As local government managers, one of our most important responsibilities is to work effectively with our elected officials to accomplish the work of our organizations.  Managing this relationship can be challenging and time consuming, yet is critical to the success of the local government organization.  For many of us at critical times in our work, we have  relied on those special mayors and council members to help us craft our proposals and conversations to appeal to all the elected officials and to effectively move forward on difficult discussions, including our annual budgets. 

Toward this end, I am happy to report that our Center for Management Strategies now has a former elected official, former Mayor, and past president of the National League of Cities in our "stable" of service providers to assist in the teaching and provision of technical assistance in our leading practice area of Fiscal Health and Wellness through Priority Based Budgeting.  

Ms. Kathie Novak (read more about her here), the newest member of the Center for Priority Based Budgeting, has had a successful career as a policy-maker and an elected official on the "other side of the dais" from managers.   Kathie is well positioned to help us understand how elected officials think and the information they need to make critical decisions and to help us tailor programs that address the challenges facing today's elected representatives and the pressures they are under every day.  She is also very supportive of the Priority Based Budgeting model that we have endorsed as a leading practice and is willing to help communicate to elected officials the benefits of this approach to linking a local government's expenditures to the goals of the organization and the community.

Kathie will be a presenter in an upcoming ICMA webinar on April 3 at 1 p.m. EDT where she, along with Chris Fabian and Jon Johnson of the Center for Priority Based Budgeting will discuss ways to engage your citizens and elected officials through priority based budgeting.   

With the addition of Kathie to our service provider network, our ability to provide education and technical assistance in the leading practice of Priority Based Budgeting to the entire organization, including staff and elected officials, went up by a quantum leap!  Kathie, we welcome you to  the Center for Priority Based Budgeting and to the Center for Management Strategies.