Shawnee Policy Analysis

The city of Shawnee is deeply rooted in the history of Kansas, and even that of the United States of America. With the name that is connected to the Indian tribe known as the Shawnee, and how the area was connected to the frontier days of our history, the city of Shawnee is a living historical site. In this paper I will discuss the history and current state of Shawnee, the connection to the four traditional public administration values, and provide an overview on important policy changes from the last fifteen years. Shawnee is a vibrant and successful community that has excelled in the national spotlight for many years. Shawnee is a city of roughly 64,000 citizens (2014 Census), that is located in the Northwest part of Johnson County. The

All are vital values when running a city, state, or any type of government. For starters, Political responsiveness is imperative to keeping a constituency happy. The speed at which the government can respond to what the citizens need is imperative. When a councilmember or mayor is elected, the cities citizens expect to have their needs met and the promises of the government achieved. The efficiency and effectiveness with which how they do their jobs and civic duties will show in not the polls, but the quality of living in which the citizens are afforded. Keeping all the different jobs of a government in balance can often be a terribly difficult job, the efficiency and effectiveness that a government has can go a long way in keeping everything pointed in the right direction. Citizens want to feel like the government, at any level, is always moving forward and is listening to the voices of its

This policy adds a fee to false alarm responses by police to commercial buildings and public residences (City of Shawnee Policy Statement: False Alarm Fees). This directly correlates to efficiency and effectiveness by hopefully cutting down on the number of false alarms, thus allowing the police to respond quicker to real alarms and needs. Also this shows efficiency and effectiveness by replenishing the loss of funds caused by a false response. Being that this policy was implemented in 2011, it adequately mirrors a time of budget cuts and recovery from the recession. A “Regulatory Sign Placement” policy was enacted in 2001 and revised in 2011, with the revision changing the speed of all residential streets to 25 mph (City of Shawnee Policy Statement: Regulatory Sign Placement). This policy effects the social equity of the city by making sure that all residential streets are uniform in speed limit. The policy also effects the parking areas that are regulated by fines with no park