One of the initial tasks assigned to an incoming chair of the Section on State and Local Government Law is to define her or his goals for the chair year. I have to admit that, when I turned my attention to this assignment, my first step was to review the goals of our two past chairs, Rob Thomas and Ron Kramer. After all, why re-invent the wheel if the wagon is rolling smoothly. Consequently, the goals I identified are not a major deviation from the path Rob and Ron—and likely the chairs that preceded them—set us on, but simply reflect some minor tweaking and additions. While my goals can be found on the Section’s website, at https://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/administrative/state_local_government/18-19-chair-goals.pdf, I’m taking the opportunity offered by this column to expand on some of those goals in a bit more detail.
December 23, 2019 Columns
Chair’s Message
Martha H. Chumbler
Identify the content of most interest to current members and the delivery methods of most value to them. The Young Lawyers Committee already is surveying its members as to the areas of state and local government law of most interest to them and is polling those members on the methods of content delivery they find most effective. Other committees have begun similar information-gathering initiatives. However, I urge each of you not to wait until receiving a formal survey; let us know your preferences now by reaching out to me or to our executive director, Tamara Askew. One of us will follow up.
Explore ways of encouraging current member attendance at live meetings. Webinars, live-streaming, this newsletter, and The Urban Lawyer law review are certainly valuable benefits available to all Section members. However, live meetings, where members have the opportunity to network with other lawyers across the country who are familiar with current issues and where genuine camaraderie among Section members is most evident, provides the greatest value of membership.
Expand existing leadership development strategies and identify new strategies. One of the attributes of this Section that is most striking to me is our openness to young lawyers and new members. Unlike some other organizations, this Section does not require years of slogging through minor roles before members are offered the opportunity to publish an article, delivery a paper, serve on a panel, or serve in a leadership role on a committee or subcommittee. However, we can do even better. One strategy already in place rests on the continued involvement of many past chairs and other long-time Section leaders in Section activities. These “experienced” members, true experts in their areas of the law and long-time contributors to the Section, have been very generous in their willingness both to share that expertise and wisdom with younger lawyers and to share the spotlight. I hope to expand on this great resource going forward, as well as to implement additional strategies for cultivating the Section’s future leaders.
Reinvigorate and possibly reorganize substantive committees. Our substantive committees are the lifeblood of the Section. We rely on committees to generate CLE ideas and presenters, newsletter articles, and ideas for new books and Urban Lawyer articles. Committees and subcommittees provide younger members a great opportunity to contribute and to take on leadership roles. We also look to the substantive committees to offer members frequent contact with the Section through periodic teleconferences and information sharing via committee discussion boards. Some of our committees are doing less than others in this regard and, over the next year, we will take a hard look at what is working and what is not, including considering whether to consolidate some of our committees and/or subcommittees. As with the subject of content and content delivery, this is an area where your feedback will be important. Are you on a committee? If so, what is the value to you? What more would you like your committee(s) to do?
I look forward to hearing from you, either through direct contact or via the surveys being circulated. What do you hope to receive in return for your membership? What more can we do?