Media outlets are beginning to pay attention to the way fire departments have changed in the past few decades. We talked with Ned Pettus, special advisor at Management Partners and former fire chief in Columbus, Ohio about how and why fire departments are changing. Across...
Jan Perkins, Senior Partner, facilitated a day-long City Council retreat in Port Hueneme on February 26. The retreat focused on Council teambuilding and setting priorities for the coming year. The executive team joined in the afternoon to participate in discussions. Members of the public attended...
The City of Stockton emerged from bankruptcy protection this week after more than two years of fiscal planning and cost cutting supported by Management Partners. “We emerge from bankruptcy a renewed city, perhaps better prepared for our future than any other city in the state,”...
At the 2014 meeting of the New Mexico City Management Association last week I presented a session on ethics, focusing in on Tenet 12 of the ICMA Code of Ethics. Tenet 12 says, “Seek no favor; believe that personal aggrandizement or profit secured by confidential...
Management Partners has been asked by the City of San Bernardino to assist the City in managing its handling of its bankruptcy proceeding, after being taken to task by the presiding judge for its response. The City Council approved a contract with Management Partners which...
What factors help determine the success of strategic plan implementation? Dr. David Mitchell, assistant professor at the School of Public Administration at the University of Central Florida is conducting research to find out. He recently spoke at the Florida League of Cities 2014 Legislative Conference...
Last month I had the opportunity to attend the 2014 Municipal Management Association of Northern California (MMANC) Annual Conference in Sacramento, California. Although the conference had a number of informative sessions, I found the panel discussion on the Public Employees’ Pension Reform Act (PEPRA) of...
While attending the 2014 Municipal Management Association of Northern California (MMANC) Annual Conference, I listened to a thought-provoking session hosted by Katy Simon, former county manager of Washoe County, Nevada, on the topic of innovation in local government. Innovation, as she described, can be thought...
This past weekend, the Alliance for Innovation held their annual “Big Ideas” conference in Fort Lauderdale, and, as usual, they put on a great event. The theme this year was resiliency–environmental, economic, and emotional. About 75 individuals from across the country participated in a discussion...
The 100th ICMA Annual Conference opened with President Simon Farbrother, the Chief Executive of the City of Birmingham in the United Kingdom, welcoming several thousand people who had traveled to Charlotte, NC for this significant event. ICMA was created by eight people a century...