Next month, more than 500 elected officials will gather in Monterey for an unparalleled educational opportunity at the Mayors and Council Members Executive Forum and Advanced Leadership Workshops. These sessions provide the latest information and tools to enhance elected officials’ effectiveness.

The forum begins Wednesday, July 25, with Stanford University Professor Chip Heath sharing his research on why certain concepts – ranging from urban legends to business strategy myths - flourish in the social marketplace of ideas. Heath co-authored the book Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die, which will be available on-site at CityBooks.

Matthew Dowd will close the forum Friday morning, July 27, speaking about “Connecting with the American Community.” Dowd has helped shape strategies and campaigns for CEOs, corporations, foundations, governments, candidates and presidents. He is a founding partner of ViaNovo, an international communications firm. His innovative approach on the 2004 presidential campaign led the bipartisan American Association of Political Consultants to name him Pollster of the Year.

Forum sessions include Dealing With State Housing Mandates, Affordable Housing and Market Rate Housing, NIMBY Housing Issues and Community Involvement, Using Eminent Domain in the Post-Kelo/Proposition 90 Era, and Public Service Ethics Laws and Principles, which satisfies the state law requirement that newly elected and appointed officials receive training in specified ethics laws and principles every two years.

On July 27 and 28, participants can take advantage of the Advanced Leadership Workshops, the second level of the League’s three-level Mayors and Council Members Academy (MCA). A new workshop, Survival Spanish for Elected Officials, promises to have participants speaking Spanish immediately.

Completing the three levels of MCA gives elected officials the tools and skills they need to better serve the public. The first level, Leadership Academy, is offered each January for new mayors and council members, and provides a foundation of
essential knowledge. The Advanced Lead ership level builds on that information and introduces new topics. The third level, Leadership in Action, translates educational experience into active public service skills for elected officials.

To register for these events, visit www.cacities.org/events .

This article appears in the June 2007 issue of Western City
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