COMMENTARY A Plausible Psychological Explanation: Why the Mayor & City Council Members Do Not Listen to the Concerns of Their Constituents

councilwoman Victoria Beach read aloud Clause 9 — the requirement to protect Stilwell’s professional reputation — and asked for help honoring it, even though the clause has nothing to do with the public, the media or anyone not in an official position with the city.  “I’m asking the public to help with this Clause 9.  It’s what we pledged to do; what we are obligated to do,” she said.  “We hope they will help us to do that.”

Theis said they “really took into consideration how necessary it was to make sure that we treated everyone respectfully.”
“This is not an easy situation to be in, and it took hours to work out and to get to this point,” she continued. “I think the public has suffered, but as council members and city attorney, it hasn’t been an easy time, either.”

Councilman Ken Talmage said the $25,000 to $30,000 extra is in exchange for the “full release of all known information and a smooth transition to a new city administrator who’s already on the job, and closure on this matter,” he said. “We would not have been able to move forward as promptly as we did in hiring a new city administrator.”

“This is a business decision,” he (Mayor Jason Burnett) said. “In this case, it comes down to whether it’s worth the $25,000 to $30,000 that this agreement provides beyond the contract, and in my judgment, it’s worth it and a lot more to this organization that we have a new city administrator as of yesterday.”

Source: Agreement: Council won’t take Stilwell to court or impugn his reputation, By MARY SCHLEY, The Carmel Pine Cone, October 10, 2014, 1A & 15A

The aforementioned statements by Mayor Jason Burnett and City Council Members Victoria Beach, Carrie Theis and Ken Talmage, specifically referring to protecting “Stilwell’s professional reputation,” treating everyone “respectfully,” $30,000 extra for “closure on this matter” and “a new city administrator as of yesterday,“ reflect a mayor and city council members attentive to the concerns of Jason Stilwell and themselves.  But, during 2013, with city employees being placed on paid administrative leave, fired or resigned, including Linda Macdonald, Children’s Librarian (Fired, March 2013), Molly Laughlin, Deputy City Clerk (Fired, March 2013), Art Black and Tim Meroney (Suspended Inspections Agreement, April 2013), John Hanson, Building Official (Paid Administrative Leave, June 2013; Fired August 2013), Steve McInchak, IT Manager and Rose Franzen, Computer Tech (Paid Administrative Leaves, June 2013; Criminal Investigation of McInchak “Closed,” December 2013, Administrative Investigation “Ongoing”), Heidi Burch, Assistant City Administrator/City Clerk (Resigned, October 2013), Margi Perotti and Leslie Fenton, Administrative Coordinators, Community Planning & Building Department (Paid Administrative Leaves, October 2013; Fired April 2014) and Catherine Raynor, City Clerk (Terminated Employment, July 2014), the mayor and then-city council members were inattentive to their concerns.  Moreover, in 2013 and 2014, the mayor and city council members did not listen to the concerns of their constituents. Why? Recent psychology research may explain why. 

In “Wealth and the Inflated Self: Class, Entitlement, and Narcissism,” Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin 2014, Vol. 40 (1) 34 –43, Paul K. Piff, Assistant Professor of Psychology & Social Behavior, University of California, Irvine, Department of Psychology and Social Behavior (Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley), wrote about his research aimed at testing his hypothesis that ”upper-class individuals will exhibit increased narcissism and will do so, in part, because of their increased sense of entitlement.” “Narcissism is a multifaceted construct characterized by an inflated view of the self, a self-aggrandizing and dominant orientation toward others, increased grandiosity, and heightened feelings of uniqueness and individualism (Emmons, 1984; Raskin & Terry, 1988; Twenge et al., 2008). One of the primary determinants of narcissism is psychological entitlement (Brown, Budzek, & Tamborski, 2009)—a sense that one deserves more and is more important than others (Campbell, Bonacci, Shelton, Exline, & Bushman, 2004). Entitlement is a global and pervasive dimension of the self-concept that orients the individual toward maintaining an enhanced status vis-à-vis others and, as such, is a primary motivator of narcissistic tendencies (Brown et al., 2009; Campbell et al., 2004; Exline, Baumeister, Bushman, Campbell, & Finkel, 2004).”

“Five studies demonstrated that higher social class is associated with increased entitlement and narcissism. Upper-class individuals reported greater psychological entitlement (Studies 1a, 1b, and 2) and narcissistic personality tendencies (Study 2), and they were more likely to behave in a narcissistic fashion by opting to look at themselves in a mirror (Study 3). Finally, inducing egalitarian values in upper-class participants decreased their narcissism to a level on par with their lower-class peers (Study 4),” according to the research.

Arguably then, some of the City of Carmel-by-the-Sea’s city council members exhibit narcissistic tendencies attributed, in part, to their increased sense of entitlement.  Narcissism and a sense of entitlement can explain, in part, how it was that the mayor and city council members, despite city employees being placed on paid administrative leaves, firings and resignation, and vocal concerns expressed by constituents, praised Jason Stilwell’s performance, extended his contract to 2017 with a raise in salary and benefits in December 2013, refused to consider the PETITION TO TERMINATE THE CURRENT CITY ADMINISTRATOR seriously and, to this day, continue in office without any publicly articulated thoughts about their own culpability for the Jason Stilwell/Susan Paul “reign of terror at city hall” and reasons why, for accountability purposes, they deserve to continue representing Carmelites as city council members.

Only, as supported by the findings in Study 4, when narcissistic and entitled individuals are reminded of egalitarian ideals do they begin to think of others, empathize with others and listen to other individuals’ viewpoints and concerns.  Needless to say, constituents should not have to remind their elected city council members of their duties, responsibilities and obligations, but we, the people, must constantly remind our city council members that they are in their respective positions of governmental power to represent us, the people, not themselves, and to do what is in the best interest of the community and, we, the people, they took a oath to serve.

 
REFERENCES:
Wealth and the Inflated Self: Class, Entitlement, and Narcissism, Paul K. Piff
Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin 2014, Vol 40 (1) 34 –43

Science
Study finds wealth gives rise to a sense of entitlement and narcissistic behaviors

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25 Aug. 2013

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By Arthur Stern  August 28, 2013, News.Mic

Written & Published by L. A. Paterson