Frank Benest

Editor’s note: Dr. Frank Benest is the retired city manager of Palo Alto, Calif. Read about his own encore journey here.

More than 50 active and recently retired city managers and their partners participated in a workshop called “Crafting Your Next Life Phase: Strategies for Self-Renewal,” a first effort to develop an encore manager initiative for city government managers.

The workshop was conducted by the California City Management Foundation (CCMF) last month at its convening in Carlsbad, Calif., and was cosponsored by the California chapter of the International City/County Management Association (Cal-ICMA).

The workshop agenda included an inventory of hopes and dreams as well as fears related to retirement from full-time local government management; a presentation by Dr. Frank Benest on key issues, strategies and resources related to creating a fulfilling “encore”; and a panel on “Different Next Life Phase Journeys,” which included Mike Garvey, Dave Morgan and Jerry Newfarmer.

According to Rita Geldert, president of CCMF, “CCMF is the only organization devoted to helping city managers address their personal needs. Therefore, we were pleased to host this workshop as a first effort in supporting senior managers transition into their next life phase and renewing themselves through fulfilling ‘encore’ experiences.”

If you would like a copy of the list of encore resources and opportunities presented at the workshop or would like to be included on the senior manager/encore manager email distribution list, please contact Kevin O’Rourke at kevin [at] kolgs.com.

For more information about the Senior Manager/Encore Manager Initiative and upcoming activities, please contact one of the following:

• Kevin O’Rourke at kevin [at] kolgs.com
• Mike Garvey at garveycg [at] yahoo.com
• Frank Benest at frank [at] frankbenest.com