By Megan Sheekey - SEP. 07, 2017
QUESTION: How does Mesa Mayor John Giles stack up after two years in office?
City governments constantly struggle to address complex challenges with limited budgets — and as cities grow, mayors are feeling increasing pressure to find new ways to meet public needs. Many are finding answers in public-private collaboration.
These partnerships can help cities increase funding, rethink the delivery of services, enhance public amenities, and pilot new programs. While every city has different needs and resources, there are some key steps every mayor can take to effectively cultivate private support and deliver results.
1. Ensure Capacity
But as Patti Harris, CEO of Bloomberg Philanthropies and former First Deputy Mayor of New York City, told the 40 international mayors in this summer’s inaugural Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative: “Every mayor needs a team or a person whose job it is to foster partnerships with businesses and other organizations.”
Having dedicated staff oversee public-private collaboration helps to ensure compliance with rules, alignment with city priorities, and effective coordination of partners and projects. That’s why more cities are making the investment. Some — including Denver, New York, and Boston –even created an Office of Strategic Partnerships to work with different sectors and identify opportunities for collaboration.
2. Define Opportunities
Mayors should be clear about their goals:
What problem do they hope to address and how can partners outside government play a role?
Chattanooga, Tennessee is providing a blueprint for how to answer these questions. . .
3. Engage Partners
City officials should not look to the private sector as underwriters to fill budget gaps, but as allies in building strong communities. When private partners have a voice, they’re more likely to want to collaborate, and those collaborations will have a greater impact.
For instance, in Providence, RI, Mayor Jorge Elorza’s team is working closely with the Providence Foundation, where over 70 business owners channel philanthropic investments, and is regularly convening the leaders of local colleges and medical centers. The goal is for the city and private sector to share resources, discuss urban challenges, and create collaborative projects together. . .
4. Establish Structure
The size and bureaucratic complexity of government can discourage potential partners, who may worry that good intentions won’t translate to good results. More and more cities recognize the importance of having an independent organization that can channel private support for public programs — and ensure accountability.
The City of Athens, Greece is one such city. . .
5. Communicate
As author and former speechwriter James Humes once said, “The art of communication is the language of leadership.”
Directing strategic partnerships is still relatively new for many City Halls, so one of the biggest challenges is simply a lack of public understanding of these efforts.
Mayors must take a leading role in communicating their intentions to constituents — and to their private partners.
A lack of communication can create a cloud of skepticism and mistrust over even the most well intentioned initiatives.
Residents, community leaders, and other stakeholders need to understand
- how collaborative projects can benefit their lives
- the role of partners
- how outcomes will be measured.
Accordingly, these stakeholders can become either advocates or opponents for these initiatives.
Getting stakeholders to understand how public-private collaboration works and what the intrinsic value is for their city can take some time. But the return on investment can be high, with transformative results.
________________________________________________________________________
Megan Sheekey works with mayors and city leaders around the world to help foster and structure strategic public-private collaboration supporting civic priorities. She advises Bloomberg Associates clients as well as Bloomberg Philanthropies grantees on ways to coordinate and leverage resources, program sustainability, and the design and creation of vehicles that organize and strengthen investments. Previously, she served as President of the Mayor’s Fund to Advance New York City under Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg
