Public Administration Programs (chronological order)
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Funded U.S. visit of Mart Laar, then a Member of the Congress of Estonia and the Supreme Soviet of Estonia, and participants from Latvia and Lithuania to attend the George Marshall Foundation Public Service Leadership Conference on Developments in the USSR and Eastern Europe, September 1990, prior to independence. Funding: Individual USBF donors.
- Established the U.S.- Baltic Classroom, an electronic telephone classroom link between the University of California at Los Angeles, Vytautas Magnus University in Kaunas, Lithuania and the University of Latvia in Riga, Winter 1991. Funding: Individual USBF donors and in-kind contributions
- Organized training seminars and conferences for more than 800 local government officials in 1991-1992:
Municipal Government in a Democratic, Free Market Society Conference, 300 participants from Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, the U.S., Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and Poland met in Vilnius, Lithuania, co-sponsored by the City Council of Vilnius, Lithuania, June 1991. Topics: municipal management practices, transportation, environment, revenues and financing, tourism, municipal government ethics, and municipal organization. Funding: Pew Charitable Trusts (Pew) and National Endowment for Democracy (NED). The American flag flew over Vilnius on the City Council headquarters during the conference.
Municipal Privatization Conference, 180 participants met in Parnu, Estonia, November 1991. Topics: property rights and dispute settlement, privatization of property and municipal services contracts, reduction of municipal bureaucracy, raising municipal revenue through privatization, property valuation, removing barriers and red tape, and the role of contracts in privatization. Funding: Pew, NED, Lincoln Institute for Land Policy, and Institute for Humane Studies
Municipal Administration Seminar, 240 participants met in Jurmala, Latvia, March 1992. Topics: municipal decision-making, impact of national policy on local budgets, budget planning, program implementation, developing effective intergovernmental systems, government ethics, unemployment, and job retention. Funding: Pew, NED, Institute for Humane Studies and SAS Airlines
Employment Services Workshop, 18 participants in Vilnius, Lithuania, co-sponsored by the Vilnius Municipal Labor Exchange Office, March 1992. Funding: Pew, NED
Public/Private Ethics and Conflict of Interest Seminar, 120 public and private sector leaders, Jurmala, Latvia, November 1992. Funding: Pew, NED
- Established the Baltic Municipal Initiative to provide technical assistance to Baltic municipalities, November 1991.
- Created the Baltic Municipal Fellows program that funded eight-week education and training programs in American cities for nine Baltic municipal leaders, January-March 1993. Funding: U.S. Information Agency.
- Established Municipal Training Center in Kaunas, Lithuania, and the Public Administration Development Center in Riga, Latvia, October 1993, to provide long-term education and training for municipal government officials through courses, resource centers, seminars, and internships. Courses: budgeting and finance, intergovernmental relations, personnel administration, management and behavior, negotiation and conflict resolution, municipal accounting, ethics in government, strategic planning, economic development, and environmental policy. Funding: Pew, NED, Open Lithuania Fund, and Soros Foundation Latvia
- Organized the Lithuanian Municipal Reform Summit, 240 participants, including a delegation of elected officials from Minnesota, met in Druskininkai, Lithuania, November 5-6 1993. Funding: Open Lithuania Fund, and supported by the Municipal Training Center at Kaunas Technological University.
- Established the Gruss Fellows Program to bring four municipal officials for three-month internships with city governments in the U.S., 1994. Funding: USBF Board member Audrey Gruss (Gruss Foundation)
- Organized, at the request of Estonian Prime Minister Mart Laar, “Introduction to Municipal Administration in a Democratic, Free Market Society” Seminar, Narva, Estonia, May 18-19, 1994. Funding: Pew, NED
- Brought five Gruss Foundation Fellows from local governments in Lithuania to Minnesota and Georgia for internships with municipal and state governments, January-March 1995. Funding: Gruss Foundation
- Designed technical assistance program for Former Mayor of New Carrolton, MD Jordan Harding to advise cities, towns, and rural municipalities on governance and reform issues for 4 months, Spring 1995 Funding: Pew, NED, and individual USBF donors
- Initiated two-year Masters in Public Administration degree programs at the University of Latvia (UL) and Kaunas Technical University (KTU), September 1994. In 1994-96, seven UL and KTU faculty members received training scholarships for study in the U.S, and five U.S. professors received Fulbright Scholarships to teach in Riga and Kaunas. In Fall 1996, USBF and the University of Tartu launched a similar program for Estonia, which later moved to the Tallinn Technological University and Tallinn Pedagogical University. Dr. Edward Jasaitis (formerly at Florida State University) served for five years as the full-time advisor and faculty member at UL and KTU where he taught and oversaw the development and administration of the program into permanent Schools of Public Administration. By Summer 2002, more than 300 students will have earned their graduate degrees from these programs. Funding: Pew, NED, Gruss Foundation, Philip Morris and individual USBF donors
- Organized the Union of Baltic Municipalities Conference, in partnership with municipal associations in each country, in September 1995. The Union, comprised of the leading municipal associations in all three countries, was officially re-established at the conference. This was the first time the municipalities were allowed to meet since prior to World War II.More than 300 Baltic participants and an American delegation that included the U.S. Ambassador and several U.S. mayors, city council members and public administration professors attended the conference in Druskininkai, Lithuania. Funding: Pew, NED, U.S. Information Agency, Gruss Foundation and individual USBF donors
- Managed the Latvian Democratic Governance and Public Administration Project, 1996-97, which consisted of a local government training program, a public administration internship program, and the development of self-study materials in three small cities in Latvia. USBF provided a full-time American municipal finance specialist to serve as the in-country advisor to the cities for 18 months. Funding: U.S. Agency for International Development - Latvia