e-Brief January 27, 2021
CAMA Makes Donation to Canadian Mental Health Association
In celebration of our 50th Anniversary, CAMA is pleased to make a donation of $5,000 to the Canadian Mental Health Association, which has been the Association’s designated charity since 2013. This donation was announced during a webinar hosted by CAMA, featuring guest speaker Fredericton Police Chief Roger Brown who spoke about mental health and addictions in the workplace and PTSD. In 2018, Chief Brown was named one of 150 Difference Makers in Mental Health in Canada by the Canadian Centre of Addiction and Mental Health.

“We are pleased to support the Canadian Mental Health Association and its important work” said Jake Rudolph, President of CAMA and Chief Administrative Officer for the City of Nanaimo, BC. “COVID-19 has affected every aspect of our lives, including our mental health which can affect our profession, our employees, and the communities that we live in”.

CAMA will continue to celebrate its golden anniversary through a series of webinars, virtual networking and by sharing the history of CAMA via online platforms.
Request for Proposals for Professional Services - Development of a Human Resources Toolkit for CAOs and Senior Management Working in Local Government
The CAMA Board has been considering several opportunities to assist our members through the lifecycle of their careers and our next project is to prepare a Human Resources Toolkit.

CAMA is seeking assistance from a professional consultant with local government experience to prepare a Human Resources Toolkit that will provide a high level overview of Human Resource Management to support Chief Administrative Officers, direct reports and managers working in local government. The primary audience for this toolkit is the Chief Administrative Officer position with the secondary audience being the senior managers and Human Resource Managers for all size populations/municipalities with or without a Human Resources Department.  This should be a toolkit that can be communicated through a variety of channels (i.e. paper, brochure, on the website as a PDF document, webinar, presentation at a Conference, etc).

If you would like a copy of the Request for Proposals document please contact Jennifer Goodine, CAMA Executive Director at [email protected]

The target is to have the toolkit completed to launch at a virtual event in November 2021.   Work would be completed between March 2021 and September 2021 as there needs to be time to have the toolkit translated and designed which is at the cost of CAMA.  The deadline for submissions is Friday, February 12th, 2021 at 3:00 p.m. Atlantic Time.

 
CAMA'S 50TH ANNIVERSARY PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT SERIES - FREE WEBINARS
As part of our ongoing commitment to our members we are pleased to introduce the CAMA 50th Anniversary Professional Development Series for 2021. This new program will be comprised of various webinars that are coordinated for the CAO/City Manager, senior managers and their employees.   Along with our own webinar series, CAMA Partner companies will be providing educational and informative learning opportunities that showcase innovative services and products relevant to municipal management.   Free of charge to all CAMA members this will be a wonderful way to provide an eclectic selection of resources to all your employees. Please forward to your staff members.
 
See the professional development opportunities below.
Webinar Hosted by Microsoft: Work Unplugged | Meeting Employees Where They Already Are
Municipalities are the heart beat of this country, its employees the rhythm, so how do you make sure that the rhythm stays on track? That you keep people up to date working on various complex projects and ensure that employees are informed and able to do their best work? Microsoft Teams has millions of daily active users worldwide! In an organization where its challenging to disseminate important information and keep employees up to date with the view from the top, Microsoft Teams can help. With app templates available and SharePoint within Teams employees can stay fully informed through a curated experience that offers up to date information on health, well-being, inclusion, benefits and notes from leadership. Tune into this webinar to learn more from Microsoft Canada on Microsoft Teams platform capabilities for municipalities and governments.

Date: Thursday, January 28, 2021
Time: 1:00 PM - 2:30 PM EST
Who Can Attend This Webinar?  CAMA Members and Their Employees.  Non-Members are also welcome.
Who Will Benefit from This Webinar?  All Government Industry Professionals.
Registration CostFREE but registration is required using the link below.
Link to Register
: https://mktoevents.com/Microsoft+Event/228734/157-GQE-382

About the Speaker: Cam Smith, Sr. Product Marketing Manager at Microsoft Canada
Cameron has over 10 years of experience in information technology, teamwork building and sales surrounding the purchase and enablement of various technologies. Along with technological know-how, he is well-informed and passionate about the governance, implementation and cultural requirements for organizations. He believes these pillars are equally critical for organizations to be successful and are core to how the technology gets leveraged.
Webinar: Responding to Complex Social Issues: Municipal Roles and Promising Solutions to Homelessness, Addictions, and Social Disorder
Hosted by: Canadian Association of Municipal Administrators (CAMA)
Date:  Thursday, February 11th, 2021
Time:  2:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. EST
Virtual Zoom Platform

Speakers:
Dr. Alina Turner, HelpSeeker/Turner Strategies
Dena Kae Beno, Housing and Homelessness Coordinator, City of Abbotsford, BC

Who Can Attend this Webinar?: CAMA Members and Their Employees. Non-Members are also welcome to attend.
Who Will Benefit from this Webinar: CAOs and Senior Management
Registration Cost: FREE but registration is required 
Registration Link
Click here for more details about the session
 
Municipalities of varying sizes across Canada are struggling to respond to the increasing visibility and velocity of complex social challenges. The visibility of the drug crisis, compounded by housing affordability challenges, and convoluted health and social response systems have highlighted the need for new ways of approaching these issues.

What are promising approaches within the municipal purview and sphere of influences? This session will provide a practical overview of the national landscape to ground emerging promising approaches and learnings from diverse communities. Rather than a silver bullet, the focus will be on untangling the current complexity involved in social challenges into actionable, systems responses that balance diverse community needs. 

Contact Jennifer Goodine, CAMA Executive Director at [email protected] if you have any questions about this opportunity.
Webinar: The Surprising Science of Community Input: What’s Helpful? What’s Useless? What’s Dangerous? And What To Do Differently Tomorrow
 
Hosted by: Flashvote. 
FlashVote helps local governments make great decisions with great data. You get custom, statistically valid community input in 48 hours - so you can make the best decisions for your community all year long.
Date:  Thursday, February 18th, 2021
Time:  1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. EST (the final 30 minutes are Q & A and Role Play)
Speaker: Kevin Lyons, Chief Scientist, Governance Sciences Group

Who Can Attend this Webinar?: CAMA Members, Their Employees and Councils. Non-Members are also welcome to attend.
Who Will Benefit from this Webinar: CAOs, Communications Staff, Department Heads and Council Members.
Registration Cost: FREE but registration is required.  Click here to register
Click here for more details about the session.

Don’t miss this fascinating and timely tour through the why, what, and how of community input. You know the value of good data in decision-making, but do you know which data you need for which decisions?  You know public input can come from many channels, but do you know which channels are good for which data?  From social media to surveys, with a dash of COVID (data), you’ll learn what makes some data useful and other data unrepresentative or even dangerous - so you can thrive in a world with or without in-person meetings. You’ll also see the big picture for government communications, while discovering a newfound appreciation for ordering pizza.  Plus bring your own questions or input challenges and we’ll work through them at the end, in a way everyone can learn from.  In this “incredibly engaging” presentation, you’ll get these answers and more from data expert Kevin Lyons:
  • When you need public input for good decisions - and when you don’t.
  • What kinds of public input are helpful - and which can make decisions worse.
  • What are the common mistakes to avoid – including how free input can cost you plenty.
  • Answers to your own questions and challenges in 30 minutes of live Q&A and role play.
You’ll also get an understanding and a checklist of:
  • The two types of input that are always valuable and the two that never are.
  • The three part test that sifts through individual comments for the good stuff.
  • The three things you need for a valid representation of what your community thinks.
  • State-of-the-art tools and techniques, from AI chatbots to automated surveys.
Sure, you’ll leave with useful new frameworks and helpful facts. But you’ll also learn how to ignore certain people with scientific precision – it’s all part of knowing how to better manage the input you have and get the data you need.
Want to serve your community better? Want to avoid mistakes that cause grief and cost millions?  Wondering why a sober person would ever say: “I wished this webinar could have gone on for another hour!”?  Sign up now so you don’t miss this one.
Contact Kevin Lyons at Flashvote at [email protected] if you have any questions about this opportunity.
Webinar: Economic Recovery from COVID-19 and Impact on Municipalities
 
Hosted by: RSM. 
RSM have a dedicated team of audit, tax and consulting professionals that fully understand government and provide the insights that they need to make decisions in a politicaly complex and budget-constrained environment. 

Date:  Thursday, February 25th, 2021
Time:  1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. EST
Speaker: Alex Kotsopoulos, Partner, Projects & Economics, RSM

Who Can Attend this Webinar?: CAMA Members and their Employees. Non-Members are also welcome to attend.
Who Will Benefit from this Webinar: CAOs, Chief Financial Officers, City Treasurers, Finance Staff.
Registration Cost: FREE but registration is required.
 
The global and Canadian economies have been substantially impacted by COVID. We are now in the midst of the second wave, with stricter lockdown measures quickly being instituted.  In December, after months of solid employment gains in Canada and the US, economic conditions worsened considerably.  To date, the roll out of the vaccine has been slow and riddled with challenges.  Economic recovery in Canada is likely to take longer as a result.

This session will focus on assessing the impact that COVID has had on municipal revenues and look at various recovery scenarios as outlined in The Real Economy, Canada (RSM’s quarterly economic publication).  The economic recovery in Canada will depend in large part on economic conditions in the US, and we will also spend some time looking at the impact of the new administration on Canada’s economy and municipalities.

Contact Alex Kotsopoulos at [email protected]if you have any questions about this opportunity.
Registration Link coming soon to the CAMA website.
ICMA Corner: Webinar on Council/Manager Relations - March 3, 2021
Learn tips on how to improve council-manager relations.

As many seasoned managers will tell you, a positive council-manager relationship is one of the most critical elements of a well-functioning local government. While building and maintaining such a relationship can be a challenging task fraught with potential pitfalls, putting in the hard work will benefit both the manager and the council, as well as the community as a whole. 

In this webinar, you'll join a panel of CAOs from jurisdictions of various sizes across the United States and Canada, who will share their experiences working with their respective councils. Featured speakers will include:
  • Marc Landry, City Manager of Moncton, NB, Canada and former ICMA Executive Board member
  • Christina Turner, City Manager of Morgan Hill, CA
  • Brandy Reitter, Town Manager of Eagle, CO
Here is the link to register.
CAMA Members SAVE 20% on IPSL Political Acumen Master Class
IPSL: POLITICAL ACUMEN MASTER CLASS
Season 5: January - March, 2021
  • 13 Weekly Program Modules
  • 100% Online Live Master Mentor Panels
  • 35 Master Mentors on Faculty
  • Designed for Municipal, Provincial & Federal Leaders
  • Core Competencies for Experienced & New Professionals
Additional information at: www.publicsectorleadership.ca
CAMA Members SAVE 20% IN JANUARY.  At checkout enter coupon code: CAMA
WELCOME NEW MEMBERS!
 
  • Jamie Doyle, Chief Administrative Officer, Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo, AB
  • Dean Screpnek, City Manager, City of Spruce Grove, AB
  • Valerie Schlosser, Retired Member, Viscount, SK
  • Mark Vermette, Chief Administrative Officer, The Corporation of the Municipality of Red Lake, Balmertown, ON
  • Jason Burgess, Chief Administrative Officer, Norfolk, County, ON
  • Marnie Cluckie, Chief Administrative Officer, Town of Niagara-on-the-Lake, ON
  • Laura Mirabella, Commissioner of Finance and Regional Treasurer, Regional Municipality of York, ON
Do you have a story for our next issue?
Let us know by contacting [email protected]
CAMA e-Brief is published every two weeks. Watch for the next issue on: The Week of February 8, 2021
To view the last CAMA e-Brief, visit: http://www.camacam.ca/archive
Job Scene is distributed every week. The Next issue will appear on: February 1, 2021
To view the latest Jobs go to: http://www.camacam.ca/jobs
To have an item included in e-Brief, please contact [email protected]
CAMA is a non-profit association open to all senior managers dedicated to improving municipalities in Canada.
Canadian Association of Municipal Administrators
PO Box 128, Station A
Fredericton, NB E3B 4Y2
CANADA