Abstract:
This case tells the story of a public campaign to halt plans to close, for budgetary reasons, a local weather service office, whose forecasting functions would be assumed by other larger offices in the area equipped with state-of-the art radar technologies. Opponents of the plan, which had been in the works for several years, argue that it would result in poorer forecasting services for the city, thereby jeopardizing the safety of the community and the viability of its sizable recreational industry. In addition to the manager of the office itself--who has made public, via the press, his own opposition to the move--the forces lined up against the closure include volunteer weather observers, a concerned citizens organization, city and county officials, and a US senator up for re-election. "Verna Edwards," the regional manager of the National Weather Service, who had hoped that the Lake City Weather Service Office would be phased out without incident, now faces the decision of whether-and how-she should respond to the increasingly vocal opposition to the closing of a valued local institution.
Learning Objective:
The case raises the question of how public officials with the discretion to do so should weigh specific interests against their own understanding of the general interest, as well as the question of how to handle decisions that could affect their own careers.
