On behalf of our entire Tripepi Smith team, thank you to the California City Management Foundation for recognizing us as its Corporate Partner of the Year. Tripepi Smith prides itself on our history of close collaboration with city managers all over California.

From our work with CCMF to our partnership with ICMA; from our sponsorships of the Cal Cities City Manager conferences to those of multiple city manager associations, we strive to support the profession at every turn. As a result, we have a lot of wise friends who have become our mentors in local government. These relationships have taken us across California - and beyond - to visit city halls, and of course, take thumbs-up selfies. My personal relationships with city managers are one of the great joys of my job and keeps me coming back working hard every day.

That same enthusiasm for the city management community has driven us to launch a new division at Tripepi Smith: TS Talent Solutions. This new division leverages our marketing acumen, digital platforms and market presence in local government to deliver recruitment and employee-related services that help local governments succeed. TS Talent Solutions has already found a public works director, engineer, community development director and a city attorney for Manteca, and we are just starting a chief budget officer search for the City of Tracy. We have also helped in-house HR staff in Morro Bay, La Cañada Flintridge and Indian Wells make their career opportunities stand out.

We are launching TS Talent Solutions with the able skills and kind personality of Bob Hall - a retired city manager and humble public servant. Anyone who knows Bob respects his consistency, calm persona, and “do the right thing” philosophy. If we can help you out with your hunt for talent or work with you to define the culture of your city hall, give us a ring.

January flew by and the trends of February are already foreshadowing a very busy year. We have a lot of work to do, but given what I know about our friends in local government, we have the right people leading our local governments to make the needed progress.

Onward,