April 30, 2025

WAstatecapitolbuilding How did the 2025 legislative session turn out for cities?
After 105 days, the Legislature adjourned on Sunday, having voted on the three biennial budgets—operating, capital, and transportation—and a wide variety of policy bills. Thank you to all who engaged with AWC and with your legislators throughout the session. Your voices are the most important part of our advocacy efforts. Check out an overview of the pros and cons of this session’s outcomes for cities. Be sure to register for the 2025 legislative session recap webinar on May 22 for a full recap of city-related issues.

Interested in the Washington Collaborative Elected Leaders Institute?
Attend a Q&A session
May 5 | Online
You’ve probably heard the buzz by now about the Washington Collaborative Elected Leaders Institute (WA-CELI). This immersive, three-month training program for city elected officials equips you with the collaborative leadership skills to tackle real-world challenges facing our cities and towns. Wondering if your city might be a good fit for this training opportunity? Do you have questions about the program, application, scholarships, or logistics? Register for an online Q&A on May 5 from Noon – 1 pm to learn more and find answers to your questions. Then apply by May 12 to join the second WA-CELI cohort.

AWC Annual Conference: Check out the session tracks (plus an exciting new mobile tour!)
June 24-27 | Kennewick
The AWC Annual Conference is where over 400 municipal leaders from across Washington come together to connect, learn, and discover opportunities to leverage limited resources. Check out the great session lineup that’s taking shape—including special tracks for small cities, new and returning elected officials, executive mayors, and more. Don’t miss the newly added mobile tour of the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory to get an overview of PNNL—its history, mission, and impact—and tour the Grid Storage Launchpad and Electricity Infrastructure Operations Center. Learn about Annual Conference scholarship opportunities and register today.

clapping-hands-150 Know of someone retiring? Honor them with AWC’s civic service recognition
Each year, AWC recognizes city officials retiring after 20 or more years of service to cities through our civic service recognition. Each retiring official will be recognized at AWC's Annual Conference, on the AWC website, and here in CityVoice. City officials who have retired since the 2024 AWC Annual Conference, or who will retire before the end of 2025, are eligible for recognition. Please notify AWC of eligible city officials by June 6.

Weigh in on AWC’s 2026 legislative agenda
With the 2025 legislative session behind us, we are looking ahead to 2026. AWC’s Legislative Priorities Committee will start work on May 16 to consider issues for AWC’s 2026 legislative agenda. The committee will make its final recommendations to the AWC Board in September. If you have ideas for legislative proposals you would like the committee to consider, please complete this survey by June 5.

New opportunity! Apply to serve District 14 on the AWC Board
Due to a mid-term vacancy, the AWC Nominating Committee is calling for applications to serve in the AWC Board District 14 position (representing cities in Island, San Juan, Skagit, and Whatcom Counties). The application deadline is Thursday, May 15. Please note that this is a special filing deadline, as the call for applications to all other AWC Board positions has closed. Learn more and apply!

See who’s running for the AWC Board of Directors
The AWC Board Nominating Committee met on April 29 to review applicants for the AWC Board of Directors. This year, odd-numbered Board district positions (as well as Districts 4, 6, and 14) are up for election at the Annual Meeting, held in conjunction with the Annual Conference in June. See the list of candidates who will be interviewed on June 24, and plan to attend the Annual Meeting on Thursday, June 26—online or in Kennewick—to vote on your next AWC Board of Directors.

Other news & resources

Get involved: AWC is recruiting city elected officials and select staff to serve on various boards and councils at the state level. Apply by May 15. More

Share your city’s job openings at a virtual career fair on May 15, 10 am–Noon, hosted by the Washington State Employment Security Department. Recently laid-off federal workers with specialized skills and training are looking for opportunities. Learn more and sign up by May 2. Email ESD with any questions.

Public comment period extended: The state Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council’s draft programmatic environmental impact statement (PEIS) for electrical transmission facilities is now open for public comment through May 15. More

JLARC’s lodging tax report data for jurisdictions that have already reported is available for technical review. Cities must complete reporting or make corrections to reported data by May 16. More

State Broadband Office opens Round 2 for Broadband Equity Access and Deployment (BEAD) funding applications. Deadline is May 16. More

Find your path to leadership through the Northwest Women’s Leadership Academy. Apply by May 26 to be part of the seventh cohort! More

Cities must file their 2024 annual financial report by May 30—find resources from the State Auditor’s Office. More

Let Commerce know how the agency is doing: Don’t miss this opportunity to provide the new agency director with feedback on how Commerce is serving your city. The survey closes at the end of May. More

Could your team use help to discover its natural strengths and talents to bring out everyone’s best contribution? Schedule an interactive teambuilding workshop through the Center for Government Innovation. More

Learn about strengthening urban resilience to wildfire at the local level. More

NLC offers tips and resources for leveraging urban tree canopies to unlock community resilience. More

White House issues new executive order reiterating the federal government's role in enforcing immigration law and detailing penalties to state and local jurisdictions labeled as being in violation of federal immigration and criminal law. More

2025 Salary and Benefit Survey: Data is due soon—See if your city has already completed it
AWC’s annual Salary and Benefit Survey is an important tool that provides cities and counties with comparable data to inform budget writing, collective bargaining, and setting salaries and benefits for your employees. Check to see if your city or town has submitted 2025 data yet, and submit your data by May 2 to ensure your city or town is part of this valuable tool.

AWC trainings & events

AWC: Q&A session: Washington Collaborative Elected Leaders Institute (WA-CELI) | May 5 | Online

Retro: AWC Retro Annual Meeting | May 7 | Yakima

AWC: Labor Relations Institute | May 7-9 | Yakima

D&A: Supervisor training | Multiple dates | Multiple locations

AWC: Elected Officials Essentials webinar series | Multiple dates | Online

May 14 | Community budget engagement
September 10 | Understanding Washington’s ethics laws
November 12 | Comprehending quasi-judicial hearings

AWC: Preventing fraud in local government | Multiple dates | Multiple locations

May 15 | South Bend
May 29 | Dayton
June 11 | Granger

AWC: 2025 legislative session recap (AWC city members only) | May 22 | Online

AWC: Small City Connectors | Multiple dates | Multiple locations

May 29 | Dayton
May 30 | Chewelah
June 11 | Granger

AWC: 2025 Annual Conference | June 24-27 | Kennewick

Other trainings & events

Grant Writing USA: Grant writing for city, county, and state agencies | May 8-9 | Liberty Lake

MRSC: Digging into public works fundamentals | May 22 | Richland

MRSC: Tools for wildfire preparation and response | May 28 | Online

MRSC: Digging into public works fundamentals | May 29 | Sequim

MRSC: Municipal Finance Bootcamp | June 9-13 | Lynnwood

State Archives: Records management workshops | Multiple dates | Online

Did you know? 1,200+ individuals have alerts set so they can view your new posting the moment it goes live. Post your jobs on AWC JobNet today!

Featured jobs:
AWC | Accounting Manager
City of Warden | Police Chief
City of Monroe | Parks and Recreation Director