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They reduce backlogs of city business, free paid employees to meet the needs of residents and expand services.
By Dacus Thompson, League staff
In 1990, Fritz Friedl brought to the forefront an idea that would both help North Little Rock's municipal government and the city's residents. The idea was volunteerism, and Friedl spent months scouting the country for municipal volunteer programs so he wouldn't have to "reinvent the wheel," he said. Fifteen years later, Friedl still is North Little Rock's director of volunteers, and the program he initiated is one of the most successful volunteer programs in the state, and possibly the country. The retiree has tried several avenues to spread volunteerism in municipal governments around the state, including multiple presentations at League conferences and conventions, but Friedl said cities are slow to the taking. "City governments are skeptical of outsiders," he said. "They're concerned that they may make a mistake that will be reported back to somewhere else." City & Town sat down with Friedl, who is a volunteer himself, to discuss why there aren't more municipal government volunteer programs, what cities can do to get started and what volunteerism means to a communities well-being. City & Town: How did you start North Little Rock's volunteer program?
Friedl: We did research of the volunteer literature from around the country, but we found only 17 municipal volunteer programs in the United States. Two of those programs were particularly helpful to us-one in New Orleans and another in San Leandro, Calif. So we just borrowed some of their stuff, and they were very free with it. We looked at all of their literature and talked with them, and then we developed our own plan to present to the city.
C&T: How did the North Little Rock City Council respond to the plan you presented?
Friedl: At first, I had an alderman tell me he was going to vote against the program because he was against expanding city government. He said it was going to cost money that the city didn't have, but the city saves money when it has volunteers because it speeds up work when there's another set of eyes. If the volunteer wasn't there, then that work would probably not get done. Each year the Gallup [Organization] does a survey rating what every volunteer is worth. Last year, the money equivalency of our 250 volunteers was $3.6 million. It cost us overall $4,800 to run our volunteer program for the year.
C&T: Were there any other problems starting out?
Friedl: Initially, there was a lot of skepticism. But the fact that the mayor and city council had bought into it and that we had a short training program to explain what we were doing smoothed the transition. We told them we weren't there to spy on them and that we were simply there to help, that we wanted to take on some of their routine tasks. We had a network setup on how to do it, so it worked pretty well.
C&T: How has the program developed?
Friedl: We started out by developing recruitment flyers and passed them out. We used the city's radio and TV stations to advertise jobs that were available. We advertised in the free slots in the newspapers. But over the years, our program has evolved to the extent that most people just call us. We're on the city's Web site and in the telephone directory, and all of our department heads know us, so if anyone is looking to volunteer, they know where to find us. C&T: What are some advantages to building a volunteer program?
Friedl: Probably the biggest advantage is to develop a civic-minded spirit in the community. When people get involved, they find out how the government works and that they can make a difference. Volunteers are generally very supportive of the current administration, so it'll show up in the polls. It'll show up in support of city projects. The other thing is that it creates an appreciative and supportive body in the community, particularly among retirees who realize that having something specific to do every day prolongs their life. Some people don't have hobbies, and they're looking for avenues to express themselves and give back to the community. A volunteer program is a good public service for the citizenry. When they get a chance to get involved in the government and express their opinions-not formally, necessarily, but indirectly through service-that helps the government work.
C&T: What should be the objective of a volunteer program?
Friedl: A lot of people think volunteer programs are about replacing paid staff with volunteers, but that is not an objective of our program. We try to help the routine backlog with volunteers so the paid staff can expand their services to the city. The purpose of volunteers is to expand services, not contract them. Almost every job has these assignment projects that create backlogs, so we try to take care of these routine backlogs with volunteers to free up the paid staff to immediately address customers and consumers and get things done. For example, services like signing up for utilities: There's always a backlog of people trying to sign up for electricity, and a lot of times those applications stack up and bog down the whole system. The person who's managing those applications has to take care of everyone who comes through the door and doesn't have time for the applications. We want to help with that backlog. We want to enhance public services.
C&T: Is there a high turnover rate with most volunteers?
Friedl: Most volunteers underestimate their own time. I have people saying, "I want to volunteer, and I can do it every afternoon for three hours." I tell them right off, "No." They overcommit themselves and then they find out that other things-church, fishing, taking their grandkids to kindergarten-interfere with their volunteer assignments. We start volunteers out at two half-days a week. And if they want to expand, then we work with them on that. Volunteers don't stay with you forever. Many times they'll come in and say, "Well, this is not for me," or have a personality clash or whatever and they'll leave. For every two volunteers I sign up, I'll lose one in the space of about 12 months. But others stay with you for a long time. I've had people die in place. I've had some for 14 years. I've got one lady who's been with us for years who volunteers at several different places during the week.
C&T: What's the key to maintaining a strong program once it's established?
Friedl: When you get a volunteer, you have to do everything you can to keep them. You have to talk to and greet and thank them every day. You have to make them feel appreciated. Some organizations require their volunteers to work 20 hours a week. My view is a little bit different. I'll take a volunteer for however much time they want to give. First of all, you can't require a volunteer to do anything since they're unpaid staff. And I know that whatever we get from them-whether it is one or two hours a week-that we're getting something that we didn't have before. We try to make everything as smooth as possible. If they have to leave, that's okay. We just ask that they call us and let us know.
C&T: How should interested cities get started on a volunteer program?
Friedl: The first thing to do is to identify someone who is going to be in charge of it. Whether it's a volunteer or a paid staff person, they should be on the mayor's staff. The next thing they need to do is kind of get on the books. If you're going to have a program, it ought to be in the city's ordinances. It should be approved by the mayor or city council so they know, so they've bought into it, in other words. I've got all the background to all the similar programs around the country and the things that they have done. I can show them the documentation we use. We have no copyright on any of this stuff. We'll give cities all of our materials. So they can contact a consultant from the [Arkansas Department of Human Services] Division of Volunteerism or contact me, since I'm the one who's usually assigned. We extend an offer to come to cities and towns to help them set up a program at no cost, except maybe mileage. We'll come into cities and show them what we're doing and figure out how they can fit it into their scheme. There's no sense in reinventing the wheel. We just want to help cities.
For more information on municipal volunteer programs, visit the Arkansas Department of Human Services Division of Volunteerism at www.state.ar.us/dhs/adov. Contact Fritz Friedl at 501-791-8516 or ffriedl@northlittlerock.ar.gov.
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