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ISSN 1099-9922/2010 $9.50 + 0.00. DOI 10.2753/PIN1099-9922120101

Assessing the Ethical Knowledge of City Managers GreG Streib and Mark rivera

abstract

Can ethical codes be more than pabulum? This research seeks preliminary answers by examining manager knowledge of the ICMA Ethical Code. Findings indicate that city managers know the code and highlight the importance of local government experience. The data lead to a discussion of possible next steps for professional organizations.

The study of ethics in public administration dates to the founding of the field, due to concerns about reconciling demands for government effectiveness, accountability of elected officials, and citizen sovereignty. The literature produced in more than 100 years of scholarly work and debate is a rich legacy. Of course, public administra- tion writings also inform practice and influence the actions of administrators—who face far blunter realities, because they make decisions that may cause them some degree of discomfort and may affect their families or the lives of others in minor, substantial, or even tragic ways. Any ethical system devised today must respect the heritage of the field, its role in a democratic society, and the pressures, threats, and demands faced by the modern administrative state.

This article examines one approach to defining and establishing the boundaries and responsibilities of a prominent group of administrators. The ethical model applied in the case of city managers typifies the “professional” perspective, which is one of many possible ways to address the governance needs of municipal governments. The goal is both to assess the ethical knowledge of managers and to explore recent developments in the ongoing effort to professionalize city management. The data source is the International City/County Management Association (ICMA) Applied Knowledge Assessment (AKA).

the rationale for ethical Codes

The Process of Professionalization

Making claims about whether public administration is, should be, or can become a profession is not the goal of this article, but there is no question that public admin-

Research Articles

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istration has adopted a number of professional attributes. It clearly has a developing knowledge base and established professional and ethical norms, for example, and a long commitment to improvements in practice. ICMA was founded in 1914, and the American Society for Public Administration (ASPA) followed in 1939; there are also many other vital associations for public service specializations with their own distinguished histories.

Professionalization was embraced enthusiastically at the founding of the field (White 1926), but concerns arose toward the middle of the twentieth century about the possibility that professional interests might conflict with public interests. Since then there have been occasional withering critiques of public sector professionalization (Bowman 1982–83; Pugh 1989; Schott 1976). Even so, most observers have reached positive conclusions, acknowledging that professionalization is already happening

and recommending strategies to promote progress (Green, Keller, and Wamsley 1993; Kearney and Sinha 1988; Perry 2007).

York Willbern (1954) was one of the first to take a more conciliatory approach to professionalization. Although many cite him as an opponent of professionalization, he concluded his pointed analysis with such statements as: “The development of the char- acteristics of professionalism where those

characteristics are absent, or slow in developing, should be encouraged. It certainly seems clear that the wave of professionalism should be ridden and directed, not stemmed” (20). His approach to directing professionalization was to incorporate “generalism” into public administration, as a way to avert the “particularism” and “separatism” that he saw as inherent in the professionalization process. He also made special mention of the generalist role of city managers, stating that “if a county manager or city manager or an ‘enlightened’ governor’s office and staff have the reins, technical competence and professionalism in the particular services and functions of government may be developed without so much urge for insularity and dismemberment” (20).

There has been empirical research on local governments suggesting that com- mitment to democratic values has not yielded to other pressures. For example, Streib (1992) found a positive relationship between professionalism and support for democratic values among local government department heads in public works, finance, police, and fire. These findings are especially interesting given that the work of department heads is more specialized than is city management. A study by Berman (1999) of city and nonprofit officials showed that city managers and city chief administrators gave high marks to the role of ethical principles in guiding decision-making. Also, research by Dunn and Legge (2001) found that “knowledge from the profession” was the most important factor for local government managers carrying out their regular responsibilities and fell just behind the preferences of elected officials and the groups most affected when developing or analyzing new policies. While this study proved the value of both professional and democratic values, it also suggests that local government managers understood how to balance these competing responsibilities.

Making claims about whether public administration is, should be, or can become a profession is not the goal of this article, but there is no question that public administration has adopted a number of professional attributes.

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professional associations and ethical Codes

While academics debate the relationship between politics and administration, most changes in practice require action by professional associations. Of course, these inde- pendent organizations approach this responsibility in their own ways, mixing academic insights with those of their leaders and stakeholder groups. ICMA and ASPA have played an important role in efforts to guide the extent and pace of professionalization in the public sector. One very dramatic way that both organizations have directly courted professionalization is through the development of ethical codes (Plant and Arnold 1993), although this is more of a historical matter in the case of the ICMA, which created its code in 1924. ASPA approved a code in 1984 after ten years of debate (Cohen and Eimicke 1995). The ICMA members have repeatedly revised their code (Stillman 1974), and ASPA has approved one revision to date (Van Wart 1996).

It would be an understatement to say that academics have expressed concerns about codes of ethics. The creation of the ASPA code (and its revision) generated a storm of criticism that still resonates today. Kathryn Denhardt (1989) spoke for many when she argued that codes of ethics are not enough, and Rohr’s (1989) depiction of ethical codes as the “low road” is frequently cited.1

Others have acknowledged the importance of ethical codes in public adminis- tration. Indeed, Herbert Kaufman (2006) noted in his classic The Forest Ranger that professional norms guided and shaped the behavior of rangers. More recently, Willa Bruce (1994) studied municipal clerks and found that their professional code of ethics was useful for making tough decisions. Making this point even more directly, Brumback argued, “Ethics in the workplace cannot be left solely to each person’s conscience” (1991, 353). Jeremy Plant (2000) wrote specifically about the ICMA Code of Ethics, stating that it was a “cherished” public administration accomplishment.

The praise from Plant was unusual, as the ICMA Code of Ethics has received little sustained attention from academics, which is in marked contrast to the enthusiastic support it receives from practicing city managers. Richard Stillman quotes one man- ager who summed up the importance of the code in this way: “A profession requires an ethical code in order that there might be a standard for the very best relations with employer, citizen, public at large, such as other professional fraternities have to foster” (1974, 37). The executive director of ICMA said much the same thing when discussing the code on its seventieth anniversary (Hansell 1994): “The ICMA Code of Ethics has strengthened our professionalism by expressing our values to each other and to the public we serve.” In a recent article, a long-time manager, and past ICMA president wrote that “What sets ICMA managers apart is that they bring an ethics-based approach to their leadership” (Branscome 2008, 2).

There is also empirical research supporting the value of the ICMA Code of Eth- ics. Elizabeth Kellar (1995) reported findings from a poll showing that 90 percent of ICMA members agreed that belonging to an organization that promotes and enforces high ethical standards is a valuable benefit of membership, and Rowe and Hug

While academics debate the relationship between politics and administration, most changes in practice require action by professional associations.

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(1990) explored manager perceptions in more depth. They asked managers to evalu- ate the overall impact of the code by rating whether it was symbolic or substantial in its importance to their professional roles. Fifty-three percent of the respondents indicated that the code was more substantial than symbolic, and 84 percent saw it as very important in defining their roles as municipal managers.

The ICMA Applied Knowledge Assessment

Over the past two decades, ICMA has reinvigorated the city management profession with a series of initiatives that ultimately produced a voluntary credentialing program allowing managers to obtain the ICMA-CM (credentialed manager) designation. A first step toward this goal was what the association called a dialogue with the profession that began in 1992. This two-year effort involved thirty-three dialogue sessions around the nation and two surveys. The outcome was a list of competencies needed by managers now known as the Practices for Effective Local Government (ICMA 2008). The dialogue also informed a modification to the Code of Ethics requiring members to demonstrate a yearly commitment to ongoing professional development. Together, the practices and the modified ethical requirement gave managers both an expectation for professional development and guidance to focus their development.

The ICMA practices became the foundation for developing the Applied Knowl- edge Assessment (AKA), a joint effort between ICMA staff, association members, and Georgia State University researchers. The AKA contains 116 multiple-choice items that provide a sampling of the knowledge encompassed by the practices. Those completing the assessment receive a report providing their scores on the seventeen practices, based on comparisons with the responses of others. Completing the AKA is also a requirement for receiving the voluntary credential. This research uses the seven items from the Integrity Practice, which is a restructuring of the twelve tenets of the Code of Ethics. These items present scenarios that require situational judg- ments (Lievens 2008). The intention was to determine whether the AKA participants understood and could apply the code and not whether they had memorized it. The scenarios deliberately depicted situations where practicing managers have gotten into ethical trouble in the past. While items appearing on the Applied Knowledge Assessment cannot be shared without compromising its value, there are two samples available in Appendix A; the item-development team wrote these cases but did not use them on the final instrument.

The AKA development process was thoroughly described by Streib (2005), but a few of its aspects are worth emphasizing here. Most important, the development of the AKA was an exhaustive process that involved hundreds of managers. The creation of the integrity items was unique, since ICMA itself had the most complete knowledge of the code and its interpretation. The association took the lead in the development of these items, in consultation with its Committee on Professional Conduct (CPC) and its executive board. The CPC assists the ICMA executive board in implementing the rules for enforcing the Code of Ethics, but the board is respon- sible for making final decisions concerning code enforcement.

The AKA is purchased by the participants, and most complete the 116 items individually in an on-line format through the ICMA Web site, although there have been occasional group administrations at different locations around the United States.

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The instructions tell participants to choose the best answer. Anyone can complete the instrument, but demographic information is required. The AKA is accompanied by a personal data sheet asking the participants for their name, where they work, their position title, and related information.

Methodology and research expectations

The methodology for this analysis is straightforward. There are responses from 1,197 city managers who took an assessment instrument between the years 2000 and 2007 designed to measure their professional knowledge. The study focuses on how well participants scored on the items pertaining to the ICMA Integrity Practice. A multivariate analysis examines the role of respondent characteristics and city population.

The most important methodological question is whether the AKA items are valid. That is, do they measure the ethical knowledge of the participants? There are several reasons to believe that they do.

Knowledgeable experts developed the original draft items, and the Integrity Practice items appearing on the final assessment instrument received input from a broad and representative group of city managers.

Roughly 250 managers provided their own independent assessments of the AKA items by reviewing a portion of the item pool and rating each individual item. One question asked whether items were realistic and reflected situations affecting local managers, and, on average, more than 74 percent agreed that they did. When asked if the answer options were consistent with actions that managers might consider, 63 percent answered yes. While the officials were not as convinced about the op- tions, the development team dropped many weaker items after this review session and revised others.

Median response frequencies for each item since instrument adoption speak for themselves. The high level of agreement suggests that they tap a common knowl- edge base.

The AKA participants to date have been broadly representative of the city man- ager population. A possible concern is that the administrators who have taken the AKA to date may in fact be those most likely to do well. While such a claim would be hard to totally refute, it can be said that roughly 25 percent of the practicing city managers in the United States have now taken the AKA, and a comparison of known manager demographics (Renner 2001) suggests those who have taken the AKA assessment are typical.

research

Accessing data from the Applied Knowledge Assessment is a unique opportunity, and there is not enough similar research to support the development of detailed hy- potheses. However, existing knowledge about city managers offers some ideas. There is already reason to believe that they identify strongly with the code, for example, suggesting that they would perform well on the AKA integrity items (though it is impossible to say what the distribution of scores would be like). One possibility is an “elite” core of managers that outperforms others by a wide margin.

Of course, studying the code is not a required part of all public administration

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programs, and managers with other types of educational backgrounds would prob- ably not study public sector ethics at all. Thus, it seems likely that there would be an association between experience and knowledge of the ICMA code. General life experiences could also play a role, but specific knowledge of the code is more likely to be a job-related skill.

Findings

Table 1 provides information on the 1,956 AKA participants and a summary of their scores. The distribution of the participants shows that the AKA has achieved some level of acceptance. The high number of officials taking the AKA to date is certainly a positive finding, as is the number of those not currently in a city man- ager position. There are far fewer participants from county government, however.

The context here is that, according to ICMA standards, there are only about 370 coun- ties in the nation with the county manager plan of government (ICMA 2007). This is in comparison to the 3,520 cities and towns with populations larger than 2,500 that use

the city manager plan (ICMA 2008). Regional variations in AKA participation are also visible in Table 1, although they do correspond to the presence (or absence) of council/manager governments in different parts of the country.2

Table 1 also shows that participants received high scores on the integrity items examined in this study. There are seven items, so missing one item yields a score of 85.71 percent. Missing two items produces a score of 71.42 percent. The top row of Table 1 shows that, on average, the participants missed less than one item, producing a mean score of 89.17 percent. The median is derived from ranking the actual scores and identifying the middle score, which is 85.71 percent (the score produced by missing one item). The higher-scoring groups also tend to have lower standard deviations, indicating that scores clustered closer together. This is the case for some regions, especially the West South-Central (Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, and Arkansas) and Mid-Atlantic (New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey) regions, city and county managers, and participants with eighteen or more years of local government experience.

Figure 1 takes a closer look at the relationship between years of experience and scores on the Integrity Practice—in this case the likelihood of receiving a score of 100. As shown, managers with more local government experience get more perfect scores on the integrity items. The figure displays only city manager scores, and there are only twenty-four managers with less than three years of local government experience in the data set. There are 112 participants with three to seven years of experience.

The relationship between local government job experience and the AKA integrity scale is interesting, but there is a range of possible explanations, and these are ex- plored with the available demographic data. The logistic regression model in Table 2 considers years in local government, region, gender, and city population. The findings are statistically significant on a chi-square test of the model coefficients (not shown), which indicates that knowledge about these characteristics helps pre- dict perfect scores. While AKA scores were not associated with gender, there was

Table 1 also shows that AKA participants received high scores on the integrity items examined in this study.

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table 1 Scores on aka ethics items by participant demographics

Classification Partic- ipants Mean Median SD min max

Total 1,948 89.17 85.71 12.87 28.57 100.00 Geographic region

South Atlantic 566 89.00 85.71 13.44 28.57 100.00 Mountain 175 86.94 85.71 13.77 42.86 100.00 East North-Central 355 88.89 85.71 12.51 42.86 100.00 Pacific Coast 222 89.64 92.86 12.76 28.57 100.00 New England 147 90.09 100.00 12.13 42.86 100.00 West South-Central 131 90.19 100.00 11.76 42.86 100.00 East South-Central 53 85.71 85.71 13.44 57.14 100.00 West North-Central 195 90.33 100.00 12.59 42.86 100.00 Middle Atlantic 101 91.37 100.00 11.08 57.14 100.00

Current job title City manager/ administrator

1,193 89.55 100.00 12.93 28.57 100.00

County manager/ administrator

127 90.21 100.00 11.48 57.14 100.00

Assistant city man- ager/administrator

318 89.31 85.71 12.06 57.14 100.00

Assistant county manager/adminis- trator

59 90.31 85.71 10.42 57.14 100.00

Gender of participant Male 1,643 89.34 85.71 12.74 28.57 100.00 Female 305 88.29 85.71 13.54 42.86 100.00

Age of participant 25 and under 6 85.71 85.71 15.65 71.43 100.00 26–35 276 87.27 85.71 13.53 28.57 100.00 36–45 538 88.05 85.71 13.47 28.57 100.00 46–55 848 89.93 100.00 12.50 42.86 100.00 56–65 265 91.11 100.00 11.47 42.86 100.00 66 and above 15 89.52 100.00 14.75 57.14 100.00

Years/local govern- ment

Under 3 years 56 80.87 85.71 13.70 57.14 100.00 3–7 218 85.71 85.71 14.71 28.57 100.00 8–12 310 87.24 85.71 13.87 28.57 100.00 13–17 285 88.97 85.71 11.63 57.14 100.00 18+ 1,052 91.00 100.00 12.08 42.86 100.00

Population Under 25,000 1,109 88.82 85.71 13.29 28.57 100.00 25,000–75,000 490 89.48 85.71 12.58 42.86 100.00 75,000–150,000 173 90.83 100.00 11.52 42.86 100.00 150,000 and above 175 89.22 85.71 12.08 57.14 100.00

Note: Participants without demographic information were deleted, producing minor variations in the number of responses to each demographic variable. Smaller categories of the job title were also removed.

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Figure 1. Scores on the AKA Ethics Items by Local Government Experience (city managers only)

table 2 logistic regression analysis for ethics Scores on iCMa

applied knowledge assessment (city managers only)

Variables in equation

Classification B S.E. Wald df Signifi- cance Exp(B)

Geographic region 14.602 8 0.067 South Atlantic –0.213 0.280 0.580 1 0.446 0.808 Mountain –0.513 0.322 2.544 1 0.111 0.599 East North-Central –0.260 0.282 0.849 1 0.357 0.771 Pacific Coast –0.243 0.306 0.633 1 0.426 0.784 New England –0.152 0.312 0.239 1 0.625 0.859 West South-Central –0.158 0.352 0.202 1 0.653 0.854 East South-Central –1.154 0.470 6.036 1 0.014 0.315 West North-Central 0.212 0.308 0.476 1 0.490 1.236 Mid-Atlantic (Reference)

0.232 0.203 1.316 1 0.251 1.262

Gender of participant 0.232 0.203 1.316 1 0.251 1.262 Years/local government 0.278 0.055 25.599 1 0.000 1.321 Population 0.000 0.000 0.423 1 0.515 1.000 –2 Log likelihood = 1,586.937 Nagelkerke R2 = 0.047 Classified correctly = 58.2

Note: This analysis shows the probability of obtaining a perfect score, which was coded 1. All other scores were coded as 0.

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a negative association with one region and a positive association with years of local government experience.

Region is a categorical variable in this analysis, and the impact of different regions is in comparison to the reference category—the Mid-Atlantic region (left out of the analysis). In comparison to the Mid-Atlantic region, being a participant from the East South-Central region decreases the odds of 100 on the AKA Integrity Scale. Odds ratios, shown in the Exp(B) column, reduce the likelihood of a 100 score when they are less than 1, and increase the chance of 100 when they are greater than 1. Table 1 indicated that respondents from that region have lower average scores. The analysis displayed in Table 2 adds to this finding by eliminating as possible explanations gender, local government experience, and the population of the cities where the respondents work.

Regarding the number of years in government, the odds of receiving 100 on the Integrity Practice items increase for each one-unit increase in the years in lo- cal government variable, across the five categories. (The odds ratio shown in the column is an average for the categories. Not all experience categories may produce the same level of impact.) As with region, the impact of years in local government is independent of the other variables. In the case of years of experience, these findings suggest that the impact of additional experience does not result from variations in the gender of the participants, regional variations, or the population of the jurisdic- tions where the respondents work.

Experience has a positive impact on the AKA integrity scores overall, but it acts primarily on specific individual items. As Figure 2 shows, experience has the most pronounced impact on two of the seven Integrity Practice items. Each bar in Figure 2 displays the percentage of participants from each experience group that got each individual item wrong, and there is a linear pattern in the responses for the job

Figure 2. Errors on Individual AKA Ethics Items by Local Government Experience (city managers only)

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table 3 logistic regression analysis for Selected ethics items on iCMa applied

knowledge assessment (city managers only)

Classification Variables in equation

Job tenure item

B S.E. Wald df Signif- icance Exp(B)

Geographic region 6.878 8 0.550 South Atlantic –0.057 0.346 0.027 1 0.869 0.945 Mountain –0.290 0.385 0.567 1 0.451 0.748 East North-Central –0.032 0.350 0.008 1 0.927 0.968 Pacific Coast 0.252 0.393 0.413 1 0.521 1.287 New England 0.240 0.398 0.364 1 0.546 1.272 West South-Central –0.226 0.426 0.280 1 0.597 0.798 East South-Central –0.573 0.496 1.337 1 0.248 0.564 West North-Central 0.121 0.381 0.100 1 0.752 1.128 Middle Atlantic (Reference) Sex of participant 0.283 0.266 1.132 1 0.287 1.327 Years/local government 0.220 0.062 12.845 1 0.000 1.247 Population 0.000 0.000 0.320 1 0.572 1.000 –2 Log likelihood = 1,168.264

Nagelkerke R2 = 0.028 Classified correctly = 79.6

Purchasing perquisite item

B S.E. Wald df Signif- icance Exp(B)

Geographic region 8.298 8 0.405 South Atlantic 0.414 0.416 0.990 1 0.320 1.512 Mountain 0.478 0.492 0.940 1 0.332 1.612 East North-Central 0.031 0.406 0.006 1 0.940 1.031 Pacific Coast 0.551 0.479 1.321 1 0.250 1.735 New England 0.102 0.452 0.051 1 0.822 1.107 West South-Central 1.254 0.695 3.250 1 0.071 3.503 East South-Central –0.107 0.609 0.031 1 0.861 0.899 West North-Central 0.531 0.467 1.296 1 0.255 1.701 Mid-Atlantic (Reference) Sex of participant –0.060 0.317 0.036 1 0.850 0.942 Years/local government 0.210 0.079 7.144 1 0.008 1.234 Population 0.000 0.000 0.177 1 0.674 1.000 –2 Log likelihood = 784.094

Nagelkerke R2 = 0.028 Classified correctly = 89.3

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tenure item and the purchasing perquisite item. Wrong answers clearly decline as experience increases for these two items.

The AKA items cover a range of common ethical dilemmas, drawn directly from the ICMA code, and response options often force the participants to make tough choices. The job tenure item addresses an important aspect of professional integrity, tenet four in the code. The guideline for tenet four says that two years of service is a minimum commitment for a manager. More experienced officials were more likely either to know about this requirement or to see it as binding. The purchasing perquisite item had similar characteristics, except related to a contractor offer that could be perceived as having personal benefit—and therefore presenting a conflict of interest. Most participants answered both of these items correctly, including those with less experience, but the respondents with more experience tended to get higher scores.

The analyses in Table 3 address whether variations in the scores on the job tenure and purchasing perquisite items resulted from interactions with other demographic variables. In both cases, years of local government experience was the only statisti- cally significant variable.

Conclusion

Creation of the ICMA Applied Knowledge Assessment offers insights into the city management knowledge base, using methods comparable to those used in past research. The item-development process was quite thorough in comparison to other survey studies of public administrators, for example, and the same is true of the response rate. There is certainly no doubt about whether respondents were actually city managers, which is seldom the case with other surveys of local government officials.

This analysis of assessment data shows that managers understand the application of the ICMA code to realistic situations and that there is an association between ethical knowledge and experience working in local government. The benefits of experience could result from variables not included in the analysis, but there are obvious reasons to think that local government experience would provide an ethical education. Such employment is also likely to involve exposure to the training and materials provided by organizations such as ICMA. Finally, this research also sug- gests that there may be regional variations in ethical knowledge, at least as measured by the AKA respondents.

Surveys are a common research method in the study of public administration ethics (Frederickson and Walling 2001), and they could help expand upon issues raised here. City managers probably have a good idea of how they became fully aware of their ethical responsibilities, for example. Both surveys and interviews could play a role in helping to clarify this developmental process. What critical events, experiences, or perspectives made a difference? The knowledge gained from such an effort would help to refine the ethics education provided by public affairs programs. For example, what examples or illustrations could better illuminate the folly of risky behaviors? This research suggests that the uninitiated may not fully realize the uncompromising commitment to integrity that public service requires.

Experimental research may also play a role. The intent of the AKA was to explore whether managers could apply the Code of Ethics to the complex situations that local government officials encounter on a regular basis, but there are limits to what

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can be accomplished with an instrument intended for a large audience. Structured experiments present limitless possibilities for exploring different types of scenarios or specific issues. This type of research may further our understanding of the thought processes of more ethically sophisticated local government managers. Such inquiry may help to enrich the ethical knowledge base.

The regional aspects of local government professionalism are also worthy of further exploration. Even at a superficial level, it is clear that the support structures for professional local government vary across the country. There are regional differ- ences in the available associations for city and county administrators, for example, and excellent public affairs schools focusing specifically on training local govern- ment professionals are not evenly distributed. Thus there are questions about the variation in local government professionalization across the nation that are worthy of additional investigation. This study does not provide any profound evidence that some regions are falling behind, but it does highlight an issue that is not at present receiving enough attention.

Research Implications

The professionalization efforts described in this article mark some interesting de- velopments in the development of public administration. A national effort to assess the knowledge of city managers is something new and creates an opportunity to reflect on the value of this type of endeavor. The basic function of the AKA is to help managers decide what sort of additional training they need, and professional development is an ICMA membership requirement. Thus, a manager who receives a low integrity score can then take remedial action. This helps to enssure continuous improvement in both manager knowledge and the knowledge base itself. While the AKA certainly seems capable of meeting this need in a meaningful way, questions remain about exactly how far the process of professionalization should go.

Further research on ethical knowledge was suggested above, but what other ap- proaches could help to document, clarify, and expand the city manager knowledge base? Is there a role for longer assessments that feed back more detailed information to practitioners or the public? The number of items on the Applied Knowledge As- sessment is small relative to the breadth of city manger responsibilities, and a high score is not a requirement for the ICMA-CM credential. An assessment with hundreds of items and a credential requiring a passing score are certainly conceivable. Would these developments lead to a more desirable future? Are there implications from this effort, such as more widespread use of credentialing and assessment tools, for the broader field of public administration? Admittedly, written questions will never provide a full assessment of city manager ethical knowledge, but such assessments can certainly play a role.

There is a companion to the AKA, the Performance-Based Assessment (PBA). Like the AKA, these items are based on the Practices for Effective Local Gov- ernment Management, but city managers are not the only respondents. The PBA is a 360-degree instrument also completed by a selection of elected officials and employees. ICMA-credentialed city managers are not required to complete the PBA, but they must complete a 360-degree assessment. The addition of a 360-degree as- sessment links the development and mastery of knowledge to behavior.

The study of ethics is, in large part, an effort to locate the center of gravity in one

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or more aspects of the public affairs profession—to develop a more refined sense of purpose and set meaningful goals. Professionalization may contribute to this process in positive ways, and the ICMA efforts have provided us with much to consider. After 125 years, much remains unresolved about the nature of public administration work and the respective responsibilities of education institutions, professional orga- nizations, and working professionals. Reconsidering the role of professionalization might be one way to generate additional progress.

noteS 1. Rohr (1989) did not specifically mention either the ASPA or ICMA code in his

“low road” discussion. His examples describe considerably more mundane efforts. 2. This study uses ICMA regions, providing comparability with data tables in The

Municipal Yearbook. It begins with the “Inside the Yearbook” section that defines the regions. An example of an analysis using the nine regions is Renner (2001).

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appendix a

Sample aka integrity practice items

Note: These are original items created during the AKA development process that were not used on the final instrument.

You are the manager of Sun City, and your spouse owns several lots zoned for com- mercial use in your city. You are informed that the city council will be considering a developer’s request that a planning department ruling be overruled. If the devel- oper’s appeal is successful, the value of these lots might greatly increase. Nobody has asked you about the lots, and you are not involved in your spouse’s business activities. You should:

a. Do nothing, since you do not personally own the lots. b. Order the head of the Planning Department to request a delay in council

Assessing the Ethical Knowledge of City Managers

p u b l i C i n t e G r i t y winter 2009–10 • 23

action and ask your spouse to sell the lots in question before the appeal is heard. c. Ask your spouse to inform the city attorney that you are not involved. d. Inform the council about the lots, publicly disclose your spouse’s investments, and remove yourself from decisions related to the investments.

You are a county manager and the parent of a member of the school band. The band has an opportunity to participate in a highly competitive music festival in another state. The band conductor has notified all parents that $25,000 needs to be raised by students, faculty, and parents to pay for travel expenses. You believe that the band’s participation in the music festival is a benefit to the county, and you are confident that you could get several thousand dollars worth of donations by making some phone calls to local companies with which the county does business. What is the best course of action?

a. Call the companies and ask them to donate to the school band travel fund. b. Ask county board members to call the companies and ask them to donate to the school band travel fund. c. Recommend that the county board provide a grant for the school band travel fund. d. Help the band design a fund-raising strategy that does not require you to ask for donations from local companies.

about the authorS Greg Streib is a professor of public management and policy at Georgia State University. His work has addressed a range of topics in public management and state and local govern- ment policy, including strategic planning, pay-for-performance, health-care cost reduction, performance measurement, and the implementation of e-governance initiatives.

Mark Rivera has conducted public sector program evaluations since 1997 and helped develop the ICMA Applied Knowledge and Performance-Based Assessment while at Georgia State University’s Andrew Young School of Policy Studies. He has conducted research on local government reinvention, public administration research trends, and public health program evaluation.

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