Commentary: The missing 10-year plan

The JT's Stephanie Jones has a story about Mayor John Dickert's missing 10-year plan. Here's the key quote from the mayor:

The document is in my head. I have not written out the 10-year plan anywhere ... the plan is constantly in a changing mode.

That's an amazing statement. Not only does Dickert not have a 10-year plan, other than shifting thoughts in his head, he's not concerned about not having a plan. It's a remarkably honest admission from a politician who is ignoring his No. 1 campaign promise. 

It's hard to see the strategy here. Dickert ran as the candidate who had a long-range plan to help Racine, but hasn't delivered on that project. It's becoming the mayor's defining trait. He promised to bring jobs to the city, but has created few, if any. He promised to bring development to the city, but every commercial project that's come forward has failed or is on life support. 

Dickert's main accomplishment in office is this year's budget, which held the line on property taxes, maintained most city services and  implemented the blue recycling bins to cut down on the city's garbage bill. 

But the city's 2011 budget will be tougher. Stimulus money is drying up and property values declined citywide this year. The mayor and City Council will likely have to increase property taxes or cut services to balance the budget. Either will be difficult in an election year. 

The lack of a "10-year plan" may be worse. First, it's a catchy slogan any opponent will be able to run with. I can already see the campaign lit in the mail: "Where's the 10-year plan?" Simple. Devastating. The plan is something directly under the mayor's control and came directly from his mouth. No one asked him to create a 10-year plan. He said he would do it, and hasn't followed through. Politicians often make promises they can't keep, but this is hard to overlook. 

Second, it's not that hard to write a 10-year plan - unless you're afraid of being held accountable, or you don't have any ideas. We met with the mayor back in October and asked him about the non-existent plan. We even took his ideas and laid them out into what, conceivably, could be be a 10-year plan. It took about an hour's worth of time. The writing is easy. It's the having your ideas pinned down that's difficult. 

Third, it's just a plain old lack of leadership. We've heard from several people that the mayor is tired of being bogged down with the details of running city government. He's a "big picture" guy searching out a $40 million deal with a Chinese developer" or trying to lure a company to town that will bring jobs. You should see his desk, they say. It's covered with projects and work he's pursuing. That's all great, but this isn't the time for ideas.

The mayor, and others, seem to have a vision of an outside savior coming in to save the local economy and return Racine to a time when major companies gave high school graduates high-paying jobs for life. That isn't our city any more. Racine is a mid-sized, ex-industrial city that's losing population. He talks about building homes and pursing lucrative housing developments with out-of-town money, but the local housing market is flooded with people and banks trying to sell and developers aren't building anywhere. 

On a personal level, I like the mayor. He's a good, nice man who cares about the city and the people who live here. But as a citizen and a local political observer, I'm mystified. The mayor seems to be running a textbook pre-campaign on how to weaken an incumbent and entice potential opponents. Instead of scaring people out of the race, like Gary Becker did back in 2007, Dickert seems intent on convincing as many people as possible that they can run and win next spring. 

Maybe I'm dead wrong. Maybe Dickert is taking the hit now on his 10-year plan so it's old news by next year. Maybe he will land a major development or bring in a pile of jobs. Maybe this is the end of a bumpy first year for a politician learning the ropes.

Even so, it's time for the mayor to get his ideas down on paper for the world to see. Grab your buddies, get together in the basement, take out a blank sheet of paper and actually lay out a plan to improve Racine. If you can't do that, you can't lead. If you can't do that, you won't have to worry about next April because you won't make it through February. 

Update: Reading comments here and at the JT, readers appear to be unanimously upset about the mayor's missing 10-year plan. Out of 80+ comments, I haven't seen one defending the mayor.

Update 2: The mayor's online chat at the JT is finished. Interesting that he twice mentioned he'd be rolling out his plans in the "RJT." Interesting to see the mayor buddying up the with the paper, and apparently, the paper returning the love.