Harnessing the Power of the Arts: Capitalizing on the Economic Power of the Creative Industry

Although National Arts and Humanities Month is a wonderful celebration bringing attention to the arts, one needs to look a little closer to see the economic value of the arts. The economic power of the arts is one of America’s best-kept secrets. The best part of this economic secret is that at least one, if not several, of the nation’s 100,000 nonprofit arts and culture organizations already call your city or county home. Robert Lynch, Washington, D.C. Read article

Cover: Designed for Americans for the Arts by John Foster, fuszion Design, Alexandria, Virginia.

Tech and High Touch: Connecting Citizens with Local Government *

This article provides recommendations from the ICMA National Study of 311 and Customer Service Technology. Cory Fleming, Westbrook, Maine. Read article

Retaining and Growing Talent: Strategies to Create Organizational "Stickiness"

Local government agencies must retain and accelerate the development of emerging leaders at a time when talent can easily leave. Frank Benest, Palo Alto, California. Read article

For Managers, Too: Web 2.0 and the Changing Role of PIOs *

Rapidly changing technologies have made today’s talented and dedicated public information officers indispensible, but is anyone identifying the skill sets needed for the next generation? Norm Wigington, Houston, Texas. Read article

Pollution Remediation Costs on the Rise: GASB 49’s New Requirements *

Gear up for the new Governmental Accounting Standards Board Statement No. 49. Kevin Harper, Union City, California, and Olivier Flewellen, Port of Oakland, California. Read article

PM’s Web Site This Month Features This Exclusive Article

Strengthening Ethical Governance in Local Governments

This article has three objectives. The first is to identify significant obstacles and challenges that confront efforts to strengthen ethics in American local government. The second is to describe and assess the two approaches of compliance and integrity that are used to build and sustain a strong ethics culture. The third objective is to illustrate with a case study how a city mired in an (un)ethical swamp found a way forward by adopting an approach that melds the best qualities of both the compliance and integrity approaches. Donald Menzel is professor emeritus, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, Illinois, and president, Ethics Management International, Tampa, Florida (www.ethicsmgt.com; donmenzel@tampabay.rr.com). Read article

Ethics

Testimonials, References, and Endorsements

On Retirement

National Save for Retirement Week Moves Forward in 2008

Commentary *

The Unofficial Role of the City Administrator

Tools and Trends

FYI *

City’s "University" Builds Top Service, Top Employees
Research Report Issued on Public Library Funding
Internet Addiction Is Not Pretty
Neighborhood Cleanup Success
Preparing Financially for Disaster

ICMA Stats

Books

Mavericks at Work: Why the Most Original Minds in Business Win

2008 ICMA Awards

This year’s recipients of ICMA’s awards are presented in this section. Read article

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