CASE STUDY 2
Case Study Critique: Midterm Assignment
In the Oakdale Administration Case, we view a small city, with no economic growth, and
suspicious leadership. Small cities like Oakdale face significant challenges when competing with
more developed neighborhoods, which places elected officials and city administrators in a difficult
position. They have spend time and effort to get their city to where they want it.
Attracting new residents to a rural area is especially challenging when they have the option
to move to a more developed city nearby. This requires leadership, and community efforts to
stimulate development and growth. Strong leaders are important in such situations, since they need
to inspire confidence, unite the community, and implement new policies that are effective and
promote growth.
Elected officials have large amounts of stress, and get feedback both positive and negative
from the public. It is not and easy spot to be in and makes elected officials jobs challenging. The
public places large amounts of trust in their elected officials and that they will make the correct
decisions to benefit the community. The pressure to perform a certain way can be intense and cause
stress on our elected officials. As with any career there are certain things that make your job
stressful and people are one of those things.
The main issues in the Oakdale case study is that the small cities are facing economic
challenges due to other areas that are more developed. Through effective leadership, a strong
community, and through strategic planning these things can be limited.
The officials of Oakdale are striving to revitalize the city while making prudent financial
decisions that will benefit the community. However, political dynamics come into play when a new
Mayor is elected with ambitious plans to transform the city and increase civic engagement.
Although his passion for the community and grand vision are commendable, he overlooks the
CASE STUDY 3
financial implications of such initiatives. The city relies on taxpayer dollars for funding, and
without sufficient funding, large-scale projects cannot proceed. Every government operates on a
budget and if they run out of money in that area they aren’t able to successfully complete the
project. If you run out of money, you either need add additional funds the following year, or pass
some type of levy to get more of the taxpayer dollars. Otherwise you have to rely on more people
moving into the area, to increase revenue. This financial oversight can lead to significant issues
when attempting to launch new projects.
Shortly after the new Mayor was elected, he fired all the current staff and brough in his own
people to run the city. His new city manager was well known for her almost criminal actions. This
did sit well with the community, as no one wants to have a city manager that has borderlines
participated in criminal activity. This makes the public seriously question who they elected as
Mayor.
Throughout this case study a number of decisions were made from electing Mayor
Hoffnagel, appointing City Administrator Angela Donny, to firing Angela Donny, and Mayor
Hoffangel stepping down, to then appointing current interim Mayor Marie Clarkson, and interim
City Administrator Paul Asher. These were just a few of the major decisions that were made
throughout the case study. Other decisions that were made promptly such as moving forward on the
City project without consulting the correct people. When it comes to government there are
procedures and guidelines that are set forth by that State that have to be followed. It doesn’t matter
who you are or what kind of power you have. All procedures need to be followed and the correct
people informed of all the decisions that are going to be made or need to be made.
I do think some of the decisions were appropriate whereas others were not. When it came to
electing a new Mayor, that is truly up to the public. Whenever someone is elected into office it is a
CASE STUDY 4
decision that the community members get to make. The candidates can do everything in their
power to campaign to get the word out about what they have to offer the community. Political
campaigning—including advertising, speeches, and debates—is one significant path to
transmitting such information; however, campaigns may not convey truth because this information
is often soft. (Kasamatsu, S., & Kishishita, D. (2022). It takes a lot of time and effort to get elected
if you are running against someone.
The decision Hoffangel made to appoint Angela Donny as City Administrator was a poor
decision. She did not have a great history or even much experience to be a City Administrator.
When you are a City Administrator, you are essentially the Mayors right hand man and have to
know all your stuff. I think that was poor decision on the Mayors part.
When the Mayor and City Administrator went forth on the decision to go with a certain
contactor for all the improvements without consulting the correct committees. That was a very poor
decision. Working for the public you have to go through all the correct steps to spend that much
money and allow companies to set forth their bid offers. Its just how the proper procedure is. It
might not always be ideal but that’s just how these processes work. The State sets forth these
guidelines and regulations for a reason and as annoying as it might be it is the rule.
In what has proven to be unethical violations by former City Administrator Donny and
what I believe to be lack of leadership on the part of Mayor Hoffnagel, there is now a schism in the
local government and amongst the residents. Mayor Hoffnagel (pointing emphatically in his
direction), you once spoke about getting work done, here’s your chance! (Cropf, R. A. (2015).
Mayor Hoffnagel made the right decision by stepping down from his position. It was not an easy
decision for him but it was the right decision. Appointing Marie Clarkson and Paul Asher was a
very smart move on the city of Oakdale, both of them are very experienced and knowledgeable.
CASE STUDY 5
Throughout the case study, so many things take place both good and bad. It is important to
realize how big of an influence our local elected officials actually play in our daily lives. It is easy
to only focus on the big ones like President but in reality local government is just as important or
even more important. Its just easy to forget or not even realize who is actually the Mayor of your
city. Transparency is considered a key element for developing a reliable government. (Garrido-
Rodríguez, J., Garrido-Montañés, M., López-Pérez, G., & Zafra-Gómez, E. (2022). Having a
reliable government officials that you know and trust is the key factor to having a community that’s
main focus is its citizens.
CASE STUDY 6
References
Cropf, R. A. (2015). The Public Administration Casebook. Taylor & Francis.
https://mbsdirect.vitalsource.com/books/9781317343004
Garrido-Rodríguez, J., Garrido-Montañés, M., López-Pérez, G., & Zafra-Gómez, E. (2022). The
Importance of Measuring Local Governments’ Information Disclosure: Comparing
Transparency Indices in Spain.Sustainability,14(20), 13081.
https://doi.org/10.3390/su142013081
Kasamatsu, S., & Kishishita, D. (2022). Informative campaigning in multidimensional politics:
The role of naïve voters. Journal of Theoretical Politics., 34(1), 78–106.
https://doi.org/10.1177/09516298211061153
Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)
