This episode of the Tyler Tech Podcast features Pat Martel, West Coast regional director at ICMA and former city manager. She shares how ICMA is supporting today’s leaders in addressing challenges like workforce recruitment, digital access, and innovation. The conversation highlights leadership development programs that prepare the next generation, the role of technology and AI in reshaping service delivery, and how communities are bridging the digital divide. Tune in for insights on building resilient local governments and a preview of the upcoming ICMA Annual Conference.
In this episode of the Tyler Tech Podcast, Pat Martel, West Coast regional director at the International City/County Management Association (ICMA), joins the show to discuss the evolving landscape of local government leadership.
A former city manager and past president of ICMA, Pat shares how the association supports managers as they navigate today’s most pressing challenges — from workforce recruitment and retention to the growing need for innovation, agility, and digital access.
The conversation explores ICMA’s efforts to build the next generation of leaders through fellowships, student programs, and leadership development initiatives. Pat also highlights how technology — including artificial intelligence (AI) — is reshaping local government service delivery, and how even smaller communities are finding ways to bridge the digital divide and enhance resident engagement.
Looking ahead, Pat offers an optimistic view of the profession, underscoring the resilience of local governments, the adaptability of current leaders, and the importance of meeting communities where they are. She also previews the upcoming ICMA Annual Conference in Tampa, Florida, where leaders from across the country will gather to share strategies and best practices.
Tune in to hear how ICMA is helping local governments strengthen their communities, embrace innovation, and build for the future.
This episode also highlights “Resilient by Design: How Technology Supports Government,” our free e-book that explores how public sector agencies can strengthen their resilience in the face of disruption. From cloud infrastructure and automation to secure payment systems and crisis response tools, the e-book features real-world examples of how technology helps governments maintain continuity and serve their communities more effectively.
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Pat Martel: Being willing to adapt, I think, is something that, you know, we are stressing with ICMA members, and particularly senior leaders who need to understand that they’re paving the way for their organizations to even further develop that culture of innovation.
Josh Henderson: From Tyler Technologies, this is the Tyler Tech Podcast, where we explore the trends, technologies, and people shaping the public sector.
I’m your host, Josh Henderson. Thanks for listening.
Today, I’m joined by Pat Martel, West Coast regional director at the International City/County Management Association — known as ICMA — and a former city manager with a wealth of experience in local government leadership. We discussed the challenges facing city and county managers, the role of technology in modernization, and what gives Pat optimism about the future of local government.
Let’s get right into it.
Pat, it’s so great to have you on the podcast today. Thanks so much for being here.
Pat Martel: Oh, thank you, Josh, for inviting me to be here.
Josh Henderson: It’s our pleasure. Now, Pat, before we dive into the work that ICMA does, can you tell us a little bit about your background and what brought you to your current role at ICMA?
Pat Martel: Certainly. Well, I’m a retired city manager from California. I spent about 38 years in local government management in five different cities in my home state. And during that time, I have been a member of ICMA. And, actually, since retirement, I’m still a member of ICMA, so probably about 45 years.
I also had the honor during my career to serve as, the West Coast regional vice president on the ICMA executive board representing all of the West Coast states, Washington, Oregon, Alaska, Nevada, and California, and Hawaii. And then subsequently, I was, selected to serve as the one hundred and second president of ICMA.
So, my entire career has been about local government and ICMA.
I’ve had a passion for both. And now in my job as the ICMA West Coast regional director, it’s my opportunity to give back to the profession, and I enjoy supporting our members all throughout the West Coast and helping them to accomplish the things that they need to do, bringing them ICMA’s resources and expertise in certain areas and serving as an adviser to them when asked.
Josh Henderson: So now you clearly bring a lot of great expertise to ICMA. But now for those folks who are unfamiliar, can you give us a brief overview of ICMA’s mission and sort of how it supports city and county managers in in their work?
Pat Martel: Absolutely. So ICMA is the leading association of professional city and county managers who serve local governments that are dedicated to creating and sustaining thriving communities, not just in U.S., but actually throughout the world. And we do that by working with all of our almost 13,000 members by providing them with professional development programs, research, publications, data and information that they can use in their work, technical assistance, and the like, and, actually, to help develop best practices based on some of the work being conducted by our members that we share broadly with others to apply those best practices to the work that they are doing in their communities.
Josh Henderson: That’s really great. And now, you know, Tyler Technologies, as a company, we work with the public sector.
ICMA also familiar with the public sector, obviously.
Now from your perspective, what are some of the standard challenges and some of the standard opportunities that you might see, that managers are currently facing?
Pat Martel: Well, managers are really navigating a variety of different challenges today.
Some of them have always existed in in local government, but they have reached, an even greater level of challenge today, particularly with respect to, funding challenges and meeting the growing needs of communities throughout the country. It’s forced them to look at other kinds of funding models to foster partnerships, with the private sector and nongovernment sector in order to deliver services and enhance the resiliencies, the resiliency of their communities.
They’ve had to prioritize things like cybersecurity and environmental risks all within that same limited funding environment. And so, I think that, you know, those are some of the standout challenges, but I think it goes even beyond that because in the in the very volatile political environment that exists today, managers are really being challenged to enhance community engagement and transparency much more fully. We’ve always done our best to be open and responsive in our communities and to our elected officials, but that has even been heightened now with the need to ensure that we’re providing accurate information, particularly when misinformation can be introduced, into the community because of things like social media that spreads very, very quickly. And so those are the kinds of challenges they’re dealing with, the sustainability of their communities on a variety of levels, including environmental sustainability.
We’re seeing so many more challenges because of wildfires and hurricanes and things that are being very disruptive to communities across the country and much more frequently than we have ever seen that in my experience in local government for, you know, almost forty years. So those are kind of the challenges that we’re facing and that managers are facing, and we’re doing our best to help support them, at ICMA.
Josh Henderson: It falls in line with a lot of what we’ve been hearing more recently as well. So, you know, I think it goes without saying that we’ve, you know, seen a lot of change across the public sector in recent years. What leadership trends are you seeing among local government managers today?
Pat Martel: Well, I think that local government managers are really trying to, you know, do their best to shift away from the tradition-bound approaches to government to become more agile, to be more technology driven, to develop more effective resident-centric models for communication and engagement.
They’re having to embrace change management as a critical component of dealing with stakeholders who are much more demanding and having to pivot and shift in the way that they are delivering services, communicating on a much broader based platform than they’ve ever had with social media.
But probably the most important leadership challenge is helping to foster or leading the development of a culture of innovation in their organizations in order to adapt to all of these evolving needs and expectations in the communities that they’re serving. And, you know, change management really requires some very strong leadership skills and, you know, flexibility, responsiveness, and being able to model that for their employees within their organizations.
Josh Henderson: That’s really great. And, you know, we’re familiar with ICMA, but knowing how committed ICMA is to sort of developing leaders across the board, what are your members telling you about workforce challenges, and what kinds of support are they finding most valuable coming from the organization?
Pat Martel: Well, you know, talent management has been an evolving issue that we have been working with our members for some time now. You know, recruitment and retention is a very big challenge today. It has been so for a number of years now. Over the last decade, we’ve found challenges starting with, you know, the I’ll refer back to what we call the silver tsunami when we expected many, many senior level executives to be leaving local government and to have to prepare for the eventuality of succession in local government roles. At the same time, the challenge of recruitment, especially, has been that fewer young people are thinking about careers in government. They’re much more driven to the private sector with technology and the opportunities that are available to them in the private sector with that kind of digital skill and computer training and background.
And so local governments have also had to become very agile in how they recruit and retain people, and it and it’s demanding that they take different approaches to recruiting. I often say to local governments I work for; your job today is to create the marketing strategy so that you become the employer of choice. So, you’ve got to be able to demonstrate to those who are thinking about local government why there’s so many advantages to coming into local government, and helping to build strong communities, having great opportunities to utilize their skills, opportunities for advancement, providing, you know, great benefits and retirements as advantages for people who enter the public sector.
But along with that, once you get them, then there’s a challenge of retaining, those new employees and those who are moving into mid-career jobs. And that has to be investing in them by providing advanced training, particularly digital training.
So today, really enhancing their ability to use AI and apply it in in a constructive way in the work that they’re doing in local government and to help them to use those skills to adapt to the technologies that are evolving at such a rapid pace today. Things are changing dramatically all the time. And then applying what they’re learning and becoming skilled at to changing workflow processes and to making government leaner and more, you know, streamlined and better able to deliver results much more quickly than we could in the past. And then finally, I think the challenge the workforce challenge is about truly empowering employees.
Managers have to take a leadership role in creating the kind of supportive work environment that makes employees feel empowered, where they’re involved in change processes, where their opinions about things matter, when they are, you know, allowed to lead as the organization is evolving in terms of the culture of innovation and adaptability and letting those young people who have a vision of the way things could be different to actually try it, to pilot projects, and to lead that kind of change.
Josh Henderson: I think that’s all really, really great advice. And so, you know, kind of building on this idea of recruitment and retention and investments in those, you know, younger employees, can you speak to any standout programs or partnerships, that are that are helping build that next generation of local government leaders?
Pat Martel: Well, you know, ICMA has always been involved in in helping to develop future leaders.
The imperative has become even stronger with the need to help local governments envision, you know, years ago about succession planning and that kind of thing. But we have always been focused on and worked with our members to understand how they can utilize the work that we have done with fostering, relationships with, schools of public administration. We have ICMA student chapters, so we get students, at that level when they’re thinking about local government careers, provide opportunity for them to be exposed to local government through developing internships that are available.
We work with local governments who are open to having interns, but we also have some key programs for talent at every level, either, you know, students early career, mid-career, and even those who are transitioning from other fields. So, for example, we work, with students in early career individuals in local governments through our local government management fellow program, where individuals can apply to get fellowships working in positions in local government, both cities and counties, and get on the job experience and training at the same time and receive stipends for the work that they’re doing.
And then in many cases, those who complete their two-year fellowships, at the end of the fellowship, they’re hired by the employer who brought them on. We also have the emerging leaders’ development program, which focuses on building the real foundational knowledge and skills in management and in technical areas that will help early career professionals to continue to advance to the mid-career level. We also have developed some programs for high school students through the grant, that we received from a former member, Bob Turner. We have established the Turner scholarship program for high school kids to do internships in the summer with local government and to gain their first exposure early on even before they enter college.
So, all of those different programs are intended to create the pipeline and then continue the pipeline on because then we have leadership ICMA, which is for emerging professionals that helps them to develop their leadership competencies and to gain the knowledge that will be necessary as they advance into more senior executive level positions. You know, ICMA has been a leader in promoting lifelong learning for our members, and that begins from the day that they step in the door in local government until the day they retire. And we have an expectation of even our senior executives through our ICMA credential manager program that they can engage annually in professional development, 40 hours of professional development, and maintain their credential, which identifies them as individuals who are not just committed to doing the job of a local government manager, city manager, city administrator, but also to enhancing their skills every day on the job for the benefits of the communities that they serve.
Josh Henderson: Stay tuned. We’ll be right back with more of the Tyler Tech Podcast.
Jade Champion: You can’t always prevent disruption, but you can prepare for it.
Josh Henderson: That’s right. And in our latest e-book, we explore how government agencies are building resilience into their operations from cloud-based systems and automation to tools that improve response and coordination.
Jade Champion: You’ll discover real-world examples like how an emergency app helps residents in Louisiana stay informed and how secure payment technology supports service continuity during a crisis.
Josh Henderson: It also walks through six practical steps to help you assess risks, modernize infrastructure, and strengthen your ability to adapt.
Jade Champion: Download your free copy of “Resilient by Design: How Technology Supports Government” at the link in the show notes.
Josh Henderson: Because every government needs a road map to resilience, and it starts with the right technology.
Now let’s get back to the Tyler Tech Podcast.
Some really fantastic work being done in ICMA, obviously, some really thoughtful approaches to, you know, building up those leaders as well. So, kudos to ICMA.
We’ll link to some resources in our show notes as well if folks want to learn more about any of that. But back to this idea, you know, public sector is always trying to keep up with the latest technology. As you mentioned earlier, technology is changing at a very rapid pace, especially now with the advent of artificial intelligence being so prominent. So, as technology continues to shape how services are delivered at the local level, what trends are you seeing in terms of modernization or digital access?
Pat Martel: You know, even while I was working, although I’ve been work retired now for several years, my on the job experience was beginning to, create online services that make access to local government easier for residents, digitizing all kinds of records, local government records so that people can access that kind of data online, whether it’s budget information, whether it’s building permit information, planning issues, providing that access and making it easier for people to interface with their local governments has been, you know, an evolving trend that we’ve seen for some years.
I think that the evolution of technology to the point where we have arrived today with the implementation of AI on a variety of levels in local government is still, you know, it’s still evolving. It’s a new tool that is greater than any tool that we’ve ever had access to. And so, helping our local government members to see how AI can benefit them in the same way that all of the technologies that have allowed them to digitize so many of the processes that they have historically maintained as paper processes has helped to streamline government just amazingly at the local level.
But there’s so much yet to come, and ICMA has recognized that because, you know, we have, held local government reimagined sessions, conferences where we have done a deep dive on AI and brought in experts from a variety of fields to share with our members how AI can be used effectively and can make the role of local government even more important for residents within the community and the organizations that serve them.
And so being open to innovation and being willing to adapt, I think, is something that, you know, we are stressing with ICMA members and particularly senior leaders who need to understand that they’re paving the way for their organizations to even further develop that culture of innovation and adapt as new ways of using AI and other forms of technology become more apparent, and then sharing best practices so that ICMA can promote those best practices to other organizations.
Josh Henderson: Yeah. And now, you know, the modernization journey is different for everybody. Right? And so, you know, as a West Coast director, you probably see those contrasts quite glaringly quite often. So, what would you say is working especially well in sort of those smaller or under resourced communities that that still want to, you know, modernize as much as they possibly can?
Pat Martel: Well, you know, I think in small communities, their ability to adapt to the current technology environment is has been much slower. It’s a question of resources and not always funding resources, but also staff resources. They tend to be challenged more in those areas than other cities. But I think that even small communities are recognizing that there are a range of strategies that they can use to leverage technology, particularly to foster economic growth in in their small communities, to enhance their residents’ quality of life, and really to focus on ensuring future sustainability.
So some of the things I think that they are doing that may seem like no brainers to larger communities, but it’s been a challenge for small communities, is bridging the digital divide and enhancing connectivity within small communities, providing access to high speed Internet, which is so important, not just for the quality of life for residents, but for economic development in those communities, expanding broadband infrastructure, offering digital literacy programs, and really promoting to the extent that they can the adoption of online services that they’re able to create for their residents.
And as I said, you know, it’s they’re taking smaller steps, but they’re making a lot of inroads in those areas and providing value for their residents.
Small communities are utilizing technology in many cases to create new business opportunities and to support existing ones and, you know, providing resources and mentorship for startup organizations and leveraging different technology programs for marketing and ecommerce in those areas. I think it’s also helping to improve education in small communities because they’re supporting learning through, the digital environment, which they didn’t have access to before. So that’s helping to educate the young people in those smaller communities and providing them the resources online that helps to them to enhance their educational opportunities and access the world outside of their small communities. You know? So, I think that, you know, technology is being used on a variety of different levels in small communities.
I think it’s also helping especially with climate change and helping, using different kinds of technology in order for rural areas, particularly agricultural areas, to better understand environmental impacts that they can anticipate and to address those kinds of environmental issues that are affecting, you know, agricultural communities, especially on the West Coast where we’ve had so many wildfires and, you know, and floods resulting from the wildfires, leaving barren ground and that kind of thing.
So, I think that small communities are definitely seeing that there’s so much more to be done. I think it just will take them a little bit longer than others. But the good news is even for small communities who are part of our ICMA network, they have access to a lot of best practices that other small communities, you know, have found useful, and that too can help support their work.
Josh Henderson: Yeah. So, adaptability and, obviously, taking even a small step is taking a step in the right direction. So, it’s great to hear all of that. As you look toward the months ahead, what gives you the most optimism about the future of local government?
Pat Martel: You know, I feel a great deal of optimism for the future of local government on a couple of levels. One, seeing and working with many emerging leaders who are coming into local government, who despite the challenges that they see, despite the divisiveness at times that we’re witnessing across the country and the political volatility, they still want to be engaged in local government. They want to make a difference.
And that, I think, is very inspiring. So, I have a lot of optimism for the long term for local government. But I think our current, mid-career and senior executives in local government, they have embraced the need to adapt in a way that I don’t think prior generations have adapted quite as well. And I think it you know, in part, it’s because of the challenge that they all experienced, you know, five years ago with the pandemic and how they had to pivot to continue to deliver local government services under some of the most challenging circumstances.
So, they have really envisioned a different world and how, you know, for example, when we always said, oh, we would never have remote government. You know, that’s just not the way government operates, especially at the local level. Well, we did, and it worked. And in some instances, there are local governments who are still maintaining flexible work schedules for employees who really got to enjoy working remotely and found they could do their jobs just as effectively from home as they could on the job.
So, I think it’s that enthusiasm for embracing what the adaptability that was forced upon them and now recognizing that adapting to change is not such a bad thing, and especially if you can look towards the future in a way that you can anticipate what may be happening and be ready for it before it actually happens. And I think technology and AI are helping them to do that, and I think it makes it a much more exciting environment in local government to deal with those kinds of changes. I think, finally, I would say that the work that local governments across the country have been doing to embrace civic engagement, to open up the doors of local government, to be much more transparent, to find to meet people where they are, not expecting them always to be at city hall, but be able to meet them where they are, I think, has changed the way that residents look at their local governments, and they have become more collaborative in some instances.
There’s still a lot of challenges today because many communities are divided on the role of government. But I think those that are willing to take the risks to engage their communities much more broadly and much more openly and collaborate with them, bring them in as stakeholders are going to find that the future for their local governments is going to be much more productive, and there will be good results from their work.
Josh Henderson: Well, I think listeners will get excited about the future after that response. Thank you for that, Pat. Now before I let you go, I wanted to touch a little bit on the ICMA annual conference, which is coming up quickly. It’s coming up next month in Tampa, Florida.
What can you tell folks about what to expect from this year’s event? And there are there any specific themes or sessions that you’re especially excited about this year?
Pat Martel: Well, you know, ICMA does its best every year to provide the best conference that we can. And, you know, this year is no different. The tracks that we are going to be, dealing with will include things like technology, more information on AI.
We’re going to be dealing with wellness issues and employee wellness issues and how we can, engage in self-care during very stressful times.
There’s going to be tracks on innovation, a whole variety of things, including, one that I am involved in with my colleagues, regional directors, on first time administrators providing support for directors, on first time administrators, providing support for those who are coming maybe to their very first ICMA conference, learning about some of the challenges in local government and how we can support our members better.
There are going to be over two hundred different sessions, at the ICMA conference, in Tampa, and everyone who attends the conference can be well assured that any interest that they have, whether they’re from a small community, because we’ll also have a small community track, which will be focused on helping small communities, to address some of the issues that we just talked about, that there will be something for everyone at the conference.
And it’s going to be in a beautiful environment. The convention center is located right on the water. We’re going to have some really good mobile workshops, for people to visit different locations in Tampa where the city will be highlighting the work that they have undertaken in a variety of areas. So, I think that those who will be attending and right now, we’re seeing to be leading our registration numbers this year over prior years.
And so I think that it will be a, obviously, tremendous networking opportunity for our members from all over to meet with one another, to have conversations outside of sessions, and to meet with a number of vendors who can help support the good work that they do in local government, at our exhibition hall and hear some programs that are being supported by our ICMA strategic partners.
So, I think, overall, you can’t miss by coming to Tampa.
Josh Henderson: Well, the conference sounds like something very much something to look forward to. Pat, thanks again for being with us today. We so appreciate you being here, and for all the work that you and your team are doing to support local governments at ICMA. Can’t wait to have you back on the show.
Pat Martel: Well, thank you, Josh, and I just want to express my appreciation for being invited to be in this session with you to talk about ICMA and our members and what’s going on. But especially, I want to thank Tyler Technologies for being a very generous and supportive strategic partner of ICMA and helping us actually to further our mission of supporting local government, especially in these challenging times.
Josh Henderson: It’s a great partnership. So, thank you so much, Pat. Appreciate it.
As we heard today, local government leaders are finding new ways to strengthen their communities, whether through workforce development, innovative programs, or technology that improves access and service delivery.
Pat shared how ICMA supports these efforts with resources, leadership development, and best practices that help communities succeed and thrive.
If you’d like to learn more about ICMA or the topics covered during today’s discussion, check out the show notes for additional resources.
And we’d love to hear your feedback. Fill out the listener survey linked in the notes or reach out anytime at podcast@tylertech.com.
Be sure to subscribe, rate, and review the show so you never miss an episode. For Tyler Technologies, I’m Josh Henderson. Thanks for listening to the Tyler Tech Podcast.