TEXAS ASPA/CPM CONFERENCE AND DISTRICT 4 ASPA CONFERENCE HELD ON THE CAMPUS OF TEXAS STATE UNIVERSITY

PAUL HOBBY DELIVERS THE WILIAM P. HOBBY DISTINGUISHED LECTURE

CONFERENCE CO-SPONSORED BY THE PUBLIC MANAGER JOURNAL

On Friday November 2, 2007, the Annual Texas American Society for Public Administration (ASPA) and Certified Public Manager (CPM) Conference was held at the LBJ Student Center on the campus of Texas State University The Conference was sponsored by the Texas Chapters of ASPA and District 4, the journal, The Public Manager  and Texas State University’s William P. Hobby Center for Public Service.

The 2007 conference coordinators were Dr. Ken Matwiczak, Senior Lecturer at the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas and Dr. Howard Balanoff, Professor  & Director of the Texas CPM Program and Texas State University’s William P. Hobby Center for Public Service. 

The 2007 Texas Conference featured 11 breakouts and 1 plenary session.  Delivering the plenary presentation was Mr. Paul Hobby, former Chief of Staff to Lt. Governor Bob Bullock and son of former Texas Lt. Governor William P. Hobby.  Mr. Hobby’s Lecture "Don’t Confuse Government with Politics: Reviewing the Relationship of Elected Political Officials to Professional Public Managers"  In addition to the plenary session, former US Senator and Ambassador to Burundi and Botswana Robert Krueger spoke at lunch about his new book, “From Bloodshed to Hope in Burundi” which he co-authored with his wife, Kathleen Krueger. 

Mr. Hobby told the audience of about 200 participants that “government is what we have in common and politics is what divides us, Government is factual, and politics is perception; government is the administration of public affairs; and politics is the manipulation of public opinion.

Mr. Hobby went on to say that “that when the political director for the current administration’s campaign operations moved into the White House as a senior policy director for government, an important, painful lesson was learned by all of us about the dangers of mistaking the art of governance for a subset or an extension of political expertise”.

The full text of Paul Hobby’s Distinguished Lecture can be found here.

The Texas ASPA & CPM Conference featured a series of breakout panels which focused on the conference theme which was “Transforming the Public Service”..  These panels were sponsored by university public administration and public policy programs across the state and included the following topics.

Various Topics in Public Accountability and Performance
Panel sponsored by the MPA Program of Texas State University

E-Government, Disaster Informatics and Data Rick Partnerships
Panel sponsored by the University of Texas at Austin, LBJ School of Public Affairs

Local Governments and Performance
Panel sponsored by the MPA Program at the University of Texas at Pan American

The Future of Public Administration: Lessons Learned from ASPA 
Panel sponsored by Park University, Kansas and the University of Nebraska at Omaha

A Program Evaluation Workshop for Government and Non-Profits
Panel sponsored by the Bush School of Public Service and Government at Texas A&M University

Public Sector Challenges on the US – Mexico Border
Panel sponsored by the Rio Grande/Rio Bravo Chapter of ASPA

E-Government and Technology Innovations in Public Administration
Panel sponsored by the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin

New Developments that are Transforming Local Governments in Texas
Panel sponsored by the Texas Certified Public Manager (CPM Program)

Additional breakout panels focusing on professional development were composed of faculty, alumni and students from MPA & CPM Programs at Texas universities were conducted during the Conference. 

In addition to the panels Texas ASPA& District 4 leaders and CPM Alumni held their business meetings at this Conference.

As a companion to the Conference, the 4rd Annual CPM & ASPA golf tournament was held in conjunction with the Conference.  The tournament was conducted on Thursday November 1st  at the Quail Creek Country Club located in San Marcos, Texas. 

The Annual Texas ASPA & CPM Conference is a result of close collaboration between the Texas CPM Program and the various ASPA Chapters throughout the State.  It is also a result of the close coordination between the William P. Hobby Center for Public Service at Texas State University and the other graduate programs in public administration located throughout the State of Texas.  Co-sponsoring the Conference for the first time was the journal, The Public Manager.