In honor of International Women’s History Month, the Texas State University (TSXT) chapter of the International City/County Management Association (ICMA) hosted a talk by MPA alumna Brenda Eivens (’95), city manager for the City of Cedar Park on Wednesday March 24th, In her talk, Ms. Eivens spoke about the importance of following Tenet 7 of the ICMA Code of Ethics, which requires every member of ICMA to “refrain from all political activities which undermine public confidence in professional administrators.” She emphasized that administrators needed to avoid all things political nature, such as campaign signs or bumper stickers.
She offered several pieces of advice about managing the politics of the city manager position. First, it is important for the city manager to know their role. Additionally, the city manager should help the city council to know its role and responsibilities. This is one of the most important things that a city manager can do. Second, the city manager should have an awareness about the political landscape. Pretending the political landscape does not exist will not help a person navigate it. By not managing the political landscape, the city manager is almost guaranteed to trip over something by not paying attention or engaging. She reiterated her point about avoiding all things politics, e.g., campaign signs or bumper stickers.
With respect to career advice for future local government leaders, Ms. Eivens noted that an internship is a good step. Additionally, she pointed out that the vast majority of city managers and assistant city managers have an MPA, an MPP degree, or another related degree. Finally, she recommended joining and networking with the International City/County Management Association (ICMA), the Texas City Managers Association (TCMA), and Urban Management Assistants of Central Texas (UMACT).
