A new statewide coalition of public servants has launched to enhance local government collaboration with the goal to ensure that officials in one community know how to implement good ideas that work elsewhere.
The Florida Local Government Coalition (FLGC) was formed leveraging the power of more than 175,000 local government workers via their respective associations, and through this cooperative will also work to raise awareness of the good works done by city and county public servants within their communities.
These efforts are starting from a fairly strong place: people in general trust local governments to deal with issues far more than they do other levels of government. More than triple as many people trust local government to do what is right compared to the federal government; and about double as many compared to state government.
Yet that said, few people fully understand the extent to which they depend on local government. This was the topic of a recent blog post highlighting that even those who run for municipal offices have pretty low records of voting in previous local elections themselves.
Further, local government associations operate largely independent of one another — at least when it comes to interdepartmental coordination. For example, while police chiefs have a statewide organization, they do not deal much with the comparable association of city clerks.
With Florida’s 28 leading local government associations joining together in the FLGC, lines of communication will be opened and capabilities expanded to enhance the quality of life for citizens.
“Some of the most creative minds in government work at the local level. A good idea developed by a code enforcement officer in South Florida may also work in a redevelopment office in the Panhandle, and this coalition will help share these good ideas,” said Springfield Police Chief Philip Thorne, president of the Florida Police Chiefs Association. “Together, our associations can more powerfully advocate for a better Florida while educating our friends and neighbors on how they can be a part of it.”
