HOLD FOR RELEASE: October 25, 2017     

CONTACT:  Michele Frisby, Director, Public Information, mfrisby@icma.org; 202-962-3658

SAN ANTONIO, TX—Wally Bobkiewicz, city manager of Evanston, Illinois, was installed today as Midwest Regional Vice President of ICMA, the International City/County Management Association, during the organization’s 103rd Annual Conference in San Antonio, Texas. He was elected for the three-year term on June 23.

ICMA’s mission is to advance professional local government management worldwide through leadership, management, innovation, and ethics. The organization’s 11,000+ members from 32 countries include appointed chief administrative officers (city, town, and county managers), assistant and deputy administrators, and other employees who serve local governments and regional entities around the world. ICMA’s membership also includes educators and students.

“We are honored that Wally will join the ICMA Executive Board as Midwest Vice President,” said ICMA Executive Director Marc A. Ott. “The individuals who serve on the ICMA Executive Board are outstanding leaders, not only in their own communities but also in the field of professional local government management. These individuals are committed to moving our organization and our profession forward, and we appreciate the time, energy, enthusiasm, and thoughtfulness that Wally and the other newly elected members of the board will bring to ICMA.”

ICMA’s 21-member Executive Board acts in the capacity of directors, overseeing the organization’s financial, member-related, and programmatic affairs and selecting the board president. The board also enforces ICMA’s Code of Ethics, which governs the professional and personal conduct of the membership.  ICMA Executive Board members attend four board meetings annually with expenses paid for by the organization.

“This is a critical time for local government,” Mr. Bobkiewicz said during his orientation at ICMA headquarters. “When I think about joining the ICMA Board, I am thrilled to serve the association in this way. We’re in the democracy business, and those of us who work as professional managers desperately need this organization. The jobs that we do are getting tougher and tougher, and too few people, particularly young people, look at local government and see themselves or understand what it is that we do. And we need to change that. As an ICMA Midwest Regional Vice President, I hope to be a part of implementing that change.”

As one of 18 vice presidents, three of whom are elected from the organization’s Midwest Region (which includes Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio, and Wisconsin), Mr. Bobkiewicz will represent ICMA to state associations of local government management and maintain relationships among other affiliated organizations. The Midwest Region is one of five ICMA regions in the United States; three vice presidents are also elected from countries outside the U.S.

Mr. Bobkiewicz began his extensive local government career as an intern with the League of California Cities in 1987. Following a second internship with the city of Syracuse, New York (1988-89), he accepted a position as a management assistant with the city of Long Beach, California (1989-90). He went on to serve Long Beach as an administrative analyst (1990-92); assistant to the city manager (1993-95); and manager, telecommunications bureau (1995-98). Mr. Bobkiewicz accepted the position of assistant city manager in Novato, California, in 1998 and served in that capacity for four years. He was named city manager of Santa Paula, California, in 2002, and became city manager of Evanston, Illinois, in 2009.

An active member of ICMA since 1985, Mr. Bobkiewicz served on a number of the organization’s task forces, committees, and advisory boards, including: the Workplace Diversity Task Force (1999-2001); Task Force on E-Government (2001-03), Advisory Board on Graduate Education (2001-07); Conference Planning Committee (2003-05); International Committee (2005-11); Local Government Management Fellowship Program Advisory Board (2005-14); Leadership Development Mentors Program (2006-present); Digital Strategies Advisory Board [formerly the Knowledge Network Advisory Board] (2009-12); Task Force on the Profession (2011); Library Advisory Committee (2012-present); Legacy Leaders Program (2007-present); Task Force on Leadership (2013-14); and Sustainable Communities Advisory Committee (2014-17). He chaired ICMA’s International Committee from 2006-09) and participated in the organization’s Exchange Program to the United Kingdom in 2000.

ICMA conferred Credentialed Manager status, the highest professional designation bestowed by the association, to Mr. Bobkiewicz in 2005. He received an ICMA Service Award in recognition of his 25 years of service to local government in 2014.

Mr. Bobkiewicz has been a member of the Alliance for Innovation Committee on Big Ideas since 2010. He has also been an active member of Cal-ICMA, the California state affiliate of ICMA, serving as a member of the board (2005-08) and vice chairman (2008-09); and of the Illinois City/County Management Association, as a member since 2009. He served as president of the Municipal Management Association of Southern California (MMASC) from 1992 to 1994.

Mr. Bobkiewicz earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Southern California in 1988 and his master’s degree in public administration from Syracuse University in 1989.

About ICMA
ICMA, the International City/County Management Association, advances professional local government worldwide through leadership, management, innovation, and ethics. ICMA provides member support, publications, data and information, peer and results-oriented assistance, and training and professional development to more than 11,000 appointed city, town, and county leaders and other individuals and organizations throughout the world. The management decisions made by ICMA's members affect millions of individuals living in thousands of communities throughout the world, from small villages and towns to large metropolitan areas.