Bend, Oregon<br />In just over two years, Bend, Oregon has seen major benefits to restructuring its emergency response system, including reduced response times, increased reliability and an improvement in gender balance in fire department staff. But much of this would not have happened without the support and skilled management tactics of professional City Manager, Eric King,…

Managing the human resources department is interesting to say the least. On one hand, I have been a candidate and suffered the experience of submitting a resume that seemed to be sucked into a bureaucratic black hole. On the other hand, I have been overwhelmed by inquiries from anxious candidates looking for status update only…

Longmont, Colorado<br />Longmont, Co. lies at the foot of the Rocky Mountains. The area is strikingly flat in comparison to what lies just 30 minutes away in the National Park that celebrates the mountain chain. That drastic drop in elevation leads to major runoff as waters flow east off of the mountains and in 2013, Longmont…

So there I was, looking out into a sea of faces. Council members, city managers and directors from all over California had gathered at the 2016 League of California Cities Annual Conference, and an unexpected number of them had decided to attend my session on emerging leaders. As a representative of the Municipal Management Association…

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To help civic leaders, students, and elected officials better understand how professional managers contribute to improving quality of life and financial success of our cities, counties, and towns we needed to create success stories, videos, and blogs reflecting stellar examples. We had a great response from communities but one city manager stands out: Sheryl Sculley…

Tomorrow is Make a Difference Day. It is one of the largest days of national service all year, according to its promoters and participants. It’s been around since 1992 but when we heard it about it, we thought of our community heroes and our city, town, and county managers. Every day is Make a Difference Day for them.…

Life, Well Run  published two seemingly very different Success Stories this month.  But both have a foundation in leadership and partnerships. In Roswell, Georgia, City Administrator Kay Love has made it a priority to recruit and keep top-notch staff at her organization.  And the programs have shown to decrease attrition, all the while having some fun.  Be sure to…