Why did the ICMA create the credentialed manager program and does it measure competency?
We discuss these issues and more in part 2 of my interview series with Castle Pines, Colorado city manager Michael Penny. Penny, who is a founding member of the American Association of Municipal Executives, has also been a member of the ICMA since 1995. 
He has been actively involved with the ICMA credentialing process since 2013 and currently serves as the chairman of the ICMA Credentialing Advisory Board.
He believes that the credential does not hold as much value within the profession as it should.
Additionally, we explore whether Penny believes the credential is being weaponized against city managers, if the amount of experience required is excessive, and if it fairly values the military and private sector experiences of managers seeking to earn the designation.
SHOW NOTES:
Michael Penny's LinkedIn profile
Information about the ICMA Credentialing Advisory Board (CAB).
If you have questions about the credential, you can contact the CAB via email or phone at:
credentialing@icma.org
(202) 962-3504
If you want to join the American Association of Municipal Executives and becoming a founding member, register today at: https://community.aame.org/.
Deadline to become a founding member has been extended to July 25th.
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Castle Pines city manager Michael Penny isn't your ordinary ICMA member. He currently serves as the chairman of the ICMA's Credentialing Advisory Board (CAB) and has been a member of the organization since 1995.
So, why did he join the American Association of Municipal Executives as a founding member and how does he see both organizations co-existing?
Penny has also been on both sides of the ICMA executive board election process. He has run for a seat and been denied the nomination and he has been on the panel that interviewed candidates.
He pushes back on my claims that the process is rigged by insiders and offers up his unique perspective.
We also talk about the James Freed defamation lawsuit and the role the membership must play in holding the organization accountable.
The Colorado manager isn't afraid to disagree with my takes and I think you are going to appreciate the different perspectives and arguments both of us bring to the table throughout this series.
We discuss these issues and many more in the first installment of this three-part series you are not going to want to miss. 
In future installments we are going to dissect the ICMA credential and its purpose, what it truly measures or signifies, and whether it has been weaponized against city managers who do not possess it.
SHOW NOTES:
Michael Penny's LinkedIn profile
Information about the ICMA Credentialing Advisory Board (CAB).
If you want to join the American Association of Municipal Executives and becoming a founding member, register today at: https://community.aame.org/.
Deadline to become a founding member has been extended to July 25th.
SUBMIT JOB POSTING:
Do you have an executive or senior level vacancy in your organization? Use this form/link to submit your job listing in my weekly newsletter for just $100:
https://forms.gle/ceMzWqeLwiRFRAGj9
SUPPORT THE PODCAST:
Subscribe to my FREE weekly report of city and county manager resignations, terminations, and retirements (RTRs) at this link:
https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/city-manager-rtrs-job-board-7164683251112992768/
If you would like to support the podcast by making a donation, please use the "Buy Me A Coffee" link.
Please rate and review the podcast on Apple or your preferred platform if you enjoy the show. It helps tremendously. But more importantly, refer your friends and peers to podcast through personal conversations and posts on your social media platforms.
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Note: Page may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
 

For a variety of reasons listed in this podcast, the sign up deadline to become a founding member of the American Association of Municipal Executives has been extended.
You have until midnight central on Thursday, July 25th to take action and join this historic, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
This is the last call -- so sign up here today.
We have the following membership plans:
Executive Suite CEO/CAOs
Executive Suite ACM/DCMs
Aspiring Executives
Retired City Managers (free)
Managers-in-Transition (free)
Go here to sign up: Community.AAME.org
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Do you have an executive or senior level vacancy in your organization? Use this form/link to submit your job listing in my weekly newsletter for just $100:
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SUPPORT THE PODCAST:
Subscribe to my FREE weekly report of city and county manager resignations, terminations, and retirements (RTRs) at this link:
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If you would like to support the podcast by making a donation, please use the "Buy Me A Coffee" link.
Please rate and review the podcast on Apple or your preferred platform if you enjoy the show. It helps tremendously. But more importantly, refer your friends and peers to podcast through personal conversations and posts on your social media platforms.
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A confidential source sent me an audio recording of ICMA West Coast Regional Director Pat Martel discussing the American Association of Municipal Executives. This discussion took place two weeks ago at the Oregon City/Count Management Association conference..
In this audio clip, Martel states that the ICMA is very much aware of the AAME, that it supports the AAME mission, and that it is perfectly acceptable for ICMA members to join AAME and other organizations.
In this episode, I talk about how many ICMA members who are supportive of my efforts have expressed an unwillingness to join the AAME. They state they fear retaliation.
And I urge the ICMA executive board to make a public statement attesting to the fact that members will not be targeted if they do join the AAME.
SHOW NOTES:
If you want to join the American Association of Municipal Executives and becoming a founding member, register today at: https://community.aame.org/.
Deadline to become a founding member is July 15.
SUBMIT JOB POSTING:
Do you have an executive or senior level vacancy in your organization? Use this form/link to submit your job listing in my weekly newsletter for just $100:
https://forms.gle/ceMzWqeLwiRFRAGj9
SUPPORT THE PODCAST:
Subscribe to my FREE weekly report of city and county manager resignations, terminations, and retirements (RTRs) at this link:
https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/city-manager-rtrs-job-board-7164683251112992768/
If you would like to support the podcast by making a donation, please use the "Buy Me A Coffee" link.
Please rate and review the podcast on Apple or your preferred platform if you enjoy the show. It helps tremendously. But more importantly, refer your friends and peers to podcast through personal conversations and posts on your social media platforms.
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Last week the big news story was the announcement by the ICMA that CEO Marc Ott was retiring to spend more time with family. We also learned that Port Huron City Manager James Freed was given a trial date for his defamation lawsuit against the ICMA.
Coincidence?
These two stories are inextricably linked and are the topic of this week's podcast episode.
SHOW NOTES:
In this podcast I mentioned that Caribou, Maine City Manager Penny Thompson is a founding member of the American Association of Municipal Executives and that she is looking for an assistant city manager. You can find the job description here: https://www.cariboumaine.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/ACM-for-Planning-and-Economic-Development.pdf
If you want to join the American Association of Municipal Executives and becoming a founding member, register today at: https://community.aame.org/.
SUBMIT JOB POSTING:
Do you have an executive or senior level vacancy in your organization? Use this form/link to submit your job listing in my weekly newsletter for just $100:
https://forms.gle/ceMzWqeLwiRFRAGj9
SUPPORT THE PODCAST:
Subscribe to my FREE weekly report of city and county manager resignations, terminations, and retirements (RTRs) at this link:
https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/city-manager-rtrs-job-board-7164683251112992768/
If you would like to support the podcast by making a donation, please use the "Buy Me A Coffee" link.
Please rate and review the podcast on Apple or your preferred platform if you enjoy the show. It helps tremendously. But more importantly, refer your friends and peers to podcast through personal conversations and posts on your social media platforms.
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Marilyn Rivers had a stellar career and an impeccable reputation having served for nearly 20 years as the Director of Risk and Safety for the New York city of Saratoga Springs.
About 18-months away from this 20-year mark where she would be eligible for her pension, a newly elected commissioner set his sights on her to settle an "old score" from fifteen years ago.
Rivers wanted to do this podcast because she never had a chance to defend herself, her record, or address the toxic behavior of this commissioner during the entire ordeal. She told me that she needed to do the podcast because she wanted her "voice" and her good name back.
This is slated to be Part 1 of a multi-part series. Stay tuned for the next episode when Marilyn will reveal tips, tricks, and tactics to reduce your insurance costs and make you look like a star for your governing body or your city manager.
SHOW NOTES:
Here is a link to Marilyn Rivers' consulting firm: Rivers Risk Consulting, LLC. The company's LinkedIn page can be found here and this is a link to her personal LinkedIn Page
If you want to join the American Association of Municipal Executives and becoming a founding member, register today at: https://community.aame.org/.
SUBMIT JOB POSTING:
Do you have an executive or senior level vacancy in your organization? Use this form/link to submit your job listing in my weekly newsletter for just $100:
https://forms.gle/ceMzWqeLwiRFRAGj9
SUPPORT THE PODCAST:
Subscribe to my FREE weekly report of city and county manager resignations, terminations, and retirements (RTRs) at this link:
https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/city-manager-rtrs-job-board-7164683251112992768/
If you would like to support the podcast by making a donation, please use the "Buy Me A Coffee" link.
Please rate and review the podcast on Apple or your preferred platform if you enjoy the show. It helps tremendously. But more importantly, refer your friends and peers to podcast through personal conversations and posts on your social media platforms.
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ICMA CEO Marc Ott has presided over an organization that is dysfunctional, lacks accountability, and produces mediocre work product. 
His permissive and absentee approach to managing employees allowed ethics staffers to prosecute a personal and political vendetta against Port Huron City Manager James Freed -- a stain that will be forever left upon his legacy.
Combined with an international development emphasis that has lacked focus and failed to deliver results, it has been Ott's shepherding of the organization towards the promotion of a leftist political ideology that has alienated many members who simply desire to be in a non-partisan, apolitical organization that will help them become better public sector executives.
For these reasons and more, it is time for the ICMA executive board to terminate Ott and begin the process of repairing the damage done during his tenure.
SHOW NOTES:
Here is the court ordered motion to compel issued against members of the ICMA executive board.
Here is the most recent ruling by the judge highlighting the stall tactics used by the ICMA in its case against Freed.
If you want to join the American Association of Municipal Executives and become a founding member, register today at: https://community.aame.org/.
SUBMIT JOB POSTING:
Do you have an executive or senior level vacancy in your organization? Use this form/link to submit your job listing in my weekly newsletter for just $100:
https://forms.gle/ceMzWqeLwiRFRAGj9
SUPPORT THE PODCAST:
Subscribe to my FREE weekly report of city and county manager resignations, terminations, and retirements (RTRs) at this link:
https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/city-manager-rtrs-job-board-7164683251112992768/
If you would like to support the podcast by making a donation, please use the "Buy Me A Coffee" link.
Please rate and review the podcast on Apple or your preferred platform if you enjoy the show. It helps tremendously. But more importantly, refer your friends and peers to podcast through personal conversations and posts on your social media platforms.
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Rainier City Administrator Scott Jorgensen is no fan of the Oregon City/County Management Association (OCCMA).
A few years ago, he was the subject of an anonymous ethics complaint without any clear explanation of his alleged offense. About a year later, Jorgensen learned that another city manager had accused him of leaking his listserv comments. 
The evidence was a conversation between this city manager and one of his elected officials the city manager had surreptitiously recorded.
Jorgensen maintains that he did not leak the listserv comments and even if he did, he vehemently rejects the notion that those comments are not public records since the city manager used his official city email address.
Moreover, Jorgensen was disgusted by the fact that the OCCMA ethics committee knew that the conversation was recorded without the consent of the elected official and did nothing about it.
Jorgensen has some strong opinions about the OCCMA, the value of his membership not only to himself but the taxpayers, and how other city managers conducted themselves during the pandemic.
He is a fascinating person with a very unique background having worked in politics as an official staff to state legislators in the Oregon capital, to being a journalist, an author, and a guitarist in a rock band. 
Don't miss this episode where the guest is as unfiltered as the host!
 
SHOW NOTES:
W. Scott Jorgensen's LinkedIn page
You can catch his band, Robots Building Robots, on Spotify where you can listen to their album "Dysphoria."
Jorgensen has four books he has written listed on Amazon. You can view them here.
In the episode, I discussed Ferris, TX city manager Brooks Williams' book "Rising to Serve."
If you want to join the American Association of Municipal Executives and becoming a founding member, register today at: https://community.aame.org/.
SUBMIT JOB POSTING:
Do you have an executive or senior level vacancy in your organization? Use this form/link to submit your job listing in my weekly newsletter for just $100:
https://forms.gle/ceMzWqeLwiRFRAGj9
SUPPORT THE PODCAST:
Subscribe to my FREE weekly report of city and county manager resignations, terminations, and retirements (RTRs) at this link:
https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/city-manager-rtrs-job-board-7164683251112992768/
If you would like to support the podcast by making a donation, please use the "Buy Me A Coffee" link.
Please rate and review the podcast on Apple or your preferred platform if you enjoy the show. It helps tremendously. But more importantly, refer your friends and peers to podcast through personal conversations and posts on your social media platforms.
Joe Turner's LinkedIn Page
City Manager Unfiltered YouTube Page - Subscribe Today!
Note: Page may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.