Did you know one of your local government management colleagues is a professional baseball umpire? Or did you know that nearly 1,000 people and organizations contributed to the Fund for Professional Management and that their support helped preserve the council-manager form of government in Sacramento, California, last year?

Find answers to these questions in the June PM. It’s a packed issue, that’s for sure, and includes the preliminary program for ICMA’s 2015 Annual Conference in Seattle/King County, September 27–30. Along with a Special Report that includes the names of donors to the Fund for Professional Management and the Life, Well Run campaign during 2014. ICMA is always honored to give these supporters special recognition.

Issue authors have hit it out of the park with their articles. Yes, it’s probably the fact that baseball season is in full swing, but I think the baseball metaphor applies to the June issue. Even the Short Story department copy fits in perfectly, as City Manager Mitch Wasserman tells about his “other job” as a baseball umpire.

Emergency medical services and how local governments must prepare for a shift away from fee-for-service reimbursement toward fee-for-quality and value-based purchasing—and collaborate to reduce costs and improve care—is the cover story topic. How a grassroots campaign in support of council-manager government overcame a better-funded effort, with a summary of lessons learned, and a close-up review of who came together to win local support is a feature article.

A look at local government in the country of Italy is provided by ICMA Member Stefano Tripi, who gives his perspective on government transformation processes that began January 1, 2015, when Italy created 14 “metropolitan cities.”

I’ve come back to another question that ICMA members Lauren Palmer, James Hunt, and Laura Hannah answered in the On Point department: What’s the best management advice you have ever received? Read their thoughtful responses.

And there’s more articles in addition to those noted here. All in all, the June issue is definitely a homerun!