Issues Facing Today's City Managers

The City Manager world is filled with evolution, blood-sport style politics, and localized special interests which are fueling new local government themes.

Last week I had the opportunity to meet with several colleagues in the City Manager profession. What developed was a conversation about the challenges our profession faces.

Political Extremes and Council Divisiveness

Over the last couple of decades, there has been a gradual and steady change from collegial and professional councils, to politics at the local level that embody toxicity, unprofessionalism, and a desire to illustrate to residents that council members are "fighting" for their community by attacking city staff members. As a result, local government politics have become more politically charged, and oftentimes national issues being brought front and center at the local level.

This is also fueled in part by the rise of social media, and the ability to create video content with soundbites from council meetings to gain support from local residents.

The Impacts of COVID and a Need to Change

If COVID did anything, it certainly disrupted the status quo and disrupted how governments deployed services. During the pandemic, and as a result of stay at home mandates, we were required to limit the number of personnel at the workplace, yet continue service provision to the community. We were forced to deploy Zoom, connect with residents via alternative means, and utilize telework systems to provide services. Prior to COVID, I was unaware of any local government that employed hybrid work systems, but the pandemic proved that work could be done virtually. Today, many large businesses continue to deploy their services utilizing hybrid or virtual systems, yet local governments are grappling with the idea that services can still be deployed virtually.

Local governments were forced to adapt in a short timeframe; governments must be able to adapt and change to alternative methods of deploying services as the "old ways" of doing things must change.

Today's Professional Support Groups Must Adapt

With such dynamic changes in place today, the organizations that exist to support #CityManager professionals must adapt, change, and meet the needs of today's managers. Preparing managers for the today's dynamics is necessary in order to train and prepare current and future city managers for the things that they will experience. As national politics continue to dive into dysfunction, the ripple and downstream impacts to local government managers have shown that while local government leadership is often most close to the people we serve, the style, methods, and tactics utilized at the federal level are alive and popular at the local level.

Today's City Managers must be prepared for today's style of local government politics.