debriefing meeting with collaborative partners, reassure them of the process in order to restore a cohesive effort

· Compile a media/press/public release plan reassuring project viability and maintaining a collaborative perspective

· Establish internal policy regarding the appropriate mitigation of personnel issues and the associated liabilities for improper disclosures – review current case

· Provide HR training to eliminate future personnel-related issues

Sources

Brock, J. (1995). A rift threatens the Industrial Site Clean-up Purchase Program. From The Electronic Hallway: Case Teaching Resources from the Evans School of Public Affairs. Accessed on August 1, 2006 from: http://www.csub.edu/~rdaniels/rift_a.pdf