ICMA’s 102nd Annual Conference wrapped up with the Celebration of Service and an upbeat keynote address by Vernice “FlyGirl” Armour. Outgoing President Pat Martel, city manager, Daly City, California, presided over the final plenary, which kicked off with a video presentation by the 2017 San Antonio Conference Host Committee followed by a program of ICMA member recognition. 

Celebration of Service: Recognizing Professional Achievement

In addition to the 2016 ICMA Service and Excellence Award recipients, conference attendees recognized one 55-, two 50- and eight 45-year service award recipients. Read about these ICMA members in the 2016 Awards Booklet. The program also recognized Ted Gaebler, Dan Kleman, and Jan Perkins as Distinguished Service Award recipients.

Following recognition of ICMA’s Legacy Leaders, Conference Planning Committee Co-Chairs, and the Host Committee Co-Chairs, Martel introduced the incoming members of the ICMA Executive Board and accepted a plaque to commemorate her whirlwind year of service as ICMA president.

Incoming ICMA Executive Director Marc Ott

Having the courage and conviction to rise above adversity—no matter how difficult—was the powerful and inspirational message incoming ICMA Executive Director Marc A. Ott, city manager, Austin, Texas, delivered to closing session attendees.

Coming out from behind the formality of the podium, Ott enthralled conference attendees with the story of his journey from growing up in the Michigan projects to considering law school to becoming chief executive of one of the fastest-growing cities in the country. What propelled him to switch from law to public management? “I realized I would have the opportunity to serve and improve the lives of others,” he said. Ott inspired the crowd with his optimism for local government and community by saying “I truly believe that the future is as bright as we choose to make it.”

Marc credited his mother and father with instilling in him the strength of character and persistence to go after the things he believed in. His affection for his now deceased mother was evident when he closed his remarks by giving thanks to the woman who raised him and his siblings in the face of seemingly impossible odds. You can watch his speech here. 

Fort Lauderdale Mayor Praises Incoming ICMA President

While sitting on the tarmac in Washington, D.C., after accidentally getting on the wrong flight, Fort Lauderdale Mayor Jack Seiler realized that he had arrived in the heart of what he considered the dysfunctional side of government. While attending the ICMA Annual Conference in Kansas City to introduce incoming President Lee Feldman, however, he recognized that the things that appointed managers do are to help other people.

Mayor Seiler explained how Feldman had spent the last five years in Fort Lauderdale turning things around. He described his manager as “An incredibly hard working, incredibly multitasking man with a good sense of humor, who multitasks better than anyone I’ve seen,” and it is the ability to multitask that makes managers so indispensable. The single most admirable quality about Feldman, according to Seiler, is that “He knows how to build community,” and he does it in such an effective way that it makes the commission look good.

New 2016-17 President Lee Feldman Inducted

2016-17 ICMA President Lee Feldman

Following his introduction by Mayor Seiler, Feldman delivered an impassioned closing session address, describing how the five years he has spent with the city of Fort Lauderdale “have truly been the pinnacle of my career.”  Lee thanked the Fort Lauderdale Commission, his family, ICMA Executive Director Bob O’Neill, and longtime friend and Florida mentor Dan Kleman for their support.

Feldman then announced how, rather than introducing a new program for ICMA for the coming year, he will work with new Executive Director Marc Ott to continue “strengthening the inclusiveness of race and gender and fostering leadership within the profession and adopting [ICMA’s] new strategic plan. He thanked San Antonio City Manager Sheryl Scully and Triangle J Council of Government Executive Director Lee Worsely (chairwoman and vice chairman, respectively) for their hard work and dedication to ICMA’s Strategic Plan Task Force. He also recognized the Local Government Management Fellows who worked for Fort Lauderdale and other communities as the next crop of engaged leaders.

Lee discussed how, after completing five internships in four cities [he repeated one], the manager and assistant city manager of North Miami Beach, Florida, took a chance and hired him to work for the city. And now, 31 years later, he has become president of ICMA. In light of his experience, “I implore every member in this hall today to…create any opportunity for our next round of leaders. Sponsor a fellowship, work with a student chapter, and create the opportunities that were created for us.”

Lee Feldman emphasizing passion, challenge, and legacy

His presidency, Lee said, would emphasize three words: passion, challenge, and legacy. “[The passion] is what makes us thrive and excel. It promotes understanding and empathy and it allows us to manifest our days to build community.” He told the story of Yvonne Kimball, a Palm Bay, Florida, intern who grew up in Tianjin, China, under Chairman Mao’s dictatorship. Kimball got her hands on a banned book of great speeches from the West that included Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address. Those speeches inspired her to migrate to the United States, obtain an MPA, and five years later become a city manager. “Now that’s passion,” he said.

Lee cited Robert Kennedy’s testimony before a U.S. Senate subcommittee some 50 years ago, in which the latter describes cities as places “where men should be able to live in dignity and security and harmony,” and how today our communities battle against the challenges of federal and state government dysfunction, terrorism, the drug epidemic, crumbling infrastructure, stalled transportation initiatives. “It is the leaders in this hall today and the many staff back home who are delivering the basic core services that our communities rely upon every day,” Lee said. “We are life, well run.”

Feldman closed by quoting NOVA Southeastern University President and former Florida City Manager George Hanbury as saying, “A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in.” Feldman encouraged attendees to have the vision to focus on the long term and to leave a legacy that goes beyond the “bricks and mortar of buildings, the quality of roads and pipes, and the shade of trees” to leave “a personal legacy in our communities of positive civil discourse, inclusion of diverse neighbors, and a level of tolerance that is unprecedented in our history.”

“You Have Permission to Engage!”

Entering to the “Top Gun” movie theme of “Danger Zone,” Vernice “FlyGirl” Armour took the stage to deliver the annual conference closing keynote address and weave her personal stories as a Marine with solid advice for managers.

Armour told the amazing story of how, as the Marine Corps’ first African-American woman combat pilot, she provided “armed tactical air support in a Cobra helicopter to hemmed-in ground troops in Iraq.” A woman of many “firsts,” she was the first African-American and second woman motorcycle police officer in Tempe, Arizona.

Vernice "FlyGirl" Armour weaving stories for KC conference attendees

But Armour also experienced the disappointment of losing her place on the fast track of Marine advancement when she earned a less than acceptable score on a test. She told conference attendees not to buckle under the pressure. “Everybody has obstacles,” she noted. “Acknowledge the obstacles and don’t give them power.”

She discussed how giving yourself permission to engage life to the fullest is a choice, and how once we gain permission to engage, we are “cleared hot” to tackle our most important missions. Armour explained how she turned her personal disappointment at no longer being fast tracked into an opportunity to serve the Marines as an equal opportunity officer—a position that was very different from what she had originally hoped to achieve but still enabled her to have an impact on people’s lives and the diversity of the Corps. "I thought I was engaged but what I realized is that there is another level of engagement. You’ve got to get up out of your chair and take action.”

Her primary lesson for local government managers? At the end of the day, “The mission is how we help our residents and our communities have quality of life.” One mission, one goal, one team….we are impacting and saving lives every day through the decisions that we’re making."