Brooklyn Park Case Study

This paper is written based on an exploration and subsequent interview of a city administrator in Brooklyn Park. It will address the role and challenges that an administrator whose practices are closely aligned with the New Public Service world view faces in discharging her duties to the public. In an attempt to answer the central question of how and in whose interest do public administrators serve as agential leaders, three tenets, key to a good public agency that administers in the interest of the public will be discussed. The role of public administrators as educators of the public, as facilitators and as bridges that reconnect public agencies with citizens (residents) in an effort to seek and forge a common understanding and truth among …show more content…
Public administration has the responsibility of disseminating information to the public which in itself is a good thing because it brings awareness to the public of what the expectations are for practitioners and citizens at large. Indeed, that is for the betterment of the public. Subsequently, citizens must be empowered in every way possible so that they can fully comprehend and participate in important policy debates and hence, practitioners must look for ways through which they can address issues of public concern while at the same time conveying to the public of their concerns or reservations about the limits of government in public life. They must create awareness so that citizens can understand that the government has limitations on what it can or can’t do for the …show more content…
This is a strategic plan that is geared toward fostering greater integrations which are supposed to usher in authentic discussions between the citizens and the administrators. As said before, this is no simple task to accomplish but in an effort to educate the citizens, public administrators must get people engaged in self- education via participation in the governing process. The city of Brooklyn Park for example uses both traditional and nontraditional strategies such as neighborhood group initiatives, public meetings, flyers or the internet in its efforts to get the residents’ input in the governance process. To make these possible, practitioners must create structures through which the public can meet and deliberate on issues that affect them since in doing so, citizens don 't feel left out. Some of the outreach strategies that administrators in Brooklyn Park have employed in an effort to be more effective and efficient leaders of the community have been through targeted messaging which is a tool that is geared toward addressing a particular issue or problem that might be unique to a particular area of the city. If pressing issues