When Jordan Daugherty started working for the village of Whitehouse 15 years ago, people made fun of him for being an idealist.
Now as village administrator, he recently defended a doctoral dissertation about restoring the public’s trust in government and believes more than ever that change needs to come to local politics.
“Idealism is a vision that I want to put into action,” he said.
Mr. Daugherty grew up in Whitehouse and holds a master’s degree in accounting from Bowling Green State University, where he also completed his PhD in the university’s organization development and change program. He will graduate from the doctoral program in August.
He was one of just a few public servants who went through the program. Kelly O’Brien, a manager at Toledo’s Department of Public Utilities, was another.
“We are the first individuals to go through this program,” Ms. O’Brien said. “Jordan was the first to propose and the first to defend, so he was the first doctor among us. To my credit, I was the first woman.”
An announcement about the new program came through an email blast back in January, 2019, and Mr. Daugherty decided it would be a good opportunity to explore the relationship between people and their local government.
“I wanted to push Whitehouse — myself and Whitehouse — further,” Mr. Daugherty said. “Reform was in my mind years ago.”
His research focused on identifying six types of trust factors, and through surveys to Whitehouse residents, he determined which factors were the biggest influences on people’s trust in government.
What he discovered was that service-based factors, such as competence and reliability, were considered important but scored lower compared to people-based factors, such as compassion and politeness.
“I think we’ve lost sight of truly caring for our residents, both now and in the future,” Mr. Daugherty said, speaking not just about Whitehouse but of local public leadership in general. “That’s what I see as lacking in local government.”
Though the issue might be more at the forefront of people’s thoughts these days, Sam Nelson, associate professor in political science and public administration at the University of Toledo, said the state of public trust in government is not necessarily new.
“It’s very low, and it’s been declining since the 1960s,” he said. “It’s been going down in the television age. And social media is just that, but worse.”
Mr. Nelson wouldn’t characterize the current state of trust as a historic low — “The Civil War was way worse,” he said — but it could lead to more protests, more members of the public flouting rules and policies, and more people checking out of politics all together.
“Political trust allows the system to continue to function even when you’re not getting your way in politics,” he said.
Generally, Mr. Nelson said the more acquainted someone is to officials or representatives, the more trust they have in them. Someone might distrust Congress but trust their district representative. Or they might trust the mayor or members of council for their own city.
“People have higher levels of trust in their local government than in federal government,” he said. “Although that’s going to vary a lot by how many potholes you have on your road.”
Typically in cases of wrongdoing, Mr. Nelson said reactions can make a big difference. Two years ago, when multiple Toledo City Council members were criminally charged, those members were held accountable, he said.
Toledo Councilman Katie Moline, who spearheaded the creation of an ad-hoc ethics committee in the wake of the former councilmen’s arrests, said transparency and accountability are cornerstones of trust in government.
“It all starts with the tone at the top,” she said. “I think you have to have an administration that values that.”
Actionable items, consistent public hearings, and being responsive to people are all ways officials can increase their own transparency and accountability, Ms. Moline said. Issues that prompt hundreds of emails to public officials, she said, probably warrant public hearings for further discussion.
“I think we can always do better,” she said.
Ms. Moline encouraged people to get involved with local government, through attending meetings and writing to or calling representatives. There’s no better way to get engaged, she said, than to get involved.
Representatives are there to represent the people, Ms. Moline said, and can’t and shouldn’t act alone in a democracy.
“On a foundational level, we aren’t kings,” she said. “It’s not my will.... I’m not there working for myself, I’m working for taxpayers and citizens.”
Whitehouse was not necessarily the focus of Mr. Daugherty’s research, but it’s where the data came from, and he’s aware that the village has specific demographics — age, race, income, and such — that mean generalizations can only be made about similar communities.
But he would like to see towns and cities that are very unlike Whitehouse to be subjected to the same type of study.
“What I’m hoping is further research ... on this,” he said. “It may be that other demographic groups are influenced differently.”
For his role, Mr. Daugherty plans, as much as he possibly can, to ensure that people of character are brought into employment and leadership positions in Whitehouse. Talent is important, he believes, but character is crucial.
“When I have interviews, it’s always looking for evidence of government service and care,” he said. “To the extent that HR [human resources] law allows, we are always [assessing] for character.”
What he wants for Whitehouse is for the residents to know their government is putting them first. He wants to make decisions that will benefit the village’s children, grandchildren, and beyond.
Mr. Daugherty has always fought the urge to drop idealism from politics and local government because so many people believe it’s not practical. But he believes that reform can’t happen without a vision, and having a vision is basically idealism, in his eyes.
“Something has to change, and almost everybody knows that,” he said. “Government has to change.”
First Published July 3, 2022, 3:00 p.m.
