The ICMA Executive Board met in Mount Pleasant, S.C., February 23-26, 2012, and took the following actions:

• Selected Simon Farbrother, city manager, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada as ICMA’s 2012–2013 president-elect. Farbrother will be installed as ICMA president at the conclusion of the 2013 annual conference and will serve as president for ICMA’s 100th anniversary in 2014. He will be the third ICMA president from Canada and the first since 1976. He has served in local government for 23 years in Canada and was an ICMA regional vice president, 2007-2010.
  Farbrother will become a member of the board along with the incoming vice presidents at the closing session of the 2012 annual conference. At that time, Bonnie Svrcek, deputy city manager, Lynchburg, Va., will be inducted as 2012–2013 president.

• Set the member registration fee for the 2012 ICMA Annual Conference in Phoenix/Maricopa County, Ariz., at $645, an increase of $20 and the first increase since 2008. This price includes a base registration of $610 and the Sunday evening reception ticket of $35. Members who register online will receive a $25 discount and pay $620. The registration fee for partners will be $90 (also including the Sunday ticket). The board also raised the nonmember registration fee to $1,060 continuing the practice of a significant spread between member and nonmember fees in order to reinforce the value of belonging to ICMA.
  The board retained the complimentary student member base registration fee and continued the special $300 discount for Affiliate members who are entry-level to mid-management local government staff. The board also continued the $200 registration discount for first-time attendees in the conference region (Mountain Plains).
  The online conference housing bureau will open simultaneously with online conference registration on June 18, 2012. Reservations can be made online or by fax or mail using downloadable forms.
  The overall theme of the conference is “Building Community: Rising to Seize the Opportunities.”  The conference will take place in the state-of-the-art Phoenix Convention Center, which is within walking distance of all conference hotels.
  The Conference Host Committee is planning an entertaining and affordable social program that will feature events at two of Phoenix’s most unusual venues: the world-famous Heard Museum of Native American art and culture, and Corona Ranch, where participants will enjoy both western and Mexican charreada styles of rodeo.

• Reviewed six-month financials through December 31, 2011. There are challenges in several business lines. While the Milwaukee annual conference exceeded budget, there are expected revenue shortfalls in membership dues, publishing, US programs, and international programs compared to budget. Despite these challenges, staff projects a net contribution of $250,000 - $350,000 compared to a budgeted contribution to net assets of $340,000. This assumes maintaining the status quo in funding for international contract work in Afghanistan where there are continuing risks.

• Agreed on a discussion piece for the 2012 regional summits on implementing the new regional nominations process that will first be used for the 2013 elections of ICMA vice presidents and will kick off in the fall of 2012. At the summits, state presidents or their designees will also approve new regional agreements that will govern the process in each region.
  The board approved a draft template agreement in November based on guidelines discussed during the 2011 regional summits and approved by the board in September, as well as on agreements used for regional screening panels. Since then, the regional vice presidents have conducted conference calls with state leaders in their regions to review draft agreements. These agreements incorporate the geographical protocols adopted by state presidents in each region into the template agreement.

• Approved the composition of an international regional nominating committee and a geographical protocol for the selection of the international vice president nominee starting in 2013. The ICMA Constitution, as amended in February 2011, gives the board the responsibility for defining the nominations process for the international region. At the Milwaukee conference, the International Committee supported a proposal developed by a group of members who were very familiar with ICMA’s nominations system and with service on the board. The board will review and assess the international process in 2015 when it will have been used for the first two selections of nominees

• Agreed to commit resources to a strategic review of the Voluntary Credentialing Program to determine how to strengthen and expand the program with the goal of offering recognition and guidance to members at different career stages. Members not currently eligible for the Credentialing Program are increasingly requesting more professional development assistance as well as recognition for their commitment to the 40 hour requirement in the ICMA Code of Ethics. In addition, Credentialed Managers who have been in the program a long time have expressed interested in a more rigorous option. Member engagement and feedback will be a critical component of this review as it was when the program was first developed prior to its adoption ten years ago.

• In anticipation that higher numbers of applications may be received in the future, modified the board’s process for selecting ICMA Distinguished Service Award (DSA) recipients so that the award fulfills the intent of being ICMA’s preeminent honor. The DSA is given to a manager who has retired from the profession and has made an outstanding contribution to the management profession and local government. It recognizes a manager whose service in his or her commu­nity or communities has been judged by peers as strong or exceptional, and who has made major contributions beyond direct service to local government. The board added a minimum retirement length of three or more years to better demonstrate recipients’ contributions to the profession in their retirement, limited the number of awards conferred to no more than two each year, but with the understanding that nominations can be resubmitted, and will assign a member of the board’s Membership and External Outreach Committee to play a lead role on the DSA review and selection process each year. (Applications for this year are due April 23, 2012)

• Reviewed the final list of appointments to the Task Force on Financing ICMA, which will hold its first meeting in April. President Gaston appointed 26 members from across the country to work over the next 18 months to recommend a long-term revenue policy for ICMA. Building on the work of a similar 2003-2004 task force and working within the framework of the ICMA Strategic Plan, the task force will review and evaluate ICMA’s financing and provide a recommendation to the board on how ICMA should be financed in the future and, in particular, how membership dues should be structured. Mike Van Milligen, city manager, Dubuque, Iowa, and former chair of the board’s Finance Committee, will chair this task force.

• Reviewed progress on membership recruitment and retention. Since July 2011, 325 new in-service members, including 164 Full members, have joined, but even so, there are only ten net new members as compared to July. Board members discussed the importance of continuing to emphasize the value of membership and to alert members who pay their own dues to the availability of paying dues in installments. Staff are beginning to develop and implement state-by-state recruitment strategies to tailor recruitment efforts.
• Approved updates to position statements adopted by the board in 2007 to better define ICMA’s international component including roles for the board, International Committee, and staff in pursuing ICMA’s international goals. The updates incorporate statements from the 2008 Strategic Plan; the addition of a third regional vice president position from the international region in 2011; and approval, last September, of adding a regular rotation of board meetings outside the United States, with the strategic purpose of initiating, strengthening, and leveraging relationships with international organizations to create excellence in local governance.

• Conducted the annual review of financial policies and approved them with no changes.
• Selected Montreal, Quebec; Vancouver, British Columbia; and Toronto, Ontario as the sites to visit as part of the site selection process for the 2020 Annual Conference, which will take place in Canada.
• Received an update on current activities related to development and implementation of the Life, Well Run Campaign from campaign manager Catherine Smith. The board reviewed the new logo, received copies of materials about key messages and social media strategy, and learned about progress on developing a dedicated website and selecting pilot communities for testing elements of the campaign. ICMA is committed to raising $5 million to fully implement the campaign and, as of January 31, 2012, pledges and receipts totaled more than $1 million, with more than $500,000 of that amount contributed by ICMA members and state associations.
• Received a briefing on the Center for Public Safety Management from director Thomas Wieczorek. The Center was created in August of 2010 to coordinate ICMA public safety responses. It provides members with knowledge, products, and assistance to manage public safety service delivery through five core areas: technical assistance, publications, education and training, research and development, and chief selection.

• Approved recognition for manager/CAO positions in the following local governments:
  Council-Manager:

Colorado: Grand Lake (Shane Hale, (former town manager)                 

Illinois: Huntley (David Johnson, village manager)

Oregon: Banks (James Hough, city manager)                              

Oregon: Sisters (Eileen Stein, city manager)

Texas: Westlake (Thomas Brymer, town manager)

Wisconsin: La Crosse County (Steve O’Malley, county administrator)

General Management:   

Kansas: Roeland Park (Aaron Otto, city administrator)

Wisconsin: Plymouth (Brian Yerges, director of city services)  

• Participated in a tour of Mount Pleasant conducted by town administrator Eric DeMoura.