Some Historical Context – Picking up on the topic of joint oversight outlined in an earlier post, I’m reminded of Boston in 1999. I had recently arrived after completing my teaching assignment with TFA, a national teacher corps. After two years in a Rio Grande Valley border town, I was ready for some big-city life.
I chose to live downtown and was able to walk to work at the Four Seasons Hotel on Boylston Street. Being able to do so was a blessing because of the “Big Dig.” If you’re not familiar with Big Dig, it was a project that completely changed major highways and arteries in the city. It put a lot of the roadways underground, added tunnels and bridges, and made getting around the city a nightmare for nearly a decade.
The original forecasts indicated a price tag of $7.4 billion (inflation-adjusted) and completion by 1998. It ended up costing $21.5 billion (inflation-adjusted) and construction wasn’t finished until 2006 – and key elements of the original plan were cut from the project. It wasn’t just the overages of time and money; there were tunnel leaks, design flaws, charges of poor execution and use of substandard materials, criminal arrests, and the death of at least one motorist (who was crushed when a concrete ceiling tile fell).
Like many things Boston, the story is long and complex – but the punchline is that the oversight was insufficient at every level. Every component was an independent fiefdom, and the interested parties simply weren’t pulling on the same rope.
Why Joint Oversight is important:
Thankfully, the scope of services offered by Massanutten Resort and MPOA is nowhere near as complex as the Big Dig. But the need for joint oversight by both is just as essential if we want to ensure that we have roadways, parks, and security approaches that best serve residents and visitors. Both the Resort and MPOA have an interest in ensuring that these things happen at a reasonable cost, with transparency.
Joint oversight is an extra set of eyes, an additional perspective, and an extra level of contact from all who have skin in the game. Massanutten Resort impacts MPOA; MPOA impacts the resort. Those impacts can be either positive or negative, and joint oversight is the best way to ensure the former.
It’s not about “power”…
I remember at one board meeting a resident stood up and forcefully proclaimed that Massanutten Resort’s approach is about power. I found that deeply disheartening because it isn’t about power at all. In fact, it’s about ensuring that everything we do is 1) of the best quality 2) at the best price and 3) done with integrity.
This is where joint oversight becomes so important. There’s often tension between these three goals – for example, the best quality isn’t usually available at the lowest price. So, finding the balance point requires multiple perspectives from stakeholders who have the expertise, accountability, and determination to get it right.
What joint oversight could look like:
Joint oversight does not need to be the sparring matches that play out all too publicly between politicians. Nobody’s running for reelection. We’re only focused on providing a pleasant experience – enjoyable attractions, clean parks, well-constructed, and maintained roads and security services that are all well-coordinated and high-level.
The areas I think are most worth joint oversight involve real coordination and accountability on road maintenance and construction, long-range planning, emergency preparedness, and park maintenance. Between the Resort and MPOA, we’ve been doing it “sort of” for a while, but we can all do better.
How it relates & possible next steps:
We do think there is a better way and there are many ways it could look. The Charlottesville Albemarle Airport Authority is a good example of two entities – the City of Charlottesville and Albermarle County – that engage in shared governance on budgeting, capital expenditure (Cap-Ex) planning, key personnel decisions, and audit selection. The cooperation between these two entities serves the City, the County, and residents beyond well.
While there is no silver bullet or perfect answer, the key ingredients for joint oversight of shared expenses between Massanutten Resort and MPOA could include:
* Joint budget approval
* Joint vendor selection, including auditor
* Joint Strategic & Cap-Ex planning
This would only go so far as the projects and services the two organizations jointly fund. The Resort has no interest in how MPOA operates other aspects of its business, and obviously, MPOA has better things to do than weigh in on every aspect of ours.
Bottom line: unlike an individual perspective, an organization stakeholder requires a mechanism that is reflective of the financial investment.
Next steps? I think they include a conversation on how we better balance the request for financial support with a strategy to better mitigate risks and ensure better outcomes. We’re keen to initiate the conversations with MPOA when the time is right.
Cordially,
Matthias Smith, VP/General Manager, Massanutten Resort
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