For most ICMA members and public service professionals around the world, the reason for choosing a career in local government is the desire to help improve the quality of life in their communities. As an example, I have shared my personal career journey, which began in the suburbs of Detroit, Michigan, where as a boy I saw the disparity in living conditions between my family and more affluent areas nearby. I observed how often opportunities for a better life remained elusive or even seemed unattainable to some in my neighborhood. Some of the most difficult work that local government leaders do is helping to transform economically challenged segments of our community. To achieve one small victory, it may take many years of hard work—engaging with residents who are frustrated, angry, or feel hopeless; convincing potential partners to collaborate on projects and policies whose outcomes are uncertain; and searching for funding from the federal, nonprofit, and commercial sectors.

Addressing Economic Mobility Requires Collaboration

Tackling these challenges takes an incredible amount of not only persistence but optimism. That is exactly what the 10 communities who are participating in ICMA’s Local Government Leadership for Economic Mobility & Opportunity initiative have. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which is providing support for this important work, reports that economic mobility is actually decreasing in the United States. ICMA agrees with the U.S. Partnership for Mobility from Poverty that reversing this trend and restoring the American dream is a complex yet solvable problem, requiring the collaboration of businesses, community and advocacy groups, and individual residents, as well as local and state government. City and county managers are best positioned to be the catalyst to bring these groups together and to implement policies and effect conditions that promote overall well-being and upward mobility for their residents.

Small teams of managers, staff, and partners from each of the 10 communities, which include Beloit, Wisconsin; Chesterfield County, Virginia; Dubuque, Iowa; El Paso County, Texas, Grand Island, Nebraska; Gresham, Oregon; Meadville, Pennsylvania; Morgan Hill, California; San Juan County, Utah; and Tarboro, North Carolina, have formed a cohort.

They are currently working to address challenges to upward mobility for at-risk segments of their communities, focused on such issues as housing, access to job opportunities and business development, and support for working families. While the strategies and tactics will be different for each community the cohort will generate core learnings and ICMA will conduct additional research. All of this work will be shared with our members through resources, trainings, and sessions at the ICMA Annual Conference and other virtual and in-person events.

Sustainable Development Offers Opportunities

The July issue of PM Magazine focuses on sustainable communities, and in reading this month’s article on the history of ICMA’s work in brownfields redevelopment, the first sentence reminds readers that the best decisions are those that support the triple bottom line—environmental, social, and economic. Development and redevelopment opportunities often offer cities and counties the best chance to reduce the economic disparities that arise as our communities evolve.

Some of the most rewarding experiences for me, as well as many of my colleagues, have been in working with developers to go beyond the bounds of their original proposals and to create additional benefits such as access to affordable housing, relevant and living wage jobs, and a clean and safe environment. These agreements require months, even years, of negotiation and careful follow-up to ensure that commitments made are delivered on. But nothing compares to hearing from a resident about how their life changed because they no longer had to travel over an hour to get to a job in a community where they could not afford to live.

Another important aspect of creating a fertile environment for upward mobility is community vision. While I was city manager in Austin, Texas, we were able to garner support for the development of a new library. The community ideals called for a space that allowed everyone in the community to discover, learn, and create. The new Austin Public Library opened in 2017, and its vision statement focused on access, equity, and inclusion. It was named one of the top five libraries worldwide in 2018, citing that in creating the library the city took into account the wishes and needs of users, offering computer access to all residents, community outreach programs especially aimed at engaging underserved residents, and an array of cultural resources and programs.

Speaking on behalf of the entire ICMA team, we are grateful to the Gates Foundation for helping to jump start this initiative and excited to uncover the innovative approaches our members develop to help improve economic mobility. Consistent with the ICMA Code of Ethics and Declaration of Ideals, it is an outstanding example of how our profession serves the best interests of all people, eliminating barriers to public involvement in decisions, programs, and services, and promotes mobility and opportunity for all people in all communities.

MARC A. OTT is CEO/Executive Director of ICMA, Washington, D.C.