A Message from the LMC President: Collaboration and the Future of Cities

What does the future hold? Unless you've got a crystal ball, the best we can do is work to make the future as bright as can be.

And good leadership is a nice place to start.

Each year, the League elects a president to lead the Board of Directors during the upcoming year. J.E. Jenks of St. Cloud paved the way, holding the position for the first two years of the League's existence.

One hundred years later, Betsy Hodges, a city councilmember from Minneapolis, was elected president just in time for the League's centennial year. Lucky duck? Fate? You decide.

But leadership isn't the only tool to a strong organization. Working together can be a skillful way to help strengthen our neighbors and ourselves in the process.

In this video, Hodges takes a few minutes to think about the future, and how a spirit of collaboration can help us be smarter and stronger when we get there, no mystical orb required.

Moments in Time: Training for Minnesota City Officials

This photo of the lucky winners was run in The Journal in International Falls.

Did you know that in 1959, the LMC Annual Conference attendee in International Falls with the most pennies in her purse won a sightseeing flight over the Canadian border? Mrs. Harry Carlson (second from left, in the photo above) was likely pleased as punch when she produced 31 pennies to win the contest and that fabulous plane ride! She even got to bring along two of her pals—that experience was surely something she never forgot.

What about your memories of LMC training events? Were you there this March when a commissioner of Beltrami County sang “Happy Birthday” to Twitter at the 2013 Joint Legislative Conference?

While these moments (as well as the “aha!” learning lightbulbs that members experience at events) have been a constant across the years, the face of training itself has certainly evolved. Things we used to offer—like a training school for firefighters established in 1929 that drew from the Upper Midwest, and correspondence courses for municipal accounting that were popular in the mid-century—have now been replaced by things such as Safety and Loss Control Workshops and regular webinars.

No matter the topic, LMC has always strived to provide members with information that is timely, useful, and accessible. Members consistently cite the value of networking with other colleagues and getting info from the pros as their top reasons to attend an event. But you never know when a spontaneous serenade or an unexpected opportunity will arise and make the event that much more special.

So join us for one of our upcoming training opportunities! Whether it’s our annual fall Regional Meetings when we take the show on the road to cities across Minnesota, our City Learning Point courses that are available online anytime and anywhere, or our special Centennial-year Annual Conference and Marketplace in St. Paul this June—there are sure to be more memorable moments.

LMCIT Beginnings: A Leap of Faith Leads the Way

When the commercial insurance market for cities reached a crisis point in the mid-'70s, League staff and several city officials stepped up to see what could be done.

Their solution was to build one of the first municipal insurance pools in the nation from scratch.

The data was sketchy. There was no legislative authority for such an entity. And, oh yeah, the competition wasn't too pleased.

It took a real leap of faith on the part of cities to join what was to become the League of Minnesota Cities Insurance Trust (LMCIT) in those days.



In this video, LMCIT Administrator Pete Tritz recounts some of the obstacles that the founders surmounted to make the Trust what it is today: a stable source of information and service tailored specifically to cities' needs. Not widget factories, not wandering dance troupes. Cities.

 Here's a sample of the coverages that LMCIT has developed JUST for cities over the years:

1991—Volunteer accident coverage

1993—Open Meeting Law coverage

1996—Land use regulation and development litigation coverage

2011—Post Traumatic Stress Disorder coverage for emergency responders

Read more from the interview with Pete Tritz in this month's special centennial keepsake magazine,  arriving soon with your copy of Minnesota Cities magazine.

Cities’ Finest: LMC’s Work with Police

An Albert Lea patrolman and chief of police are pictured with the city’s first police dog in 1961.

One of the groups that helps to make cities function so well—and so safely—is police departments. As evidenced by the photo above printed in Minnesota Municipalities magazine, police work in cities has come a long way! While the addition of a K9 unit was the newest and most exciting advancement in 1961, times have certainly changed since Shep (the dog) arrived in Albert Lea.

And as the job of peace officer becomes more complicated, the League has responded with a variety of behind-the-scenes services to keep Minnesota police departments focused on the important stuff—keeping residents safe.

So what services does LMC provide to help officers? Here’s a quick recap of the highlights:

1913
Legal and Administrative Research: The law is constantly changing—so the League also provides assistance with the civil side of police work by analyzing and explaining changes in civil statutes, civil case law, and litigation trends. Police departments and city administrators also face questions every day about issues like employment, data practices, or human resources. When they need assistance answering those questions, the League is here to act as a resource.

1980
Coverage: The League of Minnesota Cities Insurance Trust (LMCIT) understands the risks of Minnesota municipal police departments because we insure approximately 98 percent of them in the state. Subsequently, the Trust prices coverage for peace officers that is appropriate for their risk—and that doesn’t break a city’s bank.

1988
Loss Control: The League hosted its first loss control workshops in 1988, and the educational offerings for public safety officers have only grown since. The League has also developed a list of injury prevention programs like the Training Safety Officer program, the slip/trip/fall program, and promoting the safety lift for difficult lifts of heavy people.

2006
PATROL Online Training: The PATROL (Police-Accredited Training Online) program started in 2006 in an effort to reach officers in all four corners of the state every day, 24 hours a day. It provides the up-to-date law enforcement training that officers need—including POST credits they need for continuing education requirements, as well as OSHA mandates. The program is cost effective and can be accessed by officers from anywhere they have access to the internet. Find out more about PATROL.

2006
Contract Assistance: Sometimes police departments need help establishing their mutual aid agreements and joint powers agreements for multi-agency cooperatives like task forces or training centers—and that’s where the League’s contract review services comes in. This began as a formal service (free for members) in 2006, and we also provide guidance for contracted policing between cities and townships.

2011
Public Safety Liaison: Two years ago, the League hired former police officer and county deputy Rob Boe as our public safety project coordinator. Rob’s main focus is keeping public safety workers safe on the job. And with more than 25 years of experience, Rob has a deep understanding of law enforcement because he has walked in their shoes. Check out his blog at http://lmcontheline.blogspot.com

One thing is certain: police work will continue to change. And we at the League of Minnesota Cities are committed to changing with it and continuing to support our cities’ finest!

Centennial Keepsake Coming Your Way!

 

Ladies and gentlemen, watch your mailboxes! We’re excited to share a sneak peek of a special Centennial-year publication coming your way soon.

Here are five things you can expect to learn:

1. Fifty-one cities were represented at the first annual meeting in 1913, but only 35 of them stuck with the League through thick and thin. Was your city a founding member of the League?

2. The League’s Research & Inquiry service currently takes more than 4,000 questions a year from members and has been a core service of LMC since the beginning. Longtime staffer Jeannette Bach tells the story of how LMC helps cities help themselves.

3. In 1973, the League split from its longtime partner, the University of Minnesota. Though it presented a financial challenge for the League, cities rallied together and emerged stronger than ever. How did they do it?

4. The League of Minnesota Cities Insurance Trust (LMCIT) is now one of the most stable and respected municipal pools in the country, but it wasn’t always smooth sailing. Read about the founding of LMCIT as told by LMCIT administrator Pete Tritz, who has been there since day one.

5. What does the League’s executive director, Jim Miller, see on the horizon for the next 100 years?

This booklet will be bundled with the upcoming issue of Minnesota Cities magazine and should arrive around mid-May. Enjoy!

One Step at a Time—Going Green

Happy Earth Day! Is your city looking for a long-term way to make a positive impact on the environment? The League has been partnering with GreenStep Cities since 2010 to help members do just that, and run more efficiently as cities to boot.

GreenStep Cities emphasizes cost savings, reduction of energy use and smart solutions. The totally voluntary program includes 54 cities as small as Milan (pop. 326) and as large as Rochester (pop. 106,769). See the full list of GreenStep Cities here.

Minnesota Municipalities, 1931

In honor of Earth Day, here are a few more examples of cities and stewardship, then and now. Check our April 17 post for one of the first formal League actions regarding environmental protection.

THEN
1931: A feature in Minnesota Municipalities dedicates a whopping five pages to the subject of “idle lands,” described as “those that have been so completely wrecked that nature cannot restore them to usefulness without human assistance.” The author argues that the estimated 10 million acres of idle lands in the state has had a sizeable impact on taxable value and delinquencies, subsequently increasing tax rates.

1934: The League’s Year Book records that 115 municipal or large institutional sewage treatment plants are complete or under construction in the state. In 1933, 37 more municipalities and a sanitary district start planning for the infrastructure that will keep sewage out of open water, according to a report from the Northfield News.

NOW
2004: The League joins the “G-16,” a group of local government, business, agriculture, environmental, and state agency stakeholders. Their work leads to development of and passage of the Clean Water Legacy Act.

2006: The League co-produces a documentary with Twin Cities Public Television, “Great Waters Gone Bad," that is still in rotation today.

2008: The League works to establish ways for cities to use the Public Building Energy Efficiency Program and Property Assessed Clean Energy program to finance energy efficiency and renewable energy projects.

How Does *Your* City Celebrate Earth Day?

The first Earth Day in the United States was recognized on April 22, 1970 as the result of a grassroots movement and the leadership of Sen. Gaylord Nelson from Wisconsin.

But did you know that the League has been incorporating stewardship and conservation into our formal business since at least the 1920s?

In 1923, a League resolution stated the following:

That the League of Minnesota Municipalities is fully aware of the proper relation between the great natural wealth and beauty of  Minnesota and legitimate business and commercial considerations.

That it never intended that our forests should be denuded - our lands made waste and places of summer beauty and coolness made the special property of individuals without regard to the needs of humanity.

We deplore the policy of the past which has made lumber barons at the expense of our natural forests and reduced them to wanton waste.

We recommend that all projects for the preserving of natural forests - extension of parks - receive the encouragement of the League and especially that steps be taken to resecure to the public by condemnation or otherwise the shore lines of Minnesota lakes that all may enjoy them.

Pretty "tough guy" language—don't you think? But even way back then, the League recognized the link between conserving the state's natural resources and  healthy local economies, a reality that still holds true today.

How is *your* city's economy supported by the water, wind, trees, and minerals of our great state? And what does your city do to celebrate Earth Day? Let us know in the comments!