The growth of social media. The COVID-19 pandemic.
“Those two things, when combined, made [working in municipal government] a little bit more challenging,” said Town Administrator Patrice Garvin. “Social media was always there, but as the sites have grown, the number of social media platforms have grown, each year it has become more of an issue.”
The public’s lack of trust in government at the federal level has also affected the way the public interacts with other public-facing government employees, including those in municipal government. A Pew Charitable Trust study in 2023 found that 79% of Americans use negative words to describe their feelings about politicians, the two most common being “divisive” and “corrupt. “ Only 16% say they trust the federal government always or most of the time, and 61% of the public said talking about politics with people they disagree with is stressful and frustrating.
“The lack of trust … has trickled down to some extent,” said Garvin, who has worked in local government for 20 years. Other department heads, too, said they hear references to the federal government at local meetings.
Anecdotally, not just in Belmont but nationwide, public-facing employees, both public and private, are experiencing more incivility than ever in their online and in-person interactions.
“The ease of making a comment on Facebook … takes away how personal of an attack it could be,” said Human Resources Director Kelli King.
“It’s easy to sit behind a screen,” added Community Services Director Brandon Fitts.
In 2022, Christine Porath, a professor of management at Georgetown University, surveyed 2,000 people in more than 25 industries in various roles across the globe. Of those respondents, 76% responded that they experience incivility at least once a month, 78% witness incivility at work at least once a month, and 70% witness it at least two to three times a month. The results of the survey were published in the Harvard Business Review.
In Porath’s 2005 survey, by comparison, half of all workers surveyed said they were treated rudely at work at least once a month. In 2011, that increased to 55% of respondents, and in 2016, it increased to 62%.
Frustrations and COVID’S Impact
Often, it’s a case of misplaced frustration, said Library Director Peter Struzziero — residents with issues in their personal life, a recent medical diagnosis, for example — start an argument with a librarian over a late fee for a library book. But with a door count larger than most public buildings, “even if 1% of those people pitch a fit, that’s eight or 10 people a day,” he said.
Still, Struzziero said most employees find it a “largely positive” experience working in Belmont.
“There’s a lot of citizens that are very passionate … and they want to contribute, and that’s great,” he said.
According to Garvin, the COVID pandemic brought many new participants to the table at public meetings. Increased participation has benefited the community because more perspectives are considered on any one topic.
“It’s good to see meetings are not the same people,” she said. “No one was engaged before.”
On the flip side, long-brewing, much-discussed issues can seem brand-new to people who are just becoming engaged in town government and town issues, which can spark frustration and anger.
Fitts, who has worked in local government for over a decade, said hybrid meetings are a double-edged sword. While they benefit the public by creating additional avenues for participation, they also serve as a screen for people to hide behind.
“You miss the humanistic [element],” he said, noting tone and body language contribute to misunderstandings or misinterpretation.
According to Struzziero, disinformation has also contributed to elevated tension on various issues in the last decade or so. This is partly due to the ease with which people can access information on social media, whether or not it’s accurate.
Council on Aging
The issue of civility toward municipal employees jumped into the spotlight this summer as the town began reorganizing the Council on Aging. Some COA employees became the target of public ire as the process went along. At least one individual received a written warning for what the Select Board deemed a credible employee complaint.
The warning stipulates the individual, who served on the Council on Aging until her resignation in November, “must immediately desist from any and all efforts to “misuse your position to direct, instruct, harass, intimidate, threaten, coerce, or otherwise act toward town employees in a way that exposes the town to reasonable claims that you are creating a hostile work environment for its employees.”
“Change is never easy,” Garvin said. “I think there was a lot of misinformation, in particular.”
That misinformation can take many forms. At one point, Garvin heard rumors that the town planned to add a third floor to the Beech Street Center.
“We’re in a time, post-COVID, where communication through technology is really prevalent,” Fitts said. “You’re seeing less use of paper … and you have this aging population who is still very ink and paper – they want the physical thing. One of the ways town government is going to have to change is finding ways to communicate with different generations and forms of media.”
Despite the sometimes challenging work environment, the department heads did not feel, on the whole, that it deters others from choosing to work in municipal government.
“A lot of people who work in public service are mission-driven,” King said. “They’re in public service because they want to be in public service. I think that’s something that is really important in helping folks stay here: They believe in the impact they’re making.”