Learn about new laws, legal developments, risks and opportunities, and federal actions that will affect your city’s finances.

How can cities meaningfully invest in young people — not just through programs, but through policy, funding, and civic inclusion? In this interactive session, participants will explore local strategies for advancing youth well-being, rights, and leadership. Using the city of Santa Cruz as a launch point, examine real-world efforts like a voter-approved Children’s Fund, the Children & Youth Bill of Rights, and the Youth Liaison role that prioritize equity, elevate youth leadership, and provide a roadmap for systemic change. Attendees will reflect on their own community efforts and leave with ideas and tools to adapt in their own contexts.

Public trust in government is essential for effective local governance, operations, and thriving communities. While the COVID-19 pandemic tested trust in government, recent shifts in federal policies have accelerated the erosion of public trust to unprecedented levels. What can local leaders do to remedy this situation? Join us for an insightful session where we explore the pillars of trust-building between cities and residents. Hear about leadership practices and actionable strategies that any local leader can apply to help restore trust in government and strengthen support for local policies and programs.

Get an in-depth view of how cities can regulate and enforce issues concerning accessory dwelling units, group homes, sober living facilities, and short-term rentals. Through expert insight and case studies, attendees will gain a comprehensive understanding of the limits of local enforcement under state and federal law, effective tools for compliance, and best practices for a public agency’s regulations.

As political uncertainty clouds America’s energy transition, local strides toward decarbonization, equity, and resilience are more critical than ever. This session will bring an intergenerational perspective to the challenges and opportunities of municipal climate action. Combining decades of leadership experience and fresh insights, public sector sustainability specialists will explore how public-private partnerships can streamline electrification projects to build a clean and diversified energy mix that saves taxpayers millions and keeps dollars in the local economy. Get an in-depth look at the city of Fresno and Ventura’s citywide electrification initiatives, including EV infrastructure upgrades in disadvantaged areas and one of the largest multi-campus public sector solar and storage portfolios in California.

City council meetings are more challenging than they used to be. So, how does a city council stay focused on governing, priorities, and maintaining civility? It doesn’t happen by accident. Effective meetings require preparation, thoughtful deliberation, and a commitment to process. Serving as a productive council member is a skill — one that can be learned. Join us to hear practical tips and proven strategies for running smoother, more successful council meetings. After all, chaos is optional!

Cities in Orange County are collaborating to address homelessness through the Central Cities Navigation Center. City leaders will discuss the challenges faced, successes achieved, and lessons learned in regional coordination, funding strategies, and service delivery. The discussion will highlight key milestones, including interagency cooperation with the county, community engagement, and the broader impact of delivering homeless resources effectively.

With the evolving funding landscape at the state and federal levels, cities are being asked to do more with less. This session will explore Proposition 4 climate funding and how cities across California are implementing innovative climate resilience projects despite a decrease in federal funding and support. Attendees will walk away with actionable strategies and inspiration for applying proven solutions in their cities.

Some major cities in California have experienced population declines, with families citing high costs, lack of child care, and limited family-friendly infrastructure as the key reasons for leaving. Investing in child care and family-centered policies is no longer optional — it’s essential to a city’s economic stability. This panel discussion will highlight innovative local efforts, barriers, best practices, and actionable steps for leaders seeking to make their cities more livable for working class families. Participants will leave with a toolkit of strategies to advocate for and implement child care solutions in their communities. Planned with the Cal Cities Women’s Caucus.

Extreme weather and natural disasters are part of life in California, but these events are increasing in frequency and severity, impacting utility services and making communities more vulnerable than ever. What are the risk factors? How do local, state, and federal governments leverage their capabilities to enhance resiliency, partner with the private sector (including utilities), and communicate effectively with the public? Join us for an open discussion about our responsibilities to address resiliency challenges — funding, regulations, expertise, and redundancies — to provide a safer future for all.

Could your city recover its data after a ransomware attack? What if a tornado or flood struck? While having data backups is essential, disaster recovery goes far beyond simply storing files. It’s not enough to have a backup — you need a plan to make that data usable again. How will you put the pieces back together? How will you restore systems and resume operations after a cyberattack or natural disaster? In this session, hear fictional but realistic scenarios based on 29 years of municipal-focused experience. You'll also receive a nine-point disaster recovery checklist to help evaluate and strengthen your city's readiness.

For millions of California families, economic mobility and opportunity is a hot-button issue. In the face of a landscape of economic uncertainty, local leaders continue to serve as the key catalysts to shape the economic future of their residents. During this session, the National League of Cities will provide training on economic mobility resources that can directly impact your community — including policies, programs, and procedures — along with city-specific examples and case studies. Attendees will work with each other to better understand the common themes, challenges, and resources within their communities and California at large.

Parking complaints often feel like a never-ending source of frustration. In this interactive discussion, hear from the Seal Beach Police Department about how the city transformed its parking program from the ground up to optimize customer convenience and administrative processes. A nationally recognized parking consultant will share challenges and lessons on parking availability, community resistance, accessibility, and equity. This session will also include a step-by-step guide for cities to assess their current parking situation, identify areas for improvement, and implement changes while actively engaging stakeholders throughout the process. Walk away with insights on the future of urban parking and how to prepare your city for evolving mobility priorities and impacts.

Mental fitness encompasses a blend of activities, habits, and attitudes. Just like we all are mindful of our heart health, dental health, and overall health, mental fitness is about preventive and proactive habits. By implementing prevention and early intervention strategies, employers can cultivate a healthier and more supportive work environment that boosts productivity, increases engagement, and enhances employee retention. In this session, learn how to incorporate mental well-being into your employee wellness strategy and how the Cities for Workforce Health program can help your city create a culture of health in the workplace.

With California’s shifting demographics and the increasing influence of Latino voices in policymaking, it is critical to foster pathways of leadership development that empower the next generation of Latino leaders. Attendees will hear firsthand experiences, key lessons, and practical strategies from elected officials who have moved from city government to county boards and beyond. This engaging conversation will explore the importance of mentorship, coalition-building, campaign readiness, and overcoming systemic barriers. City leaders will walk away with tangible tools and inspiration to envision their own journeys to higher leadership or to support emerging leaders in their communities. Planned with the Cal Cities Latino Caucus.

Every city wants residents to show up. But with dozens of calendars, scattered event promotion, and siloed communications, cities often overwhelm their residents or leave them out altogether. Discover how Beaumont tackled these problems head-on by replacing fragmented calendars with a centralized event hub — improving engagement, saving staff time, and even enabling cross-city coordination with the neighboring city of Banning. Whether you're wrestling with silos between departments, struggling to get residents to show up, or rethinking your city's engagement tools, you'll walk away with tested strategies and replicable practices to help your city communicate more clearly, work more collaboratively, and engage more residents.

Cities can play an essential role in affirming and protecting transgender communities through inclusive, equity-driven leadership. As transgender communities face escalating challenges nationwide — including hostile political rhetoric, legislative attacks, and social stigma — cities can set the standard for leadership grounded in integrity, empathy, and effective action. This session will explore how cities can design and strengthen policies, programs, and services that meaningfully support transgender residents. It will also examine strategies for proactively promoting equity, addressing discrimination, and fostering environments that reflect the full diversity of their communities. Planned with the Cal Cities LGBTQ Caucus.

Redlands has taken a proactive and strategic approach to addressing homelessness that responds to both immediate and long-term needs. This session will explore how city leadership worked collaboratively to develop policies, secure funding, and implement targeted initiatives that resulted in the largest Point-in-Time Count reduction in the Inland Empire region. Attendees will gain an understanding of the real-world complexities of delivering homeless services and insights for building a sustainable, comprehensive homelessness strategy in their own communities. The session will include an opportunity for knowledge-sharing.

We’re pulling back the curtain on how two mid-sized cities turned a potential political liability into a voter mandate, successfully passing sales tax measures that restored their financial stability. From effectively engaging community stakeholders to building coalitions and mobilizing support, panelists will share key lessons and hard truths. Attendees will walk away with a practical playbook covering every stage of a local ballot measure — along with key steps to help the city deliver on its promises and operate at a higher level after a measure passes.

Hear firsthand about the intense challenges faced by Malibu during the back-to-back, unprecedented Franklin and Palisades wildfires and how Long Beach supported Malibu and enhanced emergency response capacity for the region. Attendees will gain practical insights and lessons learned that can enhance their disaster response and capacity-building, ensuring their community is better prepared and municipal operations are more resilient. This session is crucial for city leaders in areas recently added to Cal Fire's wildfire hazard severity map.

This session will explore the trends, challenges, and solutions to the persistent problem of deferred maintenance. Attendees will hear a description of technologies and tools readily available to help organizations assess current conditions and strategize around solutions and implementation. It will also cover funding opportunities and financial tools to support projects beyond traditional capital expenditures. This session is geared toward elected officials and city staff as both policymakers and those who oversee project development and implementation.

The growth of technology in law enforcement is transforming how police agencies serve their communities and improving the quality of life. As agencies have increased access to sensors and data collection technologies, they face another challenge: the need to understand and use that data in an efficient, cost-effective way. This is especially important for jurisdictions with staffing challenges or fewer resources. This session will walk through new tools and strategies to help agencies utilize data intelligently, take advantage of artificial intelligence in a responsible manner, and create force multipliers for their emergency services departments.

Learn about the latest issues and trends with wireless installations, including Federal Communications Commission actions, the impacts of recent litigation, California’s new batch broadband permit processing law, and the status of 5G network rollout. This session will detail best practices to avoid common pitfalls when applying your wireless ordinances. Presenters will also provide insights into the new administration’s priorities, updated composition of the FCC, and what that may mean for pending regulatory issues. Attendees will obtain important, nuanced understandings of current wireless regulations and leave the session with new confidence when tackling even the most convoluted wireless applications and related issues.

Planning and Building Express (PBx) is a branding effort made to change the narrative about doing business in Santa Ana. Through the initiative, the city committed to a new set of ideals for streamlining application reviews, better use of staff resources, and above all, reintroducing empathy into the city's permit review process. These feats have been highlighted in Western City magazine and academic publications, such as Harvard’s inaugural The State of Housing Design 2023. Learn how outward expressions of an organization's values and commitment to quality are a way to inspire change from within.

This session will equip local leaders with the tools and knowledge needed to support immigrant communities in response to the evolving immigration policies of the current federal administration. As national policy shifts continue to generate uncertainty and fear among immigrant families, local governments are uniquely positioned to lead with clarity, compassion, and purpose – playing a vital role in keeping residents informed, protected, and connected to essential resources. This session will provide a high-level overview of current and anticipated immigration policy changes, along with practical strategies to strengthen community education, respond to local impacts through coordinated, rights-based approaches, and build trust through culturally competent and inclusive engagement. Planned with the Cal Cities API Caucus.

Protecting communities from wildfires is one of the hottest topics for municipal leaders today — from wildfires that threaten hundreds of acres to balancing limited resources. In this interactive session, a fire marshal/fire prevention chief will provide attendees with best practices and lessons learned for implementing wildfire preparedness programs, community-friendly safety inspections, as well as effective partnerships with the private/non-government sectors.

Facing an onslaught of new state laws and changing economic conditions, cities with older general plans may feel compelled to launch into a comprehensive update effort, only to find the cost and staff resources overwhelming. The reality is that most cities' plans can and should be updated in a manner that focuses on making the general plan an effective tool for decision making, attracting investment, and streamlining development. Through an interactive discussion with the audience, a panel of city staff and general plan consultants will work through common challenges and strategies that can be adapted by cities of all sizes and geographies.

Navigating a career in local government often means facing unexpected challenges. But these challenges can also serve as pivotal leadership milestones. This session features city managers who bounced back from tough moments, transforming professional obstacles into powerful lessons in leadership. Attendees will gain practical strategies for building resilience, leveraging challenges as learning opportunities, and harnessing a mindset that turns setbacks into comebacks. Whether you’re just starting your career or are a veteran leader, this conversation will empower you to view challenges as a springboard for success.

Many African American communities in California continue to face water-related challenges: aging and underfunded infrastructure, affordability concerns, unreliable service, and uneven investment. These issues don’t just affect residents’ daily lives — they also shape your city’s capital improvement priorities, its ability to attract and sustain economic development, and how effectively it can partner with the private sector to modernize infrastructure. Smarter water planning and investment can support all neighborhoods — including historically underserved African American communities — while advancing your city’s long-term economic and development goals. Discover actionable insights, funding opportunities, and practical examples to help ensure your city’s water policies and investments lay the groundwork for healthy, thriving, and opportunity-rich communities for everyone. Planned with the Cal Cities African American Caucus.

Amid increasing public skepticism and the growing influence of social media-driven narratives, the fundamentals of local governance and service delivery must remain at the forefront. This session will focus on how local government leaders can reinforce public confidence by emphasizing the essential, albeit unglamorous, work of governance, fostering an understanding of its complexity, and ensuring that elected officials and staff work together to advance thoughtful, balanced decision-making over singular agendas. Drawing on lessons from seasoned leaders, this session will also examine what is at stake when this partnership falters — losing public trust, creating instability, and undermining the very foundations of good governance.

These days, many cities have financial challenges. There are many moving parts involved in bringing your elected officials, community, and, in some cases, city employees and labor groups up to speed or into the conversation. This discussion involves practical tips for developing and building credibility for technical information and some dos and don’ts for communicating your city’s financial situation.

Like many municipalities in California, Daly City has experienced its share of fiscal challenges. The 2008 Great Recession forced the city to defer maintenance and freeze the development of many capital projects. As Daly City explored public-private partnerships, new opportunities emerged — allowing the city to take on projects that would have been difficult to complete on its own. These partnerships save tax dollars while making infrastructure enhancements that improve public access, increase community programming, and raise revenues. Learn about Daly City’s latest partnership that will result in a new state-of-the-art athletic field and enhance the quality of life for the community.

Investing in your community’s future means taking a strategic and proactive approach to securing public funding. This panel will explore effective strategies for pursuing grants and collaborative financing options, especially for cities working to rebuild their economies. The panel will discuss the Building a Better America initiative, as well as how special financing districts can support capital improvements, climate action, housing, and ongoing maintenance. Learn how combining tax increment financing with grants can help revitalize your community and drive sustainable growth.

Plastic pollution imposes significant financial burdens on waste management systems and threatens public health and environmental quality. This session will provide an in-depth look at the wave of plastics litigation that seek to hold companies accountable for waste management costs and for misleading the public by promoting recycling as the primary solution to plastic pollution. Attendees will gain a clear understanding of the legal strategies being used, the potential for financial recovery, lessons learned from previous cases, and how their city can respond to constituents’ concerns about plastic pollution. Rather than advocating for a specific course of action, this discussion will provide an objective overview of the opportunities and challenges cities may face in pursuing legal remedies.

Over the past five years, the Santa Ana Public Library has implemented a variety of initiatives to enhance services and community engagement. This session will provide a brief overview of how these improvements were championed and how the city leveraged funding sources such as the Cannabis Public Benefit Fund and a local sales tax measure to launch new programs and services in the community. The presentation will also offer quick insights into how attendees can transform an underutilized and outdated city service into a modern and culturally relevant platform for building community.

The fires in LA County were devastating, but the response of local officials was key in helping residents get to safety and helping them get the resources and information they needed to start the long road to recovery. Drawing from the experiences of city leaders and public information officers in disaster-impacted communities, explore the most effective crisis communications practices for supporting communities during and after a disaster. We will also examine strategies for combating misinformation and delivering timely updates to residents. This session is presented by Western City magazine and the California Association of Public Information Officers.

Learn how development agreements can be a powerful tool to secure community benefit projects from developers. This session will explore strategies for negotiating and structuring agreements that ensure developers contribute to local needs, such as affordable housing, public infrastructure, and other community enhancements, while advancing their development goals.

In today’s fast-moving digital world, every city needs a plan to stay ahead and serve its residents effectively. For smaller cities with tight budgets and limited tech expertise, that might seem overwhelming. The good news? A well-crafted technology plan makes it achievable — and it’s easier than you think. Join our expert panel as they discuss how strategic technology planning can enhance public services, strengthen cybersecurity, and improve efficiency. This isn’t about chasing the latest gadgets — it’s about practical, scalable solutions that make city operations more effective and sustainable. Whether you’re just getting started or looking to refine your approach, this session will provide the roadmap you need to future-proof your community.