For complicated tasks, you should be creative. That is what the mayor of one city did. One day he changed his smart, perfectly ironed suits to terrible and dirty outfits. Why did he do that? To find out the truth!
That experiment, indeed, helped him a lot. However, it also revealed some of the details about his team, that he was not willing and ready to find out...
A True Leader
A true leader will always have a pure intention to guide his people towards the right path. He is always willing to display integrity and encourages his people to act according to ethical standards. And Ben McAdams was one of those individuals.
Ben McAdams was the mayor of Salt Lake City in Utah, USA. He was an American politician who has served with passion and dedication as a city mayor. However, there's one particular thing that incredibly influenced the way he was perceived by his team and community.
Ben McAdams as a Leader
Ben McAdams had always worked to improve the lives of ordinary people in his city. He had always had the zeal for service to other people. As a leader, Ben McAdams is a well-spoken and responsible man.
Gradually, his efforts and actions have led to good results. Indeed, he is taking visible measures to give his people the best outcome that he could strive for as the city mayor. He has also been a role model and a great example of a true leader.
The Remaining Problem
Despite Ben McAdams' tremendous efforts in addressing the issues and concerns of his people, there is still a remaining problem left which is homelessness. He had a hard time managing the issue because even if they are already offering home shelters to the homeless people, they still keep on leaving the home shelters.
Then, they go back to living in the streets. This was a challenge for Ben because all he ever wanted was to give them a better life. Hence, he came up with some creative ideas!
Fullfledged Members of the Society
Together with his city officials, Ben McAdams has worked for hand in hand to help the homeless people. They have done so much to make the local homeless people become full-fledged members of society.
With their purpose of helping the homeless, they have opened special shelters to those in need of access to beds and food. Additionally, home shelters are designed to also give homeless people the feeling of being home.
Large Amount of Money Invested
The city has been taking initial steps to give homeless people the same privilege as those who aren’t. A large amount of money was invested in acting on specific plans to provide the homeless people an acceptable way of coping with their current situations.
The government has been giving them much attention. Despite this fact, homeless people still prefer to avoid the shelters for some reason.
Same Answer
The city mayor has been so curious as to why there was no positive feedback about the programs they are giving the homeless people. His officials just kept on giving him the same answers. They say that homeless people are lazy and they are unwilling to change anything in their life.
Homeless people would instead like to spend their nights on the street rather than at a specialized center. With this, Ben has been confused about what was happening.
Seeing for Himself
Getting the same answers from his officials, Ben had not initially taken their word for what they kept on contending. He decided to see it for himself. He wanted to identify what was hindering the homeless people from living in home shelters to have been given more care and support.
He wanted to do something else. When all was said and done, he had come up with a plan that he knew would help him discover what the truth was.
Acting as a Homeless Person
Ben McAdams has decided to act like a homeless person. He took off his expensive suit one day and changed it into dirty jeans and a baggy sweater. He has acted as if he was also a homeless one so that he will be able to sympathize with the other homeless people on the street.
Through this, the city mayor believed that he would have the chance to learn the perspective of being a homeless person and personally know their sentiments.
Exploring the Streets
He left his comfortable office and went to explore the streets and garbage dumps. Ben McAdams only took his phone for emergencies. He also had a bag of some old clothes and a piece of canvas with him.
This made him look no different from any other homeless person because he had come to stay with them as he tried to seek their proper circumstances. Thus, he became one of them, at least on the outside.
Seemed to be Invisible
Ben McAdams had a hard time at first. But over time, he has adapted to living as one of the homeless people in their county streets. Now that he was homeless, he seemed to be invisible. People just walked by him, and they pretended as if he weren’t there at all.
The small donations he got were barely enough for a light snack because he had left his wallet behind. He was treated like he was nobody, just like how they are treating the other homeless people.
Lawn of Rio Grande
Having to experience literally starving all the time, Ben McAdams has realized the poor conditions of the homeless people in their county. During the experiment, the mayor in disguise spent his first night on the lawn of Rio Grande.
The Rio Grande is a troubled neighborhood, and the place was known to be a home for many beggars. There, he was able to meet other homeless people, too, and share the hard time they were experiencing.
Testimony of the Homeless
Upon coming in contact with the other homeless people, Ben tried to find out why they preferred sleeping outside even if they were offered to stay in the home shelters designed especially for them. One of his unfortunate compatriots casually told him violence and drug abuse is being freely flourished in the homeless centers.
His compatriot then added that the local administration is simply turning a blind eye to it. The city mayor was shocked by the testimony of the homeless man.
Additional Discoveries
The homeless man also added that you could not just lose all your belongings at the homeless center, but your health. He then talked about how often the staff mishandled the residents that are in the centers.
The team has also demanded money from them. The city mayor took the words of the homeless with a grain of salt. He cannot believe how the things that the homeless said could even be possible.
Verifying the Information
Still, in the state of confusion, Ben McAdams had come to verify the information that the homeless man had testified to him. The next night, the city mayor, who was still disguised as a homeless man, had come personally to the state homeless shelter.
Clueless about what he would see, the mayor has bravely taken his investigation to the next level. People still do not recognize him, or neither did they have any idea about who he was.
Few Tips
As soon as the newly made beggar entered the home shelter, he began to settle down on his bunk. His compassionate neighbor gave him a few tips on how to get through the things they will face at the shelter.
He told Ben McAdams to leave his shoes on when he went to bed so that they would not be stolen, just like the other personal belongings. He advised him too to not visit the restroom at night to avoid unnecessary problems.
Shocking Turn of Events
The last advice of the compassionate neighbor that the mayor had met was to be as quiet as possible if he wanted to see the dawn. Ben was shocked by this turn of events.
He never thought there would be a reason why the homeless do not prefer to stay at the shelter. He believed that it was just a minor issue to tackle, but he was wrong. It was something that he never expected to witness with his own eyes.
Mayor Found Out Everything
Eventually, the mayor found out everything. His subordinates have been giving him lies all this time. They had told him that the homeless people were simply lazy and there were no other problems. But Ben wouldn't be Ben if he hadn't gotten to the bottom of it.
He has now come to realize how vile is the horrible actions that his subordinates have performed. He has simply gathered all the evidence that made the home shelter not considered a refuge for the homeless.
Secrets of the Home Shelters
More secrets of the home shelter came to the knowledge of the mayor. He heard a strange fuss in the room. Later on, he sensed a pungent smell of illegal substances. Other than that, he also saw strange-looking people roaming around the shelter, looking instead like criminals than the homeless.
The strange-looking people are casually chatting with the staff and the guards of the shelter. They would walk in and out again.
Shelter Residents are Afraid
With these unpleasant deeds happening in the home shelter, the shelter residents cannot hide the fact that they were afraid of what more there could be in their duration of staying at the shelter. They fear looking in the direction of the queer-looking people who are present.
It all looked as if the shelter was living according to its own rules and regulations. With this, the mayor can undoubtedly say that it was not the way he hoped it to be.
Staff’s Reaction
Ben McAdams felt ill at ease while expressing his disappointment on how the shelter has turned out to be a dreadful place. He anticipated that the home shelter was welcoming to the homeless people, but seeing how things worked there was not at all.
However, what shocked him the most was the staff’s reaction to his remark about the strange-looking people. The staff has just told him to stay out of it and go to sleep or leave the shelter.
What Happens in the Shelter
The mayor then spent the remaining of the night quietly just watching what was going on. That night showed the mayor what was truly happening in the shelter. Fights and violence, theft and illegal substances, suspicious-looking people, and the staff’s indifference were what he figured out.
The mayor saw it with his own eyes, and he came to understand why the homeless people tried to avoid going into the home shelter.
Undercover Operation
The undercover operation of the city mayor lasted for two days and three nights. What was more interesting about it was that it was kept as a secret. The mayor didn’t reveal what he did to anyone except for his assistant.
The whole thing was challenging for Ben McAdams. Still, he found it all worthy because he got to discern the underlying facts about the things going on in the shelter, which was somehow unsatisfactory.
The Story was Publicized
Even after the undercover operation, no one had recognized the city mayor who had disguised himself as a homeless man. It was only after four months that the story of the mayor was publicized.
The county people were amazed by how their city mayor took all the courage to do such action. Thus, the undercover operation has resulted in a good outcome as it has revealed the true colors of the mayor’s subordinates.
New Modern Shelter
It was important for Ben to find out what was going on before choosing a site for a new modern shelter. He still cannot comprehend that he was in deep shock by how things went at the homeless center. The things that were happening in the shelter were not precisely how he desired it to be.
He had always wanted to give what could bring his people good, but then his subordinates had let him down in his advocacy. The mayor had then disclosed that the letters that he had been receiving turned out to be false. The false reports have brought him into the perception that his subordinates had betrayed him and they had broken the mayor’s trust in them.
False Reports
They were expected to perform their duties and responsibilities up to the extent of serving the county and the people. Sadly, they weren’t that capable of performing their work correctly. According to the rules of the shelter, all bags and other items must be examined by the guards. Moreover, the staff is supposed to keep everything in the shelter in order but none of these are appropriately implemented.
The mayor had then come to the order to dismiss everyone responsible for this area, starting from the city officials and ending with the director of the center and his staff. After everything was said and done, the mayor said that he would personally and thoroughly engage in new reforms.
Engaging in New Reforms
These recent reforms will be designed to change the lives of the homeless for the better. The mayor hopes that with the new set of reforms and officials, he will be able to comprehensively conduct his platform in bringing the homeless people their privilege. Overall, the mayor has shown the excellent leadership that the county people longed for.
People have always aimed for better governance. They have always hoped for a government that is truthful, justifiable, and compassionate. Hence, it is already in our senses of knowledge that we are the ones who put people in positions and power to lead us. How about you? Who do you vote for? A person with great qualities of a leader or a person that’s just full of promises? Thus, we should become critical thinkers in situations like these because we should think of our own benefits and the common good for the whole nation.