By Patrick Sullivan
“He had an idea to build a city out of a desert stopover for G.I.s on the way to the west coast. That kid’s name was Moe Greene, and the city he invented was Las Vegas. This was a great man, a man of vision and guts, and there isn’t even a plaque, or a sign post, or a statue of him in that town.” From the Godfather II, 1974.
These were the words spoken by Hyman Roth to Michael Corleone regarding the life of Moe Greene and how he came to his unceremonious end at the hands of Corleone’s henchmen. The story is fiction, though loosely based on the role real life mobster Bugsy Siegel played in turning Las Vegas into a gambling mecca. When I heard this line in the movie, it made me think about our roles in local government.
Pardon the comparison between mobsters and managers. We obviously operate on opposite ends of the legal spectrum and our forms of persuasion are far more, shall we say, delicate. But when it comes to working behind the scenes, out of the spotlight, and making great contributions without great recognition, we have things in common with Moe Greene. Many communities have been shaped by our peers and those managers who came before us. Most of those folks never had a plaque, or a sign post, or a statue erected in their honor.
There are a few nice exceptions to that rule. Farmington Hills has the Costick Center, named after one of my mentors, Bill Costick. Frankenmuth’s first Village Manager, Herbert L. Keinath, like Moe Greene, had a vision. In 1938, he became Frankenmuth’s first manager. His vision was for a town in the middle of the fertile Saginaw Valley that celebrates its Bavarian heritage and plants as many petunias, strings as many Christmas lights, and flies as many flags and banners as the Beautification Committee can manage. Build it, and beautify it, and they will come – and they sure did.
Unlike Moe Greene, Herbert Keinath has a street, a park, a fountain, and an annual award for distinguished community service all named after him. More importantly, Keinath established the role of a professional manager as an invaluable part of the fabric of Frankenmuth. In 2016, the city hired only its fourth manager since 1938, Bridget Smith. She succeeded Charlie Graham, who managed Frankenmuth for 37 years. Somebody laid a solid foundation there.
Most of us won’t receive those kind of public accolades, and most of us aren’t really interested in that, anyway. Our rewards come in a much different form. When we drive through town and see a building that might have never been there without our contribution behind the scenes, when we champion an idea, fend off challenges from skeptics, allay the fears of our community, and bring a project to fruition, then we hear people say “that was a great idea we had.” That’s our reward. Better yet, when we mentor an employee who goes on to do great things, we know that our skills and values get passed on and the good work gets multiplied. When we crunch the numbers, sit through meetings, review the legal opinions, draft the press releases, and proudly watch our mayors cut the ribbons, we know we helped our community achieve a dream. When a common citizen gets a fair shake, and the movers and shakers are treated the same way, that’s our reward. No plaques needed.
Patrick Sullivan
President, Michigan Municipal Executives; Manager, City of Northville
Patrick Sullivan has been the Northville city manager since March 2006. His previous governmental experience included 10 years as superintendent of the City of St. Clair; four years as assistant village manager and village clerk of Beverly Hills; manager of the Village of New Haven; and township clerk of Lenox Township.You may reach him at phone or email