Event Recap:

The main takeaway: Local governments must practice change management.

Our conversation dove into issues like housing affordability, climate concerns and water scarcity, along with tensions that need to be reconciled between forces like development and growth versus conservation and sustainability or between localities’ need for state (and federal) funding versus the strings that come attached. We focused on the question of whether local governments in the region had the capacity to effectively address those challenges. What transpired was that city and county organizations must focus their capacity more intentionally on managing and leading through change.

“The world is getting more complex,” noted one attendee, “and that requires new (sometimes complex) responses.”

Throughout the discussion, participants echoed the idea that localities are adapting to changing times. While change itself may not be novel, eroding social ties and growing distrust in institutions, among other dynamics, add new layers of complexity. Local governments can help communities navigate those issues and negotiate tough choices – whether the impacts of zoning changes and linking housing and infrastructure or the real (lifecycle) cost of infrastructure as well as water (and other) constraints on growth.

Leading the community through change
Externally, this requires political leadership and courage and investing energy and resources in strengthening an ongoing dialogue with residents as well as regional cooperation.

• For example, decision makers and residents alike have failed to appreciate the real cost of infrastructure, the water/sustainability component of development and the resources required to remedy decades of underinvestment in vital infrastructure. “We’re spending a ton of energy in regionalized dialogue,” said Joshua Baile, Finance and Operations Manager at Dominion Water & Sanitation District, noting that water utilities – and local governments in general – have not been doing a good job “telling their story.” Baile described the groundbreaking achievements in demand management at Sterling Ranch and WISE partnership as models for improving regional collaboration, dialogue and community engagement among water providers across several jurisdictions.

Leading the community through transition, and the role storytelling plays, are important but often underappreciated dimensions of change management for local government. It’s one area where added capacity may be needed to support active listening and engagement with residents about the “why” and “how.” Developing strategic plans that draw clear connections between policy priorities and budgetary decisions can support difficult conversations about trade-offs and help with community buy-in. Another aspect of managing change is ensuring the pace and scope of change is not out of sync with the community.

• For example, Mayor Laura Weinberg of Golden described how her City used an audit as the basis for zoning changes. Bringing in outside consultants to generate capacity for conducting the audit, the City found that smaller units, supporting walkability and density, were more in line with Golden’s history and social fabric. Engaging residents in the thought process and presenting data to back up plans and decisions is crucial.
• Jeannine Rustad, Director of Planning & Development Services, City of Aurora, and others pointed to design principles and demonstration projects (proof of concept) and creative use of funding that can help get the community on board. “We need to be more proactive in how design can support density, walkability and still maintain the feel of the community,” explained Rustad, “[but] we need planners around the table.”
• While counties tend to be further removed from residents, they also can play an important role in building pressure and coordination regionally that can force momentum where the political wherewithal may be insufficient at the municipal level. Weld County Commissioner Kevin Ross mentioned an effort in his County involving all 32 municipalities aimed at strengthening cooperative service agreements. Similarly, strategic plans developed at the county level should build on engagement with municipal leaders and be implemented in ways that facilitate ongoing coordination with cities.

Organizational change management
Internally, local governments can build adaptive capacity by mobilizing culture change and process improvement within the organization. Reorienting the way we think about issues (as local governments and as communities) requires elected officials and policy implementers to cultivate a spirit of innovation and generate alignment around strategic priorities.

Elected officials play an important role in prioritizing. Councilmember Julie Pignataro pointed to changes that have allowed for a more diverse and forward-looking Council in the City of Fort Collins. “For example, we’re a younger council now, and there are more women…” she noted. Also, employees moving between city and county have facilitated cross-pollination and improved collaboration.

Adams County Manger, Noel Bernal, rounded out the conversation with insights on the role of technology in capacity development and the organizational culture change that’s required to go along with modernizing how local governments operate. “IT is not just about technology. It’s about culture,” he said. Almost every business process is tied to technology, he explained. But as new tools and technologies are being implemented, local government leaders must consider their roles in driving top-down change: What’s the why? “IT should be partnered at the highest level,” noted Bernal. “Are you making technology a strategic part of the organization, or is it simply a tool?”

• Echoing earlier comments about the infrastructure deficit, Bernal suggested that local governments have been accruing technical debt: “We’re not good at resource-allocating to implement the technology, so it can allow us to think more strategically.”
• Rather than investing in hardware or resource-intensive deployments or overly customized software, Euna CEO Tom Amburgey pointed out that local governments need to place more emphasis on IT strategists and communicators to support the change management component of technology implementation (coming back to the importance of storytelling). Investing the time and resources in examining operational processes and constraints and identifying the tools to help solve those issues creates a more strategic approach to IT that can help get employees engaged and motivated in the process. As F&A has written about previously, “new tool sets need to be accompanied by new mindsets.”

Mayor Weinberg echoed the sentiment noting that the role and function of a systems or a business analyst tends to be largely absent in local government organizations. “There’s this gap, the piece in the middle that could help connect the dots: Here’s the need or want and there’s the service or goal to be achieved…” What’s needed are purpose-specific systems to build the connective tissue in between.

Ultimately, as Mayor Weinberg suggested, “we may not have the capacity as a city because we’re missing that ‘systems part.’ People lose confidence in their government quickly if they don’t see actual solutions being offered and implemented.”