The mission of ICMA’s Life, Well Run campaign is to raise awareness of and appreciation for the value professional local government managers bring to building effective, efficient, ethical local governments and communities we’re proud to call home.  An important mechanism for doing this is sharing the stories—your stories—that exemplify successful professional local government management. We gather your stories and post them on the campaign’s map so visitors can get a sense of the important work you do. Today, we’re highlighting a story from Little Rock, Arkansas.

Perhaps the most important service a local government provides is keeping its residents safe. However, keeping people safe is a job for more than just the police department. A park filled with trash or broken equipment will become a place families avoid, and it can quickly become a haven for drug dealers or gangs.  Similarly, abandoned buildings can become focal points for those who are at best on the edge of the law. Even trashy, unkempt median strips, vacant lots, and sidewalks call up images of unsafe or even frightening neighborhoods.

So, when complaints about nuisance problems—primarily code enforcement and minor crime issues—inundated city offices in 2004, city manager Bruce Moore leapt into action. His multidisciplinary response, Community Abatement Program (CAP), has made all the difference to Little Rock, and delivered tangible, measurable, transformative results for the community. 

Read the complete Little Rock story and the press release announcing the details and success of the CAP program.

Get your story on the map! Send your idea to Amy Mayers at amayers@icma.org

For information about Life, Well Run contact Catherine Smith at 202-962-3632 or csmith@icma.org.