New Issue of Minnesota Cities Magazine Highlights Fellowship Program

Do you know where your next great up-and-comers are? A new program of Minnetonka, Delano, and
the League of Minnesota Cities is working to identify and groom them—and you can read all about it in the July-August issue of Minnesota Cities magazine.

The Minnesota Cities Fellowship Program—in which graduate students spend two years as interns rotating among the League and two cities—seeks to make sure that qualified young workers are ready to step into city government roles as Baby Boomers continue retiring. It offers a well-rounded experience to prepare the fellows for their first full-time jobs. Learn more about it in our cover story!

When you check out the July-August issue, you’ll also read about:
• A free online police training program that meets new state requirements. It's called True North Constitutional Policing.
• How to use GIS tools to engage the public, in an article from Bolton & Menk, a member of the League’s Business Leadership Council.
• Two cities that made the most of their state trunk highway projects to enhance safety, economic development, and aesthetics, in Focus on Small Cities.
• And much more!

Read the July-August issue of Minnesota Cities magazine online

 

Sunset On #MnCities at the Lake 2019 Annual Conference

On June 26, nearly 600 city officials gathered "at the lake" for the 2019 Annual Conference in Duluth. For three days, city officials discovered ideas during more than 20 educational sessions, created connections with other city officials as well as more than 100 vendors and League staff, and heard from inspiring speakers.

Look back at this year's conference, and share some of your own highlights in the comments below!

Incoming president Mike Mornson, LMC Board of Directors Member D. Love,
and past president Heidi Omerza helped facilitate the first-time attendee
meetup on Wednesday.

Tawanna Black, founder of the Center for Economic Inclusion, presents on Fueling the Path to
Economic Inclusion and Shared Prosperity as part of the Intercultural Development &
Communication Pre-Conference Workshop.

The World Beat Drummers from Myers-Wilkins Elementary School in
Duluth called attendees to the ballroom for the opening ceremony.

Wednesday's keynote speaker Kim Lear offered insight into how different generations
can understand each other better and communicate more effectively in the
workplace and beyond.

The exhibit hall on Wednesday night gave city officials
a chance to meet with vendors and mingle.

Just a little lake-themed fun! The lounge area provided a "campfire" and music
from Duluth-based band Wood Blind.

Thursday started off with an energetic presentation from keynote speaker Dave Meslin
about rethinking community engagement.

St. Peter City Administrator Todd Prafke helps facilitate an educational session.

Executive Director David Unmacht shakes the hand of 2018-2019 LMC Board
President Heidi Omerza, city councilmember in Ely.

Board elections were held during the annual business meeting on Thursday
following the nominating committee interviews. Standing is 2nd VP Rita Albrecht,
mayor of Bemidji.

Rena Sarigianopoulos hosted Thursday night's awards dinner, recognizing
City of Excellence Award winners, Sustainable City Award winners, the C.C. Ludwig
Award winner, and the James F. Miller Leadership Award winner.

Longtime Member Services Director Kevin Frazell was recognized at Thursday's
Awards Dinner. Frazell will be retiring in August.

Meeting with other city officials is part of the
excitement of any League event!

Gov. Tim Walz (center) meets with one of Friday's panel guests Dave Durenberger
and panel moderator Lori Sturdevant.

Photos by LMC staffer Eric Haugen

Packin' for the Lake: A Superior Team!

While the usual packing list for a visit to the lake might include some beach towels, tunes, and a fishing pole or two, we're just as excited to pack up the necessities for this year's Annual Conference in Duluth, June 26-28!

It takes a whole team of League staffers to arrange everything just so, and it's a sure sign that the biggest event of the year is right around the bend.

If you're packing and prepping too, be sure to bookmark www.lmc.org/19AC on your mobile device. That's where to go to find all your provisions: schedule, session descriptions, maps, and more.

See you at the lake!

Spring Is Here! And So Is the New Issue of Minnesota Cities Magazine

It’s been a long winter, and spring is here at last! It’s a great time to thank our friends in public works for all their hard work to keep our roads clear and safe. In the new issue of Minnesota Cities magazine, that’s exactly what LMC Executive Director David Unmacht does, as he reflects on the great job our public works pros do during brutal winters—and all year! Check it out in St. Paul to City Hall.

In this issue, you can also read about a slightly new twist on the topic of community engagement. Cities are always looking for ways to get residents more involved, right? But could your city be giving residents the cold shoulder without realizing it? As our cover story shows, it’s easy to do.

“During my 20 years as a community organizer, I’ve seen how small, overlooked flaws can collectively serve as a significant obstacle to participation,” says cover story author Dave Meslin who, by the way, will be a keynote speaker at the League’s 2019 Annual Conference. “If we want to create a culture that invites people in rather than pushing them away, the first step is to open the doors.” To learn more, read Is Your City Creating Obstacles to Participation?

Other highlights of the May-June issue include:
• How to be an effective leader in today’s multicultural communities.
• Tips for successful advocacy at the state Capitol from the law firm of Lockridge Grindal Nauen, a member of the League’s Business Leadership Council.
• Two cities’ experience with short-term rental ordinances in Two-Way Street.

You can also check out photos from a recent trip to Washington, D.C., taken by a group of Minnesota city officials; get summaries of recent court cases in From the Bench; learn about a great funding source for projects in rural areas in Focus on Small Cities, and more!

Read the May-June issue of Minnesota Cities magazine online

 

 

Municipal Clerks Week: What Does '50' Mean for You?

What does "50" mean to you?

If you're a local gov history buff, you might know that 2019 marks the 50th anniversary of Municipal Clerks Week, initiated by the International Institute of Municipal Clerks in 1969.

 It might also mean the 50 (!) new city clerks, deputy clerks, and administrative assistants that are attending their first Minnesota Municipal Clerks Institute training in St. Cloud this week. 

Clerks attend this annual week of training for sessions on issues including elections, finance, parliamentary procedure, race equity, data practices, and emergency management.

That list reminds us, you could say that 50 also represents the number of hats that a city clerk can wear throughout the course of a year!

So let's give 50 cheers to the clerks. Minnesota cities couldn't run without your hard work and commitment. You are appreciated, this week and every week, for the 50 years in the rearview mirror and the 50 years ahead.

We'll Be There! LMC to Meet With Job Seekers at the People of Color Career Fair

The League and some city friends will
be talking up the value of city careers on April 30
as a featured exhibitor at the POC Career Fair.

City careers are great careers! That's the message League staff are bringing to the People of Color Career Fair on April 30 when we'll be representing city employers across the state as an exhibitor.

Several city staffers will be joining us to mingle with attendees and share what it is about their jobs that they love. They’ll encourage job seekers to check out www.lmc.org/cityjobs for opportunities that will help them make a difference at the local level.

City careers are great careers! That's the message we're
bringing to job seekers who may never have considered
public employment and its opportunities to make a difference.

Whether your city is big or small, we know that reaching a diverse pool of prospective city superstars is a priority. This career fair is part of our broader effort to help get the word out about great city opportunities to job seekers near and far.

We have several more events in store for the upcoming year, and are looking for chances to bring this show "on the road" to an event in Greater Minnesota. So stay tuned, and contact Donyelle Mikacevich if you'd like to get involved!

Check out the booth and a little more background in a previous post: Career Fairs and LMC—Sharing Your Great Opportunities in Minnesota Cities

Census Planning Update: On The Road With the State Demographer

By Rachel Walker, LMC policy analysis manager

The Organizing Complete Count Committees
Handbook is just one resource available for cities.

Hey there,

My name is Rachel Walker, and I’m the policy analysis manager at the League of Minnesota Cities, where I administer our training evaluations, support our race equity initiatives, and help out with a lot of projects involving numbers. Right now, one of those number projects is the ramp-up to the 2020 Census.

This winter I had the opportunity to hit the road and travel across the state to hear about what cities need to get an accurate Census 2020 count. As part of this, I actually got to road trip with the state demographer, Susan Brower, herself!  Not only is Susan great at analyzing large amounts of data and distilling it into stories about our state population, she is a great driver!  Our journey followed one of Minnesota’s big snow events this year and there were some pretty dicey moments on the road.

Susan and her staff, along with the League, Association of Minnesota Counties, and the Minnesota Association of Townships hosted gatherings of local governments to learn about forming Complete Count Committees (CCC).  These committees will be an integral part of census preparations over the next year.  CCCs are forming all over the state and bring together local governments, businesses, community groups, churches and nonprofits for one goal: to count everyone.  We want as complete a count as possible because that count really matters. It determines how more than $16 billion of federal funding is distributed in Minnesota; it determines whether our state keeps its 8th congressional seat; and it gives government at all levels good data for doing things like economic development.

Here’s what I learned from traveling to these workshops:

• Cities are getting creative to get the word out about the census and why it is so important.  In northern Minnesota, CCCs are considering hosting trivia nights to raise awareness and printing special beer mats for area bars.
• In thinking about how to reach out to rural areas, one CCC is going to have materials available at the local feed store.
• A big job for cities and others is to promote census jobs.  In Minnesota alone, we need thousands of census workers to get the count done.
• City staff and their partners are taking challenges to getting a complete count very seriously. A major challenge is language barriers. While the census will make available materials and forms in various languages, Somali, Hmong, and Oromo are not among them.  In many communities, those three languages are spoken by significant portions of residents.
• There’s help for cities available now. If you were unable to attend a workshop and are looking for CCC resources, please visit the state demographer’s website.
• There will also be representatives from the state demographer’s office at the League’s Annual Conference in June this year.  If you have questions about CCCs, translation services, or census jobs, please bring them along!

Not everyone was lucky enough to have State Demographer
Susan Brower behind the wheel.

 It is always fun to get out of the League offices and see more of Minnesota.  I especially like seeing the signs for different cities as we drive along the freeway since I spend a lot of time looking at data listed by city name.

Out on the road, I also learned that I am not a big fan of pizza buffets for lunch and that getting your semi full of live cows stuck in a snowbank doesn’t look like much fun at all.

Thank you to all the cities that sent representatives to those workshops. If you have any questions about the census, please contact me at rwalker@lmc.org or visit the state demographer’s website.