City of Santa Barbara, CA Succession Program
    Recognizing that there will be a major turnover in management in the next five to ten years, the City's Executive Management Team explored several strategies to plan for the continuation of a high performance organization through a commitment to sustained initiatives that engage outside the box thinking to attract, develop, and retain needed talent in the City of Santa Barbara.

    In the end, the team produced six strategies which form the City’s “Succession Program.”

Citizen and Resident Participation

Subtopics within this section:
Advisory Boards and Commissions
Citizen and Resident Education
Citizen and Resident Feedback
School Curricula on Local Government
Volunteers
Citizen involvement is crucial to a thriving community. Educating community members about the issues, services, and opportunities is key.

This symbol denotes free content.

This symbol denotes premium content that requires a username and password.

Advice

Fair Treatment Is the Law: Filing Complaints against Abusive Loan Servicers Year: 2008;
Promoting Civility At Public Meetings: Practice Year: 2003; Pages: 7.
Promoting Civility At Public Meetings: Concepts Year: 2003; Pages: 5.
Ethics: The Silent Treatment? Year: 2003; Pages: 2.

Local Government Innovations

City of Coral Springs Financial Literacy Webpage Year: 2009; Pages: 2.
City of Pittsburgh’s Stimulus Package Oversight Committee Year: 2009; Pages: 2.
The City of Clyde Hill’s Budget Process Year: 2009; Pages: 1.
The City of Clyde Hill’s Financial Reporting Documents Year: 2009; Pages: 6.
City of Windsor Heights Citizen’s Guide to the Plan and Zoning Commission Year: 2009; Pages: 2.
       Click to see more Local Government Innovations ...

Sample Government Documents

Cupertino City Manager Dave Knapp’s Sustainability Pledge Year: 2009; Pages: 1.
Foreclosure Prevention Hotline Year: 2008; Pages: 2.
City of Palo Alto Budget Brief Year: 2008;
Town of Windsor Budget in Brief Year: 2007; Pages: 4.
Living Green Resources @ Your Library Year: 2007; Pages: 2.
       Click to see more Sample Government Documents ...

Reports and Articles

Solid Budget, Solid Outcomes Year: 2009; Pages: 4.
Longmont’s Economic Stimulus Website Year: 2009; Pages: 30.
City of Lewiston’s Monthly Reports Year: 2009; Pages: 53.
City of Lancaster's Civic Leadership Academy Year: 2009; Pages: 3.
Web 2.0: The Next Step in Citizen Engagement? Year: 2009; Pages: 3.
       Click to see more Reports and Articles ...

Awards

2008 Community Health and Safety Program Excellence Award, (populations less than 10,000) Year: 2008; Pages: 1.
2008 Community Partnership Program Excellence Award, (populations 10,000 to 49,999) Year: 2008; Pages: 1.
2008 Community Partnership Program Excellence Award, (populations less than 10,000) Year: 2008; Pages: 2.
2008 Community Partnership Program Excellence Award, (populations 50,000 and greater) Year: 2008; Pages: 3.
2008 Community Health and Safety Program Excellence Award, (populations 50,000 and greater) Year: 2008; Pages: 2.
       Click to see more Awards ...

Case Studies

Kansas City 3-1-1 Action Center, City of Kansas City, Missouri Year: 2009; Pages: 12.
Saco Information Center and Online Request System, City of Saco, Maine Year: 2009; Pages: 8.
Philly311: Engaging Citizens, Serving Customers Year: 2009; Pages: 12.
City of Cartersville, GA: Reporting Citizen Survey Results Year: 2009; Pages: 2.
Hampton 311 Customer Call Center Year: 2008; Pages: 12.
       Click to see more Case Studies ...

Ordinances

Geat Falls Teens to Join City Commission Year: 2009; Pages: 2.

Data Reports

City of Hartford (CT) 311 Data Reports Year: 2009; Pages: 21.

ICMA Publications About Citizen and Resident Participation

  		Investing in Our Future: A Handbook for Teaching Local Government   Provides guidelines for developing programs and materials to teach local government to K-12 students.

ICMA's GovSearch

ICMA's GovSearch gives you the ability to search local government Web sites. This powerful tool is a premium icma.org service that requires a username and password. 
Continue search:    
  Search within Citizen and Resident Participation
  Search ICMA.org
News

What's Behind Resident Quality of Life Perceptions
 Three quarters of Americans rated their quality of life excellent or good. But ...
Census Bureau Launches "Take 10" Program
 Accurate census data is important and impacts everything from congressional ...
Kansas City 311: New Case Study Available
 The Kansas City 311 Action Center has led to improved performance measurement ...
Share Photos with ICMA on Flickr
 ICMA invites you to join us on Flickr! We are collecting photos of all the hard ...
Do You Visit Schools in Your Community?
 ICMA needs a group of volunteers willing to be interviewed by phone about the ...
Tool for Teaching Civics: New Edition of Popular Resource Now Online
 Just in time for National Civics Awareness Month in September, a popular high ...
Philly311: The First 100 Days
 Learn how the city of Philadelphia implemented a 311 system on a budget, in a ...
Five Ways to Keep Citizens Engaged--Especially In Tough Financial Times
 When cities, towns, and counties face budget deficits, one question that local ...
Public Service Recognition Week: Celebrate the Best of Local Government
 May 4-10 marks the 25th anniversary of PSRW and offers local governments an ...
Thank You, 2008 Fund Donors!
 ICMA thanks the 802 donors who contributed to the Fund for Professional ...
Washington, Oregon City Managers Build Self-Sustaining Relationships with Communities in Poland
 Through their own efforts, ICMA members from Washington and Oregon have worked ...
Citizens Groups Defend a Vision of Better Development in Somerville, Mass.
 After ten years, three court battles, and more than 50,000 volunteer hours, two ...
Image Sources--Help Citizens Visualize Smart Growth
 Successful smart growth advocates know that the key to helping citizens ...
New Smart Growth Resources - June 2008
 New tools for citizens, planners and designers, and local governments, as well ...
Building the Grassroots Movement--Over the Internet
 Drawing on lessons learned as a founder of Rethink College Park, one smart ...
Engaging Older Adults as Smart Growth Advocates
 Older adults have much to gain from smart growth--it enables them to live ...
Choosing Our Community's Future: A Citizen's Guide
 Citizens concerned about a proposed development in their community often don't ...
311/CRM Technologies Help Citizens Connect with Their Local Governments
 A recent discussion among experts and a new report look at how 311 and citizen ...
Citizens Use Web to Pinpoint Neighborhood Repairs in UK
 A private initiative, launched by a charity in the UK, aims to help residents ...
Ideas in Action: Community of Character
 The goal of the Mission Viejo, California (93,000), community of character ...