Oakdale Case Study

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The Oakdale Administrator Case focused on two key topics, financial management and decision making. Other lesser topics covered were ethics and political context. The case study represented a normal and often read case of politics. Meaning, Mayor Bean, the incumbent, argued for what he did in office and the things he managed to fix. When Mr. Hoffnagel, the outsider came in, he downplayed the former’s efforts, stating he was going to solve and fix everything the former could not. Such a platform of ‘change’ would work in a small town because change is easier to promote and implement. However, in a large city, this could very well be a lie that could make Hoffnagel, the new Bean. “In April 2003, Ernie Hoffnagel, a former alderman, was elected mayor of Oakdale over the incumbent, Carl Bean. Hoffnagel, a slight man in his late fifties and a car salesman by profession, focused his campaign on revitalizing the city by attracting new businesses and residents” (Cropf, Giancola, & Loutzenhiser, 2016, p. 81).

When the new mayor was hired, he brought in his own team, dismissing the old administration. Although this is not new, presidents when they come into power have the ability to choose a new cabinet, but problems arose for the new mayor when he did this. He made some of his choices based on friendship.

I have known Angela for twenty years and worked with her for five. Much like me, she has made and acknowledged her mistakes. Yet, her actions were not criminal, but they were done out of a desire to make changes and improve lives. My administration will not be about waiting, but about evolving. To that end, I ask you to begin the healing process and overlook her early mistakes made out of an over-eagerness to reform (Cropf, Giancola, & Loutzenhiser, 2016, p.82).

By hiring one of his friends, Angela Donny, he made the mistake of choosing with emotion instead of logic. What does this mean?

Angela Donny had issues prior to being hired. Her past showed she lacked professionalism. She had poor decision-making abilities and she did not provide the level of work ethic needed. This kind of behavior led to negative outcomes for the new mayor and a disappointing start to a new term.

This leads to the four topics and where they are each revealed in the case study.

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To begin, the easiest topic to cover is ethics. The now Mayor Hoffnagel promised change and all these good things that the previous mayor could not. Specifically, the new major promised a change in the housing inspection policy so it can be better able to identify problems via a more rigorous format. He also promised a new modern look for retail centers as well as proper maintenance of them.

He sold everything to the citizens in a way that made it seem like things would be great and there would be great outcomes. This is not an outlier when it comes to political campaigns. People expect some false promises when it comes to politicians. However, because his background in salesmanship allowed him to display more promises than he could keep, the disappointment when things were wrong were greater.

By wanting to “Remodel the City of Oakdale”, he made it seem like he knew what to do perfectly and when perfectly was impossible, that is when things went sour. This was an ethical mistake, promising more than he could deliver (Landerer, 2016). But another ethical mistake that falls within decision-making was hiring a friend like Angela and cleaning house when he became Mayor. By removing people that had experience with the town and the policies in it, it made it more difficult to successfully implement the kind of changes he promised to Oakdale’s citizens.

Going back to Angela. Hiring Angela was emotional, a poor decision, and hurt his reputation. Angela has received a bad public reputation thanks to being investigated by the International City/County Management Association (ICMA). She made bad, unethical decisions herself that led to her being investigated. Although she had a shady past, because Hoffnagel knew her for some two decades, none of that mattered. So, when she became City Manager and began looking for contractors for the building of new buildings and stores, the committee were not happy with her choices. She failed to take their opinion….....

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