The KUPMC Blog

The Kansas City chapter of the American Society for Public Administration (ASPA) and the Mid-America Regional Council (MARC) have teamed up to sponsor an April 19th program called “The Future of Local Government: Exploring Adaptive Leadership.”

The event will feature a presentation by Ed O’Malley, President and CEO of the Kansas Leadership Center, followed by a panel of public sector leaders and educators. The panelists will include:

* Kay Barnes, Director, Center for Leadership, Park University
* Kirk Davis, City Administrator, Gladstone, Missouri
* Emmett Perry, Assistant Professor of Management, Helzberg School of Management, Rockhurst University
* Mike Scanlon, City Manager, Mission, Kansas

For more details or to register, visit the MARC website.

A quick review of the word’s definition provides some insight on why collaboration is so powerful: Collaboration is a process where two or more people or organizations work together because of their shared goals, especially around an intellectual endeavor that is creative in nature, by sharing knowledge, learning, and building consensus.

As we all struggle to do more with less–both lower budgets and fewer staff–working together can capitalize on everyone’s strengths and keep us from reinventing wheels that are already successfully rolling along elsewhere. This year’s Kansas City County Management Conference highlights Collaboration, Governance and Leadership in the keynotes and concurrent sessions. The focus will be on tools and ideas from experienced practitioners who have worked creatively and collaboratively toward goals in their communities.

Review the conference agenda and registration info here. We hope you can join us for a few spring days in Lawrence on April 22 & 23!

Adaptive Leadership: Sustainability& Local Government in Times of Change
Featuring Carol Gonzales, Shawnee, KS City Manager and Stephen Arbo, Lee’s Summit, MO City Administrator

Wednesday, March 24, 11:45 – 1:00pm
Hereford House Restaurant & Hollywood Room | 100 East 20th Street | KCMO 64108

To register, visit The Greater Kansas City ASPA Chapter’s website.

Governance, Collaboration, and Leadership: Working Together in a New Decade

The 2010 KCCM Conference will be presented on April 22-23 at the Kansas Memorial Union in Lawrence.This year’s program highlights projects that reach across cities, counties, and agencies to effectively and creatively meet the needs of constituents.

David Warm, Executive Director of the Mid-America Regional Council (www.marc.org) will offer the keynote address on “Collaborative Governance in a New Decade.” The conference also features a panel discussion on collaborating in Kansas, featuring Dennis Hays, County Administrator from the Unified Government of Wyandotte County; Howard Partington, City Administrator in Great Bend; and Randy Riggs, City Manager in Newton.

Concurrent sessions will include presentations by a number of Kansas county managers and address issues related to leadership in collaboration for economic development, working with nonprofits, tackling poverty in the community, engaging minority communities, and collaboration in emergency management. We’ve also scheduled an “Economic Update” panel to check in on the state of the Kansas economy in the year ahead. Additional information about the conference and registration can be found at http://www.continuinged.ku.edu/programs/city_county/.

The University of Kansas Edwards Campus in Overland Park hosts a monthly series called “Professional Edge.” Designed to support community economic and workforce development needs in metropolitan Kansas City, Professional Edge offers KU faculty and staff as speakers on current topics. Most programs are held at 8:00am on the first Wednesday of the month.

The first program of the spring, “Autism in the Workplace and the Community,” is coming up on Wednesday, March 3rd and will feature Sean Swindler, Director of Community Program Development & Evaluation, Kansas Center for Autism Research and Training. More details are available on the KU Edwards Campus calendar.

Tuesday, March 30, 4:30pm
Room 155 Regnier, KU Edwards Campus, 12600 Quivira, Overland Park

Over the next 30 years, the Kansas City region can expect to add 500,000 people and 300,000 jobs, and the future land-use scenarios under consideration show alternate ways of accommodating overall growth. Under a baseline scenario – where past trends continue into the future – nearly all the region’s growth over the next 30 years occurs on previously undeveloped land.

But through focused development, we can grow smarter. The adaptive scenario assumes that 40% of population and job growth between now and 2040 will be concentrated in activity centers and along key corridors in existing areas, older suburbs and urban places. This would lead to major differences in infrastructure costs, amount of land used, roadway congestion and transit ridership levels. This program is relevant to everyone working in local government and all those living in the KC region. Please join us! This program counts for PUAD 831 credit for KU MPA students.

Thursday, February 25th, 7:30pm
Woodruff Auditorium, Kansas Union, Lawrence

The Hall Center at KU is sponsoring this event, highlighting sisters who have dedicated their lives to public service. Janet Murguia is President and CEO of National Council of La Raza, and Mary Murguia is a U.S. District Court Judge.

More details about the programs and the Murguias’ backgrounds are available here.