In an era of growing polarization, anger and deriding opposing viewpoints, the Municipal Association of SC board of directors undertook a civility initiative to promote positive discourse and relationship-building at the local government level, even in the face of disagreements. Since the formal launch of the initiative at the Association’s 2022 Annual Meeting, that effort has grown dramatically, with at least a dozen other municipal leagues across the U.S. pursuing civility as a priority, and a sharpening focus on civility among South Carolinian cities and towns.
Here’s a look at some of the civility-related highlights from 2023:
SC School Board Association partnership
The focus on civility in local government has gained attention nationwide, but in South Carolina, the Municipal Association has gained a valuable partner in the SC School Boards Association. Earlier this year, the two associations announced a partnership to encourage local elected officials to adopt civility policies for their meetings and interactions with one another.
In October, the two associations came together for a joint training session on verbal conflict led by Harry Dolan of the Dolan Consulting Group, a retired police chief who teaches communication skills that can deescalate volatile situations.
Before the event, Municipal Association Executive Todd Glover and SCSBA Director Scott Price recorded a podcast with Dolan to discuss how civility in public meetings can go wrong, and how to get it back on track. Keeping conflict under control in a contentious setting, Dolan said, requires the ability to listen to people who are explaining why they are upset over an issue, providing them adequate time to express their feelings, and finally paraphrasing what they have said back to them to demonstrate understanding of their points — an important part of the concept of active listening. “The most powerful word in the English language, in my opinion, is empathy — to be able to see the world through someone else’s eyes,” Dolan said.
Civility resources
To launch the civility initiative, the Municipal Association developed a wide array of resources for public bodies to adopt and use. These include a sample civility resolution, a ceremonial version of the sample resolution that councils can use for display, as well as a letter-size and poster-size version of the civility resolution. Many cities and town councils — like those in Inman and Newberry — have now adopted these.
During Hometown Legislative Action Day in February, Anderson Mayor Terence Roberts and Municipal Association staff staged the “Council of Errors,” a mock public meeting to illustrate common problems like voting on items not placed on the agenda or entering executive session without stating the reason. It also covered some key civility errors as well — elected officials picking fights with news reporters, or levying personal attacks on fellow councilmembers. The video version of the “Council of Errors” is available online.
Another civility resource in 2023 came from Matt Lehrman of Social Prosperity Partners. A nationally renowned speaker, Lehrman delivered the keynote address during the 2022 Annual Meeting that launched the civility focus, articulating how leaders could defeat conflict through “courageous conversations,” in which they admit to not having all the answers and showing a willingness to listen.
More recently, Lehrman wrote an article for the July 2023 Uptown, covering ways that city officials can improve civility, either by purposefully welcoming disagreements, taking an interest in the full body of the city’s population rather than just like-minded residents, and finding ways to achieve valuable compromises.