Tim’s Thoughts March 2024

It was great to see many of you at the winter conference in Roanoke a few weeks ago. Special thanks to Natalie Guilmeus, Cody Sexton, Danny Davis, and Alysse Dowdy for an excellent conference filled with great sessions and activities.  Melissa Rollins, Surry County Administrator and Carl Rush, Chief Equity Officer for Loudoun County are busy working on an exciting summer conference that you will not want to miss, will be once again at the Marriot oceanfront hotel. Be sure to keep June 5-7 on your calendars.

This month we have the honor of hearing from the 2023 ICMA Distinguished service award winner Kim Payne. Kim served as Lynchburg City Manager from February 2001 until his retirement at the end of June 2016.  Prior to that he served as the County Administrator of Spotsylvania County, Virginia, from February 1987 to February 2001, and as Assistant County Administrator in Spotsylvania from February 1984 to February 1987.  He currently works part-time as an Executive Manager with The Berkley Group, providing executive recruitment, retreat facilitation, and organizational assessment services to local governments.

Kim holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Duke University and Master of Planning and Master of Arts in Public Administration degrees from the University of Virginia.  He completed the Senior Executive Institute at the Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service at the University of Virginia.  For over a decade he was an Adjunct Professor at Virginia Tech, teaching local government management at the master’s level.

Kim is a retired Commander in the Naval Reserve.  He completed nearly eight years of active duty as a Naval Flight Officer with his last assignment as a Naval ROTC Instructor at the University of Virginia.  He was an ICMA Credentialed Manager and is a life member of VLGMA and ICMA, a Senior Advisor, and a coach.  Kim is a Rotarian, and serves several local, regional, and state boards.  He is an active member of Holy Cross Catholic Church in Lynchburg.

Kim and his wife Leslie have five children and twelve grandchildren.  When not otherwise engaged, he enjoys fly-fishing, gardening, and reading.

I know that you will enjoy these words from Kim.

I had the privilege of presenting the closing keynote address at the VLGMA Winter Conference in Roanoke.  During that presentation I shared my perspectives on what I have seen as I have traveled across the Commonwealth engaging with governing bodies and managers.  I identified some themes that I have perceived across four spheres of influence in which managers operate: in their relationships with elected officials, with the public, with staff, and with their own personal circle.  Without going into detail here, the themes that I identified are a generational change in elected leadership, ignorance of civics or the basic reasons for government, politics and polarization, impatience with or distrust of government, transitioning from COVID influences, and the perils of social media. 

In my closing remarks I offered some practices that might help local government managers to guide their organizations through today’s challenges.  I referred to them as “thriving skills” rather than survival skills because the interactions that I had with attendees at the winter conference left me very optimistic about the future of the profession in Virginia.  I offer them here as my contribution to “Tim’s Thoughts.”

First, take care of yourself, Steven Covey says, “sharpen the saw,” physically, mentally, emotionally, socially, and spiritually.  You can’t do this important work if you are not at or near the top of your game.  Take your vacation time, exercise, read, meditate, pray, schedule time for you to recharge and focus.  Have a life outside of work and set boundaries to protect that time.  Build constructive relationships for perspective and support. 

Second, your success will depend on communications and relationships.  This is how you build trust.  You should be a paragon of integrity and always tell the truth.

Develop and utilize your staff.  Enlist your department heads, delegate to them, and let them run some interference with the elected officials while always keeping you in the loop and giving you completed staff work.  To the extent that you can grow your talent internally; hire for soft skills and train them, groom your successor.  Don’t ever cut training and development funds from the budget.

Define expectations for your elected officials and have them discuss their expectations of you with you.  Defend the boundaries elected body/manager roles and responsibilities and encourage the elected officials to stay in their lane.  Be proactive; inform and train the elected on “the rules.”  Know your lane – practice humility, subtle leadership, and don’t get too close personally to any elected officials.

Ensure that your locality has the fundamental, foundational elements of effective local government in place and up to date.  Those basics include financial management policies, a defined budget process and an informative budget, a capital improvements plan, human resource policies and procedures, a pay plan, the comprehensive plan, rules of procedure for the governing body, a strategic plan (at least vision, mission, and values statements), and a good website where anybody can find this information.  This will help the organization through the inevitable transitions of elected and appointed officials. 

Practice your craft, seek ongoing education, and confer frequently with your colleagues.  Be active in VLGMA.   Pay attention to how the world is changing.

Be as proactive as you can be in getting the word out.  Build a relationship with the media, use social media to push out the facts, but not to engage.  Get good and timely, up-to-date information on your website.

Be accessible to your elected officials, staff, and the public.  Return phone calls and emails.  Seek face-to-face interactions as much as possible and especially when the other avenues don’t seem to be working.  Don’t text, except to see if someone is available for a phone call or face-to-face meeting.

Don’t read what they are saying about you on social media and Remember Rule #6.* 

I hope that these suggestions might be helpful.  Remember that Senior Advisors are ready, willing, and able to assist you in your journey. 

*Rule #6, says, “Don’t take yourself so damn seriously.”  There are no other numbered rules.  Courtesy of Rosamund Stone and Benjamin Zander, The Art of Possibility: Transforming Professional and Personal Life,  2000, Harvard Business School Press.

Thanks to Kim for these words of advice and encouragement.

I would like to welcome new members,

Natalie Guilmeus, Economic Development Director, Town of Vienna

Phil Miskovic, Town Manager, Town of Crewe

Kristen Pudlow, Deputy County Administrator, County of Prince George

Eden Ratliff, Deputy City Manager, City of Charlottesville

LeAnna Surratt, Town Manager, Town of Hillsville