Utah League of Cities and Towns holds first statewide LAA training for newly elected rural officials

SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah League of Cities and Towns convened newly elected officials from small and rural municipalities on Jan. 20 for a first‑of‑its‑kind training introducing the Local Administrative Adviser (LAA) program and practical guidance on strategic planning and budgeting.

"This is our training for our LAA or local administrative adviser communities," said Molly Wheeler, deputy director at the Utah League of Cities and Towns, in opening remarks. Organizers said the Zoom session was intended for communities under 10,000 residents without full‑time administrators and that slides and a recording would be shared after the meeting.

McKenna Marchant, who led the presentation, described the LAA program as a locally staffed support network placed through regional Associations of Governments (AOGs). "The LAA program is actually the first of its kind in the entire nation," Marchant said, adding that LAAs are hired locally to help towns comply with state requirements and carry out basic administrative functions.

Marchant listed tasks LAAs perform — from human resources and budgeting to ordinance updates, grant support, reporting and planning‑commission training — and said the program now supports more than 140 local governments. She credited LAAs with program growth in its third year and told participants, verbatim, that LAAs "initiated 590 projects in 114 communities" during the program's first year.

Two LAAs, Roger Carter and Madison Avelas, gave practical advice to newly elected council members. Carter urged councils to schedule policy discussions and to use a policy calendar so long‑term priorities do not get lost amid routine operational items. Avelas recommended asking peer communities "Is anyone else dealing with this?" to borrow templates and avoid overreacting; she also advised using LAAs as neutral facilitators to defuse tension and to support succession planning and cross‑training to reduce staff burnout.

The session included a breakout period for attendees to meet their regional LAAs and a final presentation from Matt Dixon, a city administrator who described how a simple 3‑to‑5‑year strategic plan can cascade into annual budget priorities. Dixon said councils should evaluate whether proposed spending aligns with priorities, whether it is time‑sensitive, and whether costs are one‑time or ongoing.

During a question‑and‑answer segment, an attendee asked whether grant programs require plans to meet specific written benchmarks. Marchant and Dixon answered that benchmarks depend on the funding source and urged councils to consult the pertinent state statute or the grant administrator’s guidance; Dirk Anderson, an LAA in the Bragg region, added that LAAs can help tailor plans to meet program requirements.

Organizers closed by reminding attendees that the legislative session begins Jan. 20 and by asking for feedback on the training. Slides and the recording were promised to be shared the following week.

What’s next: participants were encouraged to contact their LAA for one‑on‑one assistance, to review or begin a general plan if one is missing, and to set 1–3 strategic priorities for the coming year so budget decisions align with stated goals.