Berkley City Councilman Steve Baker Headed to Harvard

Berkley City Councilman Steve Baker has been selected to attend Harvard University this summer as part of a prestigious fellowship program for government officials.

The Southeast Michigan Council of Governments selected Baker – along with Wayne County Commissioner Kevin McNamara – for the Taubman Company's Fellowship for Executive Excellence, which it administers. As Taubman fellows, Baker and McNamara will spend three weeks studying in the Senior Executives in State and Local Government program at the John F. Kennedy School of Government in Cambridge, MA.

"We’ve been delighted to sponsor this program since its inception 23 years ago," Taubman Company Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer Robert S. Taubman said in a press release. "It is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for local government leaders to interact with colleagues from around the world and broaden their perspectives."

Baker, a SEMCOG member and Michigan Municipal League trustee, said he is looking forward to learning skills and concepts he can apply regionally and in Berkley. He plans to focus on the following six topics, Baker said.

• Leadership: Exerting informal, influential leadership in the absence of direct authority.
• Negotiations: Moving beyond positional bargaining toward mutual interest bargaining, so neither party feels they've lost.
• Public-private partnerships: Finding ways municipal, county, state and federal government agencies can partner with businesses and associations to achieve common goals, such as regional transit along Woodward Avenue.
• Cooperative governance: Streamlining operations and working in partnership with neighbors to share programs, ideas and resources.
• Behavioral decision making: Understanding what motivates others to improve interactions.
• Micro-economics: Learning to better understand how to apply the public resources in a prudent manner and find ways to invest wisely.

Participants will stay on campus, do assignments and attend workshops, Baker said.

"It's very intensive," said Baker, who will attend the program from July 8-26. "You have very limited contacted with the outside world."

The councilman will fund his transportation to and from Harvard and the fellowship will cover tuition, registration and lodging – meaning the experience comes at no cost to Berkley, he said.

Baker credited Huntington Woods City Commissioner and fellow MML and SEMCOG member Jeff Jenks – with whom he has worked closely on regional transit and other issues – with encouraging him to apply for the program.

"Councilmember Baker is a man of enormous integrity, sharp intellect and congenial personal style," Berkley Mayor Phil O'Dwyer wrote in the city's April newsletter. "He is to be congratulated on this great achievement."