The Executive Board met September 12-13, 2014, in Charlotte/Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, and took these actions:
- Approved the schedule for the 2014-2015 president-elect selection process. On October 1, 2014, letters will be sent to the 41 former RVPs eligible to serve as president-elect 2015-2016 asking them to submit expressions of interest and up to 12 letters of support by January 20. State and affiliate presidents, along with past ICMA presidents, will be sent the list of those eligible and encouraged to contact those individuals who would make good candidates.
- In FY2014, member services and programs remained strong and ended the year either better than budget or better than the prior year. Membership dues revenue exceeded budget targets by $50,558 and was higher than FY2013 dues revenue by $137,842. At June 30, 2014, ICMA had 9,253 members: 8,818 U.S. members and 435 international members representing 33 countries. In addition, net contribution from the ICMA Annual Conference held in Boston, Massachusetts, exceeded budget by $373,889, primarily due to stronger-than-anticipated attendance. Other professional development and information programs also did better than budget. During this transition, ICMA has also taken advantage of the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to generate excitement among ICMA members in celebrating the 100th anniversary of the profession and the organization.
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Accepted the FY2014 audited financial statements and report. In FY2014 (July 1, 2013-June 30, 2014), ICMA programs and activities resulted in a loss from General Fund operations of $221,236, compared with the budgeted loss of $135,000. (The FY2014 budget included using reserves for one-time, non-capitalized costs related to the implementation of new association management software, which is expected to produce efficiencies in processes throughout the organization.)
FY2014 saw the beginning of a two-year transition period as ICMA revitalizes business lines that are no longer sustainable in their current models, such as publishing, performance measurement, and public safety management. ICMA is shifting from print publishing to a focus on producing e-pubs so that ICMA can continue to be a thought leader and provide information to members. An enhanced performance management and analytics product (ICMA Insights™) is being offered this year in partnership with SAS, the leading developer of performance analytics software. ICMA has also entered into a new partnership with the Center for Public Safety Management to provide direct public safety technical assistance services.
The future of a post-Afghanistan funding stream as part of ICMA’s International Programs is also part of this transition. For ten years, ICMA has received funding from the U.S. Agency for International Development for a variety of municipal capacity-building programs in Afghanistan. It was expected that this funding would decline, but FY2014 saw the abrupt termination of a newly awarded $15M project in Afghanistan. Through early course adjustments, the negative impact of this loss was significantly reduced.
ICMA’s building of net assets has allowed this period of investment and assessment to occur. From FY2004 to FY2013, ICMA contributed approximately $5M to net assets bringing the total to $6.3M. It is anticipated that ICMA will return to a more steady state in FY2016 with the goal of rebuilding net assets to $6.3M by the end of FY2018.
ICMA’s auditors, Rubino & McGeehin, delivered an unqualified opinion on the financial statements (the best rating) and reported the 21st consecutive year of no material weaknesses. (ICMA FY2014 Year End Financial Results) - Received a report from the Task Force on Women in the Profession outlining its findings and recommendations. Approximately 75 women and men asked to serve on the task force and the first meeting was convened in October 2012. The task force was asked to review the status of women in the profession, to compare findings with those of the 1974-76 Task Force on Women in the Profession, and to create recommendations and strategies for increasing the presence of women in local government management as ICMA moves into its next 100 years
The task force divided into five subcommittees to conduct its work: Changing Dynamics of Families; Development of Tomorrow’s Leaders; Membership Recruitment & Retention; Impact of Elected Officials; Professional Development & Conference Planning, and Research & Data. Task force co- chairs Pam Antil, assistant city manager, San Jose, California, and Tammy Letourneau, assistant chief executive officer, Costa Mesa, California, presented the recommendations to the board. Further discussion and action on the recommendations will take place at the November 2014 board meeting. - Received a report from the Task Force on Leadership outlining its recommendations. The 33-member task force was asked to evaluate the future role of leadership for the local government profession, the “value proposition” of professional management, and the supporting role ICMA must play. The first meeting took place in January 2014 and work focused on six key issues: 1.What forces will impact local government in the next 10 to 25 years? 2. What challenges do those factors present? 3. What are the implications for the local government management profession? 4. What leadership and management competencies will be required of professional managers? 5. What are the implications for leadership and management development? 6. What should be the role of ICMA and affiliates in addressing these challenges? Task force co-chairs Rod Gould, city manager, Santa Monica, California, and Susan Sherman, assistant city manager, Olathe, Kansas, presented the final report to the board. Further discussion and action on the recommendations will take place at the November 2014 board meeting.
- Reviewed the upcoming regional nominations process for selecting regional vice president nominees. The 2014-2015 process launched in September. Candidate submissions, endorsement letters, petitions, and letters of support are due December 12, 2014.
- Reviewed progress on membership recruitment and retention in July when 103 new in-service members joined ICMA (54 full, 11 senior affiliate, 25 early-career affiliate, and 13 intern). There was the typical correlation between the conference host state/region and membership attraction, so that the Southeast region and North Carolina specifically generated the most new members for the month. The Midwest was second in numbers showing results from efforts to recruit new Full members in the Midwest region.
- Reviewed membership recruitment and retention goals and strategies for FY2015 including following up with improvements to member retention programs to maximize the potential for retention; expanding the state-by-state approach; leveraging existing ICMA data, programs, and services, especially interactions with nonmembers, to further membership recruitment and retention goals; continuing efforts to enhance one-on-one relationships with our members through the member-based Welcome Ambassadors program; conducting personal outreach to members, including the goal to contact 300 members via phone; and focusing on diversity.
- Approved a series of amendments to the Rules of Procedure for Enforcement of the Code to clarify that a valid ethics complaint must include appropriate documentation; that no investigation into the allegations by a fact-finding committee shall be required if the respondent admits to conduct that constitutes a potential violation of the Code; that a request for reconsideration by the CPC must be based on new facts and supported by documentation that the CPC did not have available in the first review; and that the option to revoke Credentialed Manager status be referenced throughout the document where appropriate rather than as a separate statement.
- Reappointed Peggy Merriss, city manager, Decatur, Georgia, to the Alliance for Innovation Board of Directors for a four-year term beginning January 1, 2015.
- Approved Shirley Hughes, finance director/real estate officer, Boulder City, Nevada, to serve as the ICMA representative to GASAC for a two-year term, beginning January 1, 2015.
- Approved 20 ICMA Credentialed Managers and 11 ICMA Credentialed Manager Candidates.
- Conducted the performance review of the executive director and of the 2013-2014 executive board.
- Extended the employment agreement of the executive director until December 31, 2016.
- Conducted a planning session for the 2014-2015 board.
- Approved recognition for manager/CAO positions in the following local governments:
Council-Manager
Colorado: Basalt, Michael Scanlon, town manager
North Carolina: Pikeville, Blake Proctor, town administrator
General Management
Kentucky: Hopkinsville, Nate Paga, city administrative officer
- Established board meeting dates and sites for 2014-2015: November 6-9, 201,4 in Arlington, Virginia; February 2015 in Sydney, Australia; June 4-7, 2015, in Portland, Maine; and September 25-26, 2015, in Seattle, Washington.
New, Reduced Membership Dues
A new, reduced dues rate is available for CAOs/ACAOs, along with additional discounts for those in smaller communities, has been implemented. Learn more and be sure to join or renew today!