DIRECTOR’S NOTES

DAVID REISS | SDML EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

This edition of the magazine is reaching you just as we wrap up the 2023 legislative session. The SDML team has also been hard at work for several months preparing for district meetings, spring trainings, and preliminary conference planning.

As a new director, I have experienced a whole lot of policy making and politics at the capitol. Even as I write this message, I can tell you that experience has brought lessons aplenty in what to do - and some lessons of what not to do - during legislative session. Our legislative team works extremely hard and I am lucky to have great people around me to support the SDML mission and to provide invaluable guidance as a new executive director.

I look forward to reviewing the legislative session, discussing much of what I learned, and discussing law change outcomes at the SDML 2023 district meetings throughout March. This is my first opportunity as director to meet many of you face-to-face and I am excited to travel to each district to discuss this session’s happenings and the exciting changes coming for the South Dakota Municipal League. We’ll see you in Sisseton (March 14), Huron (March 15), Alcester (March 16), Onida (March 20), Hecla (March 21), Akaska (March 22), Geddes (March 23), Faith (March 28), Hot Springs (March 29), and Murdo (March 30). We are looking forward to visiting our members locally and having a great time!

As we wrap up the 2022-2023 legislative session and move into spring, the South Dakota Municipal League will be changing due to staff retirements, which means you’ll soon see some new faces. Spring is a time of renewal and I am excited to see different perspectives and ideas that will come with changing staff while we uphold the roles and works of our predecessors. We are working on some exciting things on behalf of our membership, the services we offer you and members of our pools, and look forward to growing our organizational capacity in 2023.

We are always available to you and I urge you to contact us if you have municipal issues or questions at 1-800-658-3633 or via email at david@sdmunicipalleague.org. ■

Most of our towns are small enough that you  don’t have to know exactly WHAT you are doing  (everyone else already does), but we should know  WHY we are doing it.

Today it can be diffi  cult to fi nd the “why” in any  public service. Consensus building is diffi  cult, and  our communities seem more divided than ever. You  might think it’s silly or redundant for a city to have  a mission statement - don’t we all already know  what cities do? I would bet if you surveyed your  city staff and elected offi  cials, you’d get quite a lot  of different ideas about what the core services are  that you provide.

A mission statement can provide you with a  fi rm and clear understanding of why you exist.  If your city doesn’t have a mission statement, I  recommend getting your stakeholders together  and drafting one.

The time spent developing the mission statement  will help your organization and community. Your  mission statement will give you purpose. Day to  day it can be easy to forget how important our work  is, but without clear guiding principles, health and  safety can end up compromised.

The mission statement also offers focus when  things get messy. All city leaders have times when  we wonder whether we should even be involved  in a particular issue or community project. A good  mission statement can tell you whether you, as a  local government, should step out or step up. It  can also smooth out the transition of city staff and  elected offi  cials if we already have a shared vision  we can stand behind.

The most compelling reason to have a mission  statement is to have something to strive to become.

Something to set your eye on and aim to achieve  every day. In his book, "Start With Why," Simon  Sinek writes “Average companies” (or in our case,  cities) “give their people something to work on. In  contrast, the most innovative organizations” (cities)  “give their people something to work toward.”

If you already have a mission  statement, good for you, you’re  ahead of the game. Now, learn  it and live it. Live it in City  Hall, the Park Shop, Council  Chambers, and everywhere  else.

The mission of the City  of Yankton is to provide  exemplary experiences,  services, and spaces that  create opportunities for  everyone to learn, engage, and  thrive. We recite it often at the  beginning of City Commission and staff meetings.  When we are working through a problem, we lift  our mission statement up and ask ourselves if we  are in keeping with the values and priorities we  promised to the community. Each week, I identify  one employee who is embodying our mission and  I send a note to the City Commission so they know  we are actively working to live that mission every  day. We are not perfect, but we will never stop  trying our best to be.

With warmer weather on the way (fi ngers crossed),  do some early spring cleaning. If you have a  mission statement, pull it out, dust it off, and  start using it. If it doesn’t refl ect who you are as  a community anymore, change it so that it does.  If you don’t have one - well, make that your fi rst  mission. ■