It's not enough to know your stuff (though you should), and it's not enough to be nice (though that's a good practice, too). Community and civic leaders on city councils and governing boards need utility leaders to be good communicators. Here's what they want from you, in their own words.

1. Brian Gongol
DJ Gongol & Associates, Inc.
October 19, 2023
IAWEA Region 4
Griswold, Iowa
How to Communicate with
Utility Boards and City Councils

2. "You can't fight city hall", they said

3. "You can't fight city hall", they said
But you do need to talk to them

4. STRAIGHT FROM THE BOARDS

The following 30+ comments are taken straight from
the words of current and former council and board
members

Anonymity was preserved so they could speak freely

Only very light editing to deliver consistent grammar
and voice

5. FOUR CATEGORIES OF ADVICE

General communication skills

Expertise

People and HR

Public accountability

6. GENERAL ADVICE

7. Keep it brief

"Be concise. Brevity is a good thing."

8. Tip: Revise your reports at least once

9. Use plain, clear language

"Don't assume council members know any acronyms or
technical jargon."

10. Tip: A (labeled) picture is worth 1,000 words

11. Assume nothing

"Explain things to council members just as you would to
someone who knows nothing on the subject."

12. "ELI5": Explain like I'm 5

13. Get outside your own head

"Although you know what you are talking about, the
board/council members don't."

14. What is this, really?

"Most of us don't know what a lime slaker is or does. We
don't know why a pressure-reducing valve is important."

15. Write out abbreviations and give definitions

"Don't use industry slang, acronyms or shop talk. What
is a PRV? What is an RPZ? What are a curb stop, an
inserting valve, or a side-cut machine?"

16. Tip: Add footnotes with definitions

17. Assume they don't own hard hats

"Most council members have no knowledge of
construction. Most of us can barely even replace our
own light bulbs at home when they burn out."

18. Tip: Imagine your audience in hard hats
It's safer than imagining
them naked, anyway

19. Show. Don't tell.

"I need a photo and a historical comparison for
perspective whenever a project is coming up."

20. Tip: Take pictures when buried work is exposed

21. Put it into perspective

"Tell us: 'We need to replace X at the water plant. It
usually costs this much, and we have to do this every
two years. Here's what it looks like.'"

22. Tip: Use Presidential terms for context

23. We're all just people here

"Council members are essentially volunteer positions
and our families sacrifice a lot of time when we're
serving the community. Don't take up more of that time
than necessary."

24. Tip: Use the inverted pyramid

25. If it's a big deal, say so

"My biggest pet peeve is when I get a number with no
reference point, like, 'We're capping a landfill and it's
going to cost $3 million'. Is that a lot? How often does
that happen? Is that normal? What does that price
mean?"

26. Use your silver bullets

"For the love of God: Use bullet points!"

27. Tip: People grasp up to about 7 words at once

28. EXPERTISE

29. Trust me: I know what I'm doing

"You are the expert. So, if we or the public don’t
understand something, help us!"

30. Tip: The public knows only what they're told

31. I'll get back to you on that

"It's OK to say, 'I don't know. Let me do some research
and get back to you.'"

32. Tip: Make "Follow-up" your first recurring item

33. Why? Why? Why? Why? Why?

"If you want us to approve an expenditure, then we need
to fully understand what it is and why it is needed."

34. Tip: Internalize the Honda "five why" approach

35. Tell us what it does

"When talking about equipment, don't assume that they
know what a skid loader is or what a wig-wag safety
light is. Tell us how it fits into the operation."

36. Tip: Write out what it does

37. Don't defeat yourself

"I understand that staff need to follow the policies set by
the board, commission, or council, but I hate to hear
'That goes against policy', or 'We can't do that'. Why
not? Is the policy wrong?"

38. Theory of policy relativity

"If a policy is wrong, suggest relevant changes,
especially for cost-saving measures that can still
accomplish the end goal of serving the users."

39. Fill the suggestion box

"There can be gray areas or complete re-writes of policy
that would help both the customer and the jurisdiction,
but it may never happen without your staff knowledge
on how that can be done."

40. You're the advisers, we're the deciders

"Of course, most decisions are up to the board or
council in the end, but staff suggestions are incredibly
valuable and something I'd love to get more of."

41. PEOPLE AND HR

42. Who are you, again?

"I think it's good for the utility director to visit with each
council member and let them know what they do, the
issues they commonly address, who to contact if they
receive a constituent complaint about a particular issue,
and what their long-term objectives are."

43. Tip: Bundle comments by ward

44. Manage up

"The more I can know about your department, its
operations, and its challenges, the better."

45. Tip: Try a "SWOT" analysis

46. A whole-team effort

"I understand there's a hierarchy within the staff, but
getting to know staff members individually can help
both the board and the organization."

47. Tip: Assign "specialist" roles and use them

48. Put a name with a face

"When a customer/citizen comes to me and says 'I
spoke to Jane/John in the Water Utility department', but
I only know the Director, the unfortunately I have just to
smile and nod...and then try to find out who that staff
member is."

49. Let's get together

"The board isn't HR or the staff's immediate boss, but
customers often assume that a board member knows
every employee. That isn't true, but it would be nice to
know a few more, at least."

50. Tip: Free food wins friends
Americans will basically crawl across
broken glass to get free food.
Invite the council over for lunch.

51. PUBLIC ACCOUNTABILITY

52. Amateur hour is OK (for the audience)

"Most people's public-works understanding either
comes from their own home plumbing systems or the
pothole on their street. Our director excels when he
brings it down to that level."

53. Find your balance

"You are the experts, but our job demands and depends
on representing the public interest -- which means
taking into consideration how decisions will affect the
public immediately and in the future."

54. Tip: Quantify costs of action -- and inaction

55. Big-ticket items shouldn't come as a shock

"Having a rolling capital investment budget is a huge
benefit."

56. Tip: Share the big picture online

57. Who's complaining?

"It's helpful for us to know what issues citizens generally
pay attention to. What types of complaints do you
receive?"

58. Tip: Treat suggestions like a seal-failure alarm

59. We're living in the future of yesterday

"With technology changing, maybe a policy or product
is 20 years old and really doesn't fit today. It might be 6
months old and not fit! Tell me what's changing and
what we need to do to keep up."

60. Hope and change

"Too many times staff tell customers that the customer
needs to talk to the board or council to make a change
-- and that the customer should come up with the
solution. That's a mistake if the staff understands the
issue better than anyone and can recommend a
solution."

61. Tip: Assert your expertise against the cranks

62. A change could do you good

"If there is a better way for the city or utility to serve the
customer, to operate for its employees, or to save
money, please speak up! Don't be afraid to approach a
council or board member directly."

63. Objection, your honor!

"If changes are required, help me anticipate, understand,
and address the concerns of the public."

64. There's no good way to say this, but...

"If conflict is going to be unavoidable, we need to be
able to soften the blow or slow the implementation.
Help us understand what's going to make people mad,
and understand that we might need to adapt our plan
accordingly."

65. Oh, and one final thing

"Don't be an a**hole."

66. LET'S TALK A LITTLE THEORY

67. SENDER-MESSAGE-CHANNEL-RECEIVER

68. Being a "sender"

69. Forming a message

70. Knowing the channel

71. Considering the "receiver"

Nobody runs for office thinking
"I'm the biggest moron in town"

They might not want to trade jobs with you

But they do respect your expertise

Help them "win" somehow:

Save time
 Get re-elected

Earn awards

Get praise

Cut taxes

72. Tip: This is too much on a single slide

73. What matters: Three Rs

74. Regulation

75. Reputation

76. Re-election

77. PRACTICAL MESSAGES AND CHANNELS

78. Frequency

7 to 20 times before an ad message gets through

79. Content

Active voice

Action statements

Context

80. Presentation

81. YOUR "RECEIVERS"

Boards and councils

Employees

Customers

Engineers

Regulators

Suppliers

Contractors

Service providers

Outside professionals

82. HACKS, TIPS, AND PRACTICAL TOOLS

83. WRITTEN COMMUNICATIONS

84. Edward Tufte format

85. Columns

86. White space

87. Emphasis by de-escalation

88. Gridlines almost never add value

89. Use wide line spacing & conditional formatting

90. VERBAL COMMUNICATIONS

91. Jargon: Three words per hour

92. ELI5
Explain Like I'm 5

93. ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATIONS

94. Paragraph maximum

95. One action item per message

96. You're on the record always

97. SOCIAL MEDIA

98. Silent service isn't enough

99. Use the tools of the present

100. Help them to ask voters for what you need

101. RESOURCES

102. Edward Tufte books

103. Strunk & White

104. "Economical Writing" - McCloskey

105. QUESTIONS?

Thanks for your attention!

This presentation is
online at
gongol.net/presentations

Ask anytime:
Brian Gongol
DJ Gongol & Associates
515-223-4144
brian@gongol.net
@djgongol
on social media

106. SOURCES

Book cover art taken from online sources where those books
are sold

Certain city council board materials selected from a West Des
Moines (Iowa) City Council meeting packet

Dwight Eisenhower portrait is in the public domain, found
courtesy of the Eisenhower Presidential Library in Abilene,
Kansas:

https://www.eisenhower.archives.gov/information/
media_kit/official_photos.html

All other content is the original work of the author. All rights
reserved. No re-use permitted without express prior consent.