The ICMA Executive Board met in Wellington, New Zealand. February 22-25, 2015, in conjunction with the second International Regional Summit, and took the following actions:
- Set the member registration fee for the 2015 Annual Conference in Seattle/King County, Washington at $680. This price includes a base registration of $640 and the Sunday evening reception ticket of $40. This small increase over Charlotte is in line with the rate of inflation in 2014. Members who register online will receive a $25 discount and pay $655. The registration fee for partners will stay the same at $100 (also including the Sunday ticket). The board also raised the non-member registration fee to $1,115 continuing the practice of a significant spread between member and non-member fees in order to reinforce the value of belonging to ICMA.
The board retained the complimentary Student Member base registration fee and continued the special $300 discount for Affiliate members who are entry-level to mid-management local government staff. The board also continued the $200 registration discount for first time attendees in the conference region (West Coast).
The online conference housing bureau will open simultaneously with online conference registration on June 4. Reservations can be made online or by fax or mail using downloadable forms. - Reviewed six-month financials through December 31, 2014. Current projections show a loss from operations of between $500,000 and $700,000, compared to a loss of $400,000 in the FY2015 contingency budget. This is primarily due to changes in international funding and the reduced U.S. role in Afghanistan. Both membership and professional development are in a strong financial position with membership dues and the Charlotte conference projected at better than budget. The board also reviewed the organizational restructuring focused on ICMA’s key priorities and mission that had been put in place.
- Reviewed preparations for the six Regional Nominating Committees to select nominees for the 2015 ballot for Regional Vice Presidents. Those in the U.S. are meeting in conjunction with the 2015 Regional Summits and the International Nominating Committee will convene by conference call. The board also reaffirmed its commitment to having a diverse board and discussed the current status. The fourteen candidates for this year include two women, two Hispanics and one African American candidate. There are two candidates from a county and representation from all population ranges. The board is scheduled to do an assessment of diversity in the make-up of the upcoming board at every June board meeting. The results of this review will be shared with state and affiliate organizations as well as with the membership.
- Reviewed progress on membership recruitment and retention. Since July 2014, there has been good progress with 370 new in-service members, including 206 Full members. Staff is continuing to develop and implement state-by-state and country recruitment strategies to tailor recruitment efforts.
- Conducted the annual review of financial policies and approved three policy changes.
- Agreed on a process and schedule for the recruitment of an executive director to succeed Bob O’Neill who will leave ICMA the end of 2016.
- Selected Austin, Texas to visit as part of the site selection process for the 2023 Annual Conference which will take place in the Mountain Plains.
- Approved Council-Manager recognition for the manager/CAO position in the following local government: Oregon: City of Mt. Angel, Eileen Stein (City Manager)
- Held a joint meeting with ICMA’s International Committee that included presentations and discussions on the International Committee’s charge, on the ICMA China Center, on the European City Manager Network and idea generation on the location of the next joint ICMA Board and International Committee meeting outside of North America in 2018.
- Participated in a day-long forum with members of ICMA’s International Committee and members of the New Zealand Society of Local Government Managers (SOLGM). Presentations and case studies generated discussion on two topics: Futures: Social Disruption and other Game-Changers and Principle-based Leadership with particular focus on the ICMA Code of Ethics.
Following the Regional Summit, several board and International Committee members traveled to Sydney, Australia, to participate in an international forum on local government reform hosted by Local Government Professionals Australia, New South Wales.
