The concept of honoring the majority is widely accepted and respected in the local government manager world, and most professionals work hard to cultivate the processes necessary for the council to arrive at the point where they can cogently provide direction.

When Divisions Arise

When elections provide turnover and new members, the process of majority decision making can become even more challenging. In cases where factions are created or exacerbated, the manager—and by extension the professional staff—can find themselves squarely in the middle of disagreements or philosophical differences among the elected officials.

As one manager put it to me, “Mike, I feel like I should wear a striped referee jersey instead of a suit to council meetings!”

Another colleague remarked, “At my monthly luncheon meetings with each councilmember, they spend the first 20 minutes complaining about the mayor, and then 10 or 15 more minutes talking about other members. They tell me they don’t want me to take sides, of course, but I know they really do—at least as long as it is their side!”

The competing temptations for the professional in this situation is to either withdraw and hope the group members work out their dynamics on their own, or conversely use the division to exert influence to the point of manipulating the process to get the direction the professional considers best.

Both actions are fraught with danger. If managers are not engaged in the dialogue, no matter how messy, they risk missing key cues about shifting alliances and pending actions. If overly engaged to the extent of being seen as intentionally swaying votes or positions, they risk alienating the group altogether.

Even though being in the middle can be uncomfortable for the professional, it does provide an opportunity to demonstrate good governance practices and provide reassurance to the elected officials that they are individually valued and that the majority view will be complied with. It also calls for more communication, not less.

Communication Issues

At a recent training session on the council-manager relationship that was titled “Stronger Together,” my colleague Jim Hunt and I were struck anew at the number of elected officials who articulated that their purpose in attending was simply to learn how to communicate with the manager.

We heard comments like: Why is it that the manager only listens to the mayor? How do I get the manager to hear my ideas? How long do I have to hold my council seat to earn the right for the manager to take me seriously? Why am I always the last one to know when something is happening?

The managers in attendance had their own issues: Why can’t the council act as a body instead of a disjointed group of individuals? Why do I have to hear all of the council’s dirty laundry? Why do I feel like I am wearing a target instead of a tie?

Jim, as a past president of the National League of Cities and a 28-year elected official, tried to put everything in perspective. He pointed out that being in the middle can certainly be seen in a positive light. He said, “The hub of the wheel is where all the spokes come together, and only when the hub is strong can the wheel be true!”

Our Guidance

Our advice to the elected and appointed officials was this:

• Communicate relentlessly in whatever format your receiver prefers—breakfast, lunch, phone, e-mail, text. Agree on the arrangement and be committed.
• Don’t shade the truth or massage the message to suit your perspective of what the receiver might like to hear. If folks feel like they are being fed bull you might get the horns.
• Always be “loyal to the absent” and don’t talk negatively about folks not at the table. This builds trust and credibility and must be modeled for staff.
• Don’t discount the messenger. Speaking truth to power is a sure way to bolster believability.
• Seek the source of rumors or innuendo, especially when you are getting the message secondhand (or third or fourth).
• Promote positivity. Even in the face of criticism keep your game face on.
• Model the behavior you want from your staff in your interactions with the elected officials.

A sincere measure of success for those stuck in the middle is when all factions on the council speak glowingly of staff. They might not like their elected colleagues, they may not appreciate the mayor, but when they trust the manager and his or her team good things can still happen.