Reference Articles

Displaying Items 571-585 (of 720)

Economic Development: It's a Team Game

Leadership Focus

April 12, 2018

Deke Copenhaver

It's always been my firm belief that creating jobs and opportunity at all levels in the places we call home is simply a great equalizer which can cut across all political and socio-economic lines...if done correctly.

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Episode 6: Cities on a (Capitol) Hill Workshop Episode

April 2, 2018

Ocilla Mayor Matt Seale

Ocilla Mayor and Small Town Podcast Host Matt Seale heads to the Georgia State Capitol in Atlanta to discuss how legislative action at the state level affect small towns everywhere. Ever wondered why cities need lobbyists? Guest include members of GMA's Government Relations team and Georgia State Representative Clay Pirkle.

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Securing Your City Employees Without Annoying Them

CitySmart by VC3

March 27, 2018

Patrick Perry, Network Infrastructure Consultant, Sophicity

Your information technology needs to allow your city staff to easily perform work while keeping them secure. Sure, you could remove all access to the internet—but then you would get very little done. What’s the right balance? If you are too lax with your information security, then you make yourself an easy target for bad actors (such as hackers). If you are too strict, then employees become unproductive, frustrated, and trapped.

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Episode 5: Beth English - City of Vienna

March 26, 2018

Ocilla Mayor Matt Seale

Ocilla Mayor and Small Town Podcast Host Matt Seale travels to Vienna, Georgia for a conversation with longstanding Councilmember Beth English. The two discuss how English came to Vienna and quickly got involved with community groups and historic preservation, eventually being elected to City Council 5 times.

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Public Sector Retirement Initiative

Public Sector Retirement Initiative

March 19, 2018

National League of Cities

NLC’s Public Sector Retirement Initiative is a resource for elected officials featuring a series of reports and blog posts to help them navigate the complexities of retirement and healthcare planning and funding for the municipal workforce.

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Episode 4: Mayor's Day Workshop Episode

March 12, 2018

Ocilla Mayor Matt Seale

Ocilla Mayor and Small Town Podcast Host Matt Seale travels to the Mayor’s Day Conference in this first ever Workshop Episode of the podcast.

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How Cities Can Embrace Innovation With Smarter Regulations

How Cities Can Embrace Innovation With Smarter Regulations

March 9, 2018

Center for Urban Innovation at the Aspen Institute

Many city governments are torn when it comes to innovation. On the one hand, constituents increasingly demand flexibility, interaction, and iteration, and governments want to be seen as responsive to new ideas and services. On the other, cities are bound by regulatory processes developed decades ago and designed for predictability, stability, and protection. The real work for city leaders today is to create not just new rules, but new ways of writing and adjusting regulations that better fit the dynamism and pace of change of cities themselves.

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Seeking Common Ground: Why It’s Not as Hard as We Make It

Leadership Focus

March 9, 2018

Deke Copenhaver

The realization by local governments that the citizens we serve, no matter the district they live in, and are not too dissimilar when it comes to their basic wants and needs, can provide a framework for elected officials to work together towards resolving big picture issues facing cities nationwide.

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Athens-Clarke County Innovation Ambassadors

March 7, 2018

How can cities foster and institutionalize a culture of innovation? Athens-Clarke County recently implemented a program to encourage collaborative and cross-departmental improvements.

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Episode 3: James Eubanks - Town of Pelham

March 5, 2018

Ocilla Mayor Matt Seale

Ocilla Mayor and Small Town Podcast Host Matt Seale travels to Pelham, GA to talk with Mayor James Eubanks, a young Mayor that started in local government at the age of 25. The two discuss Mayor Eubanks leaving and coming back home to Pelham, small town rivalry with the next town over, having your own small town city school system, and why Pelham is a place you should visit.

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5 Reasons to Modernize Your Hardware

CitySmart by VC3

February 27, 2018

Jessica Zubizarreta, Network Infrastructure Consultant, Sophicity

There are five major reasons why modernizing your hardware is important and should take place on a regular replacement cycle (or better yet, why you should move to a cloud platform that eliminates the need for some hardware).

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Episode 2: Lace Futch - City of Willacoochee - Part 2

February 19, 2018

Ocilla Mayor Matt Seale

Ocilla Mayor and Small Town Podcast Host Matt Seale continues his conversation with Lace Futch, Willacoochee, GA's former Mayor. The two discuss the impressive job creation in Willacooche, the joys and struggles that many rural communities share today, as well more small town adventures.

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Opioid Litigation: To Sue or Not to Sue

February 15, 2018

GMA Office of the General Counsel

There are several firms actively soliciting cities in Georgia to hire them to represent the city in opioid litigation.  GMA urges member cities to consult with their city attorney before deciding to join the litigation and before signing up with a law firm to represent their city in the litigation.

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Room to Grow: New Frontiers for Apprenticeships

February 14, 2018

Burning Glass Technologies & Harvard Business School

While popular elsewhere, apprenticeships represent a relatively small number of jobs in the United States. This report assesses the potential for apprenticeships to address the skills gap and other barriers to workforce development in the national economy. 

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True Confessions of a Former Mayor: My Media Experiment

Leadership Focus

February 14, 2018

Deke Copenhaver

After leaving office I had a unique opportunity to seek the common ground in our community as I was asked to host a daily talk show on a local radio station.  Although I had very little radio experience I welcomed the chance to have three hours of air time daily to laser focus on what was going on in our community.

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Displaying Items 571-585 (of 720)