The Ombuds Blog: City of Gainesville Considering Ombuds

April 29, 2022

City of Gainesville Considering Ombuds

Commissioners for the city in northern Florida (which is home to the University of Florida) are looking into creating an Ombuds program. A proposal to create a new city department came before the the Gainesville City Commission this week. The backup material do not specify who the Ombuds would serve or how much it would cost.

Morgan Spicer, the city's interim policy oversight administrator, presented the commission with a detailed report on the proposal and referenced two other municipalities with Ombuds: the Town of Chapel Hill and the City of Seattle. (Gainesville Sun.)

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Organizational Ombuds

Organizational Ombuds serve as a confidential, independent, neutral and informal dispute resolution resource for a specific entity. They are accessible to a defined population and can advocate for fairness. These unique characteristics distinguish Organizational Ombuds from Classical Ombuds, mediators, arbitrators, and other alternative dispute resolution professionals. The term "Ombuds" is shorthand for "Ombudsman," "Ombudsperson" and "Ombuds Officer," which also are used widely.

Some other variants include:

Austria -- Ombudsstelle

Brazil -- Ouvidor

Croatia -- pravobranitelji

France -- médiateur/defénseur

Germany -- Ombudspersonen

Italy -- difensore

Netherlands -- ombudspersoon

Norway -- ombudet

Poland -- Rzecznik

Portugal -- provedor

Russia -- омбудсмен

Spain -- ombudsman organizacional

Sweden -- studentombud

Switzerland -- ombudsmann

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April 29, 2022

City of Gainesville Considering Ombuds

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