City of Progress I

5.9 City of Progress I

Controversies: 3.11, 3.12, 6.12, 6.18 Key Words: city manager, public interest, news media, trust, moral courage, community Case Complexity → High CD: 6.2 International City/County Management Association Code of Ethics CD: 7.1 City of Progress Ethical reasoning questions are included with this case.

Suppose you are the city manager of a thriving community of 67,000 whose motto is a “City of Progress.” Let’s call you Steve. You have received outstanding perfor- mance evaluations over the fourteen years you have served as the city manager. Indeed, the city commission was so pleased with your performance over the past year that they awarded you with a 9-percent pay raise. You regard members of the city commission and high ranking appointed officials such as the police chief and fi re chief as good friends and colleagues who, like you, have the best interests of the community at heart. You truly love your job and want to continue as city manager until you retire, some twelve years from now.

Situation 1

Alas, you have a long hidden personal secret. Since childhood, you have felt more like a woman than a man and have cross-dressed for years when

vacationing out of state. Your wife is aware of your gender challenge, but your thirteen-year-old son is not. You are, of course, deeply concerned about how

your son will be treated if it becomes known in the community that you are transgender and may even become a woman. After much anguishing about the situation, you decide to begin gender reassignment discreetly. The hormone treatments go well, but the change in your body begins to be evident when you fi nd that you can no longer keep up with the police chief during your weekly jogging with him.

What should you do? Should you bring the police chief into your confidence? What about the mayor, who has always been a good friend and strong supporter? Should you approach other members of the city commission? The deputy city

manager? Since you manage a self-proclaimed city of progress, you are confident that city employees and the community at large will accept you as a woman if that moment arrives. Still, as an intelligent, high-profile public official, you worry that the media

Building Organizations of Integrity ◾ 161

may discover your secret before you have had time to educate your friends and city employees about transgender challenges.

What should you do?

Situation 2

Feeling confident that you have the trust, loyalty, and respect of your mayor and col- leagues, you decide to quietly let them know about your forthcoming gender reas- signment. Privately, you inform your colleagues, including the mayor, that you will go public with your intentions to become a woman four months from now when your thirteen-year-old son is away from the community. The circle of trust you have

created involves about five people and, as it widens, you are increasingly concerned that you may not be able to keep your intentions out of the public eye until June. Alas, you discover that the circle is broken when a local newspaper reporter con- fronts you with the rumor that you intend to become a woman.

“Yes,” you reply, “I will undergo gender reassignment and will begin dressing as

a woman in a month or so. I will change my name from Steven to Susan.” The story becomes headline news. Letters and e-mails pour into the mayor’s office, with many calling for your removal from office. One local newspaper prints a full page tabloid picture of you with the subtext “a boy named Sue.”

City commissioners decide to schedule a public meeting to hear from citizens. Before the meeting takes place, the mayor defends you as does city manager col- leagues in neighboring communities. Your supporters claim that merit, not per- sonal issues, should matter the most. The city charter stipulates that you can be dismissed without cause but only by a super majority vote (five of the seven of the city commissioners).

Sixty persons speak at the four hour marathon meeting while nearly 500 more fl ood the city hall chambers and corridors. One resident contends, “The issue is not

the gender change here. It’s the fact he deceived people. He wasn’t honest with us.” Another angry citizen exclaims, “His brain is the same today as it was last week …

he may be even able to be a better city manager. But I sense that he’s lost his stand- ing as a leader among the employees of the city.” Other speakers were demeaning in their language and accusations.

Humiliated by the spectacle, you decide to leave the meeting. A reporter corners you and asks, “How do you feel about what you heard?” You respond, “It’s just real painful to know that seven days ago I was a good guy and now I have no integrity,

I have no trust and most painful, I have no followers.” The city commission votes 5-2 to put you on paid administrative leave while

your departure is made final. Your contract calls for twelve months severance pay ($140,234) and other benefits during this period.

Th e lead editorial in the local newspaper exclaims, “Officials bow to mob, prej- udice … the community and most elected officials turned on the city manager and kicked him to the curb.”

162 ◾ Ethics Moments in Government: Cases and Controversies

Discussion Questions

1. Did you exercise moral courage? In hindsight, is there anything you should have done differently?

2. Was it realistic of you to believe you could keep your job and everything would be just fine? Were you naïve?

3. Did the city commission treat you fairly? Was the community’s best interest served by your dismissal?

4. Should you sue the city for a human rights violation?

5. Is your professional code of ethics of any assistance?

6. Is your career as a city manager ended?

7. Does your dismissal fly in the face of the city’s motto—City of Progress?

8. Was the newspaper sensationalism fair to you? The community?

Ethical Reasoning Questions

1. Is there an ethical issue facing Steve? The city commission? City employees? Th e community?

2. What is the ethical issue?

3. What might be done to resolve the situation?

4. Does the preferred course of action satisfy the needs/preferences of the primary stakeholders?

5. Is the preferred course of action ethical?

Case Assessment

Vince Long, Deputy County Administrator, Leon County, Florida:

I can remember reading one of those articles not long ago which identi- fi ed a laundry list of the most important characteristics of highly effec- tive managers. This article was geared toward corporate managers, but its findings really stuck with me. It suggested that the most important characteristic of the highly effective manager was not their leadership, innovation, or know-how, but their ability to personify the culture of their organization. Even when these CEOs left one organization to lead another with a corporate culture that was quite different than their previous job, they found success because of their ability to adapt to and epitomize the most important values of the corporation and those of their customers.

For many reasons, this characteristic may be even more important for the top manager of a local government. As opposed to the private sector, in local government, your customers do not generally choose

Building Organizations of Integrity ◾ 163

you. Consumers of local government as a whole cannot “take their busi- ness elsewhere,” unless they move. In addition, the services provided by local government are highly personal—often directly impacting peo- ple’s property, their neighborhoods, and their very health, welfare, and safety. Add to this the fact that everything that local government does

is highly visible, especially in Florida where all local government busi- ness must occur in the sunshine. As such, the local government CEO is under tremendous scrutiny in the community he serves. The public image of the local government CEO is considered a reflection of the community and is very fragile. Few, if any, corporate managers could expect that any decision they make could be immediately reported on and delivered to the front steps of their customers to read about the next morning.

In this case, the city manager has a proven track record as a “high performer.” However, the political skill of the local government man- ager is as important as any managerial acumen. Most effective local government managers recognize that their ability to deflect the glory to the elected officials when things are good and to take the heat when things turn bad is a key to their political success. In addition, the effec- tive local government manager makes every effort to stay clear of those issues perceived to be “political.” In this case, the manager became the “political issue.”

Th is case is not about any nuance associated with the manager’s gender issue becoming public. There is arguably nothing that the city manager could have done better to influence the outcome of this situ- ation. This case is not about the many good reasons that his gender reassignment may have been the right thing to do. Furthermore, this case has nothing to do with the manager’s ability to perform as a pro- fessional local government CEO. This case demonstrates the impact of a large and vocal segment of the community’s disapproval with the city manager’s decision and its reflection on their community. To this constituency, the city manager’s gender reassignment will serve as a constant and highly visible (“in your face”) incongruence with their community “values.” Despite the city commission’s support for the city manager, by becoming a political issue he has put the commission in a politically untenable situation. This case is an extreme example; there are many more common and much more subtle cases that occur everyday, which prove the relatively low political pain threshold that the elected body is willing to endure to defend the local government manager whose effectiveness has become a political issue. The local government manager in this case should have been very well aware of these dynamics.

164 ◾ Ethics Moments in Government: Cases and Controversies

Robert C. Chope, Professor and Chair, Department of Counseling, San Francisco State University:

Transgendered people are widely dispersed in any community, so in a relatively small city of 67,000, there undoubtedly is not a large degree of support for Steve. Historically, most trans-people have been discrimi- nated against when they let their transgender status be known. There are, however, examples of individuals who have fared reasonably well in the workplace after becoming a trans-individual. In hindsight, Steve would have done well to research information and sought support from the many virtual communities of trans-people on the Internet prior to announcing his intentions to undergo sexual reassignment surgery and become a woman. Virtual transgender neighborhoods exist on the Internet serving to bring people together to discuss issues that include the reassignment surgery, work, family, and friends as well as adjust- ment and communication.

Presently, there are anywhere from one to three million trans- gender people, and in San Francisco there are an estimated 19,000. Accordingly, there have been a number of well-documented cases regarding workplace discrimination against transgender people. With the appropriate information, Steve should not have quit his position but, instead, relied on his years of success to shore him up. Since he was placed on paid administrative leave for what appears to be dis- crimination, he could seek redress and support from organizations like the Transgender Laws Center (www.transgenderlawcenter.org) and the National Center for Transgender Equality (www.nctequality.org). The Sixth Circuit Court has decided two discrimination suits in favor of transgender clients.

It is clear that the commission did not treat Steve fairly. But then again, the city commissioners are elected officials, and while most peo- ple like to believe that politicians make decisions on the merits of a case, typically the decisions are made on the politics. It is unfortunate for the community to dismiss a competent manager like Steve because it serves as an example to everyone that good work and positive results don’t necessarily carry the weight that they should. Prejudice has been known to rule in the past and in this case, it still does.

Th e code of ethics of any professional organization does not neces- sarily have much in the way of legal teeth. But the code does reflect the interests of the organization and the national or state or local affiliate might be useful in becoming involved in mediating any legal dispute or serving to assist Steve in finding another job placement.

Building Organizations of Integrity ◾ 165

It is quite conceivable that Steve could work as a city manager again. The current police commissioner for the city of San Francisco is a trans-woman. The report in the newspaper of the proceedings of the meeting attempted to be clever in its word use and bordered on sensationalism. But newspapers are hurting now and they will try any number of activities to sell papers. Conservative talk shows are often quite sensational and they appear to be extremely profitable. In most cities, mottos are not always consistent with practice. There are many police departments with the motto “To Protect and Serve,” and yet those who have been discriminated against believe that the depart- ments do neither.

Author’s Note: Based on a real case, published in the St. Petersburg Times, February 28, March 1, 2007.