Jencunas: Elorza’s First 100 Days - Potholes and Snow
Wednesday, April 15, 2015
Ever since Franklin Roosevelt, politicians have been judged by their first hundred days in office. The timeframe is largely arbitrary, but the beginning of an administration usually sets the tone for what will follow.
Mayor Jorge Elorza’s first hundred days in office have been characterized by snow, potholes and little else. The big projects he talked about during his campaign have faded into the background, with little or no public progress made towards Elorza’s goals. The day-to-day realities of managing a city have seemingly crowded out the big projects.
Elorza’s lack of action is more striking because of the central role that big, transformative ideas had in his campaign. On education, Elorza promised schools that were also community centers at night and on weekends. The port was going to be transformed into a shipping hub that could compete with Baltimore. Not only did Elorza pledged to hire more police but he would implement new, community-focused policing. To address vacant and abandoned homes, the city would establish a $5 million revolving loan program. Like so much in Providence, these bold ideas were buried by the snow.
That didn’t need to happen. The snow and potholes could have been used as springboards for Elorza’s goals. Specifically, the potholes were a perfect way for the mayor to call for better technology. Rather than just a having photo op with a pothole filling crew, Elorza could have announced that Providence would implement Boston’s technologically forward way of filling potholes.
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In Boston, potholes are reported in real-time rather than after-the-fact by angry motorists. An app called Street Bump uses the sensors in iPhones to detect potholes, and countless drivers have downloaded the app and constantly give data to the city. Boston now fills 92% of potholes within two days, compared to 48% before developing Street Bump.
Providence can copy this, but it’s the kind of change that needs a mayor’s support to overcome the inevitable inertia of a city used to doing things a certain way. This winter would have perfect to marshal support for such an idea. If Elorza had championed a Providence Street Bump, citizens would have credited him as a problem solver and would have been more tolerant about the crater-sized potholes dotting the city. Instead, he filled the potholes (and did so with reasonable speed given the severe winter) but hasn’t shown that he’ll improve the city services.
Big ideas will probably reemerge during the budget debate. Mayor Elorza’s budget will likely have money allocated to the different proposals he made during the campaign. But letting them be forgotten has given the city council more power in the budgeting process. Had Mayor Elorza been focusing on one or two of his ideas – perhaps highlighting community schools by visiting each school, meeting parents and students, and explaining what a community school would do for the neighborhood – he would enter the budget process with public support for his budget.
What happens in public is only a small part of city politics, and there could be plenty of progress being made behind closed doors. But citizens judge a mayor by what they see. So far, Jorge Elorza looks like a mayor who things happen to rather than a mayor who makes things happen.
In contrast, Boston’s Mayor Tom Menino, one of the most successful modern mayors, had two major achievements in his first hundred days. He stopped water rates from rising and put city bond issues out for competitive bidding for the first time in city history. Menino sent a clear message that he was a mayor who would make things happen in his city, and he did so successfully throughout his two decades as mayor.
It’s still very early in Jorge Elorza’s administration and the record isn’t all bad. It’s easy to criticize snow removal, but this winter was a record. The initial response to the blizzard was good, with no interruptions in emergency services and nobody freezing to death in their homes or cars. The cleanup was slow, but Elorza and his appointees are new, so a learning curve was inevitable. Things could have been a lot worse, but unfortunately leaders don’t get credit for preventing a bigger failure.
To use a football metaphor, Elorza’s had a stalled first drive but we’re still in the first quarter. If he has a good budget, or helps attract a major employer to the city, and this will be a forgotten minor stumble. But right now Elorza looks passive. Passive mayors usually don’t get much done, instead ceding power to other interests like the city council and entrenched bureaucracies. That’s hardly what people voted for when they elected a young, energetic candidate who vowed to change Providence.
Brian Jencunas works as a communications and media consultant. He can be reached at [email protected] and always appreciates reader feedback.
Related Slideshow: Reactions to Mayor Elorza’s Inauguration Speech
Providence residents, community leaders, and elected officials turned out in the face of cold temperatures to hear Providence's newest Mayor, Jorge Elorza, give is inauguration speech at Providene City Hall on Monday, January 5.
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