2010 ASPA Conference ….Dara’s Post # 6

This morning was the first day that I could sleep in and I took advantage of the time!!  Claire and I slept in and then went out to a great breakfast. It was a wonderful Conference and hard to believe that it is over.  Claire and I had a great time being roommates. She is a dear friend and our ASPA experience was made better by sharing things this year in San Jose.  We serve on BIT together and now I will have even more insight to her knowledge as we move forward with BIT plans for the 2010-2011 year. 

We packed up.  When I finally got it all together, it took one entire cart to get all the things I had out of the room. It is amazing how many things I collected while here. I will be shipping most of them later in the week. Claire and I closed out our bills and then headed off our separate ways. 

I ran into Paul Posner and sat with him as he ate breakfast. He was telling me about his plans to go on a mini-vacation after the conference. He reminisced about the years in leadership and I reminded him that he will still be called on even after his presidency.  We walked to the closing plenary where we listened to the Mayors have a conversation.

The Closing Plenary was another great closing for the conference. Last year, we ended the conference with an in depth conversation on Immigration and this year ASPA is again at the forefront of the conversation.  Chris Hoene, Director of the  National League of Cities’ Center for Research and Innovation, was the moderator for the session titled Fiscal Challenges Confronting Cities.  Mayors Mike Rotkin – Santa Cruz, CA, Ronald O. Loveridge – Riverside, CA and former Mayor Kay Barnes – Kansas City, MO all discussed the trials of being in this position of leadership during such harsh economic times.  The CA stories were extraordinary and difficult to listen too. No matter what you read or hear from the media it is NEVER as good as hearing it from the mouth of the people living it.  The situation is serious in CA and they will need some great leadership such as that in ASPA to guide them through these difficult times, but also to set the stage for the future of these towns and this country.

Mayor Barnes gave her perspective as a former leader and she was great as usual. Her insight was right on point as she assisted Kansas City when they were in the middle of their critical economic situation decades ago. Kay has been another mentor as she was one of the SIG # 3 National Council representatives.

The session ended with the changing of the ASPA leadership. Paul Posner gave an emotional goodbye speech and we all reminded him that he will not go far as he has leadership duties for the next three years.  Past President Harvey White presented the oath of leadership to the officers: Tom Liou, Vice President; Erik Bergrud, President Elect and Meredith Newman, President.  WOW!! I remember working on Meredith’s campaign in fall 2007!!! I am so happy for her!!   Now onto the 2010 – 2011 Newman term.  

Until my final entry …. Dara

2010 ASPA Conference … Dara’s Post # 5

Monday morning was my third 6:30 am start for an event beginning at 7am and it was the BEST event for me.  The morning started with a catch up on the world. You get so caught up with the conference that you forget to tune into the world. I read the complimentary New York Times that was outside my door and had a cup of coffee while I waited for the SWPA Breakfast set up. 

Once we were in the room the chaos started, but it was good work.  The screen was up and Caneka McNeil, ASPA’s Communications Specialist assisted with running the powerpoint presentation I put together to honor our members who have passed on this year. Then we had breakfast, gave out our awards and listened to our keynote speaker, Madison Nguyen, Councilwoman for the City of San Jose, District 7.

In September 2005 at the age of 33, she received 63% of the votes to become the first Vietnamese American and youngest woman to serve on the San Jose Council.  Her story of immigration as a refugee with her entire family and her trials as a farm worker, student activist and tribulations as a successful professor and now political leader were inspirational. She is AMAZING and her story is just what we needed to hear during this most difficult time in our history. Life goes on and through it all our faith will get us through. The breakfast ended with the induction of the new officers. I was able to give a few words as the incoming Chair of the SWPA Board. It was an honor to stand before this distinctive group of women and thank them for the opportunity to serve as the first African American Chair of the section.  There were many people to thank and I hope I did well by honoring them.  Now onto the hard work – the actual work as a Chair.  Follow us on Facebook and our website.

The day was quiet. My uncle, my mom’s brother was able to join me here at the hotel. He came for the SWPA breakfast and then joined me for a few hours.  Later, I attended some sessions on Health Care, City Management and Social Equity. They were all very informative and I look forward to using some of the material in my work as an Advocate back in D.C.  

This year’s Awards Ceremony was another good event. My uncle returned to watch me receive my second President Citation Award this year from Paul Posner. The award was for the work that SIG # 3, “Build the Future,” conducted with obtaining a Student Member on the National Council. It has been a pleasure working with Paul and learning about public service from such a great mentor. His leadership will last a long time through the work he has done.

The evening was full of receptions – a few included RU ‘s International Reception and a reception sponsored by USC for Chet Newland. Paul honored Chet at the awards ceremony, not only did Chet receive an award, but he was honored with having the President Citation award named after him – it will now be known as the Chet Newland award.  He has long been a voice that made sure ASPA honored its leaders, scholars and members as they should be rewarded for their great work. Chet is a dear friend and I am honored to know him.

Until my next entry….Dara

2010 ASPA Conference – Dara’s Post # 4

Well the day started at 7:00am yet again!!  But no complaints.   The Board Presidents/Chapter Chairs and President Paul Posner had a meeting. We had a meeting to discuss the plans for interaction with ASPA chapter chairs/presidents across the country.  Paul has some ideas and will work on this as Past President in the coming year.

The next meeting was the SWPA Membership meeting where we discussed the year’s work, remembered those who have passed, discussed the SWPA events, sessions and booth work as well as voted on our ballot. SWPA has several members who are presenting at this conference and SWPA has sponsored several sessions that increase the views of women. 

I attended the 2011 Leadership meeting hosted by ASPA President-Elect, Meredith Newman. I attended in the same capacity as yesterday’s meeting and will work closely with the Baltimore Chapter for the 2011 Conference. Next year’s conference theme is “Public Administration without Borders” and will be held at the Renaissance Haborplace Hotel in Baltimore, MD – March 11-15, 2011. There will be a huge international involvement as well as more exciting, informative and invigorating sessions.

The Gloria Hobson Nordin Social Equity Award Luncheon was held directly after the Leadership meeting.  This year was the first time that the Section on Democracy and Social Justice – which I am a member of – presented an award.  The Outstanding Foster Parents Award was given to Roger and Corinne Vogel who have had over 118 foster children for the past 20 years. This year’s award recipient was Alvin Brooks a community activist from Kansas City, MO who had an outstanding and innovative career as Police Officer, Assistant City Manager and then started the Ad Hoc group against crime.  In 1990 President Bush went to Kansas City and designated him one of America’s “Thousand Points of Light”.  Mr. Brooks gave a wonderful speech about having faith and being honest about the work we do as public servants. 

In the afternoon, I attended a session titled “Implications of Health Care Reform for Public Administration”.  I worked 20 years in Healthcare Administration in multiple positions and this reform bill is of great intrigue to me as a Public Administrator. This was an exciting discussion about the new legislation and the implementation for the government, private sector as well as public servants in all fields.  Then I was off for the RU Alumni get together…

Dara Baldwin

2010 ASPA Conference – Dara’s Post # 3

The Conference officially started today! The weather has been sunny, but today the haze sets in and the rain has started. But that does not matter as we are in the Fairmont in lovely settings for our meetings, opening plenary and sessions.  The time change has been a burden, as I am three hours behind and it is affecting me in the evenings.  But I got up early today to be downstairs for the First Time Attendees Breakfast.  This is a wonderful event that Jeannie Jefferies, ASPA Membership Associate, oversees.   The entire ASPA Leadership and Toni Samuel, Executive Director of ASPA, welcomed the first time attendees.  It was yet another great introduction to our organization and the conference.

The Opening Plenary was right on target with an opening speech by ASPA President, Paul Posner, and a greeting from San Jose Mayor, Chuck Reed.  We listened to long-time ASPA member and Maxwell School MPA graduate, John Berry who is the Director of the US Office of Personnel Management. He discussed the plans of President Obama and creating a new recruitment, hiring and retention process for the US Government. Immediately upon taking office, Mr. Berry called upon ASPA and its leadership for guidance and assistance with the plan and he has used key leaders to continue with the implementation of multiple plans. He was inspiring as well as informative about his work. ASPA honored him with an award for his work.

Later in the morning, I attended Vice President Erik Bergrud’s 2012 Leadership meeting. ASPA believes in strategic planning and Erik is off to a great start.  I attended the meeting representing SWPA and National Capital Area Chapter of ASPA (VA, DC, MD).  When the conference is over, I will serve as Chair of SWPA and in June I will become President of NCAC. The meeting was well attended and Erik has good plans for our work. 

I attended the SWPA Board meeting where we honored three members who passed on this year – Marcy Crowley, Ron Gabriel and Carol Gandy, a SWPA founding member.  We also discussed the year’s business and set the slate for elections to be held at the Membership meeting on Sunday.  The new officers and board members take their positions at the annual Breakfast held Monday morning.

The Exhibit Hall opened and I went to see the SWPA booth and the Rutgers University booth –as that is my alma mater.  The gifts are always great! 

The final event of the day was the Welcome Reception which was held at the Tech Museum of Innovation, directly across the street from the Fairmont.  There was good music, good food and great fun had by all!  Until my next entry from San Jose

– Dara Baldwin

2010 ASPA Conference …Dara’s Blog # 3

Greetings from San Jose and the ASPA Conference… this is Day # 2 for me and WOW!! What a beginning we had today.  This morning at 7:00am the First Time Attendees and New Member  event started and it was a GREAT SUCCESS!!!  Jeannie Jeffries as usual did a fabulous job with creating an exciting and welcoming event.  The room was full with first time attendees, long-time ASPA volunteers/leaders, ALL of the ASPA Officers and even our new Vice President elect.  Also, there was a great buffet always the best topper for an event.  Thank you to the Peter G. Peterson Foundation for sponsoring this important event.  This is the first impression to our attendees and the greetings from the ASPA Leadership, the welcoming from all in the room and the fun raffles are a great way to introduce all to the experience of an ASPA Conference.  

After the breakfast the Opening Plenary Session began – it was one of the best I have attended in years.  I had an opportunity to say hello to John Berry in the hallway as he is from the DC area and has participated in the North Capitol Area Chapter (NCAC) events.  He is a Maxwell School MPA graduate and long-time member of ASPA. The San Jose Color Guard opened our ceremony with bringing in both the American Flag and the California State flag.  We listened to the National Anthem, said the Pledge of Allegiance and then heard “O Beautiful” sung by a member of the arm services. This was a great start to the Public Service discussion presented by the speakers.  

Paul Posner opened with his words about the theme of this year’s conference “Invigorating Public Service for Change”. This is the 70th Anniversary for ASPA and change has been what has kept us going.  Paul discussed his awesome experience as President and how many great, smart and dedicated people he has met and how they energize him to create change in ASPA.  Mayor Chuck Reed spoke and welcomed the attendees as well as gave us some history on the city and the work of the people in Silicon Valley – the birthplace of innovative thought.  In the next century, this will be the center for Clean Technology. He asked us to do two things – spend all our money in the great venues around town and use the great brain power here to create a “White Paper” that can help fix the great problems this state is facing. 

John Berry spoke next and it was invigorating. He spoke about the steps that have been made to make the HR process for the Federal Government efficient and effective.  He also inspired us with his closing remarks about creating the next generation of Public Service leaders lies within this organization and he is expecting great things from us to assist with the future of the Federal Government. 

I don’t know about how others in ASPA feel, but I am ready to take on this charge and being here assists me with taking that energy home to make the field of Public Administration the best field.  I also attended the National Council meeting and took a picture of Jose Louis Irizarry, the first Student Representative on the National Council, as well as our leaders at work. Well, I am off to the welcome reception.  So long until my next blog entry – thanks.

In Sunny San Jose…from Dara Baldwin

Well I arrived here in Sunny San Jose on a plane full of ASPA members as well as Tom Liou, ASPA’s newly elected Vice President.  There were 12 of us on the plane from Dallas, TX to CA and we were all excited about “finding our way to San Jose”.  Dwight Vick, one of this year’s Co-Chairs for the conference was also on the flight. I have known him for years and we had a great conversation about some of the events happening here at the conference. 

The Fairmont is beautiful, the rooms are spacious and the beds are comfortable.  I arrived early evening here in CA but my body and mind was still on EDT so I was tired, but I met up with my roomie Claire Mostrel – SIG # 2 Vice Chair.  We had a great dinner with some ASPA friends/family members at one of the many restaurants on the row behind the hotel.  It was a great first night.

Day one of  the ASPA Conference was April 9^th for me.  The morning was slow.  I had an opportunity to take a nice walk around the hotel and see some of the sights then went to the pool for some water exercises.  Then I went to the lovely bakery next door and ran into Paul Posner, ASPA’s President; Rex Facer, Finance Chair and Steve Condrey, another great leader in ASPA.  Meetings started at 10:45 am for me and it was a world wind of great information, discussion and reporting on the work of the dedicated volunteers and the excellent ASPA staff. All of the Strategic Imperative Groups held their meetings and they reported out on success for 2009-2010 and set the plan for the “next steps” for 2010-2011.  SIG # 3 is very proud of one success.  They are working with SIG # 5 to get a Student Representative on the National Council. The first student member is Jose Luis Irizarry who is currently a Rutgers University PHD student in the SPAA program on the Newark campus.  The night was great as I had another great dinner with more ASPA friends/family.  This is Dara signing off until my next blog from Silicon Valley.

2010 ASPA Conference…Dara’s First Post

It is Thursday, April 8, 2010 and I am doing final preparations for my eighth ASPA Conference.  There is luck in the number 8 – so they say.  This Conference is going to be a great adventure and very informative.  I look forward to the many things happening in San Jose.  I LOVE that part of CA. 

In January of 2009, I had the opportunity to attend the ASPA Leadership meetings which were held in the Fairmont Hotel – this year’s venue for our conference.  This hotel is MAGNIFICENT – it has a heated pool on the roof, the rooms are great, the beds comfy and the service great!!!  All these things help to make a good conference a GREAT conference.  But I must discuss why we are really there: to discuss Public Administration – our successes for 2009-2010; the “live-in-action” work we are doing now as researchers, teachers and practitioners; and to develop our future plans for the organization and the field.

Paul Posner has been a wonderful leader and this conference reflects his absolute commitment to the field we all so greatly love.  His desire to increase our knowledge and expand our experiences are mirrored in the Honorary Chair of Norman Mineta, the 14^th US Secretary of Transportation and the speaker John Berry, Director of the US Office of Personnel – just listened to him on C-Span radio yesterday – now I get to hear him in person.  The many sessions, workshops and of course meetings will all be a part of the leadership achievements of a wonderful year.  It has been an honor working with such great people on the leadership team, awesome members of the organization and of course the ASPA staff.  I hope that everyone has a great conference and enjoys themselves.  OH YES – there are some great receptions planned as well.  I will blog for the next few days so look for my updates from sunny San Jose!!!!