The situation could not have been much worse. When John Stunson was appointed city manager of Oakland Park, FL in 2001 the city was near bankruptcy. A seasoned professional, Stunson stepped up and began by injecting transparency and a sense of collaboration into the process, that lead the city to make a comeback.

In 2007, St. Lucie County, FL, had one of the highest home foreclosure rates in the country. The county was financially sound so, rather than wait for federal stimulus money to trickle down, county commissioners decided to stimulate the local economy by earmarking funds for \"shovel-ready” capital projects.

A professional local government manager supports the vision and policy goals of elected officials. If the city council feels that the manager or the city staff is not working in tandem with them, tension develops within city hall, plans get derailed, and the whole community suffers. A city manager can fix these problems and lead to a effective city.

The city of Evans has offered youth recreation programs since 1984, using all volunteer coaches. The city serves a diverse low-income population and many families can't afford sports equipment for their kids to practice.

To help reduce its capital budget costs, Merced County initially partnered with Siemens Industry, Inc., in 2001 on a county-wide lighting and major mechanical energy performance project. Through the improvements that were implemented, the county achieved 120% of its guaranteed energy savings.

When Glendale began to de-emphasize new development and focus on other community priorities, City Manager Scott Ochoa seized the opportunity to convert one of the city council's regular afternoon meetings into once-a-month Work Boot Tuesday. During these meetings, which were previously reserved for development discussions, council members have the opportunity to put \"boots on the ground” and see Glendale's high-performing departments in action.

Through the development of two new web apps, the City of Oakland, CA has streamlined internal processes and made local government more transparent to residents.

If you were to create a new city from scratch, where would you begin? The city of Rancho Cordova, CA, was founded in 2003 and started by hiring one of the most innovative city managers in the country, making the town better for everyone.

Santa Monica, California<br />Keeping Santa Monica on the cutting edge was a priority for Former City Manager Rod Gould. Called “Silicon Beach”, Santa Monica has become Southern California’s technology hub with its concentration of startups, accelerators, incubators, coworking spaces and venture capitalists. Since March 2010, one of the key attractions that the City is able to…