The fact sheet “Supporting Older Americans” at Office of Management and Budget website lists the prospects of future solutions to the problems of elderly people in the US. The budget suggests several important measures to provide conveniences for older Americans such as Medicare and social protection, increased credit on earned income tax for elderly employees, supplying the older adults with places of accommodation, and guaranteed worker pensions (“Supporting older Americans,” 2016).
Among the significant suggestions in the budget planning, considerable attention is paid to health care needs of the older Americans. There is a proposal to provide better access to care for the elderly and increase the quality of care providers’ work. Additionally, the budget presupposes decreased costs on medicines and better access to them for senior citizens (“Supporting older Americans,” 2016).
The initiatives listed in the budget proposal are vital to Alabama State. Older people have always been a vulnerable population, and dealing with their problems should be a concern at a governmental level. According to Alabama Elder Care Costs, non-medical help to senior people at home requires $20 per hour on average (“Senior care costs,” 2016). The responsibilities of the aide include visiting the person a few times in a week for 2-8 hours and assisting with cooking, commuting, washing, and hygiene procedures. Meanwhile, medical home help lasts shorter and costs the same. Alabama senior citizens are also suggested to apply for Adult Day Care which costs $69 on average (“Senior care costs,” 2016).
The use of Alabama federal funds on providing better conditions for elderly Americans is a wise choice. This population deserves special treatment and attention.
Assessment of Mayor Daley’s Leadership Efficiency in the Situation with Chicago Parking Meters
Mayor Daley’s decision to privatize Chicago parking meters in December 2009 undoubtedly had good intentions and was promising for the city. An agreement to lease the city’s parking meters for seventy-five years gave Chicago over one billion dollars which could be used for the city’s needs (Stromberg, 2009). However, simultaneously a fee increase was issued. According to the price hike, meter fees per hour would rise annually and would gradually change from $3 in 2009 to $6.50 in 2013 (Stromberg, 2009). Such outcomes did not satisfy the citizens at all.
Mayor Daley’s leadership cannot be characterized as entirely positive in this case. Not all consequences of parking meters privatization were considered and foreseen. For one thing, the specialists note that when parking meters are privatized, the profit is directed into the general reserve (Stromberg, 2009). Under such circumstances, carrying out a program allowing the money to be spent on the neighborhood enhancements would be difficult.
The situation got worse when people started receiving unneeded tickets because of the broken meters or outmoded identification (Dumke, 2009). People started rejecting the system and parked on side streets or even quit driving altogether. Mayor tried to save the situation by calling a press conference. The CEO of Chicago Parking Meters, Dennis Pedrelli, expressed his repentance over the situation and promised to take measures and improve the issue as soon as possible.
Therefore, the leadership skills of Mayor Daley can be characterized as good but not excellent. While trying to achieve the best outcomes for the city, he neglected some significant issues which led to public’s discomfort and dissatisfaction.
Crisis of Public Management
Milakovich and Gordon (2013) evaluate the government’s actions as not entirely efficient ones. The authors emphasize the adverse effects of fluctuating attitudes on public policy. Milakovich and Gordon remark that due to the public tactics bearing a diversified character, the content and goals of the policy are obscured instead of being made clear (Malkovich & Gordon, 2013). The authors judge the government’s actions for their indistinctness and note that the policies should comprise distinct and straightforward obligations.
I agree with the authors’ assessment of the government’s actions in that they were not thoroughly planned and implemented. To assure positive future policies, it is necessary to have certainty in the current situation. Instead, the administration had led to people’s critic of the government’s ability to focus on the most crucial social and economic concerns.
To avoid the challenges faced by the US during the crisis, the government should have implemented the advantageous alternatives which would have eliminated the adverse outcomes. For instance, a better program management was needed. Such programs should be able to organize, prepare, promote and administer the endeavors intended to reach the aims of relieving the crisis consequences (Malkovich & Gordon, 2013).
Successful management requires the ability to assess the accomplishments of the governmental policies. Therefore, while justification and identification of all perspectives of the policy might seem challenging, it is necessary for achieving the goals (Malkovich & Gordon, 2013). In the period of global crisis, managers met two major leadership difficulties: to keep the organization on track in the time of economic collapse and to sustain its practice till the economy is restored (Robinson, 2009). Those who concentrated on the first challenge and worked hard were able to overcome the crisis.
References
Dumke, M. (2009). Fail, part one: Chicago’s parking meter lease deal. Reader. Web.
Milakovich, M. E., & Gordon, G. J. (2013). Public administration in America (11th ed.). Boston, MA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.
Robinson, J. (2009). The economic crisis: A leadership challenge.Gallup. Web.
Senior care costs. (2016). Web.
Stromberg, M. (2009). Chicago signs 75-year lease for parking meters. Planning, 75(2), 5.
Supporting older Americans: Fact sheet. (2016). Web.