The forum on the Oak Ridger’s website is often entertaining, sometimes frustrating, but usually thought provoking; reading comments from the past couple of days on the “Have you been schooled” thread reminded me that the most common cause of citizen frustration with local government stems from not knowing where to go for information or action.

Knowledge is power; an informed constituency is the most powerful force for good government.

** Preface: The following information begins that the beginning. I recognize that many in this community could jury a dissertation on this subject, and if you are one, please do not take offense at the simplified format.
Lesson 1.1: Be courteous. The people you contact, whether elected officials, city or school system administrators or employees, are subject to the same emotions as anyone else (although we learn to hold it in check most of the time), so you’re much more likely to get productive results if you do not initiate the conversation with an insult or accusation.

Lesson 1.2: Understand the roles and responsibilities of elected officials and staff. The role of the School Board is to set policy and allocate resources in accordance through adopting the budget; similarly, the role of the City Council is to set policy for the City, adopt a budget allocating resources in support of its policies. Included in the City Council’s policy responsibilities are things like adopting local ordinances (laws), appointing citizens to various boards like the Planning Commission, and so forth.

It is the job of the City Manager, Jim O’Connor, to implement the budget and policies adopted by Council, which includes managing the departments and personnel. Likewise, the Director of Schools (also known as Superintendent), Tom Bailey, implements the policies and budget adopted by the School Board, and is accountable for all the schools and staff.

Both City Council and the School board have only one employee each: the City Manager, and the Director of Schools, respectively. The School Board does not hire (or fire) teachers, principals, coaches, or custodians; the City Council does not hire (or fire) department heads (fire chief, police chief, etc.) nor employees in any city department.

Both the City Manager and the Director of Schools have a great deal of authority over personnel, primarily through the respective department heads.

1.2(a): Finance. The school system receives approximately one-fourth of its general purpose education funding from the City of Oak Ridge. The School Board has no taxing authority, and must rely on the will of City Council to fund our local school system (above State and County funding levels) according to the justification of needs presented by the Board in the budget. In turn, City Council cannot dictate how that money will be used, as appropriating funds within the school system is the job of the School Board.

City Council must balance the needs of the school system with needs of other city departments and services. If necessary, they have the authority to increase the property tax rate to meet the combined needs.

Lesson 1.3: Follow the chain of command first – it usually works much better and faster.
Generally, speak first to the individual with whom you have a problem or disagreement. If the situation cannot be resolved or the person is unresponsive to reasonable efforts to contact them, go next to that person’s immediate supervisor.

• School system chain of command and contact info (quick reference)
• City government chain of command and contact info (coming soon)