Rod Gould, whose award-winning career in local government included stints as city manager of Santa Monica, Poway, San Rafael and Monrovia, is joining Management Partners as vice president for management, based in the firm’s West Coast office. Gould will assist West Regional Vice President Andrew...
City Council members in San Bernardino, one of only a few American cities to declare bankruptcy in recent years, approved a plan this week to resolve its fiscal problems. The plan was prepared with the help of Management Partners, and it comes ahead of a...
At the Alliance for Innovation’s recent Transforming Local Government conference, Virginia Beach was awarded a 2015 Innovation Award for its shared-service plan with Norfolk and Chesapeake. Too often, people weigh the cost savings and efficiency of shared services against the risk of job loss and...
Dave Childs has been a local-government professional for 43 years. In announcing his retirement to Palmdale, Calif., officials this week, he captured many of the reasons why this is not just a job but a calling for so many of us. Thanks for putting it...
The following post first appeared on Voices of the Governing Institute. From open-data projects to predictive policing, everyone in local government wants to innovate right now. Ours is a golden age for innovation, with technology enabling government leaders to radically change the way they do...
In most cities, residents give input on their city’s budget at the end of the process, after the professionals have drafted and refined it. But in Manhattan Beach, California, city officials this year asked for – and received – plenty of ideas just as the...
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...