PM Magazine, January 2020

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Don’t Fear the Stretch Assignment 8 Passport to Advancement 20 Recruitment, Retention, and Retirement 28

The CAREERS Issue PULL-OUT INSERT: EXECUTIVE RECRUITMENT DIRECTORY

JANUARY 2020 ICMA.ORG/PM

ICMA AWARDS

CALL FOR NOMINATIONS

CELEBRATING THE

DIFFERENCE professional local government management makes

Have you or a colleague made a significant difference in your community or to the profession? Have you implemented an innovative program that addressed a critical community need, improved the quality of life for residents, or saved your local government valuable resources?

If so, plan to nominate a colleague or program for the

2020 ICMA Awards.

U.S. and International nominations accepted.

Accepting Program Nominations January 6 – March 6, 2020 Visit icma.org/awards

JANUARY 2020 VOL. 102 NO. 1

CONTENTS PULL-OUT INSERT: EXECUTIVE RECRUITMENT DIRECTORY

F E AT U R E S

8 Don’t Fear the Stretch Assignment Challenging Career Opportunities Can Help You Improve a Community and Enrich Your Career Brad Townsend, ICMA-CM

12 A Manager’s Decision Guide for Difficult Human Resource Issues An Educational Tool for All Levels of Management and Supervision Personnel Kay Godbey, Ph.D., University of Texas at Arlington

16 Effective Training

Key to Equitable Performance Appraisals James Grabowski, Valerie Johnson, and Lynn Lohman, Elhmhurst, Illinois; and Robert J. Greene, Ph.D., and Peter Ronza, Pontifex

32 D E PA RT M E N T S 2 Ethics Matter!

20

Building an Ethical Culture

Passport to Advancement

4 Letter from the Guest Editor

U.S. Local Government Careers Strengthened

by International Experience Clay Pearson, Pearland, Texas

24 Opinion: Rethinking the Assistant/ Deputy City Manager Position Challenging the Local Government Profession to Consider a Different Perspective Edward Everett, ICMA-CM, Redwood City, California

28 Recruitment, Retention, and Retirement The Case for Auto-Enrollment Gerald Young, Center for State and Local Government Excellence

5 ICMA Award Spotlight St. Louis Park, Minnesota: Pathways to Policing

6 Women in Leadership Run the World: Women in Leadership

16

38 2019 Annual Conference Wrap-up 44 Professional Services Directory

32 Compassion Through Food

The San Antonio Food Bank’s Approach to Helping Asylum Seekers Feel at Home (Part 2 of 3) Jessica Dovalina and Eric Cooper; San Antonio, Texas

International City/County Management Association

Cover: Attendees of the 2019 ICMA Annual Conference in Nashville, Tennessee

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JANUARY 2020 | PUBLIC MANAGEMENT | 1

ETHICS MATTER!

Building an Ethical Culture Eight factors to consider

ICMA members, who adhere to the

MARTHA PEREGO, ICMA-CM, is director of member services and ethics director, ICMA, Washington, D.C. (mperego@icma.org).

ICMA Code of Ethics, are proud of their commitment to a very high ethical standard. But are we equally proud of the ethical climate of the organizations in which we work and lead? Have we demonstrated real leadership in promoting ethical behaviors and practices in our organizations?

The dawn of a new decade is the perfect time to focus on the ethical fitness and well-being of your organization.

There is no better time to either craft a thoughtful strategy for strengthening the ethical culture of the organization you lead or take stock of your efforts to date. Consider these factors that are critical to building an ethical culture: 1. The standard is set at the top. You can’t lead from the rear on this issue. In the mundane everyday activities as well as in the challenging moments, you set the ethical standard and tone. If you want to inspire your staff to the highest standard of conduct, you must model the conduct you want to see in others. As Stephen Covey noted, “What you do has far greater impact than what you say.” And when errors or missteps happen, you must demonstrate true accountability by taking personal responsibility and addressing the deficiencies.

2. Define the organization’s core values and the behaviors that support those values. ICMA members

can look to the ICMA Code of Ethics for values-based

International City/County

Public Management (PM) (USPS: 449-300) is published monthly by ICMA (the International City/County Management Association) at 777 North Capitol Street. N.E., Washington, D.C. 20002-4201. Periodicals postage paid at Washington, D.C., and at additional mailing offices. The opinions expressed in the magazine are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of ICMA.

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January 2020

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2 | PUBLIC MANAGEMENT | JANUARY 2020

BYMARTHA PEREGO, ICMA-CM

guidance on ethical dilemmas. Staff members who belong to other professional associations with a code of ethics get similar assistance. But employees who are not members of a professional association with a code of ethics are left without any guidance if their place of employment fails to define its core values and the behaviors that support those values.

Work to develop organizational values that will reduce ambiguity and provide individuals with some essential guidance on what’s expected and what’s right. As you develop your group’s values, use a process that engages elected officials and staff to achieve greater commitment to the values.

If your organization already has a code of ethics, is it still viable and does it influence conduct? Is there still clarity and agreement on the core values that drive critical decisions?

Remember that organizations or teams with shared values produce the best results.

3. Assess the organization’s culture. Wouldn’t some baseline information about attitudes and behaviors in the organization be helpful in crafting your strategy? For example, how would your staff respond to these statements: • • •

I work with people I can trust.

My supervisors are ethical in their decisions and conduct.

I am expected to report questionable behavior when I see it.

Public Management (PM) icma.org/pm ICMA 777 North Capitol Street, N.E. Washington, D.C. 20002-4201 EDITORIAL OFFICE: pm@icma.org ADVERTISING SALES: 202-367-2497 Tilman Gerald The Townsend Group, Inc. tgerald@townsend-group.com ICMA MEMBER SERVICES: 800.745.8780 | 202.962.3680 membership@icma.org

ICMA Creating and Supporting Thriving Communities ICMA’s vision is to be the leading association of local government professionals dedicated to creating and supporting thriving communities throughout the world. It does this by working with its more than 12,000 members to identify and speed the adoption of leading local government practices and improve the lives of residents. ICMA offers membership, professional development programs, research, publications, data and information, technical assistance, and training to thousands of city, town, and county chief administrative officers, their staffs, and other organizations throughout the world.

Public Management (PM) aims to inspire innovation, inform decision making, connect leading-edge thinking to everyday challenges, and serve ICMA members and local governments in creating and sustaining thriving communities throughout the world.

•

I understand where to go for advice about ethical issues.

Assess your own conduct. Do you think that members of your staff would say that you demonstrate ethical behavior? Would they say that you show appreciation when they bring forth bad news, or do you “shoot the messenger” if they do so?

4. Select the right who. Recruit the most talented, ethical employees and link good conduct with incentive structures.

Consider outlining your ethical expectations in the job description and recruitment announcements as well as incorporating questions designed to assess ethical awareness in the interview.

Reinforce those expectations as part of the onboarding process. As Warren Buffett once noted, “In looking for people to hire, look for three qualities: integrity, intelligence, and energy. And if they don’t have the first, the other two will kill you.”

Celebrate exemplary conduct, whether it’s the ordinary everyday ethical conduct or the single courageous act.

5. Challenge bad behavior. It’s an old but true adage that what we allow, we approve. Do not walk by something that is wrong without addressing it. Failure to do so sends the implicit message that you condone that behavior.

6. Commit to ethics training. Good people don’t always make wise choices. Everyone can benefit from training to strengthen 2019–2020 ICMA Executive Board PRESIDENT

Jane Brautigam* City Manager, Boulder, Colorado PRESIDENT-ELECT

James Malloy* Town Manager, Lexington, Massachusetts PAST PRESIDENT

Karen Pinkos* City Manager, El Cerrito, California VICE PRESIDENTS

International Region

Tim Anderson Chief Administrative Officer, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada Sue Bidrose Chief Executive Officer, Dunedin City Council, New Zealand Robert Kristof City Manager, Timisoara, Romania

ethical decision-making. Regular training builds awareness of common ethical issues, provides tools and strategies for effective problem-solving, and, yes, can even inspire people to do the right thing when they are faced with a difficult ethical dilemma.

Use new council orientations and goal-setting sessions to encourage elected officials to consider how their conduct and commitment to public service values contribute to ethical government. Take the time to enlighten them about the ICMA Code of Ethics and your professional standards.

7. Inoculate against the “e-virus” by providing advice, counseling, and safe reporting. Make sure that staff members

have informal and formal opportunities to raise any ethical concerns they may have about conduct or decisions in the organization.

Create a safe and responsive environment outside the chain of command for those who need advice or want to report a concern.

Effectively providing for advice and counseling may actually decrease the need for someone to “blow the whistle” by giving leadership advance warning and the opportunity to address ethically troubling activities.

8. Promote your values. Publicly and consistently communicate the values that guide you and the organization in your exchanges with the public, media, business, and other stakeholders. It is not about making a cavalier statement that your organization is better than others. It is demonstrating that you do have standards and are willing to be held accountable to them.

Employees want to be successful in their work and proud of the organization they work for. Make building a strong ethical culture your priority in 2020 to ensure the likelihood that will be true for both your employees and for you.

Midwest Region

Southeast Region

Wally Bobkiewicz* City Administrator, Issaquah, Washington**

W. Lane Bailey* City Manager, Salisbury, North Carolina

Clint Gridley* City Administrator, Woodbury, Minnesota Molly Mehner* Deputy City Manager, Cape Girardeau, Missouri

Laura Fitzpatrick* Deputy City Manager, Chesapeake, Virginia Michael Kaigler* Assistant County Manager, Chatham County, Georgia

ICMA Executive Director Marc Ott Director, Member Publications

Lynne Scott lscott@icma.org

Managing Editor

Kerry Hansen khansen@icma.org

West Coast Region

Newsletter Editor

Kathleen Karas kkaras@icma.org

Michael Land* City Manager, Coppell, Texas

Maria Hurtado* Assistant City Manager, Hayward, California

Design & Production

picantecreative.com

Raymond Gonzales County Manager, Adams County, Colorado

Edward Shikada* City Manager, Palo Alto, California

Northeast Region

Peter Troedsson* City Manager, Albany, Oregon

Mountain Plains Region

Heather Geyer* City Manager, Northglenn, Colorado

Matthew Hart* Town Manager, West Hartford, Connecticut Christopher Coleman* Town Manager, Westwood, Massachusetts Teresa Tieman* Town Manager, Fenwick Island, Delaware

* ICMA Credentialed Manager (ICMA-CM) ** Serving the region from a different location as is permissible in the ICMA Constitution.

JANUARY 2020 | PUBLIC MANAGEMENT | 3

LETTER FROM THE GUEST EDITOR

This Special Careers Issue of PM

BY ROB CARTY

ROB CARTY is director, career and equity advancement, ICMA, Washington, D.C. (rcarty@icma.org).

A new year brings new opportunities, renewed commitments, and the feeling that we can make a fresh start. We have it within ourselves to make these changes almost at any time, but history, tradition, and time away from deadlines give us the chance to reflect and take note of what is truly important to us and the people and experiences for which we are thankful.

It’s no coincidence that we see a spike in career advertisements each January as professionals pursue their renewed goals and aspirations, creating vacancies—and opportunities—for others. That’s why we’re devoting this issue of PM to your career in local government. Inside this issue you’ll find some great articles with advice and perspectives on advancing your own career, as well as managing your team to meet your community goals.

In addition to the content of this issue, we invite you to explore other ICMA resources designed for you, wherever your career stage may be, at icma.org/careers. ICMA continues to curate programs, services, and products to help local government managers, directors, and staff thrive in their careers. Explore guidebooks like the Job-Hunting Handbook; mentor-matching support through ICMA CoachConnect; or programs assisting students, recent graduates, and career changers like ICMA Student Chapters, the Local Government Management Fellowship, and Veterans Fellowships. Through these initiatives, ICMA is working to deepen the bench for the profession and to help you meet your goals and better support the communities we serve.

In this issue, you will also find our Directory of Executive Search Firms, a listing of executive recruiting firms for members and communities embarking on the search for a new chief executive.

One of the newest additions to ICMA’s roster of career resources, the directory is a great guide to refer to throughout the year. The directory is a detachable insert that you can pull out and save—simply loosen the one staple to remove the booklet.

We hope you enjoy the articles in this issue and continue to pursue excellence in local government management—and take advantage of ICMA career services for you and your team.

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Directory of Executive Search Firms

In this issue, you will also find our Directory of Executive Search Firms. The directory is a detachable insert that you can pull out and save. Simply loosen the one staple to remove the booklet.

ICMA AWARD SPOTLIGHT

Pathways to Policing St. Louis Park, Minnesota—2019 Recipient, Program Excellence Award, Community Diversity and Inclusion (10,000 to 49,999 Population) In late 2016, the police departments in Bloomington

and St. Louis Park, Minnesota, worked together with the Minnesota Peace Officer Standards and Training Board and Hennepin Technical College to develop a collaborative police hiring program called the Suburban Law Enforcement Training Academy— Pathways to Policing, modeled after one used by the Minnesota State Patrol.

The program was designed to address a drop in the number of police officer applicants and to attract candidates of color, women, and others with nontraditional backgrounds. It particularly focused on candidates who were interested in a career in law enforcement, but lacked the means or ability to attend a law enforcement academic program while continuing their current careers.

The two departments worked together with their human resources departments to develop the program, then invited other agencies to participate. Eagan, Maplewood, Hastings, and the Metropolitan Airports Commission accepted the invitation.

To attract a diverse pool of applicants, the departments marketed the program aggressively in various communities and on several well-known job search websites. The cities also conducted information sessions enabling potential applicants to learn about the program. The sessions attracted nearly 500 applications.

Candidates who met minimum qualifications were offered a first-round interview. Panelists were trained to identify candidates who were interested in a law enforcement career and had unique qualities such as living or working with multicultural populations or those having experience providing service to customers with a variety of backgrounds.

Candidates who scored well during the initial round were invited back and given an opportunity to interview with the departments of their choice. After the second round of

interviews, the participating departments conducted a final round of interviews and completed background investigations on the candidates they wanted to advance.

Twelve candidates received job offers, and all were hired as trainees.

Once the candidates were hired, they attended a 17-week Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST)-approved program through Hennepin Technical College. During the POST training, cadets were assigned mentors who met with them regularly to keep them engaged in their departments and provide support during the training.

Upon completion of the training, every candidate passed the POST licensing exam and returned to their respective agencies to be sworn in as police officers and begin traditional orientation and field training. As of January 2018, 12 candidates from six departments were receiving their field training. Overall, 67 percent of the new recruits are racially diverse and 50 percent are female. The departments look forward to continued collaboration in hiring.

JANUARY 2020 | PUBLIC MANAGEMENT | 5

WOMEN IN LEADERSHIP

RUN THE WORLD:

Women in Leadership Welcome to our new column!

Thank you to ICMA and the League of Women in Government for sponsoring and supporting our column. Every month we will hear from a different ICMA member on her experience in local government and how our service to our communities and organizations is changing the world one day a time.

BY NINA VETTER

but because of the impact that it had on my female employees—two employees who work hard to further themselves, do their best for the community, and serve as fantastic leaders in our organization.

Even as we continue to make progress in gender equity in local government management, we will continue to face hurdles, biases, and people who just

8,380 ICMA members work for U.S. local governments full-time; 34% of these members are women.*

NINA VETTER is district manager, Pueblo West Metropolitan District, Pueblo West, Colorado (nvetter@pwmd-co.us).

At a community event last year, two of my female employees stopped me and looked visibly upset.

Then they told me a little story. A female resident of our community stopped by to see them and when they told her that it would be most helpful for her to speak to the district manager and pointed at me across the room, she said, “Are you freaking kidding me? They hired a FEMALE manager?!” She hadn’t even met me yet, but she was already upset that the manager was a female.

I had heard this or similar comments before, but never in the presence of my employees. Hours later after the event ended, I realized that I was upset, not because it was offensive toward me specifically,

6 | PUBLIC MANAGEMENT | JANUARY 2020

can’t the see world in a different way than their own.

Our tribe of powerful, smart, driven, compassionate female managers, assistant city managers, assistant to the city managers, and so on is stronger than the gender bias that we will continue to face.

Our responsibility and our call is to not let that hold us back from pursuing the top jobs, but not just because it’s our dream. We have a responsibility to better our communities through our leadership. We have a responsibility to our female local government employees and future leaders to see and experience female leadership so that many years from now when we retire and move on, we have left our gender in an even better position to run the world. *As of September 30, 2019

Don’t Fear the

STRETCH ASSIGNMENT

Challenging Career Opportunities Can Help You Improve a Community and Enrich Your Career

BY BRAD TOWNSEND 8 | PUBLIC MANAGEMENT | JANUARY 2020

C

from a community comprised of a majority Jewish American areer opportunities come in population. Community history is also replete with war many different shapes and heroes of World War II in the 1940s who had been on the sizes—especially in local Bataan Death March. The Civil Rights Movement and related conflict came to the area during the 1960s. This included the government management— controversial killings of Black Panther leaders during a raid and bring both great challenges and

by Chicago police officers. The village and civic groups built a public pool in their memory in Maywood’s central park. sacrifice, as well as great professional During subsequent decades, a large middle class grew, reward. My own career has given me a along with some poverty-level residents. Crime generated by the illegal drug trade was common in a few neighborhoods, broad range of experience in helping to which led to other undesirable and dangerous activities. turn around troubled communities. In one Problems were compounded by a high property tax case, strategic planning delinquency rate and low sales tax income.

Vacant industrial and commercial buildings was the key to success. created blight in some business districts.

Another involved a new I encourage The governing board was on the verge of not paying debt service on millions of dollars in start following a courtyou not to shy outstanding tax-exempt municipal bonds. ordered change in form There was a remarkable turnover of six away from an of government. In still city managers in seven years. The volatility assignment that and vacancy in leadership resulted in another situation, a triage administrative inefficiency and malfeasance in gives you the intervention reminiscent at least one department. opportunity to of the M*A*S*H My Story potentially make television series helped The director of the Illinois Development Finance Authority (IDFA) offered to help the turn the tide, which is a big difference village restructure debt and issue new bonds what I’ve described in in a community on behalf of the village to generate cash to pay this article. creditors. However, the director demanded in like Maywood.

My colleagues in ICMA and the Illinois City/County Management Association formally recognized my efforts in these communities, and while I’m grateful that fellow professionals noticed, I didn’t begin my career seeking this type of work.

The experiences, however, did change my life personally and professionally in a good way. Each situation was an opportunity to grow as a manager and really make a difference.

Snapshot of a Community

The village of Maywood, Illinois, in the Chicago metropolitan area was operating under the council-manager (C-M) form adopted by referendum. Despite efforts by a few local politicians to drop C-M, voters reaffirmed it during at least two more referenda. Voters also empowered the village board with home rule authority per state laws that granted more powers of taxation, code enforcement, and land use regulation.

The population is majority minority with a ratio of about 88 percent African American and 12 percent European American, including Hispanic. This followed a history of major transition

return that the village adhere to a set of bond covenants. First, proceeds would be captured and channeled into an escrow account to pay creditors. Second, they would need to hire a qualified manager with advice from Northern Illinois University (NIU). IDFA incorporated the unusual requirement of a six-vote majority threshold out of seven board members to hire and fire. Third, the village must hire a qualified finance director. Fourth, the governing board must engage in training on the appropriate way to conduct business with the C-M form. These and other stipulations were designed to stabilize operations. I describe in the following paragraphs the blueprint of steps taken both concurrently and consecutively over the next three years.

Step #1: Coming on Board

The NIU MPA program chairman contacted me and others, to explain the ins and outs of this local government intervention. Frankly, I was a bit overwhelmed at the prospect of taking on this enormous task. I didn’t know much about the community or its residents, and the challenges

JANUARY 2020 | PUBLIC MANAGEMENT | 9

NEWSPAPER CLIPPINGS FROM THE MAYWOOD HERALD, COURTESY OF BRAD TOWNSEND

and moving parts seemed very complex. Nevertheless, it was comforting to know that NIU and IDFA were involved. After the board members interviewed me, I was offered the interim village manager assignment and we agreed to terms. In subsequent months, the village board recruited a permanent manager. In spite of everything, I applied. I wanted to see the initiatives completed and leave some lasting positive change.

They hired me.

Step #2: Communicating the Plan

PHOTO COURTESY OF BRAD TOWNSEND

Internal and external communications were critical.

We began with a workshop on best practices with the village board, facilitated by the NIU program chairman and a professor from Cleveland State University who had previously served as a city manager in Ohio. We convened a wellattended community forum to explain the changes and plans for further improvement. This was followed by numerous updates and opportunity for citizen feedback during open board meetings.

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Step #3: Cleaning up Shop

The IDFA issued millions of dollars in bonds on behalf of the village. I worked at the outset with the finance director and other department managers to restore proper administrative practices, including mandatory departmental reports, profit and loss accounting, budgetto-actual reports, and tracking of debt service. The first finance director resigned to take another job, so I hired a second finance director who would also serve as assistant village manager with the intent of training him to take over as manager if needed.

Step #4: Policing the Community

I worked with investigators from the FBI and the Cook County State Attorney’s Office to successfully address a problem with the Police Pension Fund. I hired a police chief from outside the department and promoted two sergeants to the rank of commander. The new chief effectively applied a carrotand-stick approach to the illegal drug problems. First,

PHOTO COURTESY OF BRAD TOWNSEND

the department held public meetings in the neighborhoods to explain and promote participation in community policing, including landlord screening of tenants. Second, the chief carefully coordinated raids with help from the Illinois State Police. Perpetrators were arrested and undesirables were discouraged from living in apartments.

This was an outstanding experience in my career and pass on the following: • Representatives of NIU, IDFA and others were candid with me about the risks and uphill struggles.

They had to weigh them when considering their own participation in the intervention. However, I may not have jumped into the water if I had known in advance just how deep and turbulent it would become.

• The mayor, trustees, clerk and I developed a very good working relationship. It was also satisfying to hear many positive comments from the public. Their collective cooperation is the primary reason we succeeded in improving finances and administration. I certainly could not have done it alone.

All of this was beyond my expectations.

• I later realized that one of the police commander promotions and another hire turned out to be mistakes.

Further, a long-time leader in that department became a huge disappointment. He was prosecuted for illegal activity and fired. You never know for sure whether a current employee or new hire will succeed. Always be vigilant in evaluating

PHOTO COURTESY OF BRAD TOWNSEND

Lessons Learned

and holding everyone accountable.

• I should have done a much better job of helping the assistant manager/finance director prepare for the manager post. I misjudged how difficult it is to transition from an established person to a successor, who needed more time to build trust and credibility. One way would have been to come back frequently during his first year as manager to work with him and talk with the elected officials. I regret that they gave him a hard time.

He eventually departed. We continue to stay in touch.

• My wife Debbie was very supportive and excellent on the home front, but I

underestimated the load placed on her to take care of our young family of two girls, a boy, and a dog.

We lived 200 miles away, requiring me to rent an apartment and stay in town to manage throughout the week. Occasionally, I stayed on Saturday to attend an event or facilitate a governing board strategic workshop. Despite all of this, I never missed my drive back home for the weekend, even when I rode an Amtrak train that was blocked by snow during a blizzard. It became clear to me that the assignment was taking its toll on my family, and that kind of work situation is not sustainable. I felt like I had

experienced seven years packed into just three.

Conclusion

A big take-away is to remember that being a local government manager should be about public service. Communities of all types need our help. I encourage you not to shy away from an assignment that gives you the opportunity to potentially make a big difference in a community like Maywood.

BRAD TOWNSEND, ICMA CM, is a career municipal manager and consultant (btownsend196@ gmail.com).

JANUARY 2020 | PUBLIC MANAGEMENT | 11

A Manager’s Decision Guide for

Difficult Human Resource Issues Some of the most difficult and unpleasant tasks that managers, department heads, and supervisors must face are related to employee behavior. Those are also the issues that are often neglected, not dealt with in a timely manner, or not dealt with at all. Sometimes they have been going on for years and passed on for future managers to handle. They are time-consuming and stressful, and have the potential to do a great deal of damage to the workplace environment and the organization.

BY KAY GODBEY, PH.D. 12 | PUBLIC MANAGEMENT | JANUARY 2020

The Problem

Today, organizations have harassment and other laws to adhere to and human resource departments must keep up with these; however, interdepartmental managers and supervisors are often left out of the loop about legal aspects of employment law.

Often, there is also a lack of knowledge and training in recognizing problems taking place or developing within the organization.

Human resource issues can impact the entire organization and reach out into the community.

Some incidents draw media attention and appear on social

media, complicating city management’s response. This, of course, can create additional stress for city management and others in the organization.

The most difficult of these issues can ultimately reach the city manager’s office. When a city manager is approached with a difficult, unresolved employee issue, tough decision-making is called for.

These issues have the greatest potential for litigation and consume a great deal of staff and management’s time.

Recognizing and addressing inappropriate or other problem behavior in the workplace is a skill for which every person in the organization can benefit.

Supervisors and managers especially need to know what to do when those activities are witnessed. Policies, procedures, and training for the actions needed should be written, updated, and distributed. We know this is true, but often are not able to keep up with the extra task of sharing valuable knowledge about the workplace environment. Such knowledge, however, can be of great help to supervisors and managers daily and ultimately when a decision must be made.

The Guide

The following simple guide can be of assistance. It covers the bases that should be considered, and if followed, can give confidence to

management that a sound decision is being made for the information known at the time. It is helpful to all levels of management and supervision personnel as an educational tool for what they need to consider when they

recognize that a workplace issue is at hand.

Keep the guide as a handy reference tool. Pay attention to the ranking hierarchy: (1) legal, (2) ethics, (3) policies, (4) organizational culture, and (5) the individual situation.

1. Legal Consider all statutes, case law, administrative law, state laws, or even pending legislative issues. Make sure you have the most up-to-date information from the organization’s legal counsel.

2. Ethical Are there any professional, organizational, or personal conflicts of interest? Do any of these address the current issue, or your involvement in the handling of the issue?

3. Policies Do current organizational policies relate to this issue? If the organization’s policies that apply are out of date, should they be changed? If so, before or after the decision?

4. Organizational Culture What message(s) will the decision send to your organization’s employees? Will the situation and/or decision impact the perception of the organization to your community and others?

5. Individual Situation What are the individual and personal issues involved (illness or injury, family crisis, repeat behavior, something beyond the employee’s control)?

COPYRIGHT 2018. KAY GODBEY.

JANUARY 2020 | PUBLIC MANAGEMENT | 13

Legal is first because, above all, public organizations must operate on a solid legal footing. Organization legal staff and/or consulting attorneys should be included in this stage of the process.

Ethics come next. Organizations often have published employee ethics policies. Many public employee professions have their own ethics that may need to be considered. It’s wise to obtain a copy of any that may apply. Fortunately, ICMA and state municipal organizations have published ethics and guidelines that can be referenced, consulted with, and cited in the final written decision.

Policies of the organization may apply. However, consider if those policies are up to date or if they need to be changed. If you hear, “It’s the way we’ve always done it,” beware. In today’s rapidly changing world, such a mantra can be short-sighted and harmful to an organization. If an update is needed, consult with legal and human resource staff for consideration. Consider if changes should take place before or after the situation is concluded. Will training be needed for policy changes?

Organizational Culture is a big part of difficult decisions.

Leadership ultimately creates organizational culture and a 14 | PUBLIC MANAGEMENT | JANUARY 2020

decision from the city manager’s office will influence this culture. Will the decision send a message that will improve the organization and uphold standards and ethics? If the decision is not communicated well, will it demoralize the organization?

If so, can that impact be addressed through department meetings or other methods? Will the decision reach out into the community and impact the organization? If so, how will that be addressed, if at all? We know that many personnel issues have confidentiality issues, so legal staff may be needed when considering communication efforts.

The Individual Situation considered helps keep the element of humanity in the decision process. Each employee and their situation are unique. Here you may discover quite a spider’s web of issues. Is the employee having health, family, or financial problems? Do they have a family member in bad health that they are trying to care for? Sometimes things are beyond the employee’s control, but often it is the employee’s own behavior resulting in the need for action. Managers need to know all circumstances possible when making a final decision.

Application of the Guide

HUMAN RESOURCE ISSUES CAN IMPACT THE ENTIRE ORGANIZATION AND REACH OUT INTO THE COMMUNITY.

This guide has been part of a course that I teach that is a combination of academic and practitioner knowledge with mentoring elements woven in. The major assignment for the course is for each student to interview a city manager, deputy or assistant manager, human resource director, or department director regarding a difficult human resource issue they have dealt with in the past. Organizations and names are kept anonymous.

The organization can be public, nonprofit, or private sector. Students write a report on the interview and apply the guide to the decisionmaking process. The students are at various levels within their public, nonprofit, and private organizations, and

have found the guide helpful and have shared it with others.

Sometimes they discover that the best decision is not the same decision a manager wishes they could make and may conflict with the manager’s own moral compass.

That makes the manager’s job even more difficult and stressful. Future managers need to know this and be prepared for those feelings.

The guide can be useful for you, your organization, and the career path of city management hopefuls. It was created based on the practical decision-making process used during my own public service career. Even though it was not in writing during those years, its components were utilized by our organization’s management team as we faced many

challenging issues. When I, as the city manager, had to make a final difficult and sometimes unpopular decision, the process gave me confidence that the best decision was made.

This guide may help, but it is certainly not the “rule” or the “one best way.” Always keep an open mind and look for creative solutions to those difficult human resource issues. That is what servant leaders do and that is how our organizations and communities improve.

KAY GODBEY, PH.D., is a retired city manager of Burleson, Texas; and an adjunct assistant professor at the University of Texas at Arlington (godbey99@yahoo.com).

JANUARY 2020 | PUBLIC MANAGEMENT | 15

Effective Training

BY JAMES GRABOWSKI; ROBERT J. GREENE, PH.D.;

PETER RONZA; VALERIE JOHNSON; AND LYNN LOHMAN

KEY TO EQUITABLE PERFORMANCE APPRAISALS ★★★★★★★★

16 | PUBLIC MANAGEMENT | JANUARY 2020

Principles Underlying Effective Training

Employees must view appraisals of their performance as equitable if they are to accept the performance management system. But managers tend to vary in the level of expectations they have for their employees. The perception that standards are uneven across managers can create significant dissatisfaction and the feeling that the playing field is not level. An additional concern is that uneven performance standards can cause a statistically significant adverse impact on protected classes related to pay and promotion.

Training managers is the most obvious strategy for gaining consistency, but most traditional approaches that focus on identifying various types of rater error have been shown by research to be only moderately effective. The approach that has shown to be the most effective is using “frame of reference” training.

Frame of reference training focuses on developing a consistent set of performance standards. Managers work in groups on a case that consists of several completed appraisals that have commentary about job-related results and behaviors, but no ratings. During the training, individual managers independently arrive at their own ratings, factor by factor and overall. Their individual results are compiled and then presented to the group, which is tasked to come up with a common set of ratings. Those whose ratings vary from the majority initially are invited to provide their rationale and through discussion the group arrives at consensus ratings.

The dialogue among participants leads to a common frame of reference as to what constitutes adequate performance, performance that significantly exceeds standards, and performance that does not fully meet standards. This consensus is used to develop rich definitions of what performance at the various rating levels looks like. These standards then are used in the future to guide ratings.

When performance rating distributions across managers are first compared, it is often found that significant differences exist. A metropolitan utility that did a “dry run” of a new performance appraisal system found that the percentage of the 1,300 employees receiving “outstanding” ratings varied from one percent to 60 percent across departments. Even though it is likely that distributions will have some legitimate variation, due to the mix of the workforce in each unit, this large difference is also likely to be caused by a significantly different understanding of what rating levels are intended to mean. If these differences are not analyzed and addressed, the result will be inequitable ratings across departments and a resulting inequity in the administrative consequences. Employees are inherently suspicious that peers working for other managers are getting higher ratings for the same level of performance, due to differences in the level of expectations held by managers. This can erode satisfaction and can lead to legal action if pay or other outcomes are tied to appraisal ratings.

An Application of Frame of Reference Training

A city with a population of 50,000 in the western part of the Chicago metropolitan area implemented a frame of reference training program. The city of Elmhurst and Pontifex Consulting had worked together to develop a new classification and compensation system to ensure pay JANUARY 2020 | PUBLIC MANAGEMENT | 17

administration was equitable and competitive. The city then created a new performance appraisal format that would be used for all employees.

Management was committed to ensure that equivalent performance standards were being used by all managers, so that appraisals were equitable across departments.

Employees not covered by a collective bargaining contract had their pay actions tied to performance appraisal ratings, thereby making equity even more important.

Elmhurst management decided on using a threelevel rating system, using the following descriptors:

It is common to have five rating levels, which necessitates having an “Outstanding” and an “Unacceptable” rating.

However, some believe that unacceptable performance should be dealt with during the year and result in performance improvement plans that should either correct the deficient performance or initiate administrative action if it does not improve.

If an Outstanding rating is used, it can be described as: “Individual regularly made exceptional contributions that had a significant and positive impact on the performance of the unit/ organization.

Results consistently exceeded

performance standards and objectives significantly over a sustained period. Employee has mastered all job-related skills and possesses a broad range of capabilities. Provides a model for excellence and helps others to do their jobs better.”

If a three-level approach is used, the organization should ensure that an employee performing consistently in an outstanding manner is acknowledged in other ways, in order to communicate that extraordinary contributions are valued. In the private sector, cash awards may be used, but in public sector organizations, this is less common. The culture of the organization will have an

impact on the approach used to reward those contributing at the highest level. And some jobs are controlled by set procedures, making it difficult for an employee to produce results that necessitate an “Outstanding” rating.

The Training Process

A two-part training program was developed. Part one consisted in a series of group sessions with managers and employees in attendance at the same sessions. The principles of sound performance management were presented, and open discussion was encouraged. The decision to have all types of employees in

★ RATING

DESCRIPTION

Significantly Exceeds Standards

Significantly exceeds performance standards and expectations on a regular basis.

Contributes to the effectiveness of the unit and fellow employees. Is fully competent in all aspects of the job and has achieved mastery in some. Often goes beyond what is required to ensure work is of the highest quality. Is highly productive.

Fully Meets Standards

Fully meets performance standards and expectations on a regular basis. Sometimes makes contributions that positively impact the effectiveness of the unit and other employees. Fully competent in all aspects of the job.

Does not consistently meet performance standards and expectations. Results and behaviors sometimes are unsatisfactory. May be able to perform most aspects of the job but may lack the knowledge and skills to perform others. Performance improvement is needed.

Does Not Fully Meet Standards

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the sessions together was based on the desire to openly discuss the challenges associated with performance appraisal and to ensure everyone knew that they had all heard the same thing. Organizations often train managers and employees separately, leaving the door open to the suspicion that not everyone heard the same thing.

Once the fundamentals training was completed, the consultants and HR met with department heads and their key staff members to begin work on part two of the training. The Police, Fire, Public Works, and Administrative department directors were each provided with an explanation of the frame of reference approach and were asked to develop a set of dummy appraisals that could be used in the training. The appraisals were written with commentary provided on jobrelated results and behaviors but no ratings. They consisted of examples of performance at all levels, which would require participants to decide how an overall rating would be arrived at. Once the models were completed for each department, they were distributed to the members of the management/ command structure (everyone

Managers should be informed that if their actual rating distributions vary significantly from the guidelines, supporting evidence will be needed to support them. ★★★★★ who would be doing appraisals). The managers rated each of the model appraisals based on the commentary provided for each rating factor and for the overall rating. The results were used in the frame of reference dialogue sessions with all managers of each department participating in the same session. The objective for these sessions was to establish a common understanding of how each of the rating levels should be interpreted and to ensure that the descriptions of what each level of rating meant on the appraisal form were adequate to promote consistency across raters.

The appropriate approach to combining individual factor ratings to produce an overall rating was then agreed upon.

In order to ensure the departments were aligned with each other, a review session with the city manager and department heads participating was then held. Definitions of each level of performance were developed through

dialogue. It was agreed that forced distribution of ratings should not be imposed, since a different mix of employees performing at the various levels is expected across smaller units. Forced distributions are arbitrary and have not held up in legal proceedings.

On the other hand, expected distributions may be communicated as guidelines.

Managers should be informed that if their actual rating distributions vary significantly from the guidelines, supporting evidence will be needed to support them. A further step that can improve alignment is the use of “calibration sessions” at each level. Supervisors meet with their manager as a group and align their ratings; managers meet with their director to align their ratings; and so on. During these alignment sessions, everyone has an opportunity to recommend refinements to the rating level descriptors to make them as clear and consistent as possible.

Conclusion

Each organization must concern itself with internal equity when performance standards are developed and then used to appraise performance. Individuals vary in their interpretation of what constitutes adequate, superior, and poor performance, and in order to minimize the inconsistency across raters, steps must be taken to moderate these differences.

Gaining acceptance by employees that ratings are fair

and accurate will always be a challenge. Cognitive bias leads to people believing they are better performers than they are. This form of bias cannot be completely corrected. Recognizing that the bias exists and discussing it with employees can help to alleviate some unwarranted dissatisfaction with ratings that are believed to be too low. People can accept to some degree the difference of opinion between raters and themselves, but suspicions that inequity exists across raters will erode acceptance.

When inconsistency across raters is apparent, this reality (or perception) elicits strong feelings of inequity, but organizations can take steps to minimize the amount of distortion it causes. Frame of reference training has been shown by research to be the most effective way to do that.

JAMES GRABOWSKI is city manager, Elmhurst, Illinois (james.grabowski@ elmhurst.org).

ROBERT J. GREENE, PHD, is consulting principal, Pontifex, (RewardSystems@ sbcglobal,net).

PETER RONZA is CEO, Pontifex, (pronza@ pontifex-hr.com).

VALERIE JOHNSON is human resources director, city of Elmhurst, Illinois (valeriejohnson@ elmhurst.gov).

LYNN LOHMAN is human resources manager, city of Elmhurst, Illinois (lynn. lohman@elmhurst.gov).

JANUARY 2020 | PUBLIC MANAGEMENT | 19

PASSPORT TO

Advancement: U.S. Local Government Careers Are Strengthened

by International Experience

T

he reality of a connected world is no longer a projection, not something to anticipate and prepare for in the future. It’s here now. Flights from Houston to Bangkok can be cheaper than the same origination to Los Angeles. Internet speeds make conducting business around the world both easier and urgent. Employees, customers, and suppliers can connect from anywhere at any time. Yet, we still need to connect in traditional human, personal ways, too. We need understanding and context, familiarity and trust. In terms of sheer numbers, most people in the world live in cities, from suburban incorporated areas to the giant megalopolises in Asia and Africa. Here in America, the cities that are growing and thriving are doing so in large part thanks to immigrant and expatriate populations.

20 | PUBLIC MANAGEMENT | JANUARY 2020

BY CLAY PEARSON

Citylinks durbansoutheast florida climate change partnership

Considering all of this current reality, it makes sense that smart U.S. local governments want a diverse staff with relevant experience and cultural competency that extends beyond our national borders. By keeping an eye out for talent that adds some international perspective, U.S. local governments can hire people who are flexible and adaptable, more open-minded and less dogmatic, and tuned into global networks. Study abroad programs are thriving in our universities and colleges—emerging leaders are ready now for diverse international connections. Let’s leverage that and maximize talent for our local governments.

For example, there is excitement in the Texas Triangle for a highspeed bullet train on the flat plains between Houston and Dallas.1 The Japanese Shinkansen—a network of high-speed railway lines connecting distant regions with Tokyo—has run on time and safely (10 billion passengers, zero fatalities) for 50 years. When we rode the sleek bullet trains years ago as part of the Japan Local Government Center Fellowship (through the Council of Local Authorities for International Relations), it was a novel wonder. Similarly, a highspeed rail system across China now provides a vital mobility link.

Those of us who have seen these real-life examples internationally can not only add our voice to the chorus of “oohs and aahs,” we can vouch for their benefit as a transportation alternative in the Lone Star State back home.

The Pressing Issues Faced

by Communities Across the Globe

Sustainability became a public policy concern in Western Europe and Oceania decades ago. Perhaps it’s not surprising that it was a UK city manager then working in Australia, Michael Willis, who first addressed the issue of sustainability at an ICMA conference, calling on local governments leaders to look at sustainability as a “defining question of our age.” Our colleagues abroad were among the first to be aware of the techniques that we are slowly—but with increasing urgency —bring to U.S. businesses and workplaces.

Two topics in particular could benefit from a broad discussion and transfer of knowledge and experiences between our local officials here in the United States and our international colleagues: water and transportation. Extensive training in the innovations found internationally could strengthen the careers of those local government leaders who bring home the lessons from abroad.

Water

I strongly believe that modern business skills and outlooks are well developed through international experiences. Traveling to a different country exposes you to cultural experiences that can both test what you think you know and make you appreciate what you have from a fresh perspective.

By instinct and training, U.S. local government officials traveling abroad are bound to see and learn from things that other travelers might not appreciate in the same ways.

Water in all forms is an immediate major concern for localities across the globe. Rising sea levels and surges affect coastal communities around the world. U.S. managers who know something about what they do in the Netherlands to keep water away from property should be sought after. The Netherlands have had experience with sea and river flooding there with dikes, pumps, and land reclamation for centuries. In Bangkok, the flat tropical landscape offers parallel examples for all cities in the Gulf of Mexico and the Florida peninsula for dealing with storm water. I got to see pumps and management systems first-hand through the State Department and ICMA’s Southeast Asia Fellowship Program. In much of India, improving drinking water quality, supply management, and sanitation are national imperatives. We talk about innovation extensively in local JANUARY 2020 | PUBLIC MANAGEMENT | 21

government profession, but maybe local innovation starts with learning abroad so we can adapt lessons to local context.

Transportation

It’s a modern world and people are constantly moving through it in different, more efficient ways. The bullet trains were mentioned earlier, but there are slower, less flashy lessons to be had. Start with walking. Pedestrian orientations from dense cities have long been admired by Americans venturing into the old city squares of Europe. Now we study their complex bicycle and pedestrian combinations in search of ways to introduce those healthier and more sustainable alternatives here in our own communities.

Add in the integrated transit combinations of rapid bus and rail systems, and there are lots of options to learn from and adapt for home. And then add to that the “smart city” ideas that communities in India and the United Kingdom are incorporating into their transportation infrastructure to increase safety and efficiency. Dublin, Ohio, and Ahmedabad, India are two communities that couldn’t be farther apart and yet, thanks to the sharing of ideas and experiences, are CityLinks Chiang Rai, Thailand-Cambridge Partnership

22 | PUBLIC MANAGEMENT | JANUARY 2020

Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative (YSEALI) Professional Fellows Program

traveling two parallel paths to create similar smart corridors to collect data and even serve as test beds for connected vehicle technology.

Deeper Decision-making

By working to develop international perspectives, local government officials gain a depth of knowledge and perspective that can lead to better decisions. Greater knowledge and perspective are gained by seeing things firsthand—seeing how top-down, national-to-local concepts versus, say, cooperation between levels of government, affect service delivery and quality of life. Those who avail themselves of international experiences, who make that investment in their own career and immerse themselves in such a learning environment, are going to be stand-outs in the pile of applications for U.S. local government jobs.

Be Hospitable

International exposure builds cultural competence.

We all have in our communities many people of diverse backgrounds, ethnicities, and experiences who contribute to the richness and depth of our cities. I’m struck by the number of times that someone mentions in conversation that they came from another country or have a first-generation relative that made the journey to start a new life in America. They appreciate when you can share that you, too, know a little bit about the world outside your own locality. We need to see things abroad to add to our own way of thinking.

International Opportunities through ICMA

There are of course numerous ways to expand your horizons internationally, but ICMA has many opportunities specifically for the local

government professional. ICMA has an outstanding program through the U.S. State Department, the Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative (YSEALI). This is a program that enables young leaders (YSEALI Fellows) from Brunei, Burma, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines, Thailand, Timor-Leste, and Vietnam to work directly with American counterparts to enhance their practical expertise, leadership skills, and professional contacts to address challenges and create new opportunities in their home communities.

Several rounds are conducted each year and Fellows are hosted at local governments. It’s an awesome experience to learn, develop those hosting and sharing skills, and develop some cultural competency. Selected American counterparts have the opportunity to travel overseas for a two-week reciprocal exchange where they work with their foreign counterparts on projects of mutual importance. ICMA also offers members other opportunities to engage in its international programs ranging from providing technical assistance, for example, in Tanzania to promote inclusive economic growth to participating in CityLinks™ exchange programs.

The ICMA International Committee is a formal standing part of the ICMA structure for members. Its activities are all open to any members. The ICMA International Committee will be meeting in India in February 2020, hosted by its long-standing partner, The Urban Management Centre.

Look in your own backyard, too. There are many other avenues that you can make your own. Your local colleges and universities undoubtedly have a study program or exchange established. There are also likely various cultural affinity groups in your area—a chamber of commerce or consulate tied to a country or region abroad. Sister city or state relationships may be in place that you can take advantage of or bring to life again. It’s crucial that local government leaders find ways to grow their international awareness to strengthen their own communities back home.

CLAY PEARSON is city manager, Pearland, Texas (CPearson@pearlandtx.gov).

JANUARY 2020 | PUBLIC MANAGEMENT | 23

Opinion:

Rethinking the Assistant/Deputy City Manager Position Challenging the Local Government Profession to Consider a Different Perspective

24 | PUBLIC MANAGEMENT | JANUARY 2020

M

M

BY E DWA R D E V E R E T T

y intent in writing this article is to challenge our profession to consider a different perspective on the stand-alone assistant/deputy city manager position. By stand-alone I’m referring to the traditional position/title of assistant city manager or deputy city manager. (I am not referring to a department head that might also carry the additional title of assistant or deputy.) I believe that traditional assistant/deputy city manager positions are not the most effective use of staff or limited resources, particularly in cities under 100,000 in population, which includes the vast majority of cities in our profession.

My Hypotheses

Based on my 35 years of experience in the public sector, including 24 years as a city manager in cities of 20,000 and 80,000 residents, and 12 years as a trainer/coach/consultant, I offer the following three hypotheses:

Far too many city managers do not fully utilize the skills and talents of their assistant or deputy city managers. City managers certainly need

staffing resources; however, management analysts or “assistant to” positions—rather than higher paid assistant or deputy positions—can often better meet most city managers’ needs.

The practice of having stand-alone assistant and deputy city managers is not the best training ground for future city managers. There are alternatives that

do a better job of developing city manager skills than the present system.

It has been proven that “flatter” organizations are more efficient and nimble. This is key to getting stuff

done more efficiently and effectively.

Each of these issues is explored in greater depth below.

Far too many city managers do not fully utilize the skills and talents of their assistant or deputy city managers.

City managers definitely need staffing resources; however, management analysts or “assistant to” positions rather than

higher paid assistant or deputy positions can often better meet the city managers’ needs.

After retiring as a city manager, I organized a group coaching/training program for a select group of young, bright professionals who were on the path to become city managers.

Most of those in the group voiced their concern about being underutilized by their city manager, including not being given challenging assignments, too often being micromanaged, and not realizing their full potential. They expressed concern that their city managers were often too controlling and not willing to fully delegate enough important issues to them.

Having been a trainer, consultant, and coach over the last 12 years since my retirement, I have observed city managers using highly paid assistants and deputies for tasks that could be done by qualified management analysts or “assistant-to” positions.

City managers do have a need for analytical and administrative support, but that need can be met with experienced

management analyst or assistant-to positions. Qualified people in such positions should have the project management skills to handle special projects or task forces. Additionally, they should be able to supervise a small staff.

Most city managers have eight to 12 department heads who report to them, which is a very reasonable span of control.

Competent department heads are highly paid executives who should not need a lot of time or guidance. If city managers find they don’t have time to supervise 8 to 12 department heads, they may not have hired the right department heads or may not be delegating appropriately.

The practice of having stand-alone assistant and deputy city managers is not the best training ground for future city managers.

There are alternatives that do a far better job of developing city managers skills than the present system. Our profession believes that the best experience for being a city manager is to have been an assistant or deputy

JANUARY 2020 | PUBLIC MANAGEMENT | 25

city manager; however, this traditional career path of moving from administrative analyst to management analyst to assistant to and then to assistant/deputy city manager does not adequately provide an individual with quality supervisorial, managerial, and leadership experience.

Since one of a city manager’s primary duties is to manage and lead department heads, an important experience for a city manager is to have been at or near the level of department head so they know what that role entails. There are alternatives to the stand-alone assistant/deputy positions that give potential city managers much-needed experience and skills and expands the “bench strength” for our profession.

Here are two alternatives: 1. Many cities use the existing model of designating an

existing department head as the assistant city manager.

Usually this person is given a five or 10 percent pay adjustment, but their primary role is still to manage their department while assisting the city manager.

2. An alternative that worked well during my 16 years as city manager of Redwood City was to appoint one of my department heads to serve as my assistant on an annual basis. I assigned this position to most of my department heads on a rotating basis and gave them a five to 10% percent differential for that year.

The duties of my rotating assistant were similar to those of a stand-alone assistant, including sitting in on all meetings with the mayor (which included agenda-

26 | PUBLIC MANAGEMENT | JANUARY 2020

setting), serving as a project manager on important crossdepartmental task forces, helping me stay in touch with council members, and being a sounding board for consultation and advice. In my absence, they acted as the city manager, with the full authority to make decisions and signing contracts.

This system worked extremely well as it provided an opportunity for existing

departmental heads to experience what it would be like to become a city manager, but also had other important benefits: • The department head, designated as my assistant city manager, usually had to delegate some of his or her departmental responsibilities, resulting in an excellent employee development program within that department.

• It provided department heads with an enhanced understanding of the issues, politics, and pressures on a city manager. They became more politically astute and more effective executive team members after serving as my assistant.

• It provided a much larger internal pool of potential city manager candidates versus having one assistant or deputy.

• It allowed department heads to state on their resume “assistant city manager,” which helped them move up in our profession or become a city manager.

• It provided me with a much wider array of differing points of view.

• The council loved the idea of bringing in new people with new ideas and perspectives.

There is a need to provide promotional opportunities for employees in management analyst or assistant to positions. That can happen by promoting these individuals into departmental positions where they will gain stronger supervisorial and leadership experiences.

It has been proven that “flatter” organizations are more efficient and nimble.

Peter Drucker, Tom Peters, the Harvard Business Review, and many others have documented the importance and effectiveness of having a flat organization. Research shows that most successful companies have a lean corporate office, which is comparable to a city manager’s office in the public sector. The biggest contrast between Japanese and American companies is the number of middle management levels.

Toyota has 5 levels between the CEO and first line supervisors while Ford has over 15 levels.

Some city managers believe that having a large staff is necessary. However, the research and data demonstrate the opposite, especially at a time when city revenues are limited and efficiencies are imperative.

Research has indicated that a flatter organization will: • Reduce micromanagement; • Elevate the employees’ level of responsibility in the organization, which improves

the most effective structure.

That kind of thinking kills local government innovation and experimentation.

For those city managers who like the present stand-alone assistant/deputy city manager position, I invite you to consider some changes to better help your assistant learn how to be a city manager: 1. Your assistant/deputy should directly supervise as least one-third of your department heads to strengthen their leadership skills.

The good news is we don’t need a consensus to change. We just need a few courageous leaders to experiment with this idea. So, the next time your assistant or deputy position becomes vacant, consider conducting a pilot for a year or two and rotate your department heads into your assistant/deputy position. If it doesn’t work, you can always go back to the good old traditional method—no harm, no foul! I would be most interested in hearing your comments and I am willing to help any city manager who tries something different.

employee motivation and satisfaction; • Improve the coordination and speed of communication among departments; and, • Facilitate an easier decisionmaking process.

2. He or she should be responsible for those department head evaluations with your input.

3. They should be intimately involved, if not given the complete responsibility, to hire and fire the department heads who report to them.

4. The departments who report to them should be rotated over a period of time so your assistant experiences managing departments.

5. Try not to underutilize or over manage your assistant/ deputy so that they can truly develop their skills.

Please feel free to contact me at the email address listed in my biography at the end of this article.

If we try to think differently about the need for the traditional assistant/deputy city manager positions, we could improve our profession and improve our communities in the process.

Conclusion

The need for comfort, familiarity and status quo may cause many to dismiss this idea out of hand.

There may be a strong reaction against the idea of doing away with the standalone assistant/deputy city manager positions. Just because we have done it this way forever does not make it

EDWARD EVERETT, ICMA-CM, is a consultant and former city manager, Redwood City, California, and a recipient of ICMA’s award for career excellence in 2007 (everetted@comcast.net).

JANUARY 2020 | PUBLIC MANAGEMENT | 27

Recruitment, Retention, and

RETIREMENT THE CASE FOR AUTO-ENROLLMENT

G

enerational divisions within any workforce can lead to issues in team dynamics and communication. For local government managers, generational issues can also pose challenges in the effective structuring of pension and other benefit programs and in helping to ensure that employees at all career stages are well prepared for a financially secure retirement.

Those who are most attuned to retirement benefit structures tend to be those closest to retirement. Meanwhile, younger workers or those not yet vested in a plan might view retirement as something so far off as to be outside their immediate concern. They may even view local government as a transitory stage in their work

BY GERALD YOUNG 28 | PUBLIC MANAGEMENT | JANUARY 2020

experience, not as a long-term career. As a result, this cohort might ignore retirement plan mailings, neglect to contribute to available supplemental savings plans, or respond to invitations to in-person pension plan meetings with flippant disregard for something that only applies to some other generation.1 The Center for State and Local Government Excellence (SLGE) and ICMA-RC have looked at this issue as one that, at its core, has implications for the ability of local governments to recruit and retain talented employees. For example, if only 56 percent of public employers view the

What does it mean for recruitment and retention when a significant slice of the potential workforce is not paying attention to your core benefits? base salaries they are offering as being competitive within the labor market, and they’re depending on the fact that 88 percent view their benefits as being competitive,2 what does it mean for recruitment and retention when a significant slice of the potential workforce is not paying attention to your core benefits?

Among the strategies to overcome the inertia of employees not focusing on retirement is to make it easy for

them to participate in related benefits plans regardless. Thus, under a traditional pension plan—whether defined benefit or defined contribution— funds are contributed in the employee’s name without the need for any action on their part. Under a supplemental savings plan, such automatic participation is often lacking and early-career employees do not tend to contribute in sufficient amounts to take full advantage of long-term

investment growth potential.

To test the effectiveness of employer incentives for supplemental savings, SLGE and ICMA-RC conducted a poll on likely employee behaviors if presented with either automatic enrollment in a supplemental savings plan or automatic escalation of the level of their participation.3 First, respondents were asked if they were auto-enrolled in a supplemental retirement savings plan whether they

JANUARY 2020 | PUBLIC MANAGEMENT | 29

would choose to remain a part of that plan; 77 percent said they would.

Second, those polled were presented with a default participation rate, with equal portions of the sample presented with contribution rates of 1 percent, 4 percent, 7 percent, or an unspecified amount. Given this, they were asked whether they would stay in the plan, maintain that contribution level, or increase or decrease it.

Overall, 33 percent would leave the contribution level at its default percentage, while those indicating a desire to change the rate tended to opt for a higher percentage of savings. For example, among those informed of a default participation rate of 7 percent, the average rate they would select was 7.6 percent.

This tendency to increase beyond the default contribution level may stem from a perception that the default rate is either the minimum required (as perceived by 22 percent), the minimum recommended by the employer (by 17 percent), or the recommended rate (by 25 percent). Whatever the reasoning, employees appear comfortable moving beyond an employer-selected default contribution.

Finally, the poll asked about likely employee decisions if faced with auto-escalation of their participation—an option under which their contributions might increase slightly each year up to some pre-set cap. As you might imagine, there was less support for this option (30 percent). Still, there was fairly strong support for this approach (41 percent) in the

These poll findings indicate that employees would be supportive of both auto-enrollment at some default contribution rate and potentially also auto-escalation. cohort that was given a default rate of 4 percent.

Some employers might shy away from auto-enrollment, thinking employees will prefer to spend their money some other way. On the contrary, these poll findings indicate that employees would be supportive of both auto-enrollment at some default contribution rate and potentially also auto-escalation.

Auto-enrollment gives employees a nudge in the direction of retirement savings, while still empowering them to make their own choices of how

30 | PUBLIC MANAGEMENT | JANUARY 2020

much to invest and whether to increase, decrease, or discontinue that participation.

Interestingly, this was corroborated by the reasons given for disapproving of auto-enrollment, with 69 percent indicating that savings should be the employee’s choice. Considering that the poll presented only a quick snapshot of opinions, actual results that include a more sustained communication plan may be more effective.

As a concrete example of such an implementation, in South Dakota, supplemental plan participation rates are 85 percentage points higher

for local and state employees who are automatically enrolled compared to those working at jurisdictions or agencies that did not adopt auto-enrollment.4 For those wishing to explore auto-enrollment, the first step is to determine whether there are any statespecific limitations on such an approach. There are only a limited number of states that currently authorize and/or have implemented auto-enrollment, but this number has been growing.

As you meet with your retirement system, benefits administrators, employee

groups, state elected officials, and other stakeholders, autoenrollment may be a topic for discussion. Or, as you are reviewing your employee onboarding process, you may wish to consider the subject of supplemental employee savings more generally.

Where managers find ways to emphasize the value of the full compensation package or appropriately balance the benefit priorities of multiple generations of employees, they may find both a more engaged workforce and one that has laid the groundwork for a more secure retirement. As those employees become more vested in their benefit plans and in the organization as a whole, that may also contribute to enhanced employee retention and career-minded thinking.

Considering the continuing level of low unemployment, such outcomes can go a long way toward making their governments the employers of choice.

ENDNOTES AND RESOURCES 1 https://www.washingtonpost.com/ opinions/ok-boomer-the-kids-are-fightingback/2019/11/05/32894688-0011-11ea9518-1e76abc088b6_story.html 2 https://www.slge.org/resources/stateand-local-workforce-survey-2019 3 The full report on this polling project is available here: https://www.slge. org/resources/nudging-deferral-rateswithin-public-sector-supplementalretirement-plans 4 https://www.slge.org/resources/impactof-automatic-enrollment-in-the-457-planfor-south-dakota-public-employees

GERALD YOUNG is a senior research associate, Center for State and Local Government Excellence (gyoung@slge.org). For further workforce, retirement, and health and wellness resources, see https://slge.org.

JANUARY 2020 | PUBLIC MANAGEMENT | 31

Compassion

THROUGH

FOOD

The San Antonio Food Bank’s Approach to Helping Asylum Seekers Feel at Home (Part 2 of 3)

BY JESSICA DOVALINA AND ERIC COOPER

In the October 2019 issue of PM Magazine, we introduced this article series about the city of San Antonio’s response to an influx of asylum seekers with the article, “Bienvenido.

Bienvenue. Bem-Vindo. Akeyi. No Matter How You Say It, the City of San Antonio Welcomes Asylum Seekers with Dedicated Coalition (Part 1 of 3).” Despite being located more than 150 miles from the border, San Antonio became the unlikely first step on the asylum seeking journey for more than 30,000 children, women, and men representing more than six Central American and African countries.

32 | PUBLIC MANAGEMENT | JANUARY 2020

coalitions, implemented strategies to promote gradelevel reading, and effectively reduced homelessness. The strength of this community of providers, who range from very small local agencies to local affiliates of larger nonprofit organizations, is in their common commitment to the idea that even the most vulnerable members our community—even having just arrived—deserve an opportunity to thrive.

Meeting a Collective Mission

San Antonio first became involved in a coordinated effort to assist asylum seekers traveling through our city on March 28, 2019, in response to a local news affiliate report from the downtown Greyhound station. The reporters appeared live on camera with migrant families that had been dropped off at the station by private shuttle vans from Eagle Pass, Texas, hungry, without resources, and with no place to stay.

For the next two days, local government, residents, nonprofit partners, and community stakeholders responded to ensure that

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE SAN ANTONIO FOOD BANK

The story gathered local and national media interest from newspaper, digital, and television news affiliates across the ideological spectrum. These stories worked to capture not just the services being provided by the city of San Antonio and our community partners, but the journeys, hopes, and futures of the asylum seekers served.

Invariably many of these stories lauded the work of the city of San Antonio and highlighted the welcome reception that asylum seekers received.

For the city of San Antonio and the Human Services Department, meeting a new and unexpected need, while challenging, was nothing new. We applied a tried and true formula that we have successfully used to meet many community challenges.

Nothing we do as a department or as a city we do alone. For over 40 years, San Antonio, primarily through the Human Services Department, has invested in supporting a strong local base of community nonprofit organizations to help us to address a variety of community challenges.

Through this collaborative work, the city has successfully established early childhood

JANUARY 2020 | PUBLIC MANAGEMENT | 33

alone: overnight shelter (Travis Park Church), meals (San Antonio Food Bank), and travel assistance (Catholic Charities).

Adapting Partner Roles to Meet Community Needs

on the delivery of services should the influx of asylum seekers continue into the foreseeable future.

With few identified local resources and no promise of reimbursement, the initial call to action focused on how we could leverage existing resources to meet this new and unexpected need. Our mission was simple: provide a compassionate layover for families while connecting asylum seekers to resources and family and health services.

From the initial discussion, we focused on meeting three basic needs that neither the city nor our partners could manage

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE SAN ANTONIO FOOD BANK

children and their families had the resources they needed while in San Antonio, as well as assistance to make the final leg of their journey to their host city destinations.

In the meantime, we made a very big ask of some of our strongest local nonprofit and faith-based organizations who had the capacity to provide needed services to the asylum seekers arriving downtown.

We reached out to Travis Park Church, Catholic Charities of San Antonio, and San Antonio Food Bank to discuss how to continue to both meet the emergency needs of these families, as well as improve

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The number of asylum seekers grew from 100–200 daily in the spring to 100–500 daily in late summer. Beginning in June, the composition of migrants also diversified. Adding to what initially had been primarily a population of Central Americans from Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala, June brought large numbers of African asylum seekers from the Democratic Republic of Congo and Angola, as well as Haitians.

As the numbers and countries of origin changed, the role of each partner evolved to meet new challenges.

Our nearly a dozen faithbased and community partners really leaned into their roles with the common goal of ensuring that we collectively shouldered the increased demand for resources in a way that supported the collaborative effort and ensured children

and families continued to receive a compassionate stay in San Antonio. Perhaps more meaningfully, nonprofit partners and city leadership and their families worked side by side with the 1,192 city employees (from 35 departments), representing 13 percent of the civilian workforce and 578 community volunteers day after day, night after night.

The San Antonio Food Bank: A primary Partner in the Migrant Resource Center Response

The community’s local food bank, a member of the Feeding America network, has long served as the community’s

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE SAN ANTONIO FOOD BANK

go-to agency for disaster and emergency support when it comes to meals, groceries, water, and much more. The work done by the food bank has extended beyond our city limits to “fight hunger and feed hope” across a 16-county region of southwest Texas for nearly 40 years. The San Antonio Food Bank has grown to be one of the largest regional food banks in the country, as well as a recognized innovation leader in the areas of service delivery, logistics, and organizational efficiencies, having been recognized by Charity Navigator among the top two percent of all high-performing nonprofits in the United States.

The food bank had flexed its

emergency response muscles over the last two years, responding to hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria; and in support of furloughed federal employees in January 2019. It has also built a unique relationship with the volunteer community in the region.

Week in and week out, the organization convenes over 1,000 volunteers a week, more than any organization in the community.

The San Antonio Food Bank leaned in and embraced the opportunity to help the city of San Antonio.

On the busiest days, their chief operating officer, Erika Borrego; chief of government and operations, Mario Obledo

Jr.; and their president and chief executive officer, Eric Cooper, could be found hard at work at the center, alongside food bank staff, community volunteers, and city staff.

Their commitment to serving migrant children and families evolved from providing three hot meals a day to providing snacks and supplies for the longer journey families would take across the United States, assisting with volunteer recruitment to staff shelter operations, coordination of clothing and donations, and sorting supplies onsite.

When the city opened a second shelter in early June due to an influx of new arrivals from the Democratic Republic

of Congo and Angola, the San Antonio Food Bank helped to fill the void by adding the city’s volunteer needs to their volunteer recruitment/ scheduling website and successfully recruited volunteers to help support the operation of the second overflow shelter.

The city of San Antonio currently funds the San Antonio Food Bank to provide food programming for children, homeless, and seniors in the community.

Through the city and other funding resources, the food bank maintains three unique kitchens in the region that focus on a unique programmatic role, along

JANUARY 2020 | PUBLIC MANAGEMENT | 35

for Hope Homeless Campus) for the Migrant Resource Center. This leveraging effect had an immediate positive impact by decreasing the amount of time needed to begin operations, reducing the amount needed for meal transports, and reducing the overall cost for the local government to provide meal services to asylum seekers.

It also provided a space and opportunity for community

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE SAN ANTONIO FOOD BANK

with providing an education for individuals needing skills or retraining. One kitchen focuses on meals for the homeless, another on meals for kids, and a third dedicates its work to meals for seniors.

Through this partnership of the three kitchens, the food bank was able to leverage students, volunteers, and culinary staff to provide meals from the Haven for Hope Kitchen (housed at the Haven

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volunteers to make difference for the migrant families transiting our city. Making meals not only nourishes our guests, but also deeply nourishes the heart of our community.

Cultural Sensitivity

One of the challenges the food bank kitchen faced was preparing culturally sensitive meals. Making meals for temporary guests from Latin

America was not a stretch— the ingredients and recipes desired by these guests were similar to the ones the chefs used on a daily basis. A few modifications were needed, based on dietary preferences, to include more fresh fruits as a staple of every meal.

Preparing meals for guests from the Democratic Republic of Congo or Angola was an entirely different matter.

Food bank team members have deep relationships in the culinary community. They knew a small group of chefs and families with Congolese roots and quickly connected with them, and in no time, they were preparing a special meal with Congolese taste and flair. To say it was just a meal would be to grossly understate the importance of that meal and what it represented to our guests. To them, it was a taste of home provided by a team of volunteers and staff that strived to make their transition to life in the United States a little easier. This one meal brought warmth, happiness, and cheer.

Most-Wanted Items

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE SAN ANTONIO FOOD BANK

A final, but no less important role the San Antonio Food Bank played in this response has been material donation management. The organization is known locally for efficiencies in donation management and they were easily able to handle the unique needs of our temporary guests.

They quickly updated their website to carry a list of our guests’ “most-wanted” items: hygiene products, clothing, and snack foods. They also adapted their volunteer process to sort through, pack, and prepare for daily delivery thousands of donated

items. The organization lent professional drivers, forklift workers, as well as inventory professionals to ensure that all donated items were accounted for and managed with an eye toward safety.

Note from an Asylum Seeker (translated)

God bless your work and your lives.

We will never forget this beautiful, noble gesture from you.

Sincerely, Los Catrachos (Hondurans)

Resiliency and Hope— Universal Languages

After the initial rush and chaos of our first weeks of services, we began to really hear the stories of asylum seekers. These weren’t stories that they were sharing with immigration officials, court officers, or the media. They were stories that they were sharing with

Comment from an asylum seeker:

I never expected to feel so welcome in a city in the United States.

— Hector someone who had shown them a small measure of kindness and compassion by providing simple things that are often taken for granted—food and shelter.

The stories asylum seekers shared were almost beyond our comprehension—stories ranging from gang violence and lack of economic opportunity in their home countries to tales of perilous and harrowing journeys through Central America and Mexico to the border.

These stories remained with us long after asylum seekers have departed. Individuals like Julie from the Democratic Republic of Congo and Carlos from Honduras and their families have left a lasting and indelible impression on us. [ Julie, an asylum seeker from the Democratic Republic of Congo, made her way to San Antonio along with her 10-year-old and 14-yearold daughters after a fourmonth journey from Angola, Ecuador, Central America, and Mexico to the United States Border. She left her home country due to severe economic inequality with the

hopes of starting a new life in New York.] [Carlos, along with his son and daughter, fled Honduras due to violence and lack of economic opportunity worries for his wife and other family members that remain in Honduras.]

More compelling is the message of resiliency and hope universally expressed by the asylum seekers. Regardless of their situation, uncertainty of the future they faced, or what language they spoke—Lingala, French, Portuguese, Spanish, Mandarin Chinese—they displayed an unmatched resilience, a shared a message of hope for a better life for their families, and a true appreciation for the welcome they received.

JESSICA DOVALINA is assistant director of the Department of Human Services, San Antonio, Texas (jessica.dovalina@ sanantonio.gov).

ERIC COOPER is president and chief executive officer of the San Antonio Food Bank, San Antonio, Texas (ecooper@safoodbank.org).

JANUARY 2020 | PUBLIC MANAGEMENT | 37

2019 ICMA Annual Conference

Wrap-up

Nashville’s Music City Center played host to the largest conference in ICMA history

ICMA’s 2019 Annual Conference, held October

20–23, in Nashville, Tennessee, attracted 5,511 attendees from across the globe, the largest conference attendance in the history of ICMA! Read on for highlights from the 2019 conference experience.

For their ongoing guidance, enthusiasm, and hard work, ICMA thanks the members of the 2019 Conference Host Committee (led by co-chairs Kirk Bednar, city manager, Brentwood, Tennessee, and Angie Carrier, municipal management consultant, University of Tennessee Institute for Public Service); the 2019 Conference Planning Committee (led by chair Victor Cardenas, assistant city manager, Novi, Michigan); and the many volunteers who helped to make the conference a huge success.

ICMA is also grateful to Title Sponsor ICMA-RC, Platinum Sponsors Cigna and Tennessee City Management Association, and our many other contributors and sponsors for their support of the Nashville conference keynote speakers, other major sessions and events, and much more.

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Of utmost importance for the 2019 conference was extra special consideration for the attendee experience. There were a number of new and improved offerings for attendees. At the Startup Zone, conference goers heard first-hand from innovative start-up companies on mobility, finance, and public safety products and services to local governments. Sponsored by Mars Petcare, the Doggy Playpen provided attendees a quick break to play with some cute canines and learn about all the amazing benefits pets can bring to the community. For on-the-spot financial planning, ICMA-RC had Certified Financial Planner™ professionals available for one-onone consultations. The Attendee Lounge, sponsored by Diligent, allowed conference goers a spot to recharge (both themselves and their devices) and enjoy coffee and muffins. Attendees also received the #ICMA2019 Show Daily—a printed newspaper on Sunday and early-morning emails each day of the conference—to keep up on news and updates. For those that love a good challenge, the Amazing Race gave members a fun opportunity to learn about ICMA initiatives through challenges and activities posted daily in the ICMA Connect community.

Saturday Special Event: 4th Annual ICMA University and League of Women in Government Symposium

more than a dozen micro-strategies for effective self-care. Next up was the 2019 results of the Career Advancement Survey, presented

by Angelica Wedell, director of communications and marketing, and Sonya Wytinck, COO, of the National Research Center, Inc. First conducted in 2013, the goal of the 2019 survey was to evaluate the state of local government now as compared to 2013. The closing speaker was Risha Grant, the founder of an award-winning diversity consulting and communications firm, who encouraged attendees to be intentional, question your assumptions, challenge your micro-aggressions, and build authentic relationships. Also on the agenda was the presentation of the 2019 Leadership Trailblazer Award. Congratulations to the 2019 recipient, Lori Sassoon, deputy city manager, Rancho Cucamonga, California. Read more at icma.org/2019-icma-univ-league.

Sunday Opening General Session and Opening Reception

Following several days of ICMA University workshops, research symposia, a reception at the Musicians Hall of Fame Museum, special and regional meetings, tours, field demos, sporting events, and the Luncheon for Women in Professional Local Government Management, ICMA’s Annual Conference officially kicked off Sunday afternoon.

After the presentation of colors, singing of the National Anthem, and an inspiring invocation, President Karen Pinkos and ICMA Executive Director Marc Ott recognized members of the conference planning and host committees and accepted a guitar as a special gift from the host committee.

Pinkos recognized ICMA’s Strategic Partners, as well as Lynne Ford, incoming president and CEO of ICMA-RC, the conference

Held Saturday, October 19, the symposium was an afternoon of fantastic speakers, keen insights, female empowerment— and the biggest game of Rock, Paper, Scissors we’ve ever seen. Nicole Lance, CEO of Lance Strategies, and former assistant city manager of Surprise, Arizona, brought attendees her highly entertaining presentation, “Self-Care Is a Superpower,” and discussed JANUARY 2020 | PUBLIC MANAGEMENT | 39

title/opening session sponsor. Following Ford’s remarks, Marc Ott walked attendees through a video review of the organization’s FY 2019 accomplishments.

Other highlights of the opening session program included: • Recognition of the outgoing members of the ICMA Executive Board, international guests from around the globe, and conference first-timers.

• Introduction of ICMA’s 2019 Excellence Award recipients.

• Recognition of ICMA members, friends, and staff who had passed away since the 2018 annual conference.

Sunday Keynote: Jake Wood

The program continued with the keynote address from Jake Wood, co-founder and CEO of Team Rubicon, sponsored

by ICMA-RC. Wood offered tangible ways in which local government leaders could take the lessons of chaos to plan and execute during and after disaster strikes. He explained chaos by painting a picture of his experience on the football field and in battle during his service as a sergeant in the U.S. Marine Corps deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan as a scout sniper, which was what inspired him to create his disaster relief organization, Team Rubicon.

Following the Sunday plenary, attendees made their way to the welcoming reception in the Exhibit Hall filled with over 200 exhibitors, where they experienced some of the great aspects of Nashville, including southern eats and live music. Read more at icma.org/2019-wood-recap.

Tuesday Keynote: Bonnie St. John

Bonnie St. John is known for many things—Paralympic medalist (despite having her right leg amputated at age five), Fortune 500 business consultant, and former White House official. It was a turning point in one of her Paralympic ski runs that inspired her to study the concept of resilience. In her keynote, sponsored by Cigna, St. John offered local government leaders insight into the five frameworks of micro-resilience, as well as “small hacks” to practice resilience throughout the day. She asked attendees to consider how resilience is even more crucial for those working in local government. “Your communities will face crises and disasters left and right, but it’s all about getting back up and getting back to life. You and your team have to be able to get back up to serve your residents.” Read more at icma.org/2019-stjohn-recap.

Monday Keynote: Leonard Brody

Monday morning plenary featured business and technology visionary Leonard Brody. An award-winning entrepreneur, venture capitalist, best-selling author and a two-time Emmy-nominated media visionary, Brody used his array of experience to create a framework for our current era in human history, which he refers to as “the Great Rewrite,” a time of complete reset of our world operating system from the ground up. He feels that municipalities have a significant role to play in the changing human experience. As the number of people living in cities continues to increase quickly, Brody recommends that municipalities consider being as open, accessible, affordable, and technological savvy as possible. Read more at icma.org/2019-brody-recap.

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Wednesday Celebration of Service

The conference wrapped up with the Wednesday plenary session featuring the Celebration of Service and an inspiring closing keynote address from Gina Rudan, thought leader and cultural alchemist at Google X. Outgoing President Karen Pinkos, city manager, El Cerrito, California, presided over the final plenary.

Kicking off the morning, Pinkos introduced Marc Landry, cochair of the 2020 Conference Planning Committee, and Jennifer Veenboer, member of the 2020 Conference Host Committee, who presented a video about the site of next year’s annual conference— Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The excitement of Toronto in 2020

was followed by the Celebration of Service, a program of ICMA member recognition.

Service awards were announced for those ICMA members celebrating 50 and 45 years of dedication to public service and professional management at the local level. The program also recognized Mike Conduff, Kevin Duggan, and Michael Willis as Distinguished Service Award recipients. Recipients of the Professional Awards included Allen Bogard, Courtney Christensen, Jennifer Cunningham, Howard Balanoff, and Jerrid McKenna.

Honorary Membership Awards were presented to David Altman, Alejandro Rodriguez, and Patricia Salkin. Altman, who was honored for his mentorship over the years, said that it was particularly gratifying to see so many of his former interns now sitting in the audience, having come so far in their careers. Read more about the 2019 award recipients in the October issue of PM magazine.

Following recognition of the 2019 Conference Planning Committee and 2019 Conference Host Committee, Pinkos introduced Jane Brautigam, incoming president; James Malloy, incoming president-elect; and other incoming members of the ICMA Executive Board: Raymond Gonzales, Michael Kaigler, Robert Kristof, Molly Mehner, Terese Tieman, and Peter Troedsson.

Wednesday Keynote: Gina Rudan

After hearing from our new president, the closing keynote, Gina Rudan, was welcomed to the stage. As Google X’s cultural alchemist, Gina Rudan is up close and personal with genius on a daily basis, working with teams of innovators thinking up the latest revolutionary technologies. But she’s convinced that genius lives inside us all, and in her keynote address, offered a number of ways for us to consider our own innate genius. Specifically, she advised us how to find our genius, how to summon up the courage to express our genius, and how to reframe the way we approach the concept of failure. She explained that many of us don’t give ourselves permission to fail, saying that even at the community level, we have to be ok with failure as a means of finding what works best for our residents.

Read more at icma.org/2019-rudan-recap.

Induction of Incoming President Jane Brautigam

The audience was presented a video about Jane Brautigam and her home of Boulder, Colorado, where she serves as city manager, before hearing from the incoming president herself. Having grown up outside of Philadelphia, she said she learned early on about the importance of American history and of liberty and justice for all. “History tells the stories of the powerful, but often ignores the histories of the underrepresented.” She continued, “How can we lift up the ideals of justice and equality in our communities while addressing the injustices that exist? We have the responsibility to care deeply and achieve change on the local level. It’s our responsibility to foster hope and optimism, but hope is only the beginning. It’s the impetus to taking action.” Brautigam’s words were truly inspiring and received a standing ovation, and immediately following, Karen Pinkos noted that this is the first time in ICMA history that a female president is succeeding another female president, an important milestone for the association. Read more at icma.org/brautigam-icma-president.

Featured Speakers

This year’s conference included two featured speakers: Kelli Harding, MD, MPH, an expert in human health and wellbeing; and Kristen Cox, executive director, Utah Governor’s Office of Management and Budget. As an assistant clinical professor of psychiatry at Columbia University Irving Medical Center, Dr. Harding helps individuals and organizations apply the science of kindness and connection to help them thrive. In her presentation, she emphasized the need for local governments to link mental health with general health policy.

Kristen Cox, whose presentation was sponsored by Cigna, began to lose her vision in childhood, so she has the unique perspective of being a recipient of many of the services that conference attendees manage within their own communities.

She asked the audience to ask themselves if they’ve been making real progress in their work or is it just the illusion of progress. With the credo “Start by stopping,” Cox asserts that breakthroughs happen not from necessarily finding a solution, but from looking at the problem a different way. Read more at icma.org/2019-cox-recap.

JANUARY 2020 | PUBLIC MANAGEMENT | 41

Educational Program

Through more than 150 educational sessions, featured speaker sessions, ICMA University workshops, roundtable discussions, Startup Zone presentations, field demos, tours, and other learning opportunities, members and other public and private-sector experts shared their knowledge and interacted with conference attendees during the four-day period. Members are encouraged to visit the annual conference schedule to view the extensive 2019 program and then download the session handouts at conference.icma.org/2019-icma-annual-conference-handouts.

ICMAtv

ICMA partner WebsEdge Inc., helped ICMAtv bring the conference to life with segments featuring interviews with keynotes, conference attendees, partners, and special guests. Visit the ICMAtv YouTube channel (youtube.com/icmavideos) to view the Nashville conference content.

2019 Virtual Conference

ICMA offers a virtual option to individuals who were unable to attend the conference onsite.

The Virtual Conference includes: four keynote speakers (keynote session access ends 3–6 months after original broadcast), two featured speaker presentations, 16 of the most compelling sessions, and coverage from the floor brought to you by ICMAtv. Learn more about the 2019 Virtual Conference at conference.icma.org/virtual-conference/ and share the conference experience with your staff.

Visit ICMA’s Facebook and Instagram pages to scroll through postings from the conference floor, and check out the action on Twitter with the hashtag #ICMA2019.

Plan now to attend ICMA’s 2020 Annual Conference in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, September 23–26, 2020! Learn more at icma.org/conference.

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ICMA CAREER GUIDES ICMA’s Career Guides are local government professional toolkits to help you thrive, from finding a position to succeeding as a first-time manager, or how to break into the profession from another field, and preparing the next generation through internships and Fellowships.

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Two Scholarships

will be awarded to ICMA members to attend the 2020 Harvard Kennedy School Senior Executives in State and Local Government Program.

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• Must be an ICMA member • Must meet other scholarship criteria.

• Application deadline: January 31, 2020.

Apply at icma.org/harvard Scholarships made possible through the generosity of ICMA Presidential Partners.

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