Retirement brings with it a new phase in life after a long tenure as a city or county management professional. You have earned the new discretionary time that comes with retirement thanks to your local government service over decades. Good for you! And now you have numerous choices for what is likely to be many years of active life ahead of you.

Upon retirement, some people completely walk away from any local government involvement. They have had enough of city council and governing board meetings, budgets, angry residents, and difficult-to-solve and often conflict-ridden challenges. For some of our colleagues, retirement is a time to focus on deferred art or music interests, try out new hobbies, get serious about physical fitness, or engage in volunteer activities that give back in a new way as well as provide positive social interaction.

Retirement from a full-time city or county position is also a great opportunity to stay engaged in making our local governments better, but in a different way. There are many reasons to do this.

• You have built a body of knowledge over your career that can be valuable to those who follow.

• You have a network of colleagues and experts who are people of character and well worth staying in communication with as friends.

• You firmly believe in the council-manager form of government and local representative democracy and want the best for communities to thrive in unsteady times.

• You enjoy encouraging and supporting the next generation of local government professionals.

• You still have plenty of energy and can’t play pickleball all day.

If any of these descriptions apply to you, consider how to stay involved in making a difference in our local government profession. We recommend the following options, in order of time commitment from least to most.

Join an ICMA or state association committee or taskforce.

Your expertise and career perspective can be of use to our professional associations. You will meet other professionals and make new friends. The time commitment is not heavy.

Guest lecture in MPA classes.

You will interact with young people making their way in the local government world and provide real life lessons in the art and practice of local government management. The professors are eager to have you in their classes and many lectures can be delivered remotely. The time commitment is quite manageable as you develop your talks and give your lectures. Be prepared for interactive sessions as the norm.

Write articles for professional journals and magazines.

Various professional publications are looking for well-written articles on local government, including PM Magazine. If you enjoy writing, you can tap into your knowledge base and offer articles on best practices and techniques or new ways of thinking about common problems. The time commitment is up to you to decide how often you write and when.

Some of our colleagues have taken the additional step of writing books about the profession, both fiction and nonfiction. There are a variety of means to get such books published. These works become resources for those in the profession as well as MPA programs. Clearly there is a greater time commitment to writing books than articles.

Become a coach, mentor, or senior advisor.

Coaching, mentoring, and advising are different things but share the same goal of helping professionals achieve their potential in their work. ICMA and various state associations have coaching and advising programs. Learn more about the ICMA Coaching Program and register as a coach.

ICMA senior advisors work in conjunction with their state associations to provide members with confidential professional and personal support and advice. Senior advisors also help communities interested in creating a professional local government management position, including adoption of the council-manager government.

You will build trust with the professionals you coach, mentor or advise and help them find their own answers to their pressing public administration problems. Training is available to help you become confident in coaching and mentoring. The time commitment is not heavy. The chance to make a difference is significant.

Join a city/county commission, advisory board, or ad hoc advisory committee.

Volunteer your expertise and deep knowledge of municipal or county affairs to help your local government as a citizen advisor on policies and programs. These posts usually meet monthly (although planning commissions can meet more often). There is reading to do between meetings, but it’s not burdensome.

Become a trainer.

Some of our colleagues have developed part-time work as trainers of local government officials, both elected and appointed. You will need teaching, presentation, facilitation, and some graphic design and technology skills, but this work can be very stimulating. You may choose to go it alone, in which case you are entirely responsible for marketing and administration, or you can work through a firm or government association, which helps with both. The time commitment varies with the workload you can generate and take on.

Serve on a nonprofit board.

Although not strictly related to local government, local nonprofit service builds community as was your goal as a city or county manager. Your skills in meeting management, budgeting, operations oversight, and planning make you an ideal candidate for many nonprofit boards. The time commitment varies with the organization and board but generally fits very well with retired life.

Volunteer in a city or county department.

There are loads of opportunities to help in meaningful ways in police, health, community service, cultural and fire departments, and libraries alongside regular employees. You get to assist line workers directly in the provision of critical services and can tailor your time commitment to meet your retirement needs. You often interact with the public and are a force multiplier for your city or county.

Teach a public administration class.

Most MPA programs like to incorporate adjunct professors to balance the teaching of academic professors. The students seek practitioners as professors as you can demystify how things are really done as opposed to theory and research studies. Helping the next generation(s) get a foothold in local government or prepare for promotion is very satisfying for some retirees. 

The upfront work of developing a syllabus, course outline, or teaching plan can take significant effort, but after offering the class once or twice, the preparatory works becomes fine tuning. There will be papers and tests to be graded and ad hoc one-on-one vocational counseling, but it is very manageable while enjoying retirement. Increasingly, courses are offered remotely.

Become a local government recruiter/ ­search consultant.

As a former executive, you interviewed many dozens of people for various positions. You also have knowledge of the responsibilities of many city and county positions, and you know a thing or two about people. These attributes could make you an effective recruiter or search consultant. You would have the chance to help fill key roles with qualified and motivated people. The time commitment would vary with the number of searches you undertake at a time, but there is generally flexibility to take time off for travel and family.

Become a local government consultant.

Either join a firm or offer your services solo. Consulting will engage skills you developed over your career and allow you to assist local governments and professionals without taking on full- or even part-time duties. There are dozens of needs for consultants to advise, assess, backstop staff, train, and facilitate in local governments. Know your strengths and interests. Do you listen well? Can you deliver in an organized way? You control how many engagements you undertake and must do some marketing. Note: you will not be paid to simply provide your opinions on public policy or administrative matters. You will need to write and analyze well and use current technologies to meet client expectations.

Take on interim/acting roles.

This is very similar to the work you retired from, but for a limited period. Most interim/acting assignments run for three to six months. You receive a full salary. Everyone knows that you are there temporarily, yet you can help set the stage for the next executive by making needed changes and charting the way forward for the permanent city manager or county executive. This is a very real service and can be intense. The time commitment while in such a role may be much the same as how you worked before retirement, or you may set some boundaries. It is a serious chance to make a short-term difference and use your skills and experience to better local government.

In Conclusion, Don’t Fade Away

You have developed considerable skills, knowledge, relationships, and perspective over your years as a city or county manager. Consider undertaking these types of part-time roles to continue your service while reaping the benefits of retirement. You will enrich your next phase experience while benefiting others and our profession.

ENCORE CAREER RESOURCES

Visit icma.org/encore for several “how-to” papers developed by the Cal-ICMA Encore Committee:

• “So, You Want to be an Interim Manager?”
• “So, You Want to be a Consultant?”
• “So, You Want to be a University Professor?”
• “So, You Want to be a Non-Profit Executive?”

Two helpful PM articles:

• “Encore! Encore! Creating a Fulfilling Next Life Phase”
• “Navigating Your Retirement Journey—Insights and Tips from Partners”

ROD GOULD, ICMA-CM is chairman of the board of HdL Companies, a former ICMA Executive Board member, retired city manager, consultant, and supporter of all those who toil in local government service. ([email protected])

DR. FRANK BENEST, ICMA-CM is a retired city manager and currently serves as a local government trainer and ICMA’s liaison for Next Generation Initiatives. He resides in Palo Alto, California. ([email protected]).

JAN PERKINS, ICMA-CM is vice president of Raftelis, a local government management consultant and facilitator, retired city manager, and a believer in good government and in the city management profession. ([email protected])