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What Every City Manager Wants in a Public Works Director

A public works director is a key member of any community's senior leadership team. A director must develop policy, interact with elected officials, work with the media and ensure that the public works department is a high performance customer service and community service team. Examine how a city manager views the role of the public works director and the skill set needed to fill this essential role. 

 

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The Loop – The Business Case for Recreation Infrastructure Investment

Even with an electorate tired of adding to their tax burden, Southern Arizona voters continue to approve funding for improvements to Pima County's 131-mile shared-use path around the Metro-Tucson area. Why? Because no matter age, demographics, or political leanings, residents recognize the benefit of the recreational opportunities, healthy lifestyle enhancements and transportation alternatives. Learn how to measure and communicate the benefits derived from this type of investment. 

 

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Liquids Work in Winter – The Proven Technology

Agencies across North American face increasing challenges in winter maintenance. Many agencies have added liquids, brines and blends to their tool box to combat this. Join us as we discuss the past, present and future of liquid use in winter maintenance.

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Identifying and Preparing for Climate-Related Risks

There are a variety of Hazard Identification and Risk Assessment (HIRA) programs in use throughout North America. 

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APWA Certifications: What Are They Really All About

Certificants from the various APWA Certification programs will share their real-life stories on the challenges of the certification and testing process and the benefits accrued since obtaining their credential. Bring your questions and join in this helpful dialogue. 

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Resilience Is the New Sustainability

In the wake of recent disasters, recovery and rebuilding efforts are increasingly focused on the link between disaster resiliency and sustainability including robust building standards, infrastructure risk and vulnerability assessments, and economic vitality through secure infrastructure. 

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Leading Change – A Young Professional’s Perspective

Sponsored by APWA’s Young Professionals Group Explore how young professionals are acting as change agents and program champions in public works agencies. They will discuss navigating organizational change, demographic trends, and the importance of tapping into the institutional knowledge base of veteran colleagues to improve overall processes. 

 

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Elevating Image: Executive Soft Skills for the Public Works Professional

Sponsored by APWA’s Leadership and Management Committee APWA’s Leadership and Management Committee established “communication using effective strategies” as one of the core competencies for any public works executive. Attend this overview of basic communication concepts to improve your communication with the public, elected officials, and the media. 

 

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Performance Measures Are For People Too!

How can we expect someone to do a good job if we don’t first provide a description of what a “good job” is? The City of Medford, Oregon implemented a performance management cycle that uses written performance standards as the starting point for a fair, definable system. 

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A Cleaner River for Pennies on the Dollar

The City of Twin Falls, Idaho discharges treated wastewater into the Snake River which has a TMDL. In lieu of constructing expensive treatment plant options, wetlands were developed using irrigation return. Millions of dollars of were saved and hundreds of tons of sediment loads will be removed annually. 

 

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