Local economies are improving! This is according to 60% of the respondents to ICMA’s 2012 State of the Profession Survey. The survey covered a broad range of topics related to the local government management profession, including citizen engagement, ethics, council-relations, and demographic information.

In the past, the survey examined how information is shared with citizens. In this most recent survey, the focus was on engagement in which an exchange takes place. A number of questions addressed the importance of various goals of public participation.

• The results show that 57% of respondents reported that it is “important” or “highly important” to partner with the public in development of alternatives, identification of the preferred solution, and decision making.
• Eighty-five percent report that it is “important” or “highly important” to provide the public with objective information to assist them in understanding problems/solutions/alternatives.
• And 70% report that it is “important” or “highly important” to obtain feedback from the public on analyses of problems/solutions/alternatives.

Recent articles in ICMA’s Leadership Matters have highlighted some of the engagement practices used successfully by survey respondents, including the town of Barre, VT, and the city of Hillsboro, OR.

Civic discourse has been a topic of media attention over the past few years, and the survey responses to a question about the quality of civic discourse reflect some of the national trend, with 38% indicating that in the past year, the discourse has been somewhat polarized, strident, and rude.

Almost 90% of respondents indicate that their relationship with their elected officials is “highly” or “generally” collaborative. Close to 50% report that the relationship has improved within the past year.

The complete survey summary is available here. A look back at the "State of the Profession" will be published in the 2014 Municipal Year Book in honor of ICMA's 100th anniversary.