For example: this month, the League is hosting two free webinars—and both are a great fit for those who are new to municipal office.
The first, to be held from 1-2 p.m. on Tuesday, December 9, is the December Budget Forecast and 2015 Legislative Outlook for Cities. One member of the team who will present this webinar, Intergovernmental Relations (IGR) Liaison Heather Corcoran, says: “One of the great things you can do now that you are elected to your city council is introduce yourself to your state legislators and communicate with them when things impact your city—to do that, it’s important to be informed about what is happening at the Capitol.”
With the state budget forecast released on December 4 and the 2015 Legislative Session beginning on January 6, this is a perfect time to get up to speed on what’s happening at the state level that impacts cities. Along with his staff, the League’s IGR Director Gary Carlson will sort through the complexities of both the budget and upcoming policy issues in advance of the webinar in order to present only the information most relevant to member cities.
Read more about this webinar and register here.
The second December webinar (from 2-3 p.m. on Wednesday, December 17) is The Four E’s of Great Governance. Kris-Norman Major, director of the public administration programs at Hamline University School of Business, will present.
Those of you who have been elected to municipal office likely ran because you want to improve your city in some way. As Kris points out: “Being stewards of the common good is a tough job that requires making tough decisions.”
For example, how do you weigh competing interests? In what way do those competing interests and values come into play when making policy decisions? This webinar will examine some of those challenges, provide a possible framework for weighing policy options, and consider how to maintain civility while having difficult conversations—all while using the 4 E’s of great governance (economy, efficiency, effectiveness, and equity) as a prism.
Read more about this webinar and register here.
And newly elected city officials: don’t forget to mark the calendar for your 2015 Leadership Conference! Held in Brooklyn Center on January 30-31, this two-day crash course will review legal and financial basics, as well as your roles and responsibilities as new councilmembers and mayors. (Read more and register here.)
Finally, stay tuned to this webpage—http://www.lmc.org/goodstart—now and throughout the year for the most relevant information compiled just for newly elected officials.
And last, but not least, from all of us here at LMC to you: best of luck in your new role!
