City managers know that closing the gap between government and citizens brings communities closer together. They realize that this is important to help their community grow and thrive, while keeping crime rates at the lowest possible level. In many ways, technology has advanced to a point where we have less face-to-face contact with human beings. At the same time, technological advancements have created innovations that draw citizens and families closer together. On the whole, municipalities need to invest more and more in core technologies every year to keep pace with their citizens and … [Read more...] about How City Managers Can Increase Transparency With the Right Technology
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The Dangers of Insecure Municipal Board Communications
The media continues to find no shortage of material for stories on data breaches. What’s different about recent stories is that cybercriminals are changing their mode of attack to different and unsuspecting targets, and they’re targeting less in financial gain and more in sensitive information. This is sad news for local governments that are now at significant risk for data breaches. Insecure board communications at the municipal government level can cost local governments an immense amount of money and legal expense. More importantly, data breaches negatively impact public … [Read more...] about The Dangers of Insecure Municipal Board Communications
6 Tips to Improve Your Professional Presence and Gain More Influence as a Clerk
As a Municipal Clerk you are always on. Whether at the office, at the monument dedication, or even at the grocery store, as a Clerk you must always exude professional presence when you are in public. A professional presence will help you to achieve many of your goals as a Clerk. A polished image can assist in getting that budget approved, being calm and poised during meetings, and becoming a charismatic good will ambassador for your office and your community. Professionals that have a ‘presence’ are described as having ‘that something’ or having an ‘aura.' Perhaps people like John F. … [Read more...] about 6 Tips to Improve Your Professional Presence and Gain More Influence as a Clerk
How Local Government Boards Can Budget for a Records Management Solution
In the busyness of the workday, conscientious government workers often have fleeting thoughts about how great it would be if they could get a better grasp on managing their municipality’s records. Many offices have a rather haphazard approach to storing records, which makes records difficult to locate when someone needs one. Often, there’s no real organization scheme. There’s no consistency with how workers file documents. Documents aren’t very secure. Worse, if there’s a problem, there’s not really even a person or department that’s assigned to be responsible for managing records. Filing … [Read more...] about How Local Government Boards Can Budget for a Records Management Solution
Choosing a Government Management Solution That Works for Your Board
If you’re a city clerk, city manager or council member, and you’ve been using manual systems for a long time, you probably know that electronic solutions could make your work much easier. Perhaps you’re just not sure what programs are out there that will actually work for your board to solve the daily problems you experience. You know what you want the programs to do for you and you want something that is intuitive and easy to learn — something where users can get up to speed on using it quickly. Preferably, you’d like solutions that were designed by a company that understands the needs and … [Read more...] about Choosing a Government Management Solution That Works for Your Board
How to Increase Public Engagement with the Right Meeting Management Solution
Is anybody actually reading these public notices in newspapers? And if they are, you can’t expect the average person to actually be motivated to participate in a local government’s public engagement process. In a TED Talk by Dave Meslin (video below) he effectively illustrates how ridiculous a Nike ad in this format would look. Now, It’s been a longstanding requirement in both Canada and the United States that public notices from the government be published, several times in some cases, in local newspapers. But these laws were introduced during a time when newspapers were the major source … [Read more...] about How to Increase Public Engagement with the Right Meeting Management Solution
