1 ICMA The California city/County managers Survival Skills Guide Project

2 Background Cal-ICMA Project Grant from Bob Murray & Associates Project Team: Frank Benest Jan Perkins Kevin O’Rourke Kevin Duggan

3 Purpose Identify the Key Issues Impacting City/County Manager Success Identify Successful Strategies/Best Practices Determine How to Add Resources/Improve Accessibility to Resources

4 Methodology Survey Monkey Distributed to All City and County Managers in CA (Approx. 500) Series of 8 Focus Groups Throughout the State (75 total participants)

5 Survey Distribution Via Multiple Professional Associations Over 250 Responses (50%+ Response Rate Purposely Made Brief and Easy to Complete

6 Major Findings From Survey Most Significant Challenges: Dealing With the Consequences of State Actions/Outside Factors Budget/Financial Challenges Relationships With Individual Council/Board Members Conflicts Regarding Planning/Development Issues Relationships With Unions/Employee Groups

7 Major Findings From Survey Areas of Most Frequent Challenge: Councilmember/Councilmember Conflict Financial Issues Personality Issues/Interpersonal Relationships Defining and Respecting Roles (Council/CM Form of Government) Policy Issues

8 Major Findings From Survey Types of Issues That Pose Greatest Challenges: Relationship Issues: 69% Technical Issues: 31%

9 Major Findings From Survey Techniques Used to Strengthen Council/Manager Relationship: Goal Setting: 87% Study Sessions: 74% Outside Facilitator: 44% Team Building: 44% Code of Conduct: 36%

10 Major Findings From Survey Primary Issues Derived From Comments Section: Respect for Council/Manager Form of Government; Role Differentiation; Micro- Management Effectively Dealing With Difficult Financial Conditions/Budget Reductions Effectively Handling Controversial Issues Councilmember/Councilmember Conflict; Dealing with “Outlier” Councilmember(s)

11 Major Findings From Survey Need for Councils to Set Priorities; Workload Impacts; Dealing With Limited Resources Dealing With the Demands of Individual Councilmembers (Versus Direction From the Council Majority) Bullying Conduct of Elected Officials

12 Focus Groups: Ideas to Address Challenges Develop Training re Enhancing Interpersonal Skills Training re How to Deal With Increased “Party Politics”/Increased Partisanship Resources re Coping Skills re Expectations of Constant Accessibility Develop Resources to Help Managers Cope With the Avoidance of Difficult (But Important) Policy Issues by Governing Board Develop/Promote Resources for First Time CEO’s Develop/Promote a CEO Self Assessment Tool

13 Focus Group Ideas to Address Challenges Develop Resources to Enhance CEO Skills Re Communication Including Social Media Develop Training to Address the Challenges of Rapidly Changing Communities Enhance State League Training for Elected Officials Develop Peer Coaching Program Promote Use of Facilitated Evaluations

14 Focus Groups: Ideas to Address Challenges Better Utilize Senior Advisor Program Encourage Use of Community Leadership Academies Develop Model Protocols for Elected Official Interactions With Each Other, Staff and Public Develop Resource List of Evaluation and Retreat Facilitators Use “Life, Well Run” Resources to Help Educate Elected Officials

15 Focus Groups: Ideas to Address Challenges Use of Executive Recruiters to Help Communicate Best Practices re Selection and Retention of CM’s Training/Resources re How to Deal With “Outlier” Council/Board Members Develop/Enhance Standard Tools For Such as Model Employment Agreements