Gary Sasse: Gubernatorial Leadership—The Defining Issue in 2014
Wednesday, January 15, 2014
In 2020 will the Ocean State’s economy be characterized by 4% unemployment, plenty of skilled workers and an attractive business climate? Or will it have more in common with a “third world” economy? The answer to these questions will be influenced by the person elected to be Rhode Island's next Governor.
The 2014 gubernatorial election has the potential to be a watershed event. It can go a long way to determine how we solve the problems of stubbornly high unemployment, a shrinking labor force, transformational demographic changes, a decade of fiscal imbalance and deep-rooted self-doubt.
In choosing the next Governor voter’s should focus like a laser on the question. Which candidate has the greatest potential to tell it like it is and be an effective and visionary leader? In making this judgment the people of Rhode Island need to assess each candidate’s understanding of the context in which he or she must operate, his or her ability to set priorities, how they will choose senior staff as well as their approach to fiscal responsibility.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTEffective Governance
The National Governors Association (NGA) observed that to successfully move an agenda a governor must “Know the rules. Know the players. Know the field of play.” During the campaign try to evaluate each candidate’s understanding of the environment in which he or she must work. An effective governor must make sure that his or her policies are not only articulated but that they are adopted and implemented. Executive experience is an important asset. At this point in Rhode Island’s history there is no time for “amateur hour”.
Candidates for high public office sometimes base their positions on the findings of public opinion polls. As a result they may promise simple solutions to complex problems. The people of Rhode Island deserve better leadership on the issues that affect their daily lives.
Effective candidates must lead by demonstrating an understanding of the fundamental causes of a problem and offer evidence-based solutions. Campaign promises that do not include transparent and measurable outcomes should not be taken seriously. Those that aspire to be Governor should tell Rhode Islanders where we are, where we need to be and how we are going to get there. It is that simple.
When governors try to do too much they usually end up doing nothing. Effective governance requires focus and concentration.
The importance of prioritizing
The NGA’s Office of Management Consulting and Training noted “Governors bring two critical resources to the table: time and political capital.” These are finite resources; therefore, effective leaders have to set a limited number of priorities.
Articulating priorities during a campaign may be politically difficult. Special interests tend to feel slighted if their “pet project” is not included in a candidate’s platform. Persons seeking high public office must demonstrate that they can make tough choices and sometimes say “no”.
The NGA’s Seminar for New Governors stresses the importance of limiting the number of gubernatorial priorities. Governors serving as Seminar faculty recommend “that new governors select no more than three to five priorities.” Beware of candidates proposing ten point programs. Implementation of ten priorities is not practical and it may represent nothing but political pandering to gain votes. According to United States Senator and former Tennessee Governor Lamar Alexander the governor’s role is to “see the state’s few most urgent needs, develop strategies to address them, and persuade at least half of the people that he is right.”
Gubernatorial Staff
There was a saying in the Reagan White House - “Personnel is policy.” Governors are only as effective as their staffs. Senior appointees are a governor’s primary asset as well as his or her greatest potential liability. A governor’s staff is responsible for interacting with the General Assembly, state agencies, media, local governments, and the business, labor and advocacy communities.
It would be a breath of fresh air if each gubernatorial candidate would disclose the type of staff that they intend to recruit. Don’t the voters have a right to know? As Peggy Noonan recently wrote in the Wall Street Journal “Political operatives intoxicated with victory think that they can get away with anything.” Roll out of the ObamaCare health exchange and the New Jersey “bridgegate” scandal are two of the most recent examples.
Holding the candidates accountable
As stewards of the taxpayer’s hard-earned dollar candidates should provide fiscal notes to show how they will finance programs included in their platforms. During the campaign taxpayers should demand that all candidates discuss the tools their administration plans to use in dealing with Rhode Island’s structural budget problems while financing their campaign promises. Such tools might include the following: enterprise solutions, private-public partnerships, reorganizations, reducing fraud and abuse, shares service agreements and employee initiatives.
Rhode Island’s next Governor will be in a unique position to mobilize the collective talents and energy of all interests to address the challenges that the State faces. To achieve this, all the gubernatorial candidates must articulate a clear vision of effective public leadership and how it will function.
As written in the Book of Proverbs “Where there is no vision the people perish.”
Gary Sasse is Founding Director of the Hassenfeld Institute for Public Leadership at Bryant University. He is the former Executive Director Rhode Island Public Expenditure and Director of the Departments of Administration and Revenue.
Related Slideshow: 10 Questions Gina Raimondo Has to Answer When Running for Governor
Related Articles
- Gary Sasse: 3 Ways to Restore Confidence in RI’s Government
- Gary Sasse: Is It Time For Truth In Taxation?
- Gary Sasse: Is RI’s Tax Climate Really The 5th Worst?
- Gary Sasse: Is a Constitutional Convention Really Needed?
- Gary Sasse: Rudderless in the Ocean State