By Ann Gergen, Executive Director With almost all pools having experienced some form of operational disruption this year, pool leaders are looking ahead to what their business processes might look like in 2021 and beyond. For many pools, this will involve using technology to...
By Ann Gergen, Executive Director In his 1990 book The Fifth Discipline , systems scientist Peter Senge defined a “learning organization” as one with the following characteristics: (a) systems thinking, (b) personal mastery, (c) mental models, (d) shared vision and (e) team learning. ...
By Ann Gergen, Executive Director Given the future-minded nature of public entity pooling and heightened awareness surrounding social and economic inequalities, it’s no surprise some health pools are taking up the issue of health equity for public employee subscribers. In...
By Ann Gergen, Executive Director Since March, AGRiP has been highly cognizant of the way we communicate with members, including what information and news we share and how we share it. In consideration of the many competing priorities pools are dealing with, we’ve kept our member outreach...
By Ann Gergen, Executive Director Perhaps today more than ever, local public officials find themselves dealing with seemingly no-win, “damned if you do, damned if you don’t” decisions: Should we reopen schools? Should masks be mandated? Should we restructure the funding and mission of...
By Ann Gergen, Executive Director The COVID-19 pandemic has been challenging for pools in many ways, and some have made the difficult decision to furlough or lay off employees. However, for those pools fortunate enough to be hiring new talent, the current employment market provides...
By Ann Gergen, Executive Director AGRiP has been approached by three national news organizations interested in learning more about how pools influence local law enforcement policies and practices. Some of our members have also been contacted, as have several law enforcement agencies,...
By Ann Gergen, Executive Director Note: Throughout the pandemic, Ann Gergen has been offering regular insight into COVID-19 issues AGRiP members are experiencing and related trends to monitor. With pools now once again broadening their focus beyond COVID-19, Ann’s perspective...
By Ann Gergen, Executive Director Since the beginning of the pandemic, I’ve been participating in small weekly meetings with people from different backgrounds who share a keen interest in local public entities. Each week, we’ve shared “weak signals” (i.e., underappreciated, hard-to...
By Ann Gergen, Executive Director Benefit pools are providing early indicators of the overall impact and cost of COVID-19 on local public entities and the broader pooling community. Here are a few of the most notable coronavirus-related trends, influences and service impacts among...