My advice would be to learn as much as you can about that particular government entity before starting your journey. Listen to those whose opinions you trust regarding what lies ahead for you. Make yourself available to anyone who wants to know more about who you are and what your vision or goals might be. Most importantly, be yourself. Make it about your community and not about your next vote.
Plan, unite, plan, unite, and do what works for you. I don’t think in the beginning we had a clue of what we could afford or what we couldn’t afford. I cannot stress enough the importance of getting buy-in and unity within the administration and within the community. If you can’t get buy-in from everybody, it’s a tough, tough go. You have to put egos on the side and do what’s best for the community.
A big part for us is the family mentality… It’s not about the dollar, although we do pay well. We do a pay study every two years to ensure that our team is being paid appropriately across the board. We have the gold standard of pension plans, too. We have an old-style pension plan that vests really well. This gives people the opportunity to have a great retirement.
My first thing would be to make sure that your funding fits what you’re going to do. You don’t want to get into the middle of a project, and realize that you’re going to have to cut back. Have a realistic approach to what you’re going to be able to build. Then set that same realistic message to your community so that you haven’t overpromised and under delivered.
A master plan was the key to us getting buy-in. So I think the first thing you do is to create a master plan with a survey and study to see what your community wants.
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