PADM 700 Discussion Module 3 Reply 2

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Apr 3, 2024

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A series of ethical lapses culminated in creating the Flint Water Crisis. Through their discretion, administrators chose to ignore numerous principles for the handling of public affairs (Foote & De Leon, 2023, pp. 352-366). Foote & De Leon (2023, pp. 352-366) argue the first lapse occurred when officials considered race as the predominant factor in the hiring of Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr. City officials hired Orr, an African American, due to the perceived backlash resulting from the hiring of a white person (Bomey, 2016, p. 34). Affirmative action policies are often used to justify such actions. Du Bois (2016, p. 211) argues the intention of the corresponding Civil Rights Act was to remove race as a factor in hiring. Almost immediately, Orr aggressively began to disconnect residents' water service to collect past due payments (Chapman, 2014). Much like the positions of both Antigone and Creon, this act was not unethical (Marini, 1992, p. 422). His decision to target poor residents while ignoring business and government entities who owed much more did, however, violate Fischer’s covenantal principle of mutual accountability as well as the broadly accepted fundamental values of fairness and integrity mentioned in O’Reilly’s article (Fischer, 2010, p. 13; O’Reilly, 2011, p. 375). Orr’s double- standard was eventually uncovered by local news outlets (Fischer, 2010, p. 17; Foote & De Leon, 2023, pp. 352-366). The situation was exacerbated when Flint Mayor Dwayne Walling, despite numerous warnings, declared autonomy from the Detroit Water and Sewage Department (DWSD) (Foote & De Leon, 2023, pp. 352-366). For years, the city had pondered utilization of the Flint River as a source of drinking water (Foote & De Leon, 2023, pp. 352-366). Despite numerous opinions advising him not to do so, Mayor Walling committed his own ethical lapse when he socially constructed a non-conforming version of reality by declaring it would be feasible for the city to draw water from the Flint River (Einolf, 2016, p. 356; Foote & De Leon, 2023, pp. 352-366). In a show of dissidence, state and local officials who possessed greater knowledge of the situation than did the mayor acted ethically by airing their displeasures, as they should have (Shafritz & Hyde, 2016, p. 450; Foote & De Leon, 2023, pp. 352-366). Flint was ill-equipped to handle this situation as the city’s water treatment facilities were understaffed, employees were not properly trained, and the equipment was both insufficient and in a state of disrepair (Foote & De Leon, 2023, pp. 352-366). Michael Glasgow, Flint’s water plant manager, also emailed his concerns to the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) (Foote & De Leon, 2023, pp. 352-366). Mayor Walling ignored the warnings from the various administrative officials as his decision-making abilities suffered from both perfection and intelligence errors (Fischer, 2010, p. 20). Time was limited due to the organizational constraints he had previously put into place (Fischer, 2010, p.

21). However, no government-wide-ethics laws were violated (Government- Wide Ethics Laws | U.S. Department of the Interior, n.d.). Response: The case study you posted about is eye opening, and disappointingly so. It’s tragic learning and understanding some of the details that went into such a disaster and in the wake of it. Officials who write their own reality are not good for the general public and don’t know how much harm they cause. I am hard pressed to mention that while no clear ethical lines were crossed, I believe the lines in these types of situations are often hard to identify. However, when the mayor ‘socially constructed a non-conforming version of reality’ in calling the water safe, I believe that was a clear unethical decision. The decision made was factored on emotion of appeasing his inner pride and outer constituents, which created a bias limiting his worldview and destroying his ability to focus in the big picture (Fischer, 2010). Evoked emotion in political decision making that has great affect of the general public is harmful and weighs unethical (Marini, 1992). Furthermore, stories like this with political failure take place various times throughout history. This is not surprising when you take into account the lack of emotion regulation that so many politicians face throughout their career ( Weinberg, 2023). Politicians are not effectively trained to rationally and critically think out crucial decisions that can mean life or death for the public. This can be an excruciating amount of burden to bear and they do not have specialized training for how to process this (Flinders et al., 2018). With that said, the public would benefit from politicians taking time to ensure they take care of their minds and acknowledge the tough job they have, which shouldn’t be taken lightly by letting bias lead their decisiveness. Within Biblical context, political leaders can allow their beliefs to anchor and guide their ways, but should not be forthcoming in totality of this. This is because while I and many others may feel comfort when a politician states that they are trusting God with such a decision, many people would feel the opposite. Politicians must think of all the general public and how to best serve all of them “Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood” ( King James Version , 1769/2017, Acts 20:28). References Fischer, Kahlib, "A Biblical-Covenantal Perspective on Organizational Behavior & Leadership" (2010). Faculty Publications and Presentations . 523. https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/gov_fac_pubs/523 Flinders, M., Weinberg, A., Weinberg, J., Geddes, M., & Kwiatkowski, R. (2018). Governing under Pressure? The Mental Wellbeing of Politicians. Parliamentary Affairs . https://doi.org/10.1093/pa/gsy046

King James Bible . (2017). King James Bible Online. https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/ (Original work published 1769) Marini, F. (1992). The Uses of Literature in the Exploration of Public Administration Ethics: The Example of Antigone. Public Administration Review , 52(5), 420–426. https://doi.org/10.2307/976801 Weinberg, J. (2023). Feelings of Trust, Distrust and Risky Decision-Making in Political Office. An Experimental Study With National Politicians in Three Democracies. Comparative Political Studies , 56(7), 935-967. https://doi.org/10.1177/00104140221139376

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PADM 700 Discussion Module 3 Reply 2

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