Reminder: Submit Comments on LMC 2019 Draft City Policies by Nov. 2

Could the policy development process be a treat? Committee leads Slayton Clerk/Administrator Josh Malchow, Oak Park Heights Mayor Mary McComber, and St. Louis Park Management Assistant Maria Carrillo Perez share a lighthearted moment while answering questions from the LMC Board of Directors at the October board meeting.

What's the most important ingredient in the League's City Policies? It's not magic—it's the input of city officials! Your comments on the draft 2019 City Policies are due by Nov. 2 to make them the best they can be.

The policy committee process includes over a hundred city officials who review existing policies, then refine, discuss, study, and propose new language for how to make them an even better foundation for the League's work in the upcoming legislative session and beyond.


These draft policies are then made available to all city officials for your review and comments. Your comments—each and every one—will be read and discussed at the November board meeting before making the policies final. So step away from the candy bowl (or bring it with you) and make sure that you get familiar with the draft policies before the end of the week!

You can look over the draft policies and contact League staff with your comments today.

Photo credit goes to LMC staffer Eric Haugen

Sustainability Real Talk—GreenStep Cities Workshop & Webinar Dates for 2018-2019

Registration:
Registration for all GSC workshops is now open!

You want to see what cities are *actually* doing on sustainability topics, learn more about resources to make your life easier, and generally feel less like an island and more like the connected, resiliency rockstar you know you can be. We get it.

The free GreenStep Cities Workshop and Webinar Series is here for you, and the 2018-2019 dates have been announced (see below). Your city does not have to be in the GreenStep Cities program for you to participate.

What you can expect:

• Relevant topics like road design, using data, partnering with schools, and more.
• Real talk about sustainability projects straight from the city staffers doing the work.
• Inspiration and info about resources from other levels of gov, nonprofits, and the private sector you can use.
• Connections with other city officials in the room ready to share their own experience.

This season the workshops will be held the first Wednesday of each month from 9-11 a.m., with the exception of January (second Wednesday). Attend in person at the League of Minnesota Cities in St. Paul—free parking, transit accessible, snacks, friendly faces—or tune in online from literally anywhere with a connection. May's workshop is on the road in Red Wing!

All the 2018-2019 dates:
Oct. 3—Climate Smart Municipalities: What We’ve Learned from Germany
Nov. 7—EcoDistricts: What City Leaders Learned from the National Conference
Dec. 5—GreenStep Metrics: Work Session on Gathering and Reporting Data
Jan. 9—Green Building Policies: City Case Studies & Policy
Feb. 6—Road Diets: City Case Studies & Policy
March 6—Shared Mobility & Electric Vehicles: What We’ve Learned from Cities
April 3—The Smart City: Energy & Dollars Saved by Smart Data Use
May 1—Deep Energy Efficiency: Red Wing City & School Accomplishments

See what you missed!
Looking for a specific topic? Check out the archived webinar presentations here:
2017-2018 workshops
2016-2017 workshops 

Subscribe to the GreenStep Cities newsletter for updates on events, grants, new resources, and more.

The Sep-Oct 2018 Issue of Minnesota Cities Magazine Is Now Online

The latest issue of Minnesota Cities magazine arrived last week, and can be found online at www.mncities.org. The September-October 2018 issue covers everything from LMC award winners to electronic OSHA reports.

Bonus: Printed copies and the online PDF of the magazine include the 2017-2018 Annual Report insert, which should be renamed to the "Working for Cities is 🔥 Report." (That's a good thing, FD folks, promise.)

Some more highlights:

Our cover story features C.C. Ludwig Award winner Mary Hamann-Roland (Apple Valley mayor) and James F. Miller Leadership Award winner Susan Arntz (Waconia city administrator). You can read about how they stand out from the crowd in League Honors Outstanding City Leaders.

Learn how to keep it simple—even when you know every nook and cranny of a subject—with the four communication tips in Crafting a Simple Message—If You Lose Them, You Can’t Persuade Them.

You know that welcoming service animals in public places is an important part of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Now dig deeper into what cities need to know in Meeting ADA Requirements for Service Animals.

More great features and regular departments include what's on the mind of Executive Director Dave Unmacht in St. Paul to City Hall, summaries of recent court cases in From the Bench, and the newest Focus on Small Cities, dedicated this issue to how a city of fewer than 700 residents is embracing sustainability.

Read the Sept.-Oct. issue of Minnesota Cities magazine online

Calling All Future Leaders!

How can a mayor make an impact in their city? Maybe by hosting a clean-up or tree-planting event to improve parks and open spaces, giving a speech on the importance of working for a city, or posting signs around the city sharing a message of community pride.

These ideas—and more!—were featured in the winning essays from three elementary school students for the League’s 2017 “Mayor for a Day” essay contest. Students across the state submitted hundreds of creative ideas of things they would do if they had the chance to be mayor.

Now, it’s time to sharpen those pencils and get thinking once again! All fourth-, fifth-, and sixth-graders who live in Minnesota are invited to share their best ideas about how they would improve a city service or program for the 2018 contest.

Three winners will be chosen, each will receive a check for $100, and they'll have their essay published in an issue of Minnesota Cities magazine. All entries must be handwritten and postmarked by Oct. 12, 2018.

Please share this with students, teachers, and parents in your community. We can’t wait to hear this year’s crop of great ideas!

Find GreenStep Cities at the MN State Fair Eco Experience Building

Left to right: Student assistants Divya Ghosh and UJ from the U of M Institute on the Environment; Sen. Dave Senjem, Rochester; Blaine Hill, city manager, Morris; Larry Herke, Office of Enterprise Sustainability, State of Minnesota; Kristin Mroz, local government coordinator, Environmental Quality Board; and Amanda Bednar, environmental coordinator, Elk River, kick off the first day of the fair at the Eco Experience building.

The League booth isn't the only place dedicated to sharing the best that cities have to offer this year at the fair. The GreenStep Cities program and their partners are excited to be hosting “Clean Energy Community” days at the Eco Experience building daily from noon to 6 p.m. In partnership with the Department of Commerce Division of Energy Resources, communities have been invited to host a booth, connect with fair goers, and share their clean energy stories. Why? One of the best ways to engage communities in clean energy actions is for them to learn more about what other communities have done!

What is a Clean Energy Community? A county, city, township, tribal nation, school district, or any place you call home that is dedicated to promoting, supporting, and being active in producing clean energy.

 What you'll find at the exhibit:
•    Displays that describe GreenStep, Clean Energy Community Award, and Climate Smart Communities, including maps, descriptions, and ways to join.
•    Postcards for fairgoers to take home that promote a variety of Clean Energy Community organizations, including GreenStep Cities, Climate Smart Municipalities, and Minnesota Clean Energy Communities.
•    A display featuring the recent Minnesota Clean Energy Community Award recipients.
•    An interactive display, “Actions in Your Community,” that will allow fair attendees to vote on actions their community has already taken and actions they would support.

This year's community host lineup:
•    Aug. 23 – Climate Smart Municipalities (Duluth, Warren, Morris, Elk River, Rochester)
•    Aug. 24 – Maplewood
•    Aug. 25 – Warren
•    Aug. 26 – Climate Smart Municipalities (Duluth, Warren, Morris, Elk River, Rochester)
•    Aug. 27 – Falcon Heights
•    Aug. 28 – Rural Climate Dialogues (Itasca, Winona, and Stevens counties)
•    Aug. 29 – General Overview
•    Aug. 30 – Edina
•    Aug. 31 – General Overview
•    Sept. 1 – Hutchinson
•    Sept. 2 – General Overview
•    Sept. 3 – General Overview

See you at the Great Minnesota Get-Together!

Photo and post by Kristin Mroz

ELGL's City Hall Selfie Day is Aug. 15

Chances are if you're active on social media and in local gov, you've probably come across #CityHallSelfie Day! #CityHallSelfie Day is a chance to celebrate local government service and the important work happening at the local level, and to showcase local government facilities.

This year, #CityHallSelfie Day is set for Wednesday, Aug. 15. Whether you work for a city, county, special district, township, or other form of local government, Aug. 15 is the day to snap a selfie in front of your government building and post it loud and proud on your social media account of choice.

#CityHallSelfie Day is coordinated by ELGL, the Engaging Local Government Leaders Network, a big tent local government professional association that connects, communicates, and educates about local government public service.

It's not a competition per se—everyone wins when we take pride in local government service—but ELGL and Bang the Table will be partnering on an awards program for #CityHallSelfie takers in twenty categories that you can see on the ELGL website. Nominations and voting begin Aug. 17. 

How do I participate?

•     Stand in front of a government building—e.g. city hall, a public works garage, fire hall, or a picnic shelter.
•     Snap a picture of yourself or a group.
•     Share the photo on social media with the hashtag #CityHallSelfie.
•     Want to compete for prizes and recognition? Check out the list of award categories linked above. 

We think Minnesota cities have what it takes to be well represented this year and have some fun. We'll see your smiling faces on #CityHallSelfie Day!

LMC Board alumna Tina Rennemo from Baudette has pretty
solid selfie skills.

See You There! City Careers at the MN State Fair

 It’s 12 days of putting the “POW!” into people power! 

Grab your capes, because the “Discover Your City Superpower” booth will return to the State Fair this year as a project of the League of Minnesota Cities. This year you'll find us in the Education Building, helping visitors take a touchscreen quiz to discover which city careers need their superpowers.

The state fair booth’s website sidekick, www.mycitysuperpower.org, features interviews with city staffers and elected officials sharing what they really think about what it's like to work in Minnesota cities. Thanks to the city folks who gave us a behind-the-scenes look!

New this year—city careers on a roll
The League is trying something new and running advertisements on local bus routes during the fair, encouraging riders to check out www.lmc.org/careers to see all the opportunities for rewarding careers. We’re excited to get the word out to a new audience that may never have considered city employment before!

What’s all this?
Since 2009, the League has had a campaign dedicated to educating the public about city services and where tax dollars go. The campaign is now going through a rebranding process to incorporate promotion of city careers and to reflect the needs of cities today as well as the values of young people—aka future city leaders. Since the Minnesota State Fair is the Great Minnesota Get-Together, it’s a great place to continue spreading the message about the value of cities to Minnesotans while the campaign’s new look is under construction!  You can still find lots of great content about city services as well as city careers at http://www.mycitysuperpower.org.

The Minnesota State Fair runs Aug. 23-Sept. 3. We'll see you in the Education Building!