Oakdale Adminstrator Case Study
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501
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Political Science
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Feb 20, 2024
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OAKDALE ADMINSTRATOR CASE STUDY
Case Study Critique: The Oakdale Administration
Cecilia Lopez
Helms School of Government, Liberty University
PADM 501: Fundamental of Public Administration B02
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OAKDALE ADMINSTRATOR CASE STUDY
Overview
The city of Oakdale is a mid-suburb town with an average amount of people. Based on the city’s new mayor Hoffnagel, made an effort to make the city’s citizens happy. The case outlines issues that a town with an estimated five thousand people and a low median household income faced due to economic decline and improper management. I will offer alternative solutions in the town of Oakdale. This case explains the scandal involving a mayor who makes undesirable decisions and with one choice it ruins and affects the whole community in the city. By choosing unethical and violating many standards it has the community in the worse economical problem.
Facts of the Case
In efforts to keep the community in the city pleased struggling within the city management. There is a lack of finances and fiscal management making it difficult to create jobs, rebuild, and lift the economy in the community. A few of the issues occurring in the city of Oakdale were mainly the poor decisions made by citizens to overwhelming support and a mayor who had no clue or experience of another issue is the population of five thousand low middle class and income. The average amount was about forty-seven thousand and eight hundred sixty-nine dollars. A median house value of hundred thousand nine-hundred dollars. The city next door Silver Lake City has a population of seven thousand. and an income of hundred nine thousand and three hundred forty-five dollars, and a value of three thousand and fifty-nine thousand and eight hundred and eighty-eight dollars. Lastly, the revenue and expenditures that are operating
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OAKDALE ADMINSTRATOR CASE STUDY
in the city with an annual budget of 3.5 million dollars (Cropf et al., 2016). This comes to show that the mayor has shown poor financial management skills. Decision
The mayor’s campaign was proposed on a promise to build the city and help new businesses develop. The mayor was in a position of power, he let everyone know in town what he did in office and what he did to manage to “fix”. Hoffnagel, who was a car salesman by profession, ran a campaign on reviving the city by bringing in new businesses and to the residents. For example,
the mayor’s campaign was built on a promise, his first decision was to change the housing inspections policy. Mayor Hoffnagel promised to work on the appearance of the local retail centers to ensure they look modern (Cropf et al., 2016). In the case study it comes to show that the mayors changes and promises for a better future made it impossible to have a great success with the projects. It seems that the only thing that matter was winning as many votes, but did not think through that when you are mayor you have to put in the work.
I do think this study case showed that the decision the mayor made was inappropriate and it was going to affect their decision. The mayor should have thought about the price and other plans of the projects he proposed. Hoffnagel’s decisions, became more realistic that it would be difficult to make actual changes. Hoffnagel’s behavior and performance can be predicted that he
was using his strategies as a car salesman. In this case, the inhabitant’s decision to elect an
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OAKDALE ADMINSTRATOR CASE STUDY
individual without any experience being a mayor was a cause of conflict that by one decision it affected others. Think of it as a domino effect. The decision that was made was not to have proper finances and fiscal management practices and make sure the city was being promised of what they proposed. With proper guidance, the town can introduce aids in creating jobs, maintaining facilities, creating businesses, and increasing the economic position. In a town with a small budget and an average household income compared to other cities with similar backgrounds. I do think that Hoffnagel should have focused on working with a team of experts who are well qualified with experience and expertise in economic background. This would bring new businesses open, and new job opportunities. This would have also increased the town budget and fulfilled more ideas and promised proposals. The problem from the beginning was that the mayor did not address the economic issue that was occurring.
The issue of politics is a central concept of this case study. The mayor chose to appoint critical positions to the city’s administration, which is a compromising action (Cropf et al., 2016). He chose based on personal relationships rather than professional competence and qualifications, and ethical conflict occurred. In the case of Mayor Hoffnagel either did not investigate her reputation and previous work or chose to disregard the scoop due to their personal relationship. This created inappropriate decisions.
Solutions
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OAKDALE ADMINSTRATOR CASE STUDY
The best approach based on the mayor's inadequate poor decision is transparency which needs to be addressed from the beginning and making the right finance decisions. The city’s financial plans and resolving the issues should have been appointed since the beginning. Hoffnagel for appointing Donny was a mistake because, in a position where you are mayor, you should be consulting with professionals and not friends. This could have prevented many losses and helped the town succeed. The financial management could have been approached differently and made substantial budgets necessary. I think also that Mayor Hoffnagel should have not fixed the retail center first, but invested in other buildings to bring more business. It would have been a chance for the city to expand and bring more money and tourism and new businesses. We can all understand that the issue of professionalism is a big problem that is outlined in this case study. For example, there is a high percentage of organizations or places where hiring for a higher demand role in managers. Conclusion
In conclusion, the mayor showed a poor quality of character of being an important role as a mayor of a city. His decisions when appointed to mayor brought many issues to the city. In the study, “Oakdale Administrator,” mayor Hoffnagel made a series of poor choices causing the city to grow and expand better projects. The issue was hiring an individual based on personal
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OAKDALE ADMINSTRATOR CASE STUDY
desires and ethics. Also, the questionable reputation, but the lack of professionalism and the code of ethics.
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OAKDALE ADMINSTRATOR CASE STUDY
References
Cropf, R., Giancola, J., & Loutzenhiser, K. (2016). The Oakdale administrator. In R. Cropf (Ed.), The
Public administration casebook (pp. 80-85). Routledge.
Milakovich, M. E., & Gordon, G. J. (2023). Public Administration in America. Cengage.
Squire, S. J. & Beazley, I. (2016). Increasing professionalism in public finance management: A case study of the United Kingdom
. World Bank.