Finding enough common ground to establish a workable agreement between each faction is the ombudsman's primary objective. It is an advocate for problem resolution. Only three criteria must be met. This includes an impartial investigation of governmental decisions as well as a nonjudgmental assessment of each party's expectations. Once a workable agreement is reached, the accord is put in writing and signed by all parties.
All resolutions are strictly voluntary.
Before any conflict can be resolved, each party must be willing to look at other sides of the issues. When everyone works together, it is likely that each side will walk away with some of what they wanted to achieve, but it is unrealistic to expect everything. The goal is to find enough common ground to develop a workable agreement that everyone can live with. During the last two years, he was the EPA Region IV ombudsman. Prior to joining EPA, Mr. Wilson served as a public affairs officer in the U.S. Army.