e-Brief February 4, 2021
ASSET MANAGEMENT GRANTS FOR MUNICIPALITIES
Are you looking for an opportunity to increase your municipality’s asset management capacity?  FCM has opened a second round of funding for individual municipalities to participate in the Municipal Asset Management Program (MAMP). This opportunity will provide grants of up to $50,000 for qualifying communities to pursue an asset management project of their choosing.  To see further program details and submit your application, please visit FCM’s website. There is no deadline to apply, but the call for applications will close once all funds have been allocated.
TLG GOVAPALOOZA: March 1 - 5, 2021
 

With concurrent crises in public health, education, economic recovery, social cohesion and the very legitimacy of government – local government has never been under greater stress.  In response to this challenge, a diverse coalition of committed partners has come together to create an antidote for these difficult times – a beacon in the night to inspire and support the local government community -TLG Govapalooza!

This massive virtual festival will feature world-class keynote speakers (announcement coming shortly – stay tuned!), local government legends, and next-gen talent you won’t want to miss. Experiences will range from soaring inspiration to hands-on implementation tactics and tools.   A truly historic event, TLG Govapalooza will bring together thousands of elected officials, appointed leaders, department heads, local government employees, academics, students, business executives, nonprofit partners, and committed individuals to engage in an incredible celebration of the very best in local government.

CAMA is pleased to be a partner at this event.  CAMA members and their employees can use the code CAMA to receive $100.00 off.   REGISTER NOW 
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.

The recording of CAMA's webinar (Mental health and Addictions in the Workplace and PTSD - IN the Unlikely Event" ) held on January 21st, 2021 featuring Police Chief Roger Brown can be found in the CAMA Member's Section.
 
See the professional development opportunities below for February 2021.
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 at [email protected] if you have any questions about this opportunity.
Webinar: Economic Recovery from COVID-19 and Impact on Municipalities Hosted by RSM

The global and Canadian economies have been substantially impacted by COVID-19. We are now in the midst of the pandemic’s second wave, with stricter lockdown measures quickly being instituted. In December, after months of solid employment gains in Canada and the United States, economic conditions worsened considerably. To date, the rollout of the vaccine has been slow and riddled with challenges; as a result, economic recovery in Canada is likely to take longer.

This session will focus on assessing COVID-19’s impact on municipal revenues and analyzing various recovery scenarios outlined in The Real Economy, Canada (RSM’s quarterly economic publication), as Canada’s economic recovery will depend largely on economic conditions in the United States. We will also discuss the impact of the new administration on Canada’s economy and municipalities.

Event Details
·       Date: Thursday, February 25, 2021
·       Time: 1:00 - 2:00 PM EST
·       Fee: Complimentary
·       CPD: Up to 1 hour available
For more details on this session click here.
REGISTER NOW
 

CAMA and muniSERV work together to continuously bring our members cost-effective resources that help make your job easier. We’re Better Together! Click here to learn more about our partnership with muniSERV. CAMA members join for free.  Now, with over 700 professional members, municipalities can find all the municipal products and services they need in one convenient location - everything from accessibility audits and smart city IoT cloud-based solutions, to COVID-19 products and services and technological solutions to streamline municipal processes. 

muniSERV’s professional members also offer discounts, free demos and even free pilots to CAMA members!  When was the last time you searched muniSERV?   Questions? Contact Susan directly for more information: [email protected] or call, 855.477.5095

We always like to keep you informed of muniSERV platforms and special offers for CAMA members, so over the next few editions of e-Brief we will be featuring some of them.
The 2020 CAMA Awards of Excellence Submissions
We are pleased to feature the 2020 Awards of Excellence Submissions over the next few editions of e-Brief.  These are valuable sources of information with the full submission being found in the Members Section.
Submission 2020 Willis Award for Innovation – Population Between 20,001 and 100,000 - County of Lennox and Addington
More than Maps – A New Way to Use Geo-spatial Technologies

Staff at the County of Lennox and Addington have been challenged to consider innovative uses for GIS across the organization and with other municipalities, in order to create efficiencies and more effective service delivery.  This More than Maps culture has transformed many processes used by staff, members of Council and Committees and residents of our County including:

Property Services Work Order and Record Keeping System (WORKS)
Social Services Performance Metrics Dashboard
EarlyON Data Collection System
County Council Orientation
Roads System
Submission: 2020 Environment Award – Population Over 100,000 - City of Richmond
Brazilian Elodea Management Program

Brazilian elodea is the most aggressive aquatic aquarium trade plant species globally. Brazilian elodea was first identified in the City in 2014. The infestation is localized to one area in Richmond; likely from a discarded aquarium. Brazilian elodea forms dense mats in water sources and is easily confused with similar-looking aquatic plants. Brazilian elodea can cause poor habitat conditions for fish and other wildlife. It restricts water movement and traps sediments subsequently altering the natural characteristics of the ecosystem. Brazilian elodea can also have negative economic impacts, as it clogs rivers and drainage canals which then require constant maintenance. In lakes and rivers it makes recreational activities such as fishing, swimming and boating difficult or impossible. It can impede flood capacity and storm infrastructure, which increases municipal maintenance costs. The City of Richmond has been managing a large infestation of Brazilian elodea within a large water feature near the West Dike since 2014. There are currently only two confirmed sites of Brazilian elodea in BC. The City’s pesticide-free management approach has successfully reduced the infestation by over 90% and effectively restored natural conditions.
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 15, 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 8, 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