KSG Plays City Hall
by Jason Elliott on December 6, 2007 in News
Newly elected mayors from towns large and small across the nation descended on the KSG campus last week as part of a three-day seminar hosted by the IOP and the United States Conference of Mayors (USCM). In total, 23 mayors-elect joined existing executives such as Boston’s Mayor Menino, Mayor Martin Chavez of Albuquerque, New Mexico and Mayor Doug Palmer of Trenton, New Jersey for a series of panel discussions and social events designed to orient them to the challenges of assembling an administration and effective governance.
Mayors navigated through three days of briefings by academics and practitioners on subjects that ranged from “Financing Your City” with Prof. Linda Bilmes and Somerville Mayor Joe Curtatone to “Mayors and the Media,” that featured the City Hall bureau chief from the New York Times. The week also included a sit-down with KSG students about running for office in urban settings and a dinner at the JFK Library with Harvard students and other dignitaries.
Some of those in attendance viewed the conference as both a needed reprieve from the rigors of a successful campaign and an opportunity to begin their transition.
“After an eight-month campaign, we’ve had a whirlwind of activity,” said Duluth, Minnesota’s new mayor, Don Ness. “Getting away from Duluth and having a chance to think more broadly about the issues facing our community has given me the time and space to think about how we’re going to implement my vision for the operation of the city.”
One focus of the event was sharing best practices, and current mayors in attendance made it clear that co-opting a successful management tactic is by no means against the rules when it comes to governing cities. The new mayors got the message.
“I’m here to learn about innovations that other mayors have implemented,” Ness said. “The best way to do that is not to reinvent the wheel.”
“Everybody’s here trying to share information,” said Indianapolis Mayor-Elect Greg Ballard. “That’s what we’re here for.”
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