Photo submitted by Councilman Matt Little
Last week Lakeville Patch interviewed Matt Little about his upcoming appearance on the Lakeville City Council but concentrated mainly on the human interest aspect and especially his age rather than his planned policy. Being that I am not at all interested in age and have very little interest in the people behind the policy when in government, I decided to interview Mr. Little myself. While Councilmember Little‘s responses are noted in blockquotes, they may be considered paraphrased unless they appear in quotation marks (“”) within the larger blockquoted text.
1. Budget Cut Contest
LL: You are currently offering $250 of your own money to city residents, funded out of your city stipend, to find the best way to cut money out of the budget and balance the city’s budget. How do you believe it will be able to find a viable solution which the majority of councilmembers will agree to utilize?
Yes finding a viable budget solution can most certainly come from the public and persuading the other Lakeville councilmembers to agree to the plan is a definite possibility as all of the councilmembers are openminded. It’s not surprising that nothing has come forward as ideas have not been presented to discuss but any idea is welcome, even those that could be considered “ridiculous”.
LL: So far the response has been less than spectacular to your contest. Is this surprising to you or something you expected based on the lack of participation in tax discussions both in Lakeville and elsewhere across the South Metro?
No, it’s not really surprising being that not a lot of people are involved and/or informed but providing money can certainly be an impetus for providing an excellent idea. So far it has provided and opportunity for one person I have never heard of to become involved in the process. The contest will remain open until until Jan 20th so there is still time. Some may not even be doing it for the money being that $250 really isn’t all that much money but it’s something than just asking people to show up to a meeting. This will provide, “something different, shake people a little bit and wake them up.”
2. Citizen Participation
LL: How many residents have contacted you about what they want to see in Lakeville?
Approximately 25 residents over the past 8 months have provided input in one way or another. This number was much higher than expected (0) as it is very difficult to get people involved in politics, especially local politics.
LL: How many do you believe will contact you in the future? Would you be surprised if 5 contacts a week, total, would be a high number?
Being approachable is important and providing people a variety of options to get in touch with councilmembers is key. While none of the other councilmembers have turned to social media Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc are all available to provide that channel for residents if they so choose.
But another important piece to getting people to contact councilmembers would be to stream meetings online. Lakeville is, “a family community” if you have kids, “good luck getting to the meetings.” Providing a live question feed through e-mail, social media, phone, etc and while it would not be a massive influx of questions it would provide another avenue for citizen participation. We live in an age where, “people hiding behind the computer,” are more comfortable with contacting through that medium but the opportunity to be, “rude, heated or vulgar,” certainly becomes a reality.
3. Public Safety
LL: You want to increase public safety protection by energizing neighborhood watch. What does the Lakeville Police Department think about this plan?
Simply put, the city is better when the people are involved but this is only in the planning stages as the police department hasn’t really talked about it. Right now requests are into the department to do the research and provide a list of areas where crime has been higher. While there is no massive crime in Lakeville it is still a way to get people involved at little to no cost to the city.
4. Fiscal Responsibility
LL: You provide a plan for cutting spending which includes reduction/elimination of councilmember stipends and voluntary pay reductions for staff. Do you believe any of these will actually be viable?
There is little to no support for cutting the pay of councilmembers especially those who are not new. “If we want to start moving forward to cut (the budget) then we first have to look at ourselves (councilmembers).” There is no way the council can make deep cuts to balance the budget unless we practice “self-sacrifice.”
LL: Talking about voluntary pay reductions, what do you plan to do if the staffers refuse (which they very likely will)?
Staff members are unlikely to agree to take the reduction but without having yet spoken with the staff as of this time the outcome is unknown. However by agreeing to reductions jobs can be saved.
LL: Since you’re all for eliminating stipends do you plan to donate yours back into the general fund or even a specific department within the city such as the police department?
Donating the stipend back to the city is certainly an option but while the money is definitely needed, “more than any one else up there,” but by using it for the competition it makes a point and find a worthwhile way to use it. However, this is not something to be done unilaterally and it’s not something to, “bring up just to make others say they won’t do it,” as it should be a group effort. While the purpose is, “not to cut the stipends permanently,” it’s just until the budget situation turns around and lost positions are brought back into the fold.
So what do you think about Councilmember Little’s answers to my questions? Do you think that his plan for reducing/eliminating councilmember stipends is a good one? Do you think that voluntary pay reductions are a real possibility with staffers beginning to realize the reality of the economic situation’s longevity? How about putting an emphasis on neighborhood watch to help reduce crime while spending very little money? Any comments about Lakeville Patch’s own interview? Whatever you have to say about this one go ahead and comment on as I’d love to hear your thoughts.
You can contact Councilmember Little via his website, on Facebook, or via Twitter.
Dakota Complaints Map
Dakota Inmate Dashboard
Loading ...
January 3rd, 2011 at 7:58 am
I like the idea of getting citizen input in general, especially at the city level.
One thing that would make this much easier would be to post a line item budget on his website so people could more easily see exactly where funds are going in order to suggest changes.
Finally, the reality is that a large portion of all expenses are going toward salaries & benefits of staff. Therefore, if people want cuts to city expenses they are going to have to cut people or cut the pay/benefits of staff. One good way to start might be to set strict overtime rules (my cop friend was making triple time the other day for working overtime on a holiday).
January 3rd, 2011 at 9:52 am
I think the best way to label this guy would be this:
Idealist/Doofus
So if I come up with a good way to save the city money, I get some of that money. Hmm. I get the part where it is part of the Idealist/Doofus stipend, but this reeks of marketing gimmick as opposed to something that will actually work. I thought people were elected and paid to have ideas and enact policy to do the city good vs. someone basically saying, “I got nothin’, how about you?”
I am glad I don’t live in Lakeville. Who elected this guy?
January 3rd, 2011 at 9:57 am
People are elected so that the will of the people can be carried out. That needs to be done through citizen participation. Most politicians and the vast majority of public administrators hate public input because it is so varied and difficult to enact in a way which will make everyone happy.
lefty, I think you’ve fallen prey to the way things have operated in the past–with politicians and public administrators enacting policy they feel is the best case scenario without really taking into account what the people want.
January 3rd, 2011 at 10:11 am
I think you are pigeon holing me a little bit, the same way the Idealist/Doofus pigeon holes the “40 plus” administrators in the article you have linked to.
In no way am I suggesting that public input is not important, but I think grandstanding by offering up a “reward” for a good idea is stupid.
The reality is that most everyone wants quality services, a safe place to live at a very low cost, a concept that is pretty much not attainable. People are elected to find the best middle ground based on the social and economic demographics of that community. If there is an idea that would come forward only because there was a $250 cash reward that otherwise would not have, then I fault the politician for not thinking of it first.
January 3rd, 2011 at 12:38 pm
@lefty, I agree that he’s an idealist. To call him a doofus is pretty low and demeaning.
I had some of the same thoughts as you. I doubt his $250 offer will garner much. Ultimately it’s the councilmember’s responsibility to make decisions.
But I love that he’s trying to engage the public. That’s to be commended. It’s expected that a 25-year-old will be naive in this position, but it’s city council, not governor. It’s a great place for him to be and I wish more young people were able to garner enough support and respect to gain election to public office. We need their voices and ideas. I can tell you that based on what I’ve read about him here, I think we would have some disagreements, but I’m glad to see him getting involved.
Throwing around insults like “doofus” and automatically labeling his idea as “grandstanding” and “stupid” is wrong. Those are things I doubt you would ever say to his face.
Also, regarding the notion that the politician should be faulted “for not thinking of it first” if an idea does come forward…most companies are run by an executive management team. That team solicits feedback, input, new ideas, etc. from the directors, managers, and other workers below them. They filter those ideas and use the best ones to move forward. Sure, they also come up with ideas on their own – or at least they should – but a good manager also solicits and incorporates ideas from the people working under them, or in the case of a politician, the person they’re serving. While the politician ultimately takes full responsibility for their decision-making, I’m very confused by what you said. You first said, “In no way am I suggesting that public input is not important,” but then turned around and said, “If there’s an idea that would come forward only because there was a $250 cash reward that otherwise would not have, then I fault the politician for not thinking of it first.” Are you saying that the only type of public input that’s valid is input that doesn’t have a reward attached to it? Because if that’s the case, there’s a LOT of independent research being wasted as people in labs all over the place chase after various incentive awards for being the first to come up with XYZ.
January 3rd, 2011 at 1:34 pm
Hi Joey,
-I agree that it is a good thing to engage the public if you can get them to engage, which clearly is not happening anyway.
-I reject your assertion that I have automatically labeled his idea. My labeling was quite thought out. If you are dumb enough to campaign on a notion that you would not have paid 21 grand for a projector, then you get the wrath of lefty. While I also do not support paying 21 grand for a wall projector, I hardly think it would qualify me to work for the City of Lakeville.
-I disagree with you regarding your description of the term Doofus. It is hardly an insult, in fact it is not even actually a word. I suspect the two of us calling him idealistic is much more insulting than my made up word.
-The notion of coming up with money saving ideas, again is stupid. You collect taxes and spend it on what you need to run the city. If you don’t have enough money, you charge more tax. If people complain, you decrease the quality of what you are doing and you continually monitor expenses and question wall projector purchases that cost half as much as a car when necessary. What “idea” could possibly be out there that is going to put Lakeville in the black that nobody has thought of yet? The notion is ridiculous.
-It is not expected that a 25 year old be naive. I don’t think his age is relevant anywhere in this discussion provided he is over 18 and old enough to get elected or whatever the age is for Lakeville. He rightfully should be evaluated on the quality of his performance regardless of prior experience or years on this earth. I am just doing my part to help him understand my expectations of him here today. Those expectations were vastly different yesterday because I never heard of him back then. I won’t even charge him for my thoughts.
-All input, paid, unpaid, random or directed shapes all of us and our decision making process. It is up to us to make the proper decisions given the input available to us. Joey, I think your life is too black and white, you need to gray it up now and then. No charge for that input either. :)
Your buddy,
lefty
January 3rd, 2011 at 1:44 pm
I have a feeling that with a population of nearly 60,000 people, Lakeville residents would be the best to find something that a team of ~100 probably couldn’t.
Public administrators (who are the individuals who provide background and ideas to the council who then provide ultimate direction either based on this information or not) are notoriously bad at thinking out of the box because they have other interests which need to be taken into account (take a look at the Farmington Administrator who more or less refused to take the direction that the councilmembers provided to cut a position and instead looked to other alternatives instead).
While you can rant all you like, it is my opinion that the public could definitely come up with a new idea from this especially if the message is provided to a member of the public who may not have ever been informed that there was even a problem prior.
January 3rd, 2011 at 1:46 pm
Well, if I were called a doofus, I would consider it an insult along the lines of other made-up words like nincumpoop.
I don’t have a friggin clue where you get off that my life is “too black and white,” but it’s pointless to even argue it. You see things how you want to see them and I’m done trying to figure out how or why. I don’t even understand what you’re attempting to say or what exactly you’re responding to. I could go point-by-point through your comment but I’m not sure where to start and I think the effort would be rather futile.
January 3rd, 2011 at 2:14 pm
I suspect you would be right about that.
January 3rd, 2011 at 2:17 pm
lefty, I edited your comment to fix the broken blockquote HTML.
January 3rd, 2011 at 7:43 pm
There is some strategy to what Mr. Little is doing. I can’t see anything negative about it, so I’d say go for it. If no one from the public puts forward any ideas, well then all he has done is re-enforced an idea that the public just isn’t interested. If he gets some ideas, and picks one that he likes, then he can stand up with his council members and say it’s the public that wants it, not just him. A win for sure.
If he can find a way to get Neighborhood watches really running again, that would be a significant win. Getting people actually out of their homes, and chatting with neighbors is shockingly difficult these days.
January 4th, 2011 at 12:40 pm
I appreciate everyone’s comments.
It’s important to note for the budget discussion that Lakeville’s budget is not running a deficit. My intent is to cut out of the budget items that we simply do not need, aren’t useful, and that aren’t helping to maintain service levels to the citizens. We could use this money to better support the police department, fix our roads, and/or to give it back to the taxpayers If I find that there is a million dollar project that isn’t useful I will attempt to prevent that spending just as I would try to prevent a thousand dollar expenditure that isn’t necessary.
Lefty- The notion that I campaigned solely on cutting a projector is fairly misleading as I ran on a platform of fiscal responsibility, supporting public safety, and getting more people involved in the community. Also, I don’t believe I pigeon-holed the 40 pluses. In fact, I pigeon-holed my own generation. They need to be much more active in their communities and in government.
As for the name calling, I think idealism is a good thing. We should constantly strive for the ideal situation. By doing so, we may be able to get halfway to a goal. If we constantly work towards mediocrity, we may not even get there.
My all time favorite “insult” I’ve been assigned was babysitter/politician. At least in that combination I’m given a paying job and it probably helped me pick up the babysitter vote. (No small bloc in a family dense community)
I look forward to your thoughts on some of the proposed cuts that will come out of the January 10th work session. It’s at 6pm at Lakeville City Hall. I encourage anyone to attend.
Sincerely,
Matt Little
January 5th, 2011 at 12:15 pm
Matt Little communicates well with the written word.
April 13th, 2011 at 7:01 am
[...] in Lakeville have referred to Councilmember Matt Little as little more than a child when it comes to politics but recently he has made a big name for [...]
July 7th, 2011 at 7:01 am
[...] Lakeville City Council meeting where Councilmember Matt Little (interviewed by Lazy Lightning here), “was admonished by another member for offering opinions on Twitter.” Councilmember [...]