The following is a transcript of ICMA Executive Director Julia Novak’s speech at the OCMA Annual Conference on February 27, 2026.
Good morning, friends and colleagues. I appreciate the invitation to be with you today – attending a State Association Conference where there are no airplanes, long drives and hotels involved is pretty special.
I’m also pleased to share with you my take on the state of our profession. I began writing this at a time when Springfield, Ohio was bracing for a wave of immigration enforcement on their Haitian residents, while also planning for next year’s Annual Conference in Long Beach, our Global Exchange in Ireland, and our Local Government Reimagined Conferences on AI and Democracy and Public Trust, members in other areas dealing with the stress of an uninvited Federal Police presence in real time, and I kept going back to 11th Grade English and Dickens A Tale of Two Cities – It was the Best of Times, it was the Worst of Times, and I was remembering a water bottle sticker on one of my Board Members water bottles at our January meeting – it said “Both Things Can Be True.”
For us, for the state of the profession, I believe:
It is the best of times; and
It is the worst of times; and
If that feels uncomfortably accurate to you right now—that’s because both things can be true.
Over this past year, Bob O’Neill, Kendra Stewart, John Nalbandian and I have been working on some research – research that built on original work from 2017 that became known as Disruptive Trends.
What people told us was that this moment feels harder, more political, more personal.
Let me start where we usually don’t.
This is the worst of times when:
The problems we face are more complex, more interconnected, and more political than ever—yet the margin for error has never been thinner.
Our research confirmed that the most impactful forces facing local government today are not abstract, they include:
• Politicalization and Polarization
o Impact of federal and state policies
o More elected officials with entrenched views
o No shared understanding of the “common good”
o People identify with those who agree with them, not necessarily those in their city/county – finding community in online echo chambers instead of in neighborhoods
• The Changing View of Institutions
o Less public trust in government
o Less elected official trust in staff
o Less civility in discourse
o Blurred boundaries between the role of staff vs. elected officials
• Technology – Social Media, AI
• Fiscal pressures
• State preemption
• Workforce challenges
• The pressure of responding to the impact of extreme weather – Climate Change
What we heard is that these forces are colliding—not sequentially, but simultaneously.
When Bob and John engaged in the original research, former City Manager Jim Keene shared this observation:
“Disruption connotes an unexpected discontinuity of some magnitude. Disruptions are inevitable. But reconciliation—positively reacting to disruption—is not inevitable. It takes intent.”
Disruption is inevitable – Reconciliation – repair – MUST be intentional.
That intent is where you come in, that intent is what’s being tested.
This is the worst of times when everything is urgent, but nothing is simple.
When housing shortages make it harder to recruit firefighters, engineers, and planners—and yet every housing conversation becomes a proxy war about identity, ideology, and control.
When local control is questioned or constrained, even as residents still expect their city hall to fix what’s broken.
I mean – your communities will all be fine if they do away with property taxes in Ohio, right? (That’s Sarcasm Sheldon…)
When technology moves faster than policy—when AI can streamline purchasing and speed plan review in one breath, and in the next raises legitimate concerns about water, land use, ethics, and equity.
And when trust—once assumed—now feels conditional.
As one former Ohio manager told us:
“Facts no longer matter. Polarized council members use non-factual sound bites as weapons—against each other and against staff. The result is growing distrust of professional local government and an increasing challenge to attract and retain talent.”
This is the worst of times when civility erodes, boundaries blur, and professional expertise is questioned—not occasionally, but routinely.
And it is the worst of times when you—the professional local government manager—are expected to absorb all of it.
To be neutral, but decisive.
Invisible, but accountable.
Empathetic, but unflinching.
To “just take it.”
That weight deserves to be named.
And Yet…
As Dickens reminds us—the story doesn’t end there.
Because this is also—the best of times.
It is the best of times because local government still works.
Despite everything:
• Services are delivered
• Emergencies are managed
• Communities function
Not because conditions are easy—but because professionals show up.
Our research shows that even as pressures increase, the role of the manager is not shrinking—it is expanding.
Managers told us they are increasingly called to fulfill a new role.
Tansy Hayward, City Manager of Thornton, Colorado noted:
“Managers are increasingly called to convene community-based conversations on social issues that intersect the public, nonprofit, and private sectors.”
You are more public-facing.
More scrutinized.
More political.
But also—more essential.
This is the best of times because your teams are evolving to meet the moment under your leadership.
Assistants and department heads are becoming more enterprise-minded, more collaborative, and more strategically engaged—so managers can focus on what only they can do.
As one respondent put it:
“Being a subject-matter expert is no longer enough (for department directors). Leaders must think big picture, connect the dots, and take an interdisciplinary approach.”
That is adaptation, that is resilience, and that takes professional courage.
Here is the paradox the data reveals:
As trust in institutions declines, expectations of local government increase.
As politics becomes more polarized, managers are asked to be more politically savvy.
As elected officials face louder pressure, staff absorb the impact.
Managers told us expectations are higher than ever—often without a clear understanding of what is feasible.
As a consultant I would begin almost every workshop with elected officials by acknowledging what gets DONE by your local governments sits at the intersection of political acceptability (what there is the WILL to do) AND administrative sustainability (what there is the organizational CAPACITY to accomplish).
You are asked to support employee wellness (physical and emotional), maintain performance, navigate blurred boundaries, and still deliver results.
You operate where democracy meets plumbing.
Where ideals meet invoices.
Where values meet deadlines.
You are not just managing organizations.
You are holding the center.
Now here is where this moment shifts—from burden to opportunity.
Because this year, in 2026, our country marks 250 years of representative democracy.
And that experiment does not live in Washington DC or on Cable News.
It lives locally.
In council chambers.
In public meetings.
At peaceful demonstrations.
In how decisions are made—and explained.
The real question is not whether democracy is under strain.
It is this:
What does professional local government look like when democracy is under strain?
What is the value proposition of this profession?
Your peers answered that, too.
High-performing organizations right now are anchored by:
• Trust
• Clear communication
• Alignment between mission and daily work
• Support for staff
• Ethical leadership
As one manager described it:
“High performance comes from disciplined alignment—from council priorities to individual work—so every employee understands how their work contributes to community outcomes.”
That is competence with integrity.
Innovation with ethics.
Efficiency with humanity.
So here is my charge to you—grounded in the reality of your community, with your voices, and your lived experience.
Keep telling the truth—calmly, clearly, relentlessly.
Keep building systems that work even when politics don’t.
Keep mentoring the next generation—because workforce challenges are real, but purpose still attracts people to this work.
Keep modeling leadership when no one is clapping.
And when you wonder—quietly, late at night—
“Why would anyone do this?”
Remember the answer.
Because local government is where democracy becomes real.
Because communities don’t run on slogans—they run on service.
Because when trust is fragile, professionalism becomes the anchor.
Both things can be true…
