Voices in Local Government – Details, episodes & analysis

Warren Hutmacher joins ICMA's Voices in Local Government podcast for a recurring Q/A theme on local gov careers, hiring, and recruiting. Today's topic is what can lose... or keep a great employee doing great work.

Warren Hutmacher joins ICMA's Voices in Local Government podcast for a recurring Q/A theme on local gov careers, hiring, and recruiting. Today's topic is mandatory residency requirements for city/county managers. Pros, cons, questions, and concerns. Then listen for part two, How to Lose Great Employees.

• Define AI, GenerativeAI and dismiss common myths or misconceptions.
• How can AI can be used as a precise tool for a specific project right now?
• How can local governments vet vendors?
• Application for smaller towns and counties.
• Are GenerativeAI tools going to remain free?
• AI’s ability to help and/or hurt public discourse and local government employees caught in the middle.

Resources

City of Boston Interim Guidelines for Using GenerativeAI

ICMA's Local Government Reimagined Conferences:

Explore the Future of AI in Local Government

One Topic.  Two Locations. ICMA is headed to Boston, MA and Palm Desert, CA for the Local Government Reimagined Conferences. From cutting-edge applications to strategic insights, discover how AI is reshaping the landscape of local government. Register here.

Government AI Coalition

Join over 140 government agencies in creating standards for responsible AI procurement and governance for public agencies. Learn more.

Additional Content

Zencity: Using Generative AI for Community Engagement, from our partner named a 2024 GovTech100 company.

Resources:

ICMA Economic Mobility and Opportunity Tools and Resources
 

ICMA Annual Conference, Austin, Texas

Free Breakfast Workshop with Danielle Arigoni: Affordable, Climate-Friendly Housing as a Pathway for Economic Mobility

October 2, 2023
7:45am to 9:45am CT

Austin Convention Center
Room: Meeting Room 4

Climate Resilience for an Aging Nation, by Danielle Arigoni. Use promo code "webinar" for a 30% discount.

 

More from ICMA strategic partner, Cigna:

Local government healthcare resources

ICMA experts on brownfields, Clark Henry and Chris Harrell, explain why brownfields are a problem and how to transform them into sustainable spaces with positive economic, social, and environmental impact. Often at no cost to the local government. Then they preview the Brownfields Conference, August 8-11 in Detroit.

Resources

Technical Assistance to Brownfields Communities: Free technical assistance and workshops (in-person or digital) via ICMA in region four, or find your representative organization on the resources page.

Brownfields Conference, August 8-11 in Detroit

Brownfields University, a foundational pre-conference training program, free with registration for Brownfields 2023 conference. 

ICMA Brownfields topic page, for the basics all the way through advanced studies and resources.

Free copy of the ResourceX Annual Impact Report

City and County government organizations face significant challenges, including budget constraints, changing regulations, and increasing demand for transparency and accountability. Finance transformation can help address these challenges by improving financial processes, increasing efficiency, and enhancing decision-making capabilities. 

Jim McClurkin and Miriam Rayward explain how initial assessment, defining vision and objectives, developing a roadmap, engaging stakeholders, and implementing and monitoring progress, local government organizations can begin their finance transformation journey, including:

• Integration across multiple functions, departments, and projects. HR, payroll, t+e, accounts payable, compliance, etc).
• Talent and change management.
• Analytics for real-time decision making instead of waiting until "budget season".
• Tips on how to optimize processes with new technology

Resources

Free eBook: 4 Ways to Turn AP More Productive for Cities and Counties

ICMA's A Budgeting Guide for Local Government, Fourth Edition

Local government spends 2 trillion dollars annually on procurement. Co-founder and CEO of Pavilion, Mariel Reed, shares her unique perspective working in both local government and technology to create solutions that improve the often tedious, slow, and painful procurement processes, including:

• Drastically reduce buying cycles.
• Maintain compliance.
• How city/county managers and department heads can empower purchasing managers to transform the dreaded procurement headache into a strategic advantage.

Resources

Pavilion's free platform for local governments.

Connect with Mariel on LinkedIn to continue the conversation or ask questions about procurement. Include ICMA podcast in your message!

Emergency preparation and response resources from Hagerty Consulting.

ICMA Southeast Regional Director, Randy Reid joins the share nearly 50 years of wisdom on:

1. Advocating for the profession of local government administration.
2. Responding to public criticism and handling an unwanted spotlight as a city/county manager.
3. Separating local government service delivery from the partisan pitfalls of national or local politics.
4. Specific strategies to identify and support the next generation of managers.

Resources

ICMA Local Government Reimagined Conferences, Louisville, May 10-12 and Long Beach, June 7-9.

Free E-Book: The 2023 State of Local Government Report

Mental health for local government leaders, their staff, and their residents is discussed with Johnny Crowder. ICMA Affinity partner, Cope Notes, is a daily text service that interrupts negative thought patterns with positive stimulus to help improve mental wellness.

Co-hosts Jessi Atcheson and Joe Supervielle collected questions about mental health and the Cope Notes model from ICMA  members, staff, and others for an Ask Me Anything interview, including:

• How does peer support connect with neuroscience?
• How does it fit in or compliment with seeing a professional, certified therapist?
• Stigma to even have a conversation about mental health has made progress, but how do you show people it's okay to seek support?
• How can text messages possibly make a meaningful impact on mental health?
• How do local governments or other organizations with group subscriptions measure success if it's all anonymous?

Resources

Preliminary effectiveness study of the Cope Notes digital mental Health program in the Journal of Mental Health.

Recap from Crowder's session at ICMA Annual Conference Columbus, and his TEDx Talks.

Local government healthcare resources from Cigna. 

Lawrence E. Henderson, Jr., President & Chief Learning Officer, Business Operational Support Services (BOSS), LLC, shares insights on how to move from leadership clichés to behavior and habits that:

• Build and maintain high performing teams
• Effectively delegate
• Inspire and support

Resources

Message Lawrence Henderson on LinkedIn and mention ICMA's Voices in Local Government podcast for a free 1-1 consultation.

Eisenhower Matrix to prioritize tasks by urgency and importance (or a lack of) to decide what to do, delegate, or hold.

Free, self-guided website solutions demo from CivicPlus.