It would be an understatement to say that I am proud of my children.  I have written about them many times in this column, and I have even occasionally included pictures without their consent.  My sons and daughter are, of course, no longer children, but adults with families and careers of their own.  I received a call from my youngest son earlier this week letting me know that he experienced something as an assistant city administrator that has never happened to me during my somewhat longer career.  It seems that a disgruntled resident of Adair Village put a dead skunk on the steps of City Hall as a way of punishing the City for sins real or imagined.

My son was incensed but also smart enough to realize that whoever put the skunk on the steps had to do more disagreeable work to get it there than the unfortunate Public Works employees who had to remove it.  I acknowledged that while I have been involved with the removal of dead rats and have heard more than my share of dead animal complaints, I have never had to deal with a dead skunk.  I also pointed out that the advantage of being in a small organization is that it is more difficult for employees to claim that the really nasty jobs are the responsibility of another department.  The disadvantage is that you often end up having to handle them yourself.

Unhappy people are a part of nearly every job, and I learned long ago that the best first response to complaints is to listen to them with respect.  I have seen very angry people change quickly once they learned that their concerns were important to me and that I was sincerely interested in helping them.  I think my son has also learned that lesson, and I believe it is one of the many reasons he will be a successful city administrator.  I’m sure we could both do without dead skunks or other disgusting ways that people sometimes express their opinions, but the rewards of this work generally outweigh the occasional disagreeable task.  I should add that my son would ordinarily have buried the skunk himself, but he was the only one in the office that day and was concerned that visitors might take offense if the only person who could help them smelled like a dead skunk.

It is gratifying to see your children grow up to be caring and responsible people.  It almost makes me forget that I was ready to banish a couple of them to a penal colony somewhere when they were teenagers.  We celebrated my mother and father-in-laws’ 60^th wedding anniversary last weekend, and I know their greatest joy in that occasion was being surrounded by four generations of their family.

I wrote about the beauty of Afghanistan in one of my recent columns, and it truly is a place of spectacular vistas.  There is, however, nothing like a trip to Afghanistan to make a person appreciate the beauty of Albany.

My wife and I drove back into town from the Portland airport on a sunny spring afternoon that featured countless flowering trees, well-tended property, some attractive new buildings, and Waverly Lake at our east entrance.  The contrast between the blast walls, unpaved streets, razor wire, dust, and armed soldiers at most major intersections that you see in Kabul and all that we enjoy here at home is remarkable.  In the days since my return, I’ve taken the time to walk, run, and drive around town just to enjoy the scenery.  I visited some new neighborhoods in North Albany where attractive and affordable homes have been constructed in recent years and passed through older neighborhoods where mature landscaping and nicely maintained homes create a welcoming environment.

Shortly after my return, I met our visiting fellows from New Zealand, and I’ve taken some pride in being able to show them a community where people care about the place they call home.  It looks like permits for more than 100 new homes will be issued in 2012-13, and I find it encouraging that many new families are choosing to invest here.  Our new residents probably see many of the same things I regard as important to making a city a nice place to live.

I visited four restaurants in Afghanistan and had to go through a succession of blast barriers and metal detectors as well as a quick frisk before I could be seated.  With one notable exception, the food wasn’t very good and the service was not up to our standards.  Kabul is a difficult place to do business, so I understand why things may not measure up.  Nonetheless, it has been a treat to visit stores and restaurants in Albany that offer a wide selection, are generally clean, and food that is appealing to almost any taste.

Albany is far from perfect, but I am really glad to call it home.  I am equally glad that my grandchildren are being raised nearby in places like Albany that are safe and attractive.  I have learned that any place can be a good place to visit or live if you are surrounded by people of goodwill who care about their communities.  I believe Albany is such a place, and I consider it a privilege to live here.

We have some new accents at City Hall that do not involve interior decoration.  Stephanie Rose and Jennie McFarlane, local government officials from New Zealand, arrived in Albany last Friday to begin a two-week assignment as “International Fellows.”  Their work will focus on civic engagement with an emphasis on helping us do a better job of connecting with our citizens on the subject of urban renewal.

The International Fellows program is sponsored by the U.S. State Department and administered through the International City-County Management Association (ICMA) as a means of sharing knowledge and building relationships across continents.  Jennie and Stephanie are members of a group of eight fellows from China, Thailand, and New Zealand.  We are privileged to have two thoughtful, experienced public employees consulting with us on problems that are common to governments around the world.

Jennie is an attorney by training, but she handles a more diverse portfolio for New Zealand’s Waipa District Council.  During a presentation to the directors at our most recent staff meeting, we saw pictures of attractive Waipa District communities that share many similarities with Albany.  Economic development, tourism, and infrastructure are some of the issues in Waipa that sound equally familiar here.  Talking Water Gardens is of particular interest to Jennie because her District is in the process of collaborating with a government agency on a similar project.

Stephanie is a strategic planner, and her community in Wanganui is struggling with a wastewater treatment plant that isn’t working.  Some of the problems with their plant are similar to what we have experienced in recent years, although our plant seems to be doing better than Wanganui’s.  Jennie’s hometown is emphasizing its connection to the Wanganui River, a beautiful waterway that offers world-class recreational opportunities.  Just as we are trying to redevelop our waterfront as a commercial and residential center, Wanganui is counting on its river to stimulate community vitality.

I have already gleaned some valuable insights from Stephanie and Jennie; but, more importantly, I have enjoyed our brief friendship.  It’s reassuring to know that across the Pacific Ocean there are people of goodwill taking on challenges, solving problems, and working hard to make their communities better places to live.  Our “Fellows” will be with us for another week, and I hope city employees will take the time to meet them and perhaps share some thoughts.  They are working in the Mayor’s cubicle near my office and will here through next Friday.  I look forward to seeing their final report, although I regret it will signal the end of their stay in Albany. 

Distance is not the barrier it once was to friendship.  I was able to get together with a friend of mine who I met in Beirut in 2008 during my recent trip to Afghanistan.  Thanks to Facebook, I found out that Ayman was working in Dubai at the same time I was passing through on my way to Kabul.  We met for dinner and had a great reunion. 

I am very glad to be home with my family and back to work with my friends at the City.  I am also grateful for the opportunities I’ve had to meet and work with people around the world, like Jennie and Stephanie, who consistently replenish my optimism and faith in a better future.

I don’t recall the last time I saw a positive article or news report about Afghanistan.  The country has taken a beating over the years from the many conflicts involving Afghans, the Taliban, the former Soviet Union, and the U.S., to name a few.  Signs of war persist in Kabul, where public buildings are heavily fortified and guards armed with automatic weapons seem to be everywhere.

Despite the obvious problems, new construction is taking place throughout Kabul just as spring is renewing the landscape.  I had the chance to visit public gardens last Friday, and it was encouraging to see families enjoying picnics, young people walking together through the park, and all the colors of flowering trees and shrubs.  The backdrop for Kabul is snowcapped mountains that surround the town and are usually clearly visible.

Traveling to Jalalabad a couple of weeks ago required driving through an incredibly scenic river gorge before arriving at the beautiful Nangarhar Valley.  You sometimes have to look past sandbagged military outposts to notice waterfalls, beautiful rock formations, and lush river bottomland.  Spring wildflowers were also blooming, turning hillsides red, yellow, and purple.  Some of the countryside reminded me of Eastern Oregon, and the Mahipar Gorge looked something like Hells Canyon in places.

The scenic beauty of this country, although often spectacular, is less important to me than the hospitality and courtesy I’ve been shown by the many Afghan people I’ve met.  Reading U.S. news reports, it would be easy to believe that everyone here wants to kill Americans or at least each other.  I believe most Afghans want to live in peace and look forward to a day when the razor wire and blast walls will disappear.  I drive by Kabul University nearly every day on my way to our office at the Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock; and it’s good to see students on their way to classes that may help open the way to a better future.

I do not want to give the impression that everything is beautiful and fine in Afghanistan.  I’ve noticed that some people who read my columns latch on to an observation or a phrase out of context in an attempt to promote their own point of view.  Afghanistan has overwhelming challenges; however, it also has great human and natural resources that are already serving as the foundation of a recovery.  I am grateful for the chance to play a small role in that process and look forward to the day when most of the articles about this country will be positive.

I have spent the last two weeks working for the International City-County Management Association (ICMA) in Kabul, Afghanistan, on the Capacity Building and Change Management Program (CBCMP) in the Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock (MAIL).  As with any national program, part of the challenge is mastering a blizzard of acronyms.

Many of the problems MAIL is wrestling with are common to most organizations, including some that are similar to what we face at the City of Albany.  The primary difference is that MAIL employs nearly 10,000 people spread across the country while we have fewer than 400 located mostly within the city limits.  The capacity building program I’m involved with is providing training on planning, performance measurement, process improvement, and organizational structure, as well as coaching and mentoring of civil service employees.  More than 200 skilled Afghan professionals have been hired to be Change Management Specialists (CMS) by the project to work directly with MAIL civil service employees.

During my first week, I spent time developing some simple handouts to be used in training sessions on performance measurement.  Some of the training material I’ve seen here seems too complex, even for organizations like the City that have invested many years in developing performance measures.  I have also participated in several training sessions where my CBCMP colleagues and I have talked about strategic planning and performance measurement scorecards.  Most of this training has been directed toward the project’s Change Management Specialists, who are then responsible for sharing and helping to implement changes within their departments. 

I was able to visit Jalalabad during my second week and met with our CMSs as well as the director of the provincial Directorate of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock (DAIL).  Our employees included a CMS with a master’s degree from Purdue University and several well-educated, articulate young professionals.  Not surprisingly, the DAIL director was very complimentary of the CMSs assigned to his directorate.  The evidence of their impact was visible during a tour of a demonstration project where the DAIL is showing local farmers the best practices for raising a variety of crops that included tomatoes, cabbage, strawberries, and flowers.

I’ve had discussions with a number of Afghan employees who feel that most of the world has a wrong impression of their country.  They rightly point out that most people go about their business normally and that episodes of violence are no more frequent here than in many other parts of the world.  I sat next to a young man from Detroit, Michigan, on my flight into Kabul; and he said he felt more secure in Afghanistan than he did at home.  I can’t say that because Albany seems like a very safe place to me and I don’t recall routinely seeing people with automatic weapons scattered throughout the city.  There are real dangers here, but there is also a growing prosperity and a sense of change for the better.

Tomorrow I will be helping with an orientation for new employees, something I do in Albany but will be missing this month.  I’m enjoying the experience here, and I’m learning lessons that I think I can apply at home.  I hope my contributions to the project justify the expense of sending me here and will play a small role in helping to build administrative capacity.

Frustration with government is a common feeling around the world, particularly over the past few years as unemployment remains high and economic crises seem to be in the headlines every week.  Government is an easy target because it has no particular face, and there will always be people who will gain by weakening it.

I left the private sector nearly more than 25 years ago to start a career in local government.  I believed then and I believe now that working for government is an honorable and important vocation, not superior to the work I did in private industry, but equally worthy in terms of its value to the community.

I fear that that too many people have allowed their frustration with government in general to rob them of their ability to take an objective view of the facts.  The United States, the state of Oregon, and the City of Albany remain among the strongest, most prosperous, and desirable places in the world to live.  We are living in the least violent period and in one of the least violent places in the recorded history of humanity.  During my career, I have never seen an example of corruption among the many essentially unpaid elected officials I’ve known.  Our form of government makes bribery or misappropriation of funds very difficult, and there is a high degree of certainty that violators will be caught.  Our City annually receives awards for the quality of our financial reporting and transparency.  Every official act of our City Council can be viewed in every household with a computer connected to the Internet or a cable television subscription.  Even when technology fails, citizens have the option of attending council meetings in a comfortable and accessible city hall.

Criticism of government at any level is necessary and appropriate, but weakening government based on incorrect information and assumptions carries a price.  Albany is paying that price today as our local government officials attempt to fulfill the will of voters who recently passed a badly crafted and poorly informed debt limitation.  The only likely correction to the new addition to the City’s Charter will be to ask the voters to consider a new measure that addresses the concerns that caused the first one to pass while fixing its mistakes that will unnecessarily cost taxpayers money.

Requiring voters to approve new debt is not a threatening or novel idea.  Albany voters in the past approved general obligation bonds to fund a variety of projects, most recently fixing city streets.  Requiring voter approval of any obligation that someone might consider to be debt is a costly and bad idea.  Anyone interested in understanding why should look at the information presented by Albany’s bond counsel to the City Council last Wednesday.

I’m currently working in a place where I can’t leave the place I’m staying without an armed escort.  I ride to work in an armored vehicle and, as I write this column, my body armor and helmet are placed next to the door to my room.  I am grateful my home and family are in Albany or places like it, and I understand that nothing we have in our country or our community is guaranteed.  The things that matter most require effort, sacrifice, and a commitment to learning the facts before taking actions that weaken the institutions that have helped us achieve what we have.

Scott Keeney will be leaving the City of Albany Library next month after more than 30 years of service to this community and its children.  I am probably not the most appropriate person to write this tribute because I don’t work at the Library and I’ve only known Scott for the last seven-plus years.  I know others will honor him in different ways, but I wanted to express my personal thanks for an extraordinary career.

I know next to nothing about Scott’s personal life, and most of what I know about his work is through secondhand information.  I have, however, seen Scott work with children on a number of occasions, and it’s easy to see the joy he takes in his profession.  Some people may think working in a library is a stress-free job that requires no hard work or particular skill.  I know better.  Making reading and learning fun for children is demanding work that requires an investment of self most of us are incapable of achieving.  Patience, intelligence, judgment, experience, and, perhaps most importantly, emotional maturity are all requisite skills for someone to succeed as Scott has during his career at the library.  The way to judge that success is not by the number of days Scott clocked in on time or the hours he spent in the building.  Scott’s legacy, and I suspect the largest source of his compensation, is the generations of children who will carry fond memories of him and a piece of his dedication to literacy throughout their lives.

I will be gone when the Library hosts its recognition of Scott’s service, and I’m sure many people will have much to say about his impact on Albany’s children over the years.  Most of those people have worked at the Library and have benefited from Scott’s example as I have.  I would simply add my thanks to the chorus along with my best wishes for a retirement as meaningful and fulfilling as Scott’s career at the Library has been.

Shortly after I returned from Morocco in February, I received a request from the International City-County Management Association (ICMA) to work on a 30-day assignment in Afghanistan.  I enjoy doing international development work, and ICMA has given me many opportunities over the past decade.  I asked the City Council if I could use vacation time to accept the assignment, and they unanimously approved the request.

I will be leaving next week and plan to return April 19.  I will be working with an Afghan government ministry, and I hope I will be able to be of some assistance to the project.  Many people have asked why I take my vacations in places most people consider unattractive.  The best answer I can provide is that these assignments cause me to challenge myself in ways I find enjoyable.  Sometimes, as is the case in Afghanistan, I am paid well to do these jobs; but in most cases I donate my time.  The payment is the experience and the education I receive from working in a different environment, plus the knowledge that I may have been of service in a place that needs it.

City management remains challenging to me because I’m never certain what will happen when I come into the office.  Sometimes I’m dealing with a great new opportunity for the community, while other days I deal with a succession of frustrating problems.  I think the same things that attracted me to city management also attract me to the work I do in developing nations. 

I know my vacations impose burdens on my family and on some people in the City, which is why I am always careful to seek the permission of those who are most affected.  My wife and children understand that this work is important to me and they also know that doing anything worthwhile usually involves some risk.  My longest previous absence from the City of Albany was for a little over three weeks when I went to Ethiopia in 2009.  I was able to stay in touch via e-mail throughout the trip and heard no complaints from those who picked up the slack while I was away. 

I am assured that I will have good access to the Internet while I’m gone, and I will try to stay in touch as much as possible.  I will probably not be able to write my weekly message because my contract requires me to clear everything I write for public consumption through my employer.  While I’m sure ICMA has no objection to my writing, I know they have to be very careful to insure that no one associated with the project will take offense at something I might write.  I may also have very limited time to do much writing.  The City will be in good hands in my absence, and I look forward to sharing some interesting new stories when I return.