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Home My Public Portal AboutaCM Department Report AttachmentCity Manager Department Report – October 2019 ICMA Conference October 19 – October 23, 2019 Keynote Speaker #1 Leonard Brody, Technology and Business Visionary Historical overview of technology changes, speed of change and societal adjustments. Government tends to react not be on cutting edge. Example of fastest adaption to change is the switch from predominantly horse drawn carriages to predominantly automobiles in less than 10 years which required government to establish road systems, paving, signage, driving rules, fueling systems, insurance systems, law enforcement, manufacturing standards. Internet was the next big change forcing government to adapt to new business processes, analytics, consumer expectations. The upcoming change that government has to get up to speed on is blockchain technology which will totally change how we do business. He predicts change is now occurring every 730 days so we can no longer take 5 years to plan for and implement changes which has been the typical government time to respond. Keynote Speaker #2 Bonnie St. John, first black Paralympic Medalist in Winter Olympics, Harvard grad, Rhoades scholar, researcher on leadership and high performing individuals, author of multiple books Framework for Micro-Resiliency. An approach to address the daily pressures and challenges we face to ensure we are our most high performing selves in our service to the public while ensuring we have the personal energy left at the end of the day to give to our families and ourselves. Presented brain research on the “fight or flight” response which triggers adrenaline and cortisol in our systems that prevent us from logical thinking and drains our emotional energy. Presented techniques for managing those responses. “Winners are those that bounce back the quickest from failure”. You must have Purpose in order to be successful. Purpose = Goals aligned with Values. Need to examine your personal goals and values and your alignment with your employer’s goals and values. (See her book on Micro- Resiliency) Keynote Speaker #3 Gina Rudan, Cultural Strategist for Google and author of “The Practical Genius” Genius is in all of us, it is a choice. Need courage and creativity for innovation and for projects to succeed. Embrace failure, it’s the only way to learn and grow. Reverse your thinking on mentorship. Even though many of us have been professionals for a long time and expect to mentor those younger than us we should instead spend time with young mentors who teach us about what gives them inspiration and what they are thinking about creating – don’t just ask them to fix your phone. Rethink your leadership teams and instead of just having the executives at the table, get the newest people and people from across the organization in order to get new thinking and new energy. First Time Administrator/City Manager Three Part Series: Key Strategies for Success; Unique Challenges of Managing Cities less than 5,000; Networking & Brainstorming session Make sure you have open, transparent, frequent communication with councilors and Mayor. Consider monthly individual meetings, a weekly email update, or other methods that help council stay abreast of city happenings. Critical to use evaluations for framing realistic goals and objectives with each other, consider using a third-party facilitator to help the process especially if new council. Build collaboration by having many people “at the table” for issue discussion early before anything is presented to Council as a solution. Ask private sector what the city can do to help solved “wicked problems” like housing, poverty. Use community input forums instead of formal public hearings so that citizens feel welcome and comfortable discussing issues in a face-to-face format. Try using technology like “social pinpoint” to map issues in real time. Need to be proactive in dispelling rumors and building trust– one technique used by a small community is a regular open house with city staff where they take any and all questions from the public about projects, etc. without any time limitations placed on speakers. Beware social media!! Don’t let social media trolls define your city’s policy agenda and don’t engage in arguments on social media. Everyone has a right to express opinions. Comments on social media can be useful to understand where there may be more education needed on topics, but city employees/officials should only engage in a manner to provide factual information about projects and policies. Don’t get distracted from the policy direction you have already received from the city council. Stay focused on the priorities passed by the council. Be patient, be a good listener, be a teacher and mentor. Stay positive and take the high road. Successful Public-Private Real Estate Developments – 2 part series Lesson 1 – you need a well-conceived project. Study and learn what worked well in other cities, study your own real estate market to understand what conditions impact your area. Prepare a feasibility study to set the stage. Lesson 2 – gather your funding tools. These are complex projects and you need to know what you have, how much you have, what else you need for your project. Opportunity Zone, TIF, state incentives, etc. Lesson 3 – be smart about selecting your developer. You need a smart, clean, trustworthy selection process to have credibility with the developer community and to attract quality developers. Use an Eco Devo or development consultant to help you if you do not have this expertise to evaluate their credentials and the proposals. Bad selection processes are common and result in failed projects. Lesson 4 – understand the financials from the developer’s point of view. How to evaluate their pro- forma, what goes in the cap rates, and what they say they need to fill the gap in order to make the “project pencil”. How to compare what they are telling you against the market to make sure it’s valid. Get help with these financial evaluations if you are not a real estate expert. Capacity Building in Performance Management – 2 part series Examples from Wichita, Fayetteville, and Franklin Kansas of incorporating performance measures into budgeting and policy decisions. “We get paid for results!” Build a culture of using data to make decisions, stop the “we’ve always done it this way” mentality. How to use data to tell your story and build trust. Use your GIS systems to help public understand and visualize issues. Most data on policy issues resides in more than one department and you have to break down those silos and get everyone who touches an issue on the same page with sharing data and looking at it – e.g. code enforcement housed in both PD and Planning. Use the data to create dashboards that show the community your progress on capital projects or policy implementation and how their money is being spent to accomplish these things. Community Cohesion through the Arts Examples of successful public art programs in Reno, Nashville, and Fort Collins CO. Use of room tax and urban renewal. 1% of public construction projects dedicated to art. Use of community engagement as part of any public art project, artists in residence, maker spaces and neighborhood grants for place- making, collaboration with schools and animal shelters, transit agencies, utilities. Repurposing of old grain silos in Fort Collins as playground features in new park. Celebrate your Native history with your public art. Use of murals, landscaping, lighting to brighten up blighted areas such as alleyways which improves public safety. Non-Cash Employee Benefit strategies Small group break out session to explore ways cities are attracting and retaining employees without salary increases. Examples, flexible schedules, shared employees/cross training, years of service recognition, employee recognition, wellness programs and rewards for meeting wellness goals, Monday through Thursday extended day work schedules with every Friday off, telecommuting, points program for employee recognition that employee can redeem for prizes at end of year, discounts on city programs (taxable t0 employee), dog friendly/kid friendly workplace policies, modern and clean work environments with functioning tools to do the job – get rid of that 1970’s furniture and cubicle layout, brighten up workspaces and get rid of drab colored paint/furniture, rethink your paid holiday schedules – there are 7 city holidays when office is closed, staff get another 5 holidays they can schedule on their own to recognize their own religious beliefs, birthdays. Use off duty police officers as fitness coaches for other city employees, provide fitness equipment. Allow paid time off for community volunteerism, participate in “day of service” projects, better utilize the Employee Assistance Program (EAP) services for mental health, provide a zero interest down payment assistance program to employees that live in city limits and if they meet a years of service requirement then forgive the loan (commonly used to attract police and fire employees), student loan repayment assistance program.