The Office of New Ideas

Every 2nd Tuesday, the City Manager of Rancho Cordova, Ted Gaebler and his City Attorney sit in a meeting room with a sign on the door that reads "The Office of New Ideas"  

They sit in the room for 30 mins and wait.  

Its not long before employees swing by to chat and bring in ideas.  Ideas  have included - introducing a low cost business incubator to street light retrofitting to role switching and putting in a council veggie patch for gardening at lunch times

Ted was talking at the League of California Cities conference and said "we mine the minds of all employees through the "Office of New Ideas" and why not - he likes to hear from his talented staff who want to share ideas for the growth of the council and community.  As Fran David, City Manager of Hayward says, councils need to engage their brightest.  Employees these days want to be a partner in the workplace.  No longer do employees just want to come to work, work, then go home, they want to participate and be engaged.

Interestingly, the City of Rancho Cordova was named as one of the best 25 small workplaces in the United States by Great Place to Work®  and mentioned FORTUNE magazine as the first ever local government to appear on the list which recognizes companies that have exceptional workplace cultures.