JANUARY 2012

REGIONAL NEWS

Kansas City, Mo., names public works director — City Manager Troy Schulte announced that Sherri McIntyre, assistant city manager for infrastructure, has been appointed as the director of the KCMO Public Works Department. McIntyre has worked in the fields of civil engineering, public works and transportation since 1986. Her career includes engineering, project management, planning and administrative positions with Delich Roth & Goodwillie, P.A. Engineers; HDR Engineering, Inc.; the city of Kansas City, Mo.; and the Missouri Department of Transportation.

Pleasant Hill hires assistant to the city administrator/finance director — The city of Pleasant Hill has hired Shelby Teufel to serve as assistant to the city administrator and director of finance. Teufel most recently worked for the city of Olathe, Kan. Before that, she interned with the city of Liberty, Mo. and Olsson Associates. Teufel holds an MPA from the University of Kansas and has participated in the MARC’s managers coaching program.

Independence is one of America's top digital cities — For the 10th consecutive year, Independence has been named to the top 10 list for its population category by the Digital Cities Survey, a feat shared by only one other community in the nation. The city’s Tourism Department also received a 2011 Readers' Choice Award from SportsEvents magazine. The awards were given to those displaying exemplary creativity and professionalism toward the sports groups they host.

County websites receive 2011 Sunny Award — Johnson and Wyandotte Counties’ main websites have received the Sunny Award for transparency from the Sunshine Review, a nonprofit organization dedicated to state and local government openness. The websites were two of three county websites in the state of Kansas to win a 2011 award, receiving an A- rating from Sunshine Review. Sedgwick County was also named. Out of more than 6,000 government websites reviewed in the nation, only 112 received a Sunny Award.

Pleasant Hill wins MML 2011 Innovation Award — Pleasant Hill City Administrator Mark Randall accepted the 2011 Innovation Award at the Missouri Municipal League’s annual conference. The Innovation Awards program was established six years ago to highlight creative solutions for municipal projects. Pleasant Hill won in the medium-size cities category for its disaster relief shelter community partnership.

Kansas City hosts national local government conference April 18-20 — After a year of planning by the host committee, the Alliance for Innovation 2012 Transforming Local Government conference is right around the corner. Keynote speakers will include a representative from Google, who will address some of the next generation applications and how cities and counties can use technology to better service citizens; Glen Hiemstra, an internationally acclaimed expert on future trends, long-range planning and creating the preferred future; and Neal Peterson, a professional adventurer, world-class racing yachtsman, global investor and international speaker. Registration information is online. The deadline for registration fee discounts for participants representing cities of less than 10,000 in population is Jan. 15.

MARC NEWS

Board of Directors — MARC's Board of Directors will meet Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2012. The agenda will be online a week before the meeting.

MARC Board adopts updated position on federal surface transportation authorization — At its December meeting, MARC’s Board of Directors reviewed and adopted a draft position statement developed by the Transportation Legislative Advisory Committee (TLAC). This position will be incorporated in MARC’s 2012 Federal Legislative Agenda.

Pilot car-sharing program to launch in January — MARC worked with UMKC and the city of Kansas City, Mo., to launch a pilot program using Zipcar, a car-sharing service that serves more than a dozen metro areas across the country. Zipcar allows members to rent cars on an hourly basis for short trips, complementing existing transit services. According to Zipcar, members drove an estimated 5,500 miles or less per year after joining, significantly lower than the average single-occupant vehicle owner. The hourly rate for the vehicles includes gas, insurance and a set number of miles per day. Members pay a low annual fee to join, and can also use Zipcar services in other cities. The program is expected to launch January 18, 2012. Contact Amanda Graor for more information.

Imagine KC episode focuses on housing — The next episode of Imagine KC will focus on expanding housing options in a changing market. Communities that offer residents a wide range of affordable housing choices are generally more vibrant places to live. Housing choices for all ages, lifestyles, incomes, races and ethnicities help connect families and jobs and support a robust economy and healthy housing industry. The episode will air on KCPT on Thursday, Feb. 2, at 7:30 p.m.

Government Training Institute announces 2012 class schedule — MARC’s Government Training Institute  will host more than 100 classes in 2012 on topics such as supervision, customer service, workforce development, and facilitation skills. GTI also offers a full slate of courses under the Academy for Sustainable Communities and the Community Leadership Program. Contact John Staples for more information.

GOVERNMENT INNOVATIONS FORUM/LOCAL GOVERNMENT SERVICES NEWS

Creating Sustainable Places corridor planning continues — The Creating Sustainable Places Coordinating Committee continues to convene planning meetings with city and county representatives and key stakeholders in the six CSP corridors. Many of the discussions have centered on promoting development of key nodes along each corridor. Each corridor will develop a game plan for how to proceed by early 2012. Contact Jeff Hirt or Tom Gerend for more information.

CSP Coordinating Committee to meet Jan. 20 — At its January meeting, the CSP Coordinating Committee will review the latest version the CSP Implementation Guidebook. This version includes detailed planning steps oriented to sustainable development; a sustainable planning checklist; a section on visualizing and categorizing sustainable development; key steps in community engagement; how to identify and use technical planning and analysis tools; and an indicators structure that can be applied in individual corridors and places. Contact Dean Katerndahl for more information.

Managers Roundtable legislative issues luncheon set for Friday, Feb. 3 — The Managers Roundtable’s annual legislative issues luncheon will include presentations by Don Moler, League of Kansas Municipalities, and Dan Ross and Richard Sheets, Missouri Municipal League. The luncheon will be held at the Kansas City Royals Stadium Club on Friday, Feb. 3. Additional dates for the 2012 Managers Roundtable luncheons are May 4, Aug. 10, Sept. 14 and Nov. 9. Registration information is available online.

STATE & NATIONAL NEWS

IECC workshop to be held in Kansas City, Jan. 24-25 —The Missouri Department of Natural Resources will host an Energize Missouri Building Energy Standards Workshop on Jan. 24-25 at the Four Points by Sheraton (KCI). Workshop sessions will illustrate the far-reaching benefits associated with adopting and enforcing the latest International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) in an attempt to gain a stronger statewide involvement. Both residential and commercial requirements will be discussed. More information is online.

Free webinar focuses on installing solar power for municipal facilities  — ICMA will host a webinar featuring three case studies from Solar America Cities at 1 p.m. on Jan. 24 as part of the SunShot Solar Outreach Program. San Jose gets 1.3 MW of solar power at a city facility through a power-purchase agreement. The city of Milwaukee’s solar program has worked to increase solar electric and solar thermal installations on various city facilities. The city of Tucson made use of Clean Renewable Energy Bonds to leverage a 13-year bond totaling $7.6 million to fund seven projects, including installations at two community centers and a reclaimed water reservoir. Register online.

Doing less with less, and beyond — Bill Barnes writes in the Dec. 19 issue of Nation’s Cities Weekly that most local leaders have worked through the optimistic “doing more with less” phase. Now, many are figuring out how to do less with less.

Local governments poised to take bold actions to reinvent themselves — Many managers and elected officials need to rethink strategies related to service delivery priorities and intergovernmental relationships during these cost-cutting times. More from ICMA>

Five things the census revealed about America in 2011 — The Brookings Institution presents a slideshow of the five most important findings to emerge from their State of Metropolitan America analyses over the past year.

The community information network in the Facebook era — Digital Communities reports that St. Louis hopes to redefine neighborhood engagement within the changed world created by social media.

GRANT OPPORTUNITIES

Environmental justice grants: 2012 request for proposals — EPA is accepting grant applications through Feb. 29 for $1 million in funding to support projects designed to research, educate, empower and enable communities to understand and address local environmental and public health issues. Funding is available for grants up to $25,000 each. Find more information online.

NEA announces second year ‘Our Town’ funding — The National Endowment for the Arts' Our Town grants invest in creative and innovative projects in which communities, together with their arts and design organizations and artists, seek to improve quality of life; encourage creative activity; create community identity and a sense of place; and revitalize local economies. A partnership between a local government entity and a nonprofit cultural institution is required. Funding will range from $25,000 to $150,000. Projects may include planning, design and arts engagement activities that reflect a systemic approach to civic development and a persuasive vision for enhanced community vibrancy. Applications are due March 1. Find more information online.