By Luke Fischer

I recently had the chance to sit down with a reporter who was tasked with writing stories that feature news from communities across Minnesota. During our conversation, he asked relevant questions that we often hear from journalists: What makes a community successful? What does good local leadership look like? How do city officials actually make it work? I’m sure many of you are wrestling with the same questions as you adopt preliminary levies and refine your budgets for the upcoming year.

This issue of the magazine spotlights stories of three city officials, two elected and one appointed, who have been thoughtful about their approaches to leadership and problem solving. Within their stories, you might discover a lesson or two that you can use in the places you call home.

So, what makes a community successful? Often, we look to ribbon cuttings for splashy new initiatives or highly visible projects as the markers of jobs well done. While it’s great to celebrate those milestones, it is day-today discipline that creates an environment for cities to accomplish the more extraordinary work. James F. Miller Award winner Tom Lawell, city administrator in Apple Valley, is someone who has proven this during the 24-plus years he’s served the city.

Through Tom’s intentional financial management and solid long-range planning, the city has achieved an AAA rating — the highest bond rating possible. This superior rating reflects strong internal controls, frequent calibration of the city’s goals to resources, and consistency in the basics of fiscal performance. While the strong bond rating indicates solid financial management, it also paves the way for the city to do costlier projects through lower borrowing costs — a tangible benefit of good discipline.

What does good leadership look like? While we tend to think about leadership as simply “the person in charge,” it’s much more than that. More than ever, communities need strong standard bearers if they’re going to make an impact that stands the test of time. C.C. Ludwig Award winner Rick Miller, mayor of Waite Park, has achieved this in spades over the past 30 years of leading his city.

Rick developed a long-range vision for what the community might become and matched that vision with a financial plan to make big dreams into realities. Part of what has made his work so enduring is the idea that he never lost sight of the basic services the city is expected to provide all while pursuing big investments that have changed the trajectory of the community.

How do city officials make it all work? It’s often not enough to focus only on the basics or have a long-range plan to make your city’s dreams become reality — at the same time, you need to successfully guide the community along. The League’s Emerging Leader Award winner Nadia Mohamed, mayor of St. Louis Park, has perfected the art of bringing people together — giving folks a seat at the table so they all have a shared sense of ownership of what the community might be.

St. Louis Park has seen significant socioeconomic and demographic changes over the past 20 years. More simply, many of the people that call the city home are new to the community. Nadia has worked hard to ensure the city is ahead of the curve in involving and serving residents, including looking for new ways to get input, adjusting to evolving needs, and building a shared vision for tomorrow. It takes a special kind of leader to foster opportunities for bringing people in and lifting them up, and Nadia has clearly demonstrated the importance of that work.

Tom, Rick, and Nadia are three folks who have a track record of making their communities successful. Their stories offer ideas and strategies that might be good fits for the places you serve. As you would expect, it was fun sharing a little about our award winners with the reporter.

And I was proud to let him know that many more of you have developed your own approaches and have your own ideas about what it takes to make a city successful. Please tell us your own local stories — there’s lots of good news that we are eager to share.

Luke Fischer is executive director of the League of Minnesota Cities. Contact: [email protected] or (651) 281-1279.