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Tom Briggs: Tim Waters for Council

Over thirty years’ experience as a public official (both at the political appointee and civil servant levels) or in the private sector interacting with senior public officials taught me many critical lessons about public life.
Typewriter opinion
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This content was originally published by the Longmont Observer and is licensed under a Creative Commons license.

Over thirty years’ experience as a public official (both at the political

appointee and civil servant levels) or in the private sector interacting

with senior public officials taught me many critical lessons about public

life. One of the surprises was the importance of the official's

decision-making style.

Of course, a candidate's stands on known issues are important. They are a

guide to future behavior within the boundaries of those facts and

circumstances. More importantly, they may offer a guide to decision-making.

We cannot predict all the issues that will face us over the term of a city

council member or governor. That huge unknown presents risk to us as

citizens and voters.

I found analysis of decision-making style the best mitigation to that risk.

Answers to questions such as Are decisions based on evidence, as opposed to

ideology? Are decisions framed in feasible action steps, as opposed to feel

good but meaningless PR? Are all outcomes considered, or is the analysis

incomplete leading to the risk of unforeseen outcomes? All decisions

involve risk. Does the decision include risk mitigation strategies? And

others, but this is not the place for an essay on public sector

decision-making techniques.

Tim Waters is on the right side of the issues we in Longmont know that we

face today. But none of us can predict the issue that will dominate civic

life for the next few years. During that period, we want our City Council

members to approach solutions to those issues in ways that make us

confident about the outcomes.

Tim Waters' decision-making style impresses me. That’s why I’ll vote for

Tim.

Tom Briggs

Longmont CO 80504

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