PM Magazine, December 2022

Overcoming

Jessie

Pooja Bachani Di Giovanna and Alexander DeSantis

Your Career in the New Year

Whatever comes

next,

The end of the year is for many a time for reflection and introspection. Looking back over the year, what progress did you make on the personal and professional goals you set for the year? What were those unexpected encounters, both positive and negative, that affected your success and outlook?

How well did you deal with them?

Looking forward, what do you want to accomplish in the new year? Where should you focus your precious time and energy? Resolutions are passe, but the commitments you make to yourself are not.

Should I Stay or Should I Go?

MARTHA PEREGO,

ICMA-CM, is director of member services and ethics director, ICMA, Washington, D.C. (mperego@icma.org).

Reflecting on the year’s accomplishments from the vantage point of a long career in public service, some will conclude that now is the perfect time to move on. Those who have find that their talents, skills, and values are an asset for an encore career.

Others will conclude, whether for personal or professional reasons, that remaining in their position and organization best meets their needs. A host of others will wrestle with the question, concluding that now is the time to move on.

Moving to the Next Level

Taking your career to the next level is an exciting prospect. With a huge talent shortage now, local governments are wooing good candidates. There are tremendous opportunities in all disciplines of local government and at all levels.

For those who serve in or aspire to executive-level positions in local government, that move up or onward brings a unique set of obligations, challenges, and yes, quirks. One challenge is that it may require relocating. The position and organization you are eyeing may seem to be the perfect opportunity. Do the research and take the time to ensure that it is. Is the community with its amenities a good fit for you and your family? Can you find and afford housing? Will your spouse find a position suitable for their career?

One of the quirks with finding a position in local government is the expectation of transparency. Unlike counterparts in the private and nonprofit sectors, you may not have the luxury of competing for the next position quietly behind closed doors. Expectations of transparency, especially in the selection of the individual who will lead the entire organization, have risen so high that in some states merely applying for the position is a matter of public record.

International City/County Management Association icma.org December 2022

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ICMA Creating and Supporting Thriving Communities

ICMA’s vision is to be the leading association of local government professionals dedicated to creating and supporting thriving com munities throughout the world. It does this by working with its more than 12,000 members to identify and speed the adoption of leading local government practices and improve the lives of residents. ICMA offers membership, professional development programs, research, publications, data and information, technical assistance, and train ing to thousands of city, town, and county chief administrative officers, their staffs, and other organizations throughout the world.

lead with your values

Even absent that level of transparency, anyone successful enough to reach the finalist list should be prepared to have that information disclosed to the media and public. The public’s right to know and to have confidence in the integrity of the process is certainly important. But every disclosure that someone is seeking a position elsewhere has the potential to burn some political capital at the home base. Public processes by their very nature are not speedy ones. From application to interview can take months. Those actively searching for a new position can find themselves involved in multiple recruitments, each at varying stages of the process. Then there is the challenge that if you are offered the job, you end up negotiating terms and compensation with an individual who doesn’t have the legal authority to seal the deal. Hiring the manager and approving the employment agreement requires the vote of the full governing body.

Vying for a position as an assistant or deputy in another organization presents another unique set of issues to navigate. It won’t be subject to the same level of public scrutiny. But the issue of confidentiality, especially within a tight network of managers, is real. Upon seeing my application, will the manager in the

organization where I have applied pick up the phone to chat with my current manager?

Given the unique nature of the process, the profession has laid out some ground rules based on the values of integrity and commitment for your consideration.

Accurate resumés. Once you post your credentials online and submit your resume for a position, you are creating a permanent record of your education and work history. A resume that doesn’t match a LinkedIn profile raises a red flag. Tailoring your resume for the position is fine, but the basic facts on all versions must be consistent. Your credibility with a recruiter or the HR staff is in question if you have multiple stories about your credentials. Misstating your credentials and employment history— yes, even omitting short tenures—can have serious repercussions for your reputation and future employment.

Complete candor. At times there may be something in a candidate’s record that is best shared early in the process and by the candidate. Better to be forthcoming as a demonstration of honesty than to stay silent and have a matter unearthed in a background check.

Free agency. Just like the sports athlete, a local government professional is a free agent. You can apply and interview with multiple organizations. You are not

under any ethical obligation to inform your employer that you are looking elsewhere. As with most things in life, timing matters. If you don’t wish to burn any bridges, letting everyone know before the news leaks out is best. And of course, if you are relying on certain people for a reference, advance discussions are a must-do.

Participating in multiple recruitment processes gets challenging as you progress to the next level. You may find yourself a finalist in two or more recruitments. It’s fine to continue interviewing as long as you have a serious interest in the position. Don’t waste anyone’s time if after the first interview you can’t see yourself working in that organization. If you progress beyond the initial interview, you may want to consider informing the recruiter or HR staff within an organization of your status as a candidate in other places.

Due diligence. Responsibility for thoroughly evaluating the position, organization, and community to determine whether it will be a good fit both personally and professionally rests with you. The guideline on committing to a two-year tenure only applies to the appointed manager. But everyone should avoid short tenures that happen because you didn’t do your homework. They aren’t good for the individual or the organization. If you gave your word when hired that you would stay for a period, honor your commitment.

2022–2023

ICMA Executive Board

PRESIDENT Jeffrey Towery, ICMA-CM City Manager McMinnville, Oregon

PRESIDENT-ELECT

Lon Pluckhahn, ICMA-CM Deputy City Manager Vancouver, Washington

PAST PRESIDENT

Troy Brown, ICMA-CM City Manager Moorpark, California

VICE PRESIDENTS

International Region

Chris MacPherson

Former Chief Administrative Officer Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada

Rebecca Ryan General Manager

Queanbeyan-Palerang Regional Council, New South Wales, Australia

Colin Beheydt City Manager Bruges, Belgium

Midwest Region

Victor Cardenas, ICMA-CM

Assistant City Manager Novi, Michigan

Corri Spiegel, ICMA-CM City Administrator Davenport, Iowa

Michael Sable, ICMA-CM Assistant City Manager Bloomington, Minnesota

Mountain Plains Region

Diane Stoddard, ICMA-CM

Assistant City Manager Lawrence, Kansas

Kenneth Williams, ICMA-CM candidate City Manager Beaumont, Texas

Dave Slezickey, ICMA-CM City Manager Kingfisher, Oklahoma

Northeast Region

William Fraser, ICMA-CM City Manager Montpelier, Vermont

Scott W. Colby Jr. Assistant Town Manager Windsor, Connecticut

Dennis Enslinger, ICMA-CM Deputy City Manager Gaithersburg, Maryland

Southeast Region

Nate Pagan, ICMA-CM City Manager Owensboro, Kentucky

Valmarie Turner, ICMA-CM Assistant County Administrator Loudoun County, Virginia

Jorge Gonzalez, ICMA-CM Village Manager Village of Bal Harbour, Florida

West Coast Region

Roxanne Murphy Operations Department Administrator Nooksack Indian Tribal Government, Bellingham, Washington

Pamela Antil, ICMA-CM City Manager Encinitas, California

Jessi Bon City Manager Mercer Island, Washington

ICMA CEO/Executive Director Marc Ott

Director, Equity & Lynne Scott lscott@icma.org Social Justice and Membership Marketing

Managing Editor Kerry Hansen khansen@icma.org

Newsletter Editor Kathleen Karas kkaras@icma.org

Graphics Manager Delia Jones djones@icma.org

Design & Production picantecreative.com

Commitment. Early career professionals may feel a sense of urgency to fast track their career to the next level and regard even a one- or two-year stay as harmful to that effort. Balance the urge to move on with opportunity and obligation to make an impact. The adage to “leave no trace” applies to hiking, not to your career! You want someone to remember you and the contribution you made to the community.

Getting to yes. The offer to join the organization as the next manager is just that—an offer. It’s entirely contingent upon both parties reaching agreement on the compensation and terms. The process of getting from offer to the finish line (i.e., governing body approval) is a tango. Both parties need to be moving in sync.

If you want to work for the organization, the appropriate response to the offer is “yes, contingent upon reaching agreement with the organization.” Regardless of how much ground was covered during the interview about your terms, do not be surprised if the governing body’s representative starts the negotiation from a different position. Or has an issue with a particular request that you make. That’s why it’s called a negotiation.

Your verbal acceptance starts the negotiation process and signals your willingness to get to yes. Never start the negotiation process with an organization if you do not intend to work there, regardless of how much compensation they are willing to offer. At this point,

you should pause your search. Taking an interview at this stage with another organization is like going out on a date after getting engaged to be married: it sends the wrong message about your level of commitment.

Once you give your verbal acceptance of the terms outlined in an employment agreement or offer letter, you are committed. Oral acceptance of an employment offer is considered binding unless the employer makes fundamental changes to the terms of employment. With your commitment in hand, it is up to the governing body to hold up its end of the bargain and approve the agreement.

Unlike the professional athlete who goes to the highest bidder, ICMA members should not entertain a counteroffer from their current employer. In a very public process, you have given your word. Withdrawing your acceptance to take more money is bad form and reflects poorly on the profession. Members who accept an appointment to a position should not fail to report for that position.

Your Reputation

Integrity and commitment are two core values that should be a factor in every decision you make about your career. Your reputation, which can be tarnished in a moment, is as critical to your success as talent and skill.

WHAT

Local Government Leaders Ensure Citizen Participation by Providing Safe and Accurate Elections

In advance of the November elections in the United States, misinformation and disinformation threatened to disrupt voting as citizens expressed concerns for their own safety and whether their votes would be handled properly. It is a tribute to the dedication of our county, city, and town leaders and their staffs that voter turnout remained strong. At every step, from voter registration to election reporting, the reassuring hand of local leaders managed the process, as it does with every election—safely, effectively, and efficiently.

Much of this challenging and rigorous work goes unrecognized by the community like so many of the services provided by local government. Yet without it, the most essential element of a well-functioning democracy could not be exercised. Here we’ve captured just a few ways the role of local leaders has continued to broaden over the past several years:

Diligent Communication

To eliminate uncertainty and confusion, local governments funded new initiatives to get information out early about voter registration deadlines. They also formed new partnerships with community organizations, religious groups, and civic groups to hold voter registration events and mail-in ballot drives.

Residents received a steady stream of communication right up to election day explaining where, when, and how to vote. Some jurisdictions highlighted potential pitfalls in completing mail-in and absentee ballots to ensure that every vote would be counted. Additional communications regarding how to report voting irregularities also went out with guidance from federal election officials.

Public Health and Safety

Public health has become an important priority as local governments have been challenged by the pandemic. The health of poll workers, as well as voters, became of paramount importance. In some polling locations where infection rates are still high, the logistics of social distancing,

BY MARC A. OTT

providing masks and hand sanitizer, and disinfecting equipment continued to be important more than two years after the start of the pandemic.

Cybersecurity has become in recent years another threat that requires new procedures, training, testing, and constant vigilance. Local governments have been initiating additional cybersecurity checks on voting machines after 20 states reporting hacking attempts. Many communities reverted to paper ballots in the wake of reported security breaches.

Local governments have funded training for poll workers in handling emergency situations, including active shooter training and de-escalation techniques as much to protect themselves as the voting public.

The Voting Experience

Local governments worked tirelessly to improve the voting experience even in the face of the pandemic. To decrease voting wait times, they focused on recruiting additional poll workers, employing many creative solutions. They asked local government staff to make themselves available on election day to support their fellow employees, offering paid time off. They partnered with the private and nonprofit sectors to more expansively promote the need for election workers. In addition, they have spent funds to promote early voting and to clearly communicate voting hours with an emphasis on off-peak times to keep crowds on Election Day as low as possible. A number of jurisdictions offered free bus and bike share passes on November 8.

These are just a few examples of how local governments strive to meet the increasing number of tasks required to provide secure and accurate elections. This issue of PM focuses on elevating community participation. Voting is the most visible sign that our citizens are actively participating in our democracy. You, our members, lead that effort in spite of the many challenges you face, including lack of resources. By ensuring the integrity of our elections, you make certain that all voices can be heard. Together with the entire ICMA team, we thank you for your service.

By ensuring the integrity of our elections, you make certain that all voices can be heard.

MARC OTT is CEO/executive director of ICMA, Washington, D.C.

Oklahoma City, OK February 22–24, 2023

Louisville, KY May 10–12, 2023

Burlington, VT April 12–14, 2023

Long Beach, CA June 7–9, 2023

Creating New DEI Tools for Local Government Begins with Member Engagement

BY TROY BROWN, ICMA-CM

An exploration of member feedback on ICMA’s DEI efforts allows us to develop the best resources for the future.

One of the highlights of my tenure as ICMA president was engaging with members. While we covered much ground over the past year—from rethinking ICMA’s international footprint to making our dues structure more affordable—some of the most remarkable conversations I have had have been around the topic of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). More specifically, ICMA’s role in providing members with tools for DEI.

Two years ago, the organization raced to respond to the needs of the many members who were struggling to find resources and tools that would help them navigate the turmoil their communities were experiencing in the aftermath of the murder of George Floyd. Staff tirelessly created professional development and training programs; developed partnerships with public safety, policing, and racial equity experts; and generated best practice content.

While many members have praised the direction taken by the organization, others have expressed concern that ICMA’s work on racial equity and social justice could be viewed as promoting a political agenda, straying from its core mission of leadership and professional development. Given the broad differences in perception, it was clearly necessary to better understand our members’ needs in order to establish a plan for ICMA’s work in this area moving forward.

An In-Person Process

TROY BROWN, ICMA-CM, is city manager of Moorpark, California, and past president of ICMA (2021–2022).

One of ICMA’s foundational principles—in fact, one of the core competencies essential to good local government leadership and management—is community engagement. That’s exactly where this process began: by engaging our members. ICMA is especially good at sitting down and talking through issues where there is member passion on divergent sides. Between December 2021 and August 2022, the regional vice presidents, several ICMA staff, and I conducted a listening tour of face-to-face meetings with members across the United States through every regional conference and in conjunction with many of our state association partners at their meetings. I personally had

the honor of meeting with members in Texas, Oregon, Florida, Washington, the Atlanta area, the St. Louis region, and beyond.

With the aid of an expert, we developed a series of questions that would help us talk about these extremely sensitive issues in a safe environment. I have to commend those who took part in these sessions because conversations that involve race in which deep personal values are discussed can be difficult.

Throughout the process I learned that much like our communities, ICMA members are very diverse, and everyone’s needs are not the same. For example, arriving at a common definition for some terms is important. Some people view social justice as affirmative action and others view it as treating all members of the community equitably.

Another important takeaway is that ICMA is constantly evolving—some think that evolution is good, and some feel as though change is happening too fast. A complete report, which includes verbatim comments from the discussions, is accessible via the QR code at the end of this article, which links to www.icma.org/documents/ report-results-member-engagement-regarding-icma-resjinitiatives. Within the report, you will see that several common themes emerge to provide direction.

Common Themes

There are six key areas that provide direction to ICMA moving forward:

1. It is important that ICMA’s DEI work be aligned with the ICMA Code of Ethics and ICMA’s mission and not be perceived as political or divisive.

2. ICMA should serve as a source of information, thought leadership, and best practices. DEI is no exception.

3. ICMA should be the “go-to” resource to help members get assistance in dealing with specific issues or “wicked problems” facing local governments. Current resources and trainings are good, but these resources should be easier to identify and access.

ICMA is constantly evolving— some think that evolution is good, and some feel as though change is happening too fast.

4. DEI is an important issue, but should not be the top issue for ICMA.

5. The terminology used to describe these efforts matters. When framed as DEI, these issues tend to be viewed more positively; whereas when framed as “social justice,” they are viewed as being more political and/ or polarizing.

6. These issues should be presented factually. ICMA should be careful not to be seen as “taking sides.”

What’s Next

The clear message from the conversations is that by and large, members need and want support in this area to help move their communities forward. However, what that means to each individual member is different. While the results of our listening tour are incredibly helpful, they are qualitative in nature. As the next step in the discovery process, we will be conducting a survey of a representative sample of the membership. This will allow us to drill down and gain more definitive information about where we should focus our efforts.

While we found that there are strong feelings on both sides of the issue, as in our home communities, it is in the middle where good policy outcomes happen. With the help of quantitative data, we can uncover which solutions we should continue to build on and what perhaps we can leave behind. This will remain a central topic for the ICMA Executive Board as we gather those results and develop an action plan moving forward.

What Is Your Role?

First, if you were one of the hundreds of members who provided feedback during the listening sessions, thank you for your contributions! If you were not able to participate, please feel free to share your feedback on the questions found in the Member Engagement Sessions Report (accessible via the QR code). You may send your responses to speakup@icma.org Second, if you receive an ICMA survey in your inbox in 2023, please take a few minutes to complete it. Finally, never stop engaging! As local government leaders we know that progress is not measured in a straight line, rather it occurs through a series of missteps, failed attempts, and an unwavering commitment to moving forward that ultimately results in progress. ICMA has continued to improve over these 108 years because of your involvement. Our association will not back away from timely issues facing our communities because they might make us uncomfortable. Despite the passion around this issue, our members were able to articulate their concerns and their needs in a constructive way. So, I humbly ask that you continue to carve out time in your incredibly busy lives to become part of the change you want to see at ICMA and in this great profession.

Throughout the process I learned that much like our communities, ICMA members are very diverse, and everyone’s needs are not the same.

BY BECKY OFRANE

Data-Driven Infrastructure Spending that Advances Equity

The City Health Dashboard is a helpful resource for making local government decisions that serve your community equitably.

With incoming infrastructure and recovery dollars, city leaders have a lot of work to do to prioritize and allocate spending in their communities. Now, more than ever, local governments have a unique opportunity to address longstanding community health and well-being issues that were made worse by COVID. But how can we do that equitably?

The City Health Dashboard (cityhealthdashboard.com), a project of NYU School of Medicine’s Department of Population Health, offers more than 40 measures of health and well-being for 900+ cities and towns across the United States. This data isn’t just for big cities, as the Dashboard includes all cities and towns with a population greater than 50,000 and a growing set of towns with smaller populations. As a free health data resource that supports city leaders making these kinds of decisions, we have some ideas to help you use data to optimize this opportunity in a way that serves all residents, especially those who need it most.

Get more people connected to broadband internet.

Did you know that majority-Black neighborhoods in cities have the lowest broadband connection rates (just over half of households connected) as compared to neighborhoods that are majority-white or Asian (approximately three-quarters of households connected).1

Broadband connection rates for cities and neighborhoods are available on the City Health Dashboard, and can show you which neighborhoods within your community are the least connected and how your area compares to others. In Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, for example, the majority-Black neighborhoods in the city’s northeast corner had broadband connection rates as low as 21 percent in 2019.2 Meanwhile, just south of there, the neighborhoods that house primarily Asian and white residents have connection rates that average 80 to 90 percent.

Prioritize highway and public transit projects that reduce pollution.

Thanks to a collaboration with researchers at George Mason University and NASA’s Health and Air Quality Applied Sciences

Team,3 the City Health Dashboard now has monthly ozone pollution data showing how ozone pollution varies across cities, and even within cities throughout the year. Ground-level ozone is a harmful compound created from chemical reactions between pollutants typically released by cars and industry, and is linked to poor lung function and emergency room visits for asthma. Since ozone can increase significantly in warmer months, communities need the full picture of air pollution at different times of the year. With this Dashboard data, local government leaders can understand which neighborhoods are most impacted by air pollution and when, and take steps to improve infrastructure and public transportation in ways that also improve air quality and community resiliency.

Extend housing assistance for healthier and more affordable housing.

While emergency rental assistance has helped hundreds of thousands of Americans afford their homes and apartments during the COVID-19 pandemic, now is the time to plan for long-term solutions that improve housing affordability and safety. The City Health Dashboard actually has many metrics to help cities, towns, and communities prioritize housing-related spending, including housing with potential lead risk, access to healthy foods, park access, and excessive housing costs.4

For communities on the City Health Dashboard, focusing on just a few of these metrics can help you start to prioritize infrastructure and built environment projects that serve your community equitably. Get started at www.cityhealthdashboard.com and reach out to the team at info@cityhealthdashboard.com for support in putting data into action in your community.

ENDNOTES AND RESOURCES

1 https://www.cityhealthdashboard.com/1574

2 https://www.cityhealthdashboard.com/pa/pittsburgh/metric-detail?metr ic=1511&metricYearRange=2020%2C+5+Year+Estimate&dataRange=city

3 https://appliedsciences.nasa.gov/our-impact/story/monitoring-ozoneand-tracking-red-tides

4 https://localhousingsolutions.org/lab/notes/applying-community-healthdata-to-local-housing-strategies/

BECKY OFRANE is co-director of City Health Dashboard (becky.ofrane@ nyulangone.org).

Broadband Gaps in El Paso, Texas

As an example, Dashboard data and maps can help identify that federal funding should be prioritized in places like Chihuahuita, in order to bridge the digital divide and provide affordable and equal access to broadband.

BY THOMAS BRYER, PHD

Combating Disinformation by Becoming a Relationally Intelligent Leader

A thorn in the side of local government can become an opportunity to strengthen your community.

ICMA’s 14 practices for effective local government leadership are not mutually exclusive; they are not designed to be. While preparing for work as a local government leader, it is important to see where and how the different practices flow together, particularly in preparing to deal with complex issues. A case in point: combating disinformation and misinformation. This is increasingly a thorn in the side of local leaders and can be a thorn that either embeds itself deeper within the local government organization or scratches a path throughout the community, leaving government leaders and stakeholders scarred.

There are five practices for effective local government leadership that together enable local leaders to successfully recognize and combat disinformation and misinformation, and that further enable local leaders to strengthen communities that have been fractured by them. Taken together, these practices are those used by the relationally intelligent leader. The practices are community engagement, equity and inclusion, community and resident service, technological literacy, and communication and information sharing. There are additional practices that are relevant as well, but these are the dominant ones to ensure effective leadership.

At the 2022 ICMA Annual Conference, my colleague Sarah Stoeckel and I offered a two-part micro-certification in relational intelligence. In it, we covered much terrain that link the five practices, including the following:

• Combating disinformation online and offline.

• Framing your community vision.

• Creating a social media policy.

• Designing and implementing a communication plan for crisis and non-crisis situations.

of the person behind the task list. The second concerns the ability to adapt to a new cultural environment, whether that be in a new country or city, or when interacting with individuals with different cultural norms and values than one’s own. Relational intelligence concerns the ability to see the people and organizations within one’s environment, to recognize and deepen trust bonds with potential allies, and to build new links where there are gaps to specific groups, demographics, or organizations in the community.

To be relationally intelligent is to (1) practice effective community engagement, (2) communicate in ways that not only seek to be inclusive but that are specifically not exclusionary to any group, (3) design service delivery systems that are open for democratic feedback, and (4) utilize available social and other technologies to detect and overcome forces in the community that interfere with any of the preceding practices.

Those interfering forces are the creators of disinformation and spreaders of misinformation. We must differentiate between disinformation and misinformation, as they each require a different kind of response.

The Various Types of False Information

THOMAS BRYER, PHD, is a professor in the School of Public Administration at the University of Central Florida (thomas.bryer@ ucf.edu).

• Becoming a collaborative leader and inclusive communicator.

Relational Intelligence

First, what exactly is a relationally intelligent leader? You may have heard of the idea of emotional intelligence or cultural intelligence. The first concerns the ability to empathize with others, to move beyond the transactional nature of the professional environment and see to the care

Disinformation is defined as existing at the intersection of two dimensions: accuracy and intent of the creator. Information that is inaccurate and spread by an individual with self-interested intent (e.g., to promote a specific policy or value) is disinformation. Information that is vague or ambiguous (i.e., accuracy cannot be determined) and spread by an individual with self-interested intent is disingenuous information. Information that is technically accurate but lacking a complete context and spread with bad intent is distracting information. Each of these destabilize the policy process and threaten to fracture communities.

Comparatively, misinformation is inaccurate but spread by an individual with good intent (i.e., they think they are helping the community by “warning” about risks or dangers). Misguided information is vague or ambiguous and spread with good intent. These both also threaten the policy process and community cohesion but require different solutions and strategies of the relationally intelligent leader.

Information that is accurate and spread by someone with good intent often is missing information in that it is drowned out by the various manifestations online and offline of disinformation and misinformation. The relationally intelligent leader must amplify the missing information, block the spread of misinformation and misguided information, and inclusively communicate truth in response to all forms of disinformation.

Taking Action

One of the clearest ways to do this is to recognize that the city or county manager, or any leader in local government, is not alone in dealing with these issues. To control and combat misinformation and disinformation, and to amplify the voices of those who are trying to spread good information, requires partnerships with allies both inside and outside government. Leverage the social media relationships of the business community, nonprofit alliances, faith organization coalitions, and neighborhood associations. These allies can help identify dis- or misinformation before it fractures the community, and they can help to protect residents from being infected by disinformation in their zest to protect their community.

In a previous article I wrote for PM in 2020, “Social Media in Local Government: Leave or Experiment, I suggested that local governments should either experiment with or leave social media if there are insufficient resources to engage in innovative ways.1 I still agree with my previous

THE RELATIONALLY INTELLIGENT LEADER IS ONE WHO UNITES AND NEVER EXCLUDES.

writing. Here I build on it. Experimentation with social media and online engagement, or with democracy in general, is not only a question of the local government’s resources. It is a question of how local government resources are merged with and deployed strategically alongside those resources online and offline of community partners, stakeholders, and, ultimately, allies.

Conclusion

Disagreements on policy and community direction will persist, as they should, within and across our communities. However, all who have invested and continue to invest resources in businesses, people, or families have a shared interest in keeping our communities strong, rather than divided. The relationally intelligent leader is one who unites and never excludes. Using ICMA’s effective leadership practices as guides, we can strengthen our communities for the important work of building opportunities for a high quality of life for all who live, work, play, and pray beside us.

ENDNOTE

1 https://icma.org/articles/pm-magazine/social-media-local-governmentleave-or-experiment

Overcoming Polarization in Local Government through Strategic Community Engagement

BY JESSIE O’BRIEN

Is the national divide impacting local communities?

A recent survey asks local government employees how they deal with polarization when traditional approaches to engagement are no longer enough.

hese days we see polarization pollute political discourse and lead to dwindling trust in local government. Nearly 70% of government officials say political division negatively impacts their organization, according to a recent Polco survey investigating polarization at the community level.

“As much as local governments intend to be apolitical, the impact of the national divide is now hitting home locally,” said Michelle Kobayashi, Polco vice president of innovation. Kobayashi, who designed the assessment, is a thought-leading survey scientist and has helped governments make sense of public opinion for the last 30 years.

Many government employees think the fracture will likely worsen in the near future. Luckily, polarization may not be as pervasive as Twitter threads may have us believe. And some organizations have already implemented strategies like education and collaboration to help regain lost trust and temper divisiveness.

How Misinformation Fuels Polarization

As communication technology continues to advance, ideas and information—and

misinformation—spread further and faster than ever before. “The past few election cycles have shown pretty vividly how social media can be used to amplify misinformation and disinformation in state and federal elections,” said Josh Brockway, senior strategic foresight strategist for strategic government resources (SGR). SGR partnered with Polco to conduct the polarization assessment survey. “We [wanted] to see if misinformation and disinformation were making their way down to the local level,” he said. The survey results reveal that they are.

Almost 80% of local government professionals said misinformation has negatively affected their organization by a moderate to a significant amount. Only 7% said they have not witnessed any impact from misinformation. But polarized disruption comes from a small percentage of extreme voices.1

“Many social media postings [include] disinformation that comes from a small but vocal minority of our citizens,” one government official stated in the survey. They added that their organization spends a significant amount of time rebutting falsehoods through their communications channels and at city council meetings.

However, traditional approaches to engagement are no longer enough to overcome oceans of fake news and extremism. Polco’s national public opinion database shows that only about 20% of Americans have ever attended a local government meeting. In-person city council meetings don’t reach the masses.

Plus, the decline in local journalism has also made messaging more difficult. Over 2,500, credentialed news outlets have vanished since 2005, constricting a long-standing mode of communication.2

And yet, the demand and consumption of new media are at an all-time high. More people receive news from national mainstream sources (which are often more polarized) and social media (which often promotes more sensationalized or fabricated news).3

Social media encourages more divisive behavior as well.4 Social media platforms promote confirmation bias; the algorithms satisfy personal tastes so that everyone online lives in their own bubble fed by cherry-picked information. The system reinforces closely held mindsets, leading to more tribalism and identity politics.

“Grandstanding online reduces cooperation and increases divisiveness,” Kobayashi said. “While bits of grandstanding have always been a part of public meetings in the past, social media has provided an opportunity for grandstanders to claim greater amounts of attention, providing them with a bigger microphone.”

On the other hand, Polco engagement experts observe the majority of Americans don’t share their perspectives about community issues online at all. “You really only see the

more extreme viewpoints on social media,” said Angelica Wedell, Polco director of communications.

The decline of local news coupled with the rise of polarized social media dramatically altered the way Americans exchange information. And as a result, around 80% of government leaders don’t believe their community members are wellinformed on public issues.

“Misinformation becomes a self-feeding cycle,” Wedell said. “Residents don’t get the most reliable information about their city and local government leaders don’t get the most reliable look at public opinion. And that becomes a problem if you’re trying to make policy decisions from reacting to social media comments.” She says local governments must turn to other engagement solutions for resident feedback, with sound methods and strategies to filter the noise.

Waning Trust and Other Impacts of Polarization on Local Government

But polarization is not all bad. Opposites help us define, identify, and balance

two parties. It gives people choices. On the flip side, we’re witnessing the pitfalls of too much discord in real-time.

A recent study found that polarization leads to higher borrowing costs at the local level.5 It’s contributed to many government officials leaving the public sector, causing staffing issues.6 Polarization also creates funding issues and divisions among staff and elected officials. “Key decisions are often stalled out of no action,” one local government professional responded to the survey.

Other top impacts of polarization include council interactions (63%), resident hostility toward government employees (70%), and resident engagement with local government (70%). A decline in trust is the most-felt consequence (73%). However, it is still too early to know if the rate of decline will continue.

“At the federal level, public trust has been decreasing steadily for the past 30 years. Our national database on local government has not shown the downward spiral until around 2021 and 2022,” Kobayashi said. “We are not sure if this

is simply a blip or if the local government trust trends will start to more closely mirror the national trends.”

Overcome Polarization at the Local Level with Education and Collaboration

Fortunately, some governments are already taking measures to overcome polarization. More than half (61%) of local government professionals believe their organizations play a role in combating political division.

“We interpreted that as ‘Yeah there’s a problem, but we’re not giving up. We still feel optimistic. We can do something about that,’” Brockway said.

Further, 24% of government officials surveyed have already implemented strategies to prevent polarization. Some respondents say their organizations are aiming for political balance on appointed boards. Others have hired diversity, equity, and inclusion strategists. Many say teaching digital literacy and education is their main defense.

Community leaders point to government-sponsored

ENDNOTES AND RESOURCES

1 https://blog.polco.us/wickedproblems-and-the-truth-aboutpolarization-in-america

2 https://www.nytimes. com/2022/06/29/business/media/localnewspapers-pandemic.html

3 https://www.vox.com/ polyarchy/2018/5/31/17406590/localnational-political-institutionspolarization-federalism

4 https://elgl.org/advancingai-alarming-hope/

5 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/ articles/PMC8898782/

6 https://icma.org/articles/pm-magazine/ clocking-out-good-great-resignationsimpact-local-government

7 https://blog.polco.us/wickedproblems-and-the-truth-aboutpolarization-in-america

engagement and education as the key solution for misinformation-based polarization. For example, a number of cities (such as Celina, Texas) have launched citizen academies that teach civic education, youth leadership, and other classes. Brockway stresses that twenty-first century civic education needs to be much more than teaching the nuts and bolts of the federalist government. People need to learn true compromise and mediation skills.

Some governments are getting residents involved in the decision-making process itself. “We regularly host roundtable meetings,” one government employee said on the survey. “The purpose of these meetings is to jointly work to solve problems that deal with the service our local government provides to our constituents.”

Lowering barriers to participation is another effective strategy. Technology presents one of the best ways to reach more people at scale and connect with more diverse voices.

“Polarization is a symptom of imbalance. But inclusive, convenient opportunities for

engagement even the scales,” Wedell said. “That’s why we like surveys so much. They leverage tech most people already use. They don’t have the same burdens as inperson meetings like time constraints, transportation, or taking away from care-taking responsibilities. So you wind up with a lot more people able to participate. And with the right methods, you get a much broader, representative range of residents.” She emphasized that the majority of residents express the more reasonable viewpoints. The reality is that most of the community is not so extremely opposite after all.7

To go a step further, the best government actions are guided by reliable feedback. This may require letting go of some control. But including constituents in the decision-making process allows government officials to align their actions with community values. Listening and acting on feedback will also strengthen trust.

“When you share the power, it immediately disarms the cycle. It’s hard and it’s a little frightening, and you have to be very good at being humble and collaborative and negotiating

and mediating these differences of opinion,” Brockway said. “But the benefits are incredible. When you work together, you have something both groups have bought into. You can start the virtuous cycle of working together because now you have a precedent.”

JESSIE O’BRIEN serves as the lead copywriter for Polco (https://info.polco. us). Polco makes community engagement accurate and reliable. Hundreds of government leaders trust Polco for insights from surveys and data analytics on one easy-to-use online platform.

Clearwater Beach Kissimme FL Ennis

Disneyland Paris Barcelona Italian Riviera

DIGITAL EQUITY

BY POOJA BACHANI DI GIOVANNA AND ALEXANDER DESANTIS

AND PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT

It’s crucial for local governments to consider who they are trying to engage, how they are trying to engage with them, and who may be left out of the conversation.

The definition of digital equity has changed and broadened since its first conception in the 1990s.1 Recently, the pandemic placed a spotlight on digital equity when the world hastily transitioned to online work, school, and public engagement. Headlines abounded about students needing tablets and

using commercial Wi-Fi to be able to complete their schoolwork. Concerns arose about equal access to vital health information as government communication systems relied on technology to safely reach out and engage their residents. Likewise, public engagement shifted to

the virtual world, transitioning in-person meetings to online, increasing the use of QR code surveys, and more.

During this unprecedented time, local governments and school boards were faced with the challenge of maintaining operations online while ensuring residents had access.

Public engagement is just one of many lenses through which we can view issues of digital equity in local government.

Twenty-five years ago, digital equity primarily referred to technology access—who has technology and who doesn’t. The concept of the digital divide began in the early

1970s when microcomputers first became popular in the United States. The term later became widely used during the 1990s to describe both the gap between homes with computer access to the Internet and homes without these information communication technologies (ICTs).

Now, according to the director of the RAND Center to Advance Racial Equity Policy, Dr. Rhianna C. Rogers, digital equity “means the capacity in which all individuals and communities have access to technologies needed to participate fully in society, politics, and economics.” Digital equity and public engagement are inexorably intertwined; simply put, local governments need to be mindful of digital equity and access when determining their public engagement initiatives.

Dr. Rogers shares the following example to illuminate the connection: “Suppose someone does not have access to a smartphone, for example. In that case, they may not have the same access to cultural events (e.g., using social media activism), employment (e.g., online employment services), learning (e.g., education), and access to essential services (e.g., telehealth), which, dur ing COVID-19, have been digitized. This leads to the expansion of the digital divide (e.g., access and connectivity, digital literacy, digital access/ use, and digital representation, which may lead to digital dis

crimination).” A smartphone is their avenue of connection and engagement with their community, local government, health information, and more.

While a move toward digital engagement can unlock new potential from residents, and as put by former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, “empowers people to do what they want to do,” the move cannot rest on the assumption that everyone in the community will have access.

“The usage of technology, while it can increase access to certain events, must be balanced with the reality that historically marginalized communities do not have the same digital capabilities or proficiencies that many Americans are privileged to enjoy,” according to the founder and principal of New Reach Community Consulting, Coby Williams. “Equity can be proven

with data and outcomes of programs. If a city or agency believes it is using equitable practices, it must prove that to residents by demonstrating outcomes.”

Know Your Community

Given that equity is an outcome that must be proven to residents, it is important to consider who you are trying to engage, how you are trying to engage them, and who might be left out of the conversation due to access or even data privacy concerns.

The first step to digital equity is to know your community and understand their levels of digital literacy and access. This may look like public engagement in the form of town hall meetings, focus groups, phone or paper surveys, and postings in newspapers and community bulletin boards. Public engagement is designed to inform local government decision making and good public engagement can lead to decisions that are better for the whole community. When considering a transition from analog to digital, it is important to take a step back and consider the following questions:

• How comfortable would my community be with this move?

• Does the level of digital literacy in the community match the requirements of this new technology?

• Do we have the infrastructure in place to support this transition? Effective, inclusive public engagement can help answer some of these questions. However, public engagement can only assist with a few of

the many challenges in the space of digital equity

Some Challenges to Consider

Hardware and software compatibility remains a major roadblock to implementing digital equity. Oftentimes, the software required for adequate public engagement in the digital space is not capable of running on budget-friendly hardware. Even some of the most tech savvy among us were required in the early days of the pandemic to go out and upgrade our aging devices in order to maintain a high level of virtual engagement.

Racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic minorities are increasingly left out of the digital conversation. For many of these users, budgetfriendly but incompatible technology is the only real option available to them. This is compounded by a history of mistrust in government services that can lead to serious privacy concerns among these communities.

Local governments must design digital engagement with the end user in mind, using their platform to increase trust, build authentic relationships with these communities, and provide them with either the same tools or the opportunity to interact digitally with their local government. Agencies should consider if digital engagement is the most appropriate way to meet their residents because digital engagement cannot serve as a catch-all or a replacement for building authentic relationships within a community. Even digitally, it is crucial to meet

PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT IS JUST ONE OF MANY LENSES THROUGH WHICH WE CAN VIEW ISSUES OF DIGITAL EQUITY IN LOCAL GOVERNMENT.

residents where they are both in terms of access and digital literacy levels.

Opportunity for Partnerships

In a world where public meetings frequently engage with the same homogeneous community, technology can offer a real opportunity for local governments to reach out to historically marginalized and underserved communities. Furthermore, efforts to address digital equity can lead to cross-department partnerships within and without local government.

Davenport Institute Advisory Councilmember and Co-director of the Inland Center for Sustainable Development (ICSD) Rick Bishop points out that it’s imperative for local governments to lean on their regional partnerships to produce regional solutions consistent with broadband supportive policies and streamlined permitting practices. Cities can work with state and federal legislators to advocate

for investment in middle and last mile broadband infrastructure improvements. “They can develop and disseminate information about the importance of digital equity in their communities. Municipalities can partner with internet service providers to develop and implement programs to increase enrollment for lowincome families.”

While each city faces different needs serving a

unique population it would serve any agency looking to find out their community’s level of access by “reaching out to schools, service providers, and community leaders to learn more about where and why gaps exist, and then developing classes, programs, or events that provide targeted learning opportunities for those who have an interest and need in expanding their technical knowledge,” according to Bishop.

In a presentation during the Davenport Institute’s Second Annual State of Public Engagement conference, Dr. Rogers noted that digital engagement needs to have foresight regarding longevity. When asked to expand on this, she shared that “having an established connection with technology companies is vital. Throughout my career in digital equity, I have made key connections with technology experts to hear about the above advances in the field, issues with specific tools, and programs that will disappear.” These partnerships have allowed Dr. Rogers to be always

prepared for what is coming next in the ever-changing and updating world of technology.

Efforts to address digital equity in public engagement require effort and work from multiple departments and organizations. This work also presents an opportunity for partnerships and collaborations that can help serve communities for decades to come. At the start of the pandemic, private and commercial companies stepped up to help with broadband and technology access for students. Local government organizations like ICMA (icma.org) and the Institute for Local Government (ca-ilg.org) brought together practitioners to discuss best practices across departments, cities, counties, and states.

In order to move closer to an equitable space, we need to rely on our communities. Dr. Rogers notes that “part of equity studies builds on an idea of community and best practice sharing.” There is a lot of work to be done in our work to address digital equity, but sharing knowledge, best practices, and working with our communities to provide meaningful public engagement, both online and in person, are good places to start.

ENDNOTE

1 https://edtechbooks.org/k12handbook/ digital_equity

POOJA BACHANI

DI GIOVANNA is the assistant director at the Davenport Institute and works on program development and delivery, communications, and strategic relations.

ALEXANDER DESANTIS is a graduate assistant with the Davenport Institute at Pepperdine University.

EVEN DIGITALLY, IT IS CRUCIAL TO MEET RESIDENTS WHERE THEY ARE BOTH IN TERMS OF ACCESS AND DIGITAL LITERACY LEVELS.

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT AND PUBLIC STRATEGY

Two tips to help demystify community engagement, along with three ideas for engaging more effectively. BY KEL WANG

Community

With the development of technology and the impact of COVID-19, we have seen an increased use of online, digital, and remote forms of engagement. These not only make certain engagement activities more efficient and economic, but also produce more standardized results conducive to analysis and interpretation.

But community engagement can have roadblocks. When you come back to the community, you may receive different and even contradictory responses and attitudes. You may also find certain groups of the population were not reached before; therefore, their involvement and input are missing. It is also possible that

the engagement results are inconsistent with other sources of information and there is a lack of information to interpret the engagement results or to investigate the discrepancy. These issues are often the result of us being unclear about the difference between community engagement and customer insight, and us being unclear about the difference between equity and equality.

Customer Insight

In the public sector, customers are defined as a group of consumers of public goods and services. We may refer to them as citizens, residents, or the community, depending on the types of public goods and services. Customer insight is understanding why customers care for the public goods and services, as well as their underlying mindsets, moods, motivation, desires, and aspirations that motivate and trigger their attitudes and actions. There is a fundamental difference between customer insight and community engagement. Community engagement is often perceptionbased, driven by one or several events, while customer insight is satisfaction-based, learned through ongoing activities.

For example, if you were to formulate a transit strategy to redesign the transit network and would like to involve the community, including your residents, community engagement would be a critical step in this process. Through various channels and means— including telephone surveys, online links or platforms, interviews, and focus groups— you would collect a robust

set of data that provides an observation or an indication of your customers’ feelings on the redesign. The feedback may include people who haven’t had much experience with transit and people whose primary method of commute is not transit. As you could imagine, if the feedback is not based on usage, the engagement data is susceptible to various factors such as recent transitrelated events and other people’s reactions, emotions, and comments on media and social media. Customer insight could help overcome the short-termism and variation by including the measurement of usage and experience. Transit customer insight would include who uses the transit, for what purpose, which route and when, where, and how customers access the transit, and key attributes that affect customer satisfaction, all of which provide richer context and understanding.

Equity vs. Equality

The core of the discussion between equity and equality is to recognize the fact that each of us is different; so are our needs and desires. Many ineffective community engagement efforts only recognize the need for engagement, but fail to differentiate between diverse needs and desires within the population. Way too often, our processes are designed for an “average person,” giving every one of them the same thing (see Figure 1). But there is really no “average person.”

In Figure 1, we see three types of people and we have some understanding of what matters

engagement is an important tool for working collaboratively with residents and other groups of stakeholders to address issues affecting their well-being. When done properly, “community engagement increases community cohesion and allows for the community to have ownership over the outcomes that will ultimately impact them.”1

to each. We give everyone what they specifically need—that’s equity. This may sound expensive, but in reality, it may just be like what you see in the pictures: three boxes, but allocated differently. What it does take is more forethought.

Ideas to Engage More Effectively Engagement Is Not the Be-All and End-All

If you actually pay attention to what your community is saying, you can get plenty of early signs about the need to make a difference. If you wait until the last minute when push comes to shove, it will almost certainly be too late to take bold strategic action and instead it will be doomed to fighting a painful rearguard action. An unfortunate example would

be the grassroots “Defund the Police” movement.

With the murder of George Floyd, members of the Minneapolis city council moved quickly and passed a veto-proof council majority saying the city would dismantle its police department and move to a community-based public safety model. As part of the resolution, the city council would begin a year-long process of engaging “with every willing community member in Minneapolis” to develop a new public safety model. Naturally, community engagement was supposed to increase residents’ understanding and acceptance and help facilitate the transition. But the 2021 municipal election results2 told a different story:

1. The incumbent mayor, who opposed the dismantle measure, was re-elected.

2. Question 1, a proposal to adopt the mayor-council form of government was passed, which grants the mayor increased oversight over administration.

3. Two city councilmembers who supported overhauling the police lost their bids.

4. Question 2, a proposal to replace the city’s police department with a new department of public safety, was rejected.

If we take a holistic view of the issue, we would

complement community engagement with customer insight. In Edmonton, Canada, the city council asked for analysis on how many calls for service are driven by mental health, addictions, homelessness, or other social and public health factors, and how many calls could be better handled by partners. The data could be further disaggregated by demographic attributes such as race, gender, age, and others. Again, when we “listen to” the community, we can avoid having to react and deal with the issue as an emergency.

The Spectrum of Engagement

The idea of the spectrum is to employ varying levels of engagement3 for the diverse needs and desires within the community. In general, there are five levels:

1. Inform: providing residents with relevant information to help them understand a problem, alternatives, opportunities, and solutions. The typical style of this level of engagement is “here’s what’s happening.”

2. Consult: obtaining feedback on what you present, possible solutions, alternatives, analysis, and goals etc. A typical style is “here are some options—what do you think?”

3. Involve: working directly with the community to ensure concerns are understood and ideas are incorporated. A typical style is “here is a problem, what ideas do you have?”

4. Collaborate: working as a team to partner and address the issue together.

5. Empower: shared leadership and decision-making. A typical style is “you care about this issue and are solving it. How can we help?”

WAY TOO OFTEN, OUR PROCESSES ARE DESIGNED FOR AN “AVERAGE PERSON,” BUT THERE IS REALLY NO AVERAGE PERSON.

Figure Equity: Giving everyone what they need to be successful 24 | PUBLIC MANAGEMENT | DECEMBER 2022

1.

vs.

From one to five, there is an increasing impact on decisions, accompanied by varied process complexity and resource requirements. Many ineffective community engagements result from the mismatch between levels of engagement and community interests and power.

We Need Better Questions

In many cases, our goal is to obtain community feedback, so how we design a questionnaire matters. It sounds pretty logical to ask the community outright about the issue and ask that they respond., but there’s more to it. Residents may not understand the implications or the underlying assumptions behind questions, particularly when issues are vague and people lack lived experience. For example, the public were asked to weigh in on the Brexit issue: “Should the United Kingdom remain a member of the European Union or leave the European Union?” It is a simple question and easy to respond to, but the context and consequences are not part of the questionnaire. Many people had second thoughts after voting as they started to see or experience the consequences.

In the context of our work in local government, accountability and transparency matter, so we may think the best way to demonstrate the result is to ask the residents a question such as, “Thinking about all of the programs and services provided by xxx, how would you rate the value you are receiving for your tax dollars?” Or we may be keen to enhance their quality of life, so we ask, “How would you rate the quality of life in xxx?” Once people start answering, they will continue answering questions

even if they cannot tell or have little interest in understanding the differences between choices. They may begin to answer indiscriminately just to complete the questionnaire. And we dutifully add up those answers and draw conclusions. It is scary. Unreliable input leads to unreliable output.

To me, the most critical insight is what particular information would be conducive for decision making? The answer to this question will inform the method in which you should engage the community. You must employ a technique for acquiring those insights that is consistent with the nature of the insight you are seeking. If you were to propose or approve budget requests for transit, validating people who have accessed the service before asking any questions would be critical, then embedding questions about key attributes as drivers to people’s satisfaction as follow-up, and lastly, including a simple question to capture topline results to show overall status. For certain issues that are vague, strategic, or complex in which people may not be able to respond concretely, we may consider other means

such as interviews and focus groups, which provides opportunities for better context and interpretation. The results still have to be compiled, cleaned, and standardized for decision-making.

The bottom line is that you can’t ask a simple question, such as those found in a survey, while expecting a profound answer.

Summary

So why does community engagement matter in the context of public strategy? Integrative stakeholder participation theory argues that community engagement during the strategic planning process of decision making generates beneficial outcomes.4 It is expected to be more beneficial to the process when a variety of stakeholders participate in it as opposed to only the top policy makers and managers of the organizations involved.

The evolution of information technology has made the cost of collecting, storing, and analyzing data much cheaper and the pace much quicker. Naturally, community engagement has become more digitized and simplified and public organizations are more willing to demand the data and

collect it. Equally important to this trend is the growing understanding of and capability to convert data into intelligence that is conducive for decision making. Making better use of community engagement not only collects much-needed information to learn about our communities, but also strengthens the rigor for decision making. So, are you ready for your next engagement?

ENDNOTES AND RESOURCES

1 Source: Tamarack Institute.

2 https://vote.minneapolismn.gov/ results-data/election-results/2021/ ballot-questions/

3 Source: IAP2’s Public Participation Spectrum.

4 Hendrick, Rebecca. 2003. Strategic Planning Environment, Process, and Performance in Public Agencies: A Comparative Study of Departments in Milwaukee. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory 13(4): 491–519.

KEL WANG is the founder and CEO of fioh Strategy—we innovate strategy and build capacity for the public sector. He teaches at the Center for Government Excellence at Johns Hopkins University, and also serves on the ICMA Performance Management Advisory Committee. kel.wang@fiohstrategy.com

Youth Councils

BY POOJA BACHANI DI GIOVANNA AND ALEXANDER DESANTIS

Youth are often overlooked during public engagement processes for multiple reasons. They are not old enough to vote, own property, or pay taxes. However, they represent the future of our communities and local government. Youth councils are a unique way in which local governments can work with schools and school districts to engage with the next generation. They are also an opportunity to cultivate interest in local government that in turn leads to an engaged and informed long-term resident.

Youth councils are also a way in which local governments can help repair the fracture in trust between them and the public. Recently, public trust in local government has been at an all-time low, especially within the younger generation.1 Low

An often overlooked and underutilized resource, the younger generation can become an important part of your community engagement strategy.

Can Strengthen Local Government and Build Trust

trust, coupled with engagement modality challenges presented by the pandemic, led many youth councils to hold operations until they could resume in-person meetings. This year, many youth councils resumed, and local governments began re-engaging with the young people in their communities through innovative partnerships. While some were able to pick up where they left off, others faced new challenges in the era of post-pandemic(ish) engagement.

Partnering for Success

Public engagement, especially with marginalized or overlooked communities, has a greater chance at success if it includes community leaders who can help bridge the divide that can exist between communities and local government. Local government collaboration in the public engagement space can produce robust programs like youth councils that have a major impact on students’ lives and better the community.

The city of Simi Valley, California, successfully broadened its reach of the youth council by partnering with the Ronald Reagan Foundation and Institute to provide a town hall meeting forum where over 300 students from middle school and high school can hear about local policymaking from their elected officials.2,3 Town hall meetings with the student body are a unique opportunity to meet students where they are and have valuable face-to-face engagement.

The city also partnered with the Simi Valley School District to have their youth council recognized as an official educational activity for students to partake in. The Simi Valley Youth Council is made up of 21 members from middle school to high school age. The council makes formal recommendations to the real city council of Simi Valley. This provides a unique opportunity for young residents to see how their government works and provide input

to allow their own voices and interests to be heard.

Roseville, California, is an example of another city that has cultivated a strong partnership with their local school district to provide a youth council to high school students.4 The city council also appoints high school students to serve one-year terms in various commissions in the city, such as parks and recreation. The oneyear opportunity provides a unique, in-depth introduction to local government departments and generates career interests. A closer connection with students allows departments to foster meaningful relationships that can influence students to be more civic minded and potentially consider local government as a career path.

Bouncing Back

After the Pandemic

Many cities struggled with their youth engagement efforts during the pandemic and several youth councils completely suspended operations. The pandemic posed new challenges in public engagement, and while cities immediately transitioned to online avenues of reaching community members, it was still difficult to reach marginalized communities. Students were facing digital learning and engagement fatigue as they navigated their coursework online.5 While digital fatigue is not a new term, it became ubiquitous during the pandemic as we all transitioned online and experienced a sense of digital overload. During this time, it was difficult for

cities to effectively maintain youth council programs and many, like Newport Beach, entered a status of hiatus during the pandemic.

However, as we slowly entered the era of post pandemic(ish) engagement, cities sought to revive opportunities to reach young people. In Newport Beach, it was a priority to restart the Youth Council program, which plays a valuable role in lending an ear to an underrepresented population and engaging with them for the longterm.6 The program provides immersive local civic leadership training for students through mentorship. Students are paired with city staff to act as mentors, building valuable relationships with the community, providing career and professional development training, and

offering a backstage view into how their local government functions. Community service projects offered by the city for the youth council provide another opportunity for students to grow personally, academically, and as a voice in their community.

In addition to new challenges posed by the pandemic, youth initiatives continue to compete for time against other student activities. In Placer County, California, the Youth Commission (PCYC) is an “active group of youth from throughout Placer County who work together to make changes and raise awareness in their community of prominent issues that youth are facing.”7

However, as Placer County’s Department of Health and Human Services Program Supervisor Ranjit Chima

shared, the commission “has faced challenges with competing priorities among youth, including sports, academics, etc.” There are a plethora of activities and opportunities for students, both digitally and in-person, and it can be difficult to maintain engagement. “Occasionally a youth will determine they do not have time to participate in PCYC but that does not happen often and PCYC is able to continue fully functioning through this,” Chima said. These challenges faced by youth commissions and councils are part of the public engagement process. Prior to starting a public engagement process or initiative, it is important to understand where the community is at and what is feasible for them. What is the community doing in terms of fatigue and challenges outside of public engagement? What are other priorities competing for time against this public engagement initiative? How can local governments best connect and build relationships with community members? These are just a few of the questions to think about when considering a public engagement initiative like youth councils and commissions.

Building Trust

Public trust at all levels of government, including local government, has been on the decline.8 The pandemic served to amplify pre-existing trust issues in the community as in-person engagement fell by the wayside and many cities faltered trying to engage with residents of all age groups, particularly the youth. Students, among other historically marginalized communities, were particularly hit hard by

the digital divide. Without the ability to meet young residents where they are and foster authentic relationships, a lack of trust can fester and present itself as a serious barrier to local success. Youth councils are one way to forge that trust from an early age and invest in the long-term success of the community. Building an engaged community from the ground up leads to better governance with strong and cohesive communities.9

A youth council in Takoma, Maryland, provides students with an important educational opportunity to gain a foot in the door with their local government elected officials and staff members.10 An informed and civic-minded youth voter base is extremely important in Takoma where residents as young as 16 can vote in their local elections.

Involving and engaging residents from an early age has been shown by the University of Copenhagen to produce residents who have better voting habits and show increased levels of civic participation as they get older.11 Key to the success and high turnout rates of Takoma’s young voter base (twice the turnout rate than their older counterparts) is a robust public engagement and civic education effort that starts with youth councils building relationships and gaining the trust of residents. As a 17-yearold member of the youth council Asha Henry put it, “We should be able to [have] our opinion heard if it’s going to affect our futures.”12 Providing this unrepresented but vital demographic of the community with a platform, voice, and the education to use it builds trust with young residents

and creates an avenue for local government to invest in its community. In the long term, these residents will be better informed, engaged, and have higher levels of trust in their local government. Engagement efforts like this boost chances that residents will invest back into their local community initiatives, improving and taking ownership over what happens in their city.

Voter turnout at the local level has always been low. This is especially true for younger voters. As Mayor Kate Stewart of Takoma emphasized, “Having more people vote, particularly at a local level…is super important” for a healthy functioning democracy.13 Providing meaningful public engagement to our younger residents keeps them invested in their community and striving to give back through acts of public service both small and large.

Building Relationships and Fostering Local Government Collaboration

Our youth are an overlooked and underutilized resource in the community. Breaking down barriers from modality to trust building, youth councils provide local governments a unique opportunity to foster meaningful relationships with residents and to collaborate with other agencies. They provide a unique forum for youth to share their voice and for local governments to make a long-term investment in the lives of its residents. Providing an educational opportunity for students that aligns with their school and curriculum goals is an excellent example of collaboration between local governments. Communities seeking to strengthen their

own youth engagement strategy should consider partnering with their local school district to involve students in local government and provide a meaningful educational experience.

ENDNOTES AND RESOURCES

1 https://www2.deloitte.com/xe/en/ insights/industry/public-sector/trustin-state-local-government.html

2 https://www.simivalley.org/ departments/city-manager-s-office/ community-programs-and-facilities/ youth-council

3 https://www.reaganfoundation.org/ programs-events/events-calendar/ youth-town-hall-2022/

4 https://www.roseville.ca.us/ government/boards_commissions

5 https://elearningindustry.com/iszoom-fatigue-becoming-serious-threatfor-online-learners

6 https://www.newportbeachindy.com/ newport-beach-city-manager-updategeneral-election-information-mayorsyouth-council/

7 https://www.placer.ca.gov/2395/ Placer-County-Youth-Commission

8 https://www2.deloitte.com/xe/en/ insights/industry/public-sector/trustin-state-local-government.html

9 https://icma.org/articles/pmmagazine/how-public-engagementproduces-more-accountable-andeffective-government

10 https://takomaparkmd.gov/ government/boards-commissionsand-committees/takomapark-youth-council/

11 http://www.promoteourvote. com/uploads/9/2/2/7/9227685/ leaving_the_nest_and_the_social_act_ of_voting.pdf

12 https://dbknews.com/2020/10/01/ takoma-park-young-voters-greenbeltmontgomery-county-riverdale-park/ 13 https://dbknews.com/2020/10/01/ takoma-park-young-voters-greenbeltmontgomery-county-riverdale-park/

POOJA BACHANI

DI GIOVANNA is the assistant director at the Davenport Institute and works on program development and delivery, communications, and strategic relations.

ALEXANDER DESANTIS is a graduate assistant with the Davenport Institute at Pepperdine University.

OVERSEEING EFFECTIVE Community Engagement

Five ways local government leaders can equip staff

BY TRICIA THOMAS

Community engagement is one of the most frequently cited priorities among municipal leaders, but how exactly does one go about defining engagement success? One place to start is by asking the people we want to engage, and a recent national survey sought to do just that.

To help local government leaders and their staff, PublicInput conducted a national survey of residents to better understand resident preferences for engaging. The focus of the survey sought to understand how residents preferred engaging in a way that shaped community decisions.

Many teams highlight defensible decision making as the single biggest outcome of successful engagement efforts. Defendable decisions are characterized by (1) deliberate engagement of the people affected by a decision and (2) clear evidence that we heard from a broad, representative set of voices.

Community engagement data provides local government leaders with the critical support needed for relevant and defensible recommendations and decision making.

Successful community engagement helps teams point to a clear message or insight from the community supporting a decision, project, or course of action.

Effective Community Engagement

Successful engagement approaches engage residents the way residents want to engage. To do this, local government organizations need to understand the fabric of their community and the preferences of the people they’re looking to engage. Here is a snapshot of the five key insights we found:

Insight #1: There is a perception that government is not listening.

Insight #2: The most common engagement approaches don’t match resident preferences.

Insight #3: Residents have high expectations for accessible engagement.

Insight #5: Residents expect to be informed of how their input was used.

Insight #4: Residents don’t have enough information to meaningfully participate.

Five Ways Local Governments Are Equipping Staff

Whether it is embracing new technologies or meeting people where they are, the ultimate goal is to develop a community engagement strategy that meets the expressed needs of the people most impacted by decisions. Based on the data gathered, PublicInput offers five recommendations to support local governments in their efforts to achieve consistent, effective community engagement.

1 Address the perception that your local government is not listening through action. Show residents that you are listening by providing a regular, consistent means of engaging. For local governments seeking to improve the effectiveness of their engagement process, understanding the interplay between why a person may or may not engage as well as how they engage has the power to dramatically impact engagement outcomes.

Diane Wilson, senior public involvement officer with the North Carolina Department of Transportation, explains, “The first question we ask on every survey is if you would like to be added to our email list.” This contact information, along with cell phone and participation data, is gathered and stored in a CRM, which acts as a central public participation database. The CRM should be connected to email functionality to make follow-up, results sharing, and future requests for feedback easy. Read more about how the North Carolina Department of Transportation team increases their community engagement and accelerates projects through active listening at https://publicinput.com/wp/ community-engagement-case-study-ncdot/

2 Update your engagement approaches to match resident expectations.

Engagement approaches that include a mixed-mode approach with both online and offline tactics challenge the status quo and support resident expectations regardless of community size or composition.

Revere, Massachusetts, saw increases in community engagement inclusion during their “Redraw Revere” initiative by leveraging community engagement software to do more than set up a project site and online survey. Using community engagement technology, the team developed and executed strategic community engagement tactics to quickly and easily inform, listen, communicate, and analyze public perceptions all in one place. Read how Revere met resident expectations using more than just a survey to increase resident transparency and inclusion at https://publicinput.com/wp/communityengagement-example-inclusion-revere-ma/

3 Exceed the high expectations residents have for accessible engagement.

Implementing truly accessible formats of engagement across online, phone, virtual, and in-person can seem like an insurmountable challenge due to the diversity of need.

Differences like disability, age, income, language, and transportation access are all important predictors of an individual’s ability to participate and contribute to public engagement initiatives, particularly those that utilize only one type of tactic. Here are some ways local governments can address accessibility:

• Multilingual closed captioning addresses both linguistic and physical disability barriers to participation during virtual meetings.

• Equity mapping serves as a visual tactical planning guide to the community that helps governments “see” where additional support is needed (for example, distribution of ESL speakers in a geographic area).

• Surveys provide a dynamic self-service option for residents to engage from anywhere regardless of their ability.

• Meetings increase resident access by removing the need to attend public meetings in person.

4 Ensure residents have the information they need to provide informed input.

A willingness to listen is not the only ingredient needed to ensure that residents will engage. The importance of communication and strategic outreach planning that prioritizes the critical need for information sharing will set the context for residents, making it possible for them to effectively contribute.

Community engagement software offers online and virtual formats that seamlessly integrate questions with contextual information residents need to respond via a variety of formats including:

• Interactive maps that serve as efficient tools for sharing information, aiding residents in finding projects or areas they care about, and one method to collect feedback and ideas.

• Video content that allows governments to quickly and concisely capture resident interest and deliver the needed information.

• Providing downloadable/web view documents gives interested residents a self-service option for consuming additional detail and resources they may need to contribute their input.

• Project imagery and visualizations quickly capture attention and help residents “see” the elements of a project or initiative.

Secondly, and arguably the most important dimension of ensuring residents have the information they need is empowering local governments with the tools to identify community stakeholders. Using geographic information to target and monitor input areas is critical.

According to Kristin N. Williams, Ph.D. of Henrico County, Virginia, “Without map layers we didn’t have a lot of context. With equity mapping, we were able to see the level of reach among minority populations.” Watch the full Henrico County webinar discussion at https://learn.publicinput.com/ webinar-strengthening-iija-grants.

5 Close the loop with residents about how their input is used. This process of two-way communication involves reaching out (public outreach), collecting comments and ideas (public input), and developing insights (analysis) based on what is received. To close this loop, engagement practitioners must share the information and at times request feedback from both decision-makers and community members.

Local governments interested in increasing transparency about how resident input is being used should consider implementing a process of open communication with participants.

Community engagement software that integrates email and SMS text as a solution makes closing the loop easy for local governments regardless of internal capacity. Tactics such as setting up automated messaging that provides public-facing information to participants immediately after they engage, or interactions that are more customized makes transparency easy.

Take a closer look at the results of the national survey:

TRICIA THOMAS is content marketing manager at PublicInput (publicinput.com).

Successful engagement approaches engage residents the way residents want to engage.

Elevating Women in Local Government Management

BY MONICA N. SPELLS

Those in the assistant chief administrative officer role—or aspiring to be— can benefit from these steps to success.

In 2019, the ICMA Assistant Chief Administrative Officer (ACAO) Committee was formed and launched its work plan, which included advising ICMA on expanding support for current ACAOs and improving the preparation for the next generation of ACAOs. The committee’s work is tied to the premise that the ACAO role is key to advancing professional administration and management of communities and supporting ICMA initiatives such as SheLeadsGov, which promotes the advancement of women in local government.

Research shows that inequalities between men and women continue to exist when it comes to advancement opportunities, decision-making, discrimination, harassment, and pay. Yet despite this, women break barriers every day and reach their goals. ACAO Committee members recommended a series of sessions during the 2022 ICMA Annual Conference around “the Art of Assistant Leadership” meant to help augment the tools, training, and networking that ACAOs that need in order to take their community and career to the next level. I moderated one of those sessions, “Elevating Women,” in support of the committee’s work in nurturing settings for women to flourish in leadership and management roles.

The session included a discussion with Katherine DeMoura, ICMA-CM, a former town administrator and now a regional business development leader; and Chelsea Jackson, assistant city manager of Douglasville, Georgia. I have known gotten to know Katherine and Chelsea through ICMA and state-affiliate activities over the past several years. We are each at different career stages and shared about serving as an ACAO, challenges along the way, the benefit of developing a support system,

keeping a “can do” mindset, and supporting other women in the profession. Although we did not touch on all thoughts related to advancing gender balance in the profession, our discussion and the subsequent Q&A with session participants covered parallels and opportunities. Here are a few of the takeaways from the session that everyone should be aware of.

Women have different paths to the ACAO role.

Reasons include, but are not limited to, background or expertise, compatibility, interest (portfolio development), education, organizational need, and title or hierarchy differences. No specific track leads to success. This diversity of experience is valuable, as managing and sustaining communities requires diverse viewpoints and knowledge.

MONICA N. SPELLS, MPA, ICMA-CM, is an assistant county administrator for Loudoun County, Virginia (monica.spells@ loudoun.gov).

Laura Savage, Monica Spells, Katherine DeMoura, and Chelsea Jackson at the 2022 ICMA Annual Conference.

Having a seat at the table does not equate to having a valued voice.

Women in the ACAO role engage in professional development and volunteerism.

In addition to academic and on-the-job experiential training, women in the ACAO role and those aspiring to the role take advantage of ICMA’s professional development, coaching, and mentoring opportunities, along with those of their local government affiliate groups and other leading organizations. They also volunteer on ICMA and state affiliate boards, committees, or task forces. Serving in this manner allows women to increase their knowledge, hone skills, and implement skill sets while developing professional relationships, networking, and making a valuable contribution to the profession. The committees and task forces cover a wide cross-section of issues important to ICMA and local governments in general, so watch for the Call for Volunteers this spring.

Women ACAOs benefit from speaking up and amplifying the voices of other women. Having a seat at the table does not equate to having a valued voice. When women share an idea or speak up during a meeting, they are often interrupted or not listened to as much as their male colleagues. Women in the ACAO role understand that they should not sit on the peripheries of a meeting and that they are as capable as anyone else. Women benefit from constructively asserting themselves in a discussion. Women should feel comfortable using their

voice, especially when supporting and elevating other women who need to feel empowered to use theirs.

Women in the ACAO role have many mentors. According to a recent study, women are less likely than men to self-promote or seek promotions even when they perform well.1 Women in the ACAO role often have both women and men as mentors. Having multiple mentors allows women to receive empathy and feel encouraged to take leadership roles while gaining diverse perspectives.

Women in the ACAO role lift while they climb.

American lawyer and civil rights activist Marian Wright Edelman has said, “You can’t be what you can’t see.” Reaching up the career ladder and out to mentors is wise, but so is reaching back. Bringing other women along with you on your career journey (and asking them to do the same) encourages them and offers gratification from helping others and contributing to their personal and professional development.

Leaders recognize that a rising tide lifts all boats— engage, celebrate, and elevate women!

ENDNOTE

1 https://academic.oup.com/qje/article/137/3/1345/6513425

Leaders recognize that a rising tide lifts all boats— engage, celebrate, and elevate women!

STEP UP TO ICMA EXECUTIVE BOARD SERVICE

Serve your peers. Serve your profession. Serve your association.

ICMA’s 21-member executive board provides governance to the association and is responsible for selecting the president, supervising the association’s executive director/CEO, providing fiduciary oversight, representing the association, and adopting policies to advance ICMA’s mission and vision, thereby exercising a critical leadership role for the local government management profession. The board also enforces the association’s Code of Ethics, which governs the professional and personal conduct of the membership.

There are six regions and each region is represented by three regional vice presidents. Every year, each region has one regional vice president position open up in the region’s rotation. ICMA Executive Board service demands active participation and a significant commitment of time and effort throughout a board member’s three-year term.

NOMINATIONS FOR REGIONAL VICE PRESIDENTS WILL BE ACCEPTED OCTOBER 18, 2022, THROUGH JANUARY 13, 2023.

Start planning today! ICMA strongly encourages individuals who are interested in pursuing this leadership opportunity to reach out to their state or country association leadership, affiliate organization leadership, current or former ICMA regional vice presidents, ICMA regional directors, or ICMA program staff at icmanominations@icma.org. Access regional nominations and annual election information on ICMA’s website: icma.org/BoardNominations.

“I wanted to serve on the board to give back to ICMA and the profession. As a board member, I believe I have been able to have an impact on the important work of the ICMA Strategic Plan.”

“I have thoroughly enjoyed my time on the Board. Local governments around the world have never been more challenged than they are right now and it’s important that we have organizations like ICMA to help us navigate the difficult waters. I would strongly encourage any ICMA member to put their name forward to run for a board position.”

“Being able to represent colleagues in my region was a tremendous honor and responsibility. Throughout my time on the board, I had the privilege of working with some very talented people while making some great friends.”

Christopher Coleman, former Northeast Regional

Vice President

Diane Stoddard, Mountain Plains Regional Vice President

Chris MacPherson, International Regional

Vice President

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They have our backs. We have theirs.

Phyllis J. Anderson Assistant Borough Manager Oakmont, Pennsylvania ICMA Member since 2018

Advice for Leaders of Small Communities

Get out into your community to understand what your needs are in order to be better equipped to handle some of the issues you may face. Get connected with neighboring towns and communities. I am an executive committee member of a regional consortium called CONNECT (Congress of Neighboring Communities) that identified key projects that member municipalities would be able to fund through IRA money. We work in tandem with each other as opposed to being in competition. We are finding ways to communicate messages from municipalities to residents in a consistent manner.

Getting Council Onboard with Sustainability

When looking at our Sustainable Pennsylvania criteria, I realized that Oakmont received a Silver Designation, so I made plans to push our community to platinum status, researching numerous sustainability initiatives. With recent council turnover, some of these previously approved initiatives were being questioned, and my work virtually started from the beginning. Thankfully, I convinced enough councilmembers to see that we want to be on the forefront of this innovation, not scrambling to catch up with the rest of the world. As a result, the motion to approve the installation of three dual port charging stations was passed by a 6-1 vote.

An Unexpected Career Highlight

When faced with overgrown vegetation on our riverbank, we explored the option of hiring a company to spray herbicides, which was not ideal seeing as the chemicals would leak into the soil and river. I searched for alternatives and came across the option of hiring goats to eradicate the vegetation. After some persuading, the manager agreed, and we brought on six adorable goats with big personalities to clear the land. While residents could finally enjoy the view of the river, the unintended consequence was that it gave them something to feel good about! The manager and council began to see that we can make small, innovative changes with out-of-the-box thinking to help become better stewards of the Earth.