Democracy Planted in Serbia

Christina Leonard
The Arizona Republic
December 26, 2003

Standing in line at the Motor Vehicle Division or Clerk of the Court's Office may not add much to the average Joe's daily life, but those experiences proved invaluable for 40-year-old Jim Bloom.

The Mesa native spent a year in Serbia, using his knowledge of local government to advance democracy and to help establish user-friendly administrative offices.

Bloom, chief of staff for Maricopa County Supervisor Andy Kunasek, took a leave of absence to work in the former communist country with the International Republican Institute. The private, non-profit organization based in Washington, D.C., is dedicated to promoting democracy worldwide.

An acquaintance had contacted Bloom about volunteering. After hesitating initially, he decided he couldn't pass up the opportunity.

"I thought I have to try this or I'd be kicking myself forever," he said. "I imagined it the most glamorous thing in the world. I thought it would be really cool to live in Europe, and I thought it would be fun."

Serbia wasn't exactly what he expected: "Belgrade is not Paris. It's not the Europe you see in travel brochures."

Bloom said that after decades of communist rule, the once-beautiful city of Belgrade was allowed to deteriorate. The area is recovering from years of war and suffering under former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, who ruled for 13 years.

While in Serbia, Bloom did everything from coaching politicians about how to communicate with constituents to setting up "one-stop shops" for government documents.

"It was a mess, frankly," he said. "They were a bunch of smart folks. They know what democracy was, but they didn't know how to do it."

On his first day, Bloom said he attended a press conference about the government raising electricity rates, and the official refused to answer any questions and "turned on her heels in a huff."

"We had to explain to them: Look, good policy is good politics," he said. "You need to stay elected. And to stay elected, you need to please people."

Bloom said he modeled government services from what he learned at offices such as Arizona's Motor Vehicle Division, the county's planning and zoning department, and Clerk of the Court's Office.

"A lot of it was just teaching these guys how to be nice to customers and why it's good to be nice," Bloom said.

Marguerite Sullivan is the International Republican Institute's vice president of communications and external affairs. She said that Bloom offered fantastic ideas about service delivery.

"The people absolutely adored him," she said. "They were devastated he was leaving. He was personable, clear, direct. He's a fabulous communicator."

The federally funded organization, established in 1983, works with more than 50 countries, training political parties, mayors and legislators. The democratic process doesn't always come easy, or quickly, though.

"You can't just immediately become the United States, or Britain or France; otherwise you cause problems downstream," Bloom said.