Michael Caputo>> What do you "NEED TO KNOW"? You know there's an election coming up for the mayor for the city of Rochester. We'll talk about to the outgoing occupant what the job is really like. Calling it "Mayor 101." Stay tuned for a special "NEED TO KNOW."
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VOICE OVER>> Rochester's news magazine since 1997. This is "NEED TO KNOW."
Michael Caputo>> Thank you for joining us. I'm Michael Caputo.The mayor's job is to be the C.E.O. of the city. Says that he's the enforcer of laws, the preparer of budgets.
That's the academic version of what the job is but what is the job really like? We went to Mayor Bill Johnson, a 12-year veteran at city hall to ask him what the job is all about, and he gave us insight.
We followed Johnson around for a day in May and talked to him for an extended period of time. Johnson, that is going to leave city hall, gave us a tutorial.
And so we'll call this program "mayor 101" and we look at how Johnson balances his job. More specifically we are talking about balancing being community ambassador, with that of being the top administrator.
Bill Johnson (BJ)>> I guess the question is, how do you define the job and what does it mean?
Michael Caputo (MC)>> Johnson start his definition with visibility.
BJ>> Part of what I think you have to do is being accessible to the public. I mean, people elect you and people really want to talk to the mayor.
MC>> The mayor of the city of Rochester, that means an inundation of invitations.
BJ>> I get sometimes 10, 15 invitations a day. And I look at it, and say you have a conflict, and I move things around. I say, you don't know this, it's very, very important. I have my staff come in here and say, stop complaining about how long you work, because you're the guy that extended your work day.You don't have to do this, you don't have to say yes to this. But I want to say yes to this.
Johnson assistant on speaker phone>> Children from (a sister city) want to meet you... shake your hand for five or 10 minutes on Monday or Tuesday.
BJ>> Of next week? Go ahead and set that up.
MC>> This day Johnson began with an event he hates to say no two to, award ceremonies for kids that do the good works.
BJ>> Congratulations to you all, and thank you for making my day a great day.
MC>> From there he goes to the association for the blind and visually impaired for a proclamation reading.
BJ>> Thank you very much, thank you.
BJ in Car>> These events always kind of -- where am I going, Jines?? -- suck that extra time away.
MC>> The morning ends with a lunch on Park Avenue, with Rochester Business Alliance Sandy Parker.
BJ>> Man, how are you doing, Sandy?
Sandy Parker>> Doing good.
BJ>> We actually counted, we tabulated the number of events I attended in my first four years. It was over 4,000, OK? And now when you consider that, 1,000 events per year, you're talking on average three events per day, every day. Every day of the year.
MC>> Some of those events, however, are unplanned.
BJ>> A quick trip to the supermarket, even for a container of milk or a loaf of bread is impossible for me to get out of that store before someone sees me and comes up to me and say, Oh, can I speak to you about something or another?
MC>> And what is left wanting is the paperwork.
BJ>> These folders come every day. And if you really don't take care of it, tomorrow you have another stack equally the size. So you can't fall behind. I can spend three or four hours a night on it. And the advent of the email has actually made my day longer. Because I use that, I use it as an effective communication tool.
MC>> On this particular morning, Johnson hoped that a half-hour window would allow him to wade through the papers and phone messages and emails.
BJ>> Maybe I can get a chance -- I can do about 30 minutes of work.
BJ (later that day)>>Of course I immediately discovered a couple more pressing things. A United Way campaign that's not going as well as we had hoped.
And so I have to figure out how to stoke those fires there. A guy from Australia that we didn't know was here. He wants a meeting and no one has seen him. We're trying to figure out - what is he doing here? What does he need? And then I looked and my 30 minutes were gone. So those files they'll be sitting there until tonight.
MC>> So how much control does the mayor have?
BJ>> I would say that somebody will watch this exchange and say, does this man know about delegating? Let someone else do it.
BJ>> You cannot delegate information --- you're totally out of the loop. If you encourage people to contact you, they got a complaint, you can't say I'll let one of my subordinates handle it, because then you'll never know. Most of it is already delegated.
MC>> It all gets back to Mayor Johnson's view of the job.
BJ>> Bob Meyer who worked for Mayor Ryan, he once told me, he says, you know, we made one mistake here. He says, we have the same number of people that work in this office than when mayor Ryan worked here and we have four times the correspondence, because how different it's run.
MC>> So the first lesson for voters, how much do you value a mayor as community ambassador as opposed to a mayor as administrator?
BJ>> When you hit my age and you got a busy spouse and your kids are going, and you have young kids, you need to strike that balance, and sometimes it's very, very difficult to do.
Michael Caputo (MC) n City Council Chambers>> We're in the chambers of City Hall where a lot of the legislative work gets done and we'll continue this conversation on the balancing act of what the mayor does with Mayor Richard Bucci. He came into office in 1994.The same year as Mayor Johnson did. And he's leaving as Mayor Johnson is, at the end of the year. He's also the president of the New York State Conference of Mayors. Thank you very much for being with us.
Richard Bucci (RB)>> You're welcome.
MC>> I know that you're going to tell me that the mayor has to be both an administrator and he's got to be the community ambassador, so to speak. But there has to be a priority set. What is the top priority for you as mayor? What comes first?
RB>> You hit the nail on the head. It is difficult and it's a balancing act. But at the end of -- end of the day, what happens in your corporation, because sometimes people forget you're running a multi-million dollar corporation and the decisions made in your office, at your desk, have ramifications for the immediate and the far-reaching future.
Fiscal issue, economic development issue, public safety issues, so in the end you have to make sure that those issues, those facts and figures are dealt with.
MC>> So when the files are getting this high, when do you decide, OK, no more going out in the community. No more public functions and no more giving away proclamations. How do you do that?
RB>> It's tough. And the key is that obviously you have to do a political triage and look at each group that is requesting you, what do they represent? How big of a constituency? What are the implications? Can I skip this one this year and look at them next year? I looked at a number of officials that worked that way.
So we can't go to everything every year, but maybe we try to alternate certain groups from year to year to make sure you cover as many bases as possible.
MC>> Talk about delegating. Delegating also sounds touchy. If you're not doing the work and giving it to somebody else, I'm sure you can ruffle feathers by not having your hands on it. But if you do everything you're swamped. How did you learn how to delegate? Was it a big learning curve?
RB>> It kind of was. The key is that you obviously want to have people that you can trust, and people that are competent and qualified for the jobs.
So when you have that level of security, knowing you have good people with the expertise necessary to do the job, you feel very comfortable leaving their departments, their respective departments and the day-to-day operations to those individuals. Obviously you want to have a degree of oversight and review key issues, key facts that go on in each department. The day-to-day operations, if you're doing it right, you can stand back and let this go like a fine-tuned machine.
MC>> I have a few seconds left in the segment. Talk to the voters for a second, and tell them how they can judge somebody, a candidate, at their skills of managing and balancing? Can they?
RB>> Well, I think that is a unique skill and based on what that individual has done previously might give them an idea. Each individual comes from an different area of work.
And in some of their jobs they may have had an opportunity to demonstrate those skills and so that is a good barometer. And so some haven't had the opportunity, and so it's a blank slate. How individuals interact on the campaign trail, how -- a campaign is a tenacious, tedious, complex operation for the next several months. How do they balance their job and their campaigning gives you an idea how they'll be able to juggle a number of issues as mayor.
Michael Caputo (MC)>> We now move to another aspect of the job. Scrutiny. Public opinion. And how does that factor into what a mayor does from day to day?
Bill Johnson (BJ)>> I thought to myself when I first came here that... the mayor had unlimited power. I now know that is not true. There's lots of controls on the mayor, the city council is one. The fact that we have to -- we're not so much on the state, the state government is another.You know... and public opinion is, you know, is a third thing.
MC>> Democracy is a participatory sport and for those that run a city like Rochester that means scrutiny and leading that examination is the press.
BJ>> I get up every morning and I read the editorial page, and I get the letters, and get it out of my system. While I'm at home, I get angry at home. And then put on my clothes and go to work and say, I will not let this happen, I'll not let this define my day. The news media is out there and they won't go away. You can't intimidate them and you can't brow beat them. And in order -- and if you try this stuff, you're almost sure that you'll have a Rocky relationship with the press. And that you just can't win. Actually you have to strike a right balance.
MC>> On the day we followed Johnson, the story was the fast ferry. More specifically a story about how some of the principles of the former ferry operators still owned a large portion of the port of Rochester facility. Johnson said the story came months after a court ruling that made this so.
BJ>> My issue with the story and nobody in the media wants to relate to is, I deeply resent the implication that this was somehow a secretive deal.
MC>> Johnson explained his side by phone to the Democrat and Chronicle editorial board.
BJ>> It's a bad story. And it's stirred up tremendous outrage, I think it's misplaced.
MC>> Later the subject came up after a public event.
TV NEWS REPORTER>> Would you have done it differently now?
BJ TO REPORTER>> If I had known I would spend all of this time on it, yes. But there was no need to do it different at the time. Remember it was an empty building.
BJ IN CAR>> My view is that you talk to the media and that you can say, oh, they might be on to something. And you can show them they're not. And that the time is well spent. The basic, who, what, when, where, why, and says, Oh, what is he hiding? I say to these guys that want to be mayor, you might look good now, but hey, they'll be on the other side of this camera at some point and it's not a good feeling when they get there.
MC>> Scrutiny also comes directly from the public. Johnson often finds himself explaining policy, like why there aren't more police being hired.
BJ>> I tried to explain it. I have been to so many community meetings, particularly in the earlier days, where people say, and they say, let me explain to you why that's not a practical solution.
MC>> He's explained why schools haven't been reformed or even why an idea as seemingly benign as curfews for children isn't that easy.
BJ>> I like the idea of a curfew, OK? But the curfew has to be enforced. That means you have to have a police officer out on the street and they see a kid on the street, and they stop, and they pick him up. And what will they do with him? They take him home. If there was anyone at home that cared they wouldn't be on the street in the first place.
MC>> Or explaining items like street repair.
BJ>> I am talking about basic stuff, like oh, my streets are bumpy, there's no curbs, we want new playground equipment. And you say oh, I'm sorry, that's on the capital improvement schedule 20 years from now. Why can't you do it now? We need it now? After a while people get tired of hearing you what they consider excuses.
MC>> Seen the right way, however, scrutiny can help a mayor that is open and persistent. Johnson says a willingness to communicate helps him to have plans for a supermarket for an area of the city.
BJ>> I knew what they wanted and they thought I didn't know what they wanted and they thought is trying to take advantage of them, and we ended up with the best deal.
The point is that you keep searching for the right way to make it happen.
Michael Caputo (MC) in City Council Chambers>> Joining us now to talk more on the art of compromise and dealing with scrutiny is Jim Bowers and he's a professor from St. John Fisher College. He's edited a book called Governing Middle Sized Cities. And recently he's been on the Rochester City School Board. Thanks for being with us.
MC>>Compromise is the name of the game when you're the mayor. Compromise, I don't think, however, has anything to do with running for mayor. You have got to be bold, you got to make statements. How do you reconcile that as a candidate for the job and then going into a job where compromise has to be done?
Jim Bowers (JB)>> In some ways you actually can't. Somehow it's reconciling the unreconcileable. And so any candidate needs to be careful how they phrase their promises now. Having worn both hats, frankly, I made no promises when I ran for the school board. I stated what my values were and what my interests were.
MC>> But the public loves that, right?
JB>> The public needs the bold leadership, but the trick to it once you're elected, something that you see members of Congress do regularly, that's a term called "home style" and the question is, how do you as a mayor or any elected official, explain your official actions when you're out with your constituency? So if you had to compromise on a promise, how do you explain it? How do you justify the compromises? How candid are you in what you tell the public? And a lot of times that is sufficient. Now you still can't be in the position of saying one thing and doing the opposite. But even in those cases you raise taxes when you said you wouldn't. And you explain it. And can you justify it? And how do you allow your constituency than to vent, you might say.
MC>> Let's talk about scrutiny for a minute. We know the first line of that defense, or that attack, I suppose, is from the media. How important is it really for a candidate or for somebody who is mayor to deal with the press? How important should it be to the voters how they deal with the media?
JB>> Well, the media is, basically, the link between most elected officials and their constituents. You know, you can reach more people on television show than you can at a public appearance. Not minimizing those, because the personal contact matters. So the media is going to be the medium for your message, and it has the ability on its own to spin the -- that message.
MC>> Talk to the voters for a second. Should they look at how this person on the campaign trail deals with the press? Should that factor in how they look at this candidate and the fitness for the job, in that it that it might be an indicator of how they deal with people in general.
JB>> When you talk about dealing with the press, you're not really dealing with WXXI or Gannett, you're dealing with the reporter. And so in effect that can be a telling trait as to how a candidate for office actually interacts and relates with other individuals. Do they appear candid? Forthright? Do they appear to be sincere? Those are values we ought to have in our elected officials and the way in which you convey those is through the media, but it's also conveyed in the relationships that you have with those reporters.
Michael Caputo (MC)>> Thanks so much. And finally we'll look at how a mayor makes choices, and in this instance we'll look at one of the last key choices that mayor Johnson has, hiring an administrator.
Bill Johnson (BJ)>> OK. Let me call the chief of police. Tell him I'm on the way.
MC>> Decisions, decisions, how does a mayor make them? Perhaps none of those decisions carries more weight than that of key appointments.
BJ WALKING INTO PUBLIC SAFETY BUILDING>> All right. All right, thank you. How you doing? Good, how are you?
BJ INTERVIEW>>The mayor has probably less than 50 people to direct.The other factor - we have over 4,000 that we need to set up, and we have 3,000 full-time and another 2,000 part-time employees, and all of those are hired by the department head.
BJ walking into Public Safety Bldg.>> All right. Ready? About a minute.
MC>> On the day we followed Johnson we watched what could be his last major appointment. Cedric Alexander takes the oath of office as police chief.
BJ INTERVIEW>> I took this decision personally. I decided I was not going to expand it beyond the two deputy chiefs.
MC>> Johnson said that choice was one he kept in house between Alexander and Tim Hickey.
BJ>> Not a single person on my staff knew who I was going to appoint. Which is different than other situations. I consulted with all of them. But I thought it was important to keep this to myself.
BJ AT PUBLIC SAFETY BUILDING>>We'll do the oath, and we'll hear from chief Alexander and then we'll all depart.
MC>> So what has been Johnson's basis for making appointments for the last 12 plus years?
BJ>> You start out with the premise that there are loyal supporters that you want around you, not so much as a reward, but because you really want people that you have confidence in.
MC>> But Johnson realized during the first years as mayor that you have to carry some appointees over from prior administrations.
BJ>> There are people who already are in the system. Whose contributions, you want to keep them, they have not only institutional memory, but they understand how the system works and they can work to making your job a lot easier. And then the question is how you sift through those two groups of people.
MC>> So why are these appointments so vital?
BJ>> I can't be everywhere. Citizens have to understand that this is their government, and so if I said Ed Doherty to a meeting -- we have to share the values.
It's not going to be any different than a Bill Johnson.You'll not hear a different story from me and a different story from Ed Doherty.
MC>> Knowing your limitation that you can't be everywhere made Johnson choose people that would reflect his values and vision.
BILL JOHNSON AT PUBLIC SAFETY BUILDING>> Raise your right hand and repeat after me.
I --
CEDRIC ALEXANDER>> I, Cedric Alexander.
BJ>> Do solemnly swear --
Cedric Alexander>> Do Solemnly swear.
BJ>> That I will support the constitution of the United States.
MC>> So what made Johnson decide on Alexander as position of chief?
BJ>> Cedric Alexander, serves as a role model, not that Tim Hickey couldn't, but when this guy walks on the street, he went out and he got fitted for his uniform and walks out in his uniform and he goes out there on the street, he's going to walk down Jefferson avenue, you know, and he's already been dealing with a lot of these guys. And now rather than being a psychologist, he's a police officer.
MC>> Alexander's appointment is only nine months. But on the whole Johnson believes that his legacy through his staff appointments will not fade away.
BJ>> People tell me all the time, Oh, mayor, it's going to be different when you're gone. No, it shouldn't be any different because that's the value they want to embed in this organization. That the people in this office say, not just the way that bill Johnson did it, but really this is the way we do things around here. You know?
Michael Caputo (MC)>> And we'll continue this conversation. We have once again with us Mayor Bucci and Mr. Bowers.One of the most underplayed criteria for a candidate for mayor is how they assess the people they hire. Would you agree with that?
Richard Bucci (RB)>> Absolutely. And that is probably the one issue that is going to make or break you as an administrator and even your future career.
MC>> It could be make or break?
RB>> Absolutely.The people you surround yourself with are going to shape your administration. And, you know, these are individuals that in many cases have to deal with a crisis unexpectedly and you need a people that have a wealth of expertise, talent, and understanding of their respective fields. And, you know, in many cases, you know, in different communities, individuals sometimes are put in positions based on who they know or what they did for a particular campaign, not how can they do the job, and can they do it effectively.
MC>> But it's not bad to have someone that you trust, because that's the flip side, you know, of who you know. It's someone that you trust.
To have someone that you trust in key positions in your administration, right?
Jim Bowers (JB)>> Those are people that you make your assistants. In other words, you don't promise -- you don't make somebody the deputy mayor because they contributed to your campaign or because they were a key supporter. Because he's right, you can be -- your administration will within reason be a success or failure, depending upon who you put in there. If your deputy mayor does not know how to do the day-to-day operations, and if he's doesn't have a development background, etc., these people will be the ones that do define ultimately your success or failure. A mayor needs to practice what we call strategic competence. A mayor cannot know everything and be able to do everything. And the public has to be out a lot.
MC>> When is the time right to just put down the hammer, and get on the pulpit, this is the right way to do it, I'm not compromising here, and I'll speak to the voters directly on it. Have you had that experience?
RB>> A couple of times. And I think that the key is, obviously, those are -- those are significant battles sometimes and you want to pick and choose your fights because sometimes, even when you go that way, it doesn't guarantee you'll win. So you want to take that into consideration. And I put a lot of my political capital on the table right now, and for an issue that sounds great, but in the end I'm not going to win the day. Or, you know, it's -- for the major issue of -- if the mayor feels it's a defining issue of what you're about, and what your mission is, than, yes, but you know, I would do that rarely. Because a lot of times the residue from those fights stays for a while.
And it sometimes sours the environment.
JB>> You don't do those things off often unless you know you're going to win.
MC>>Is that true?
RB>> Sure. Because you -- it becomes part of your overall -- the key is being effective on the job is where people believe that you're able to influence decisions that people listen to you, and you're an opinion leader, an opinion maker, and every time you take a fight on that you lose, you diminish your stature.
MC>> Everyone says that image isn't important, but you're a leader and it's important to have a image of leadership, isn't it?
JB>> As long as it's an honest persona, it's important. The image does matter. You know, it matters in many careers, it matters how you come across as a reporter.
And how I come across in my classroom. Because the image defines in part how people react to you and what they expect from you and that gets back to your first question, if you draw the line in the sand, it's also a question of how you draw the line in the sand. If it's a core value, you don't compromise on it. You accept a loss rather than compromise on the value. And that's another way of protecting that image.
RB>> Absolutely. People, again, look to you for your personal integrity and so if they know that this is something that maybe you campaigned on, and it was a cornerstone of why you ran for office, they're going to understand why you're willing to go to the mat to defend it. But every battle scars you though, and that's why you don't want to look like a crusader where you're constantly in battle because each one kind of scars you. And that has an impact on how people start to perceive you.
Michael Caputo>> That concludes our broadcast of "Mayor 101." We want your comments. You can email us at NEEDTOKNOW@WXXI.ORG or call our response line anytime, the number is 585-258-0250. With this upcoming campaign that is rough and tumble, we hope that you remember the necessities of the job when you go in the voting booth. Thanks for joining us.
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