2016/10/11 - Walter's Blog: You're Never Too Old to Learn Something New

Democracy on the Front Lines
City Administrator’s Blog
Walter Denton

October 11, 2016

We received a question recently about elected officials attending the recent Illinois Municipal League (IML) Annual Conference in Chicago. The IML Conference consists of managers, administrators, and elected officials from around Illinois. Sometimes there is criticism over conferences, suggesting that they are junkets or vacations. We sent three aldermen to the IML Conference this year. I believe these conferences are essential for an informed and effective governing body.

We entrust elected officials to run the City of O’Fallon’s $60 million budget when they often have little experience or expertise in public finance. The IML Conference is essential training for our elected officials to learn about the business of governing. There are so many changes every year due to state laws and court cases, it is impossible to keep up with it all. The IML conference features presentations that highlight the major issues and provide guidance on how cities should proceed. Aldermen also have the opportunity to network with elected officials from other cities to learn about best practices in local government.

Sessions this year included topics such as budgeting, economic development, and legal issues. In particular, I attended a session on vendor fraud that featured policies on how to reduce costs due to poor vendors and contractors. Sometimes a company with the lowest bid is not a responsible vendor and we can put rules in place so that our projects are built effectively and efficiently.

In addition to the IML Conference, I attended the International City/County Management Association (ICMA) Annual Conference in Kansas City. The training was valuable and I think was well worth my time.

The ICMA Conference features more than 3,000 city managers from around the world and is the pre-eminent conference for local government management. The nation’s economic and political challenges were a prominent topic at the ICMA Conference. While citizens are increasingly dissatisfied with their state and federal governments, satisfaction with local governments is at an all-time high nationwide (this is true in O’Fallon as well with a 96% approval rating).

The source of citizens’ satisfaction with local government was much discussed, but I believe the primary reason has to do with proximity. Local government is the closest to the people and has the greatest effect on their lives. If someone is concerned about a City service, he/she can come to City Hall and meet with me or the mayor about their problem. As a result, we are compelled to respond to these concerns face to face, which provides for a much more civil conversation. The state and federal governments, on the other hand, are farther removed from citizens and can seem out of touch.

I attended several sessions that discussed how we use our positions in local government to be leaders in the community to make citizens’ lives better. This involves listening to their concerns, considering the views of all sides, and making decisions that serve the public interest. This has become increasingly difficult in a political environment of competing values, but that is the essential task of a city manager to facilitate these decisions between the citizens, City Council, and City employees.

Conferences are a great opportunity to learn new concepts and recharge your batteries, and these meetings did not disappoint.

Comments or questions?