Local Government Management : Practices and Trends

In a recent paradigm shift, local governments find themselves shouldering more responsibility for day-to-day governance and crisis management, thanks to regulations and federal spending cuts. While 20 years ago a book on local government administration might have been considered complete with chapters on budgeting, public personnel management, productivity and responsivity, and community engagement, any discussion of local government must now also include resilience, emergency management, climate change, smart cities, social media, and infrastructure funding. Bringing together key voices from the academic and public sectors, Local Government Management offers techniques and insight into how local government can most effectively lead and manage their resources in an evolving political―and environmental―landscape.

Featuring examples from expert contributors’ own decades of public service and research, this forward-thinking book explores the rapid speed of change in local communities and the need for local government to not only adapt but also proactively plan for the future. Local Government Management is essential reading for local government officials, public stakeholders, practitioners, and students of public administration and management.

Nicolas A. Valcik works as the Director of Effectiveness Analytics for a college based in Texas. Previously he worked for Texas Tech University as the Director of Institutional Research, UT-Permian Basin as the Director of Institutional Research and Business Intelligence, Central Washington University as the Executive Director of Institutional Effectiveness, and the University of Texas at Dallas as the Associate Director for the Office of Strategic Planning and Analysis. He additionally held a faculty appointment for the Program of Public Affairs in the School of Economic, Political, and Policy Sciences at the University of Texas at Dallas. He is the editor/author of numerous books and chapters for Routledge/Taylor & Francis.

Teodoro J. Benavides serves as a faculty member and the MPA Director for the University of Texas at Dallas (UTD) in the School of Economic, Political, and Policy Sciences’ Public and Nonprofit Management Program. He previously served as a Senior Vice President for the Waters Consulting Group and served from 1998 to 2004 as City Manager of Dallas, Texas. He was responsible for administering all programs and services for the city’s 1.2 million people, overseeing an annual $1.9 billion municipal budget, and directing a workforce of 13,000 employees. Benavides serves as a member of the City of Glenn Heights, Texas, Economic Development Corporation. He is the co-author of City Planning for the Public Manager (Routledge, 2018), Non-Profit Organizations (Routledge, 2015), and Practical Human Resources Management for Public Managers (Routledge, 2011).