The 2024 Summer Meeting Innovation Showcase, a lightning round session where mayors have the opportunity to share a policy, program, or practice that they have implemented or are working to implement in just three minutes or less, was a hit. This year, eight mayors from across the country participated in the showcase and shared innovative ideas that they’re using to improve their cities. From tracking snow plows with GPS to implementing AI designed to identify fires and notify EMS – we heard about many exciting ideas happening at the city level. Read below to learn more about the great ideas shared at the 2024 Summer Meeting Innovation Showcase!
Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway kicked off the Innovation Showcase by presenting Madison’s Bilingual Community Connector Program – city staff who engage with non English speaking communities. Previously, the City would translate materials and hold events targeting these communities, but they found that the audiences they were attempting to engage were not utilizing the materials or were not showing up to events. Community connectors help make city materials culturally relevant and engage with communities in ways that meet them where they’re at. One example Mayor Rhodes-Conway shared was organizing a bus trip for a group of seniors who had never ridden the bus before. This allowed residents to feel more comfortable riding and navigating public transit. As a result, the City of Madison reached residents who had never been reached before, increased the use of city services by diverse language communities, and increased attendance of first time attendees for city meetings.
Mayor Lori Woods shared Signal Hill, CA’s strategies for achieving Functional Zero Homelessness. Since the ruling in Martin v. Boise (2018), which held that cities cannot enforce anti-camping ordinances if they do not have enough homeless shelter beds, many cities in LA County saw a significant increase in their homeless populations. Signal Hill created a Neighborhood Enhancement Team (NET) made up of staff from across city departments including Administration, Code Enforcement, Parks and Rec, Police, and Public Works. The Team is supported by strong leadership from the City Manager and City Council, meeting on a regular basis to ensure that efforts are strategic and integrated across departments and that they make use of the expertise and resources available. The NET team takes a Services-First approach to provide proactive assistance to people; this has allowed them to achieve and maintain functional zero homelessness.
Salem, M
A Mayor Dominick Pangallo spoke about the City’s Traffic Calming Priority Tool that the city uses to determine how city funds and resources are allocated across the city. The tool uses four categories: demographics, land use proximity, crashes, and speeds/volume to measure which areas of the city are deemed highest priority. This ensures that resources are distributed equitably as areas with high population density and vulnerable populations such as older adults, people experiencing poverty, and neighborhoods of color are given higher priority. The tool ranks each street based on its average score and from there the city installs temporary traffic safety measures. If successful, the temporary safety measures are made permanent. This tool has allowed the city to implement traffic calming and safety measures in an equitable, unbiased, evidence-based way.
Mayor Benjamin Holbert shared about Woodmere, OH’s interior and exterior maintenance programs. The interior maintenance program installs safety ramps, grab bars, hand railings, and/or ADA compliant toilets and showers in the homes of seniors. The exterior maintenance program helps to make home improvements such as roof upgrades, driveway paving, and porch remodeling. These maintenance programs are funded by HUD’s Community Development Block Grant program and made possible through a partnership with the Western Reserve Area Agency on Aging. The improvements made through the programs not only help to improve Woodmere’s housing stock, they improve the quality of life for seniors, allowing them to age safely in place.
Mayor Diana Merdian highlighted Sterling, IL’s comfort K9s. The two Golden Retrievers are used not as traditional K9s, but as support dogs for law enforcement, city council, and the community. The City adopted its first Comfort K9, Brinkley, in 2017 and she responded to nearly 800 cases in her career, providing support to the community in various forms such as visiting children at school or victims of crime in the hospital. The dogs have had tremendous success getting people engaged and excited about local government, even being the catalyst for the City’s “Mayor for the day” campaign which has helped educate children and residents about the inner workings of local government. Overall, the dogs have been a huge hit with the community, garnering positive attention on social media and bringing good press to the local government.
Mayor John Cruikshank of Rancho Palos Verdes presented the City’s Pano AI technology that they use to detect wildfires and notify emergency services. The city is located on a peninsula with limited roads going in and out, and it is designated as a “Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zone.” In December 2021, the City issued an RFP for wildfire detection services. Today, the city has three cameras that rotate 365 degrees each minute to scan for wildfires – in the daytime they look for plumes of smoke, and at night, they look for heat. If a fire is detected by the cameras, the system sends an alert to the fire department, including imaging and the location of the fire. The early detection made possible by the cameras allows for quicker responses to wildfires which can have huge impacts for saving lives and property.
Mayor Yasmin-Imani McMorrin of Culver City, CA shared about the city’s MOVE Project which aimed to increase walkability, improve pedestrian safety, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions along a frequently used corridor in the city’s downtown. As part of the project, Culver City implemented bus and bike platforms, dedicated bus and bike lanes, traffic signals for bike and bus traffic, bike boxes (designated areas for bikes in front of traffic at intersections), and more frequent bus service among other things. The main goal of this project was to change the design of the street to prioritize people over cars. From these investments the City saw increased bus ridership, cycling activity, pedestrian activity, expanded micro-mobility, and a decrease in bus travel times.
Finally, Mayor Jim Paine of Superior, WI closed out the Innovation Showcase by sharing how the City handles severe winter weather communications. Superior is located in northern Wisconsin which gets approximately 100 inches of snow per year, so snow removal is always a significant concern for residents. To ease concerns and questions on road conditions, the City put GPS trackers in its snow plows. These trackers interface with a map showing where the snow plows are, where they have been, and where they are expected to go. Residents can view the map in real time on the City website and on the City’s app. Mayor Paine emphasized that this tool has not only kept people safe by allowing them to see which streets have been cleared, but it has also increased trust in local government by keeping operations transparent.
View all Innovation Showcase slides and summer meeting resources here.