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Launch of the City Managers Working Group: Supporting City-Led Efforts Against Hate

Publication Date:

15/09/2026

Content Type:

Event Reports

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City Manager Working GroupCity ManagersCity-Led Actionhate prevention

— 6 minutes reading time

This report provides a summary of discussions during the event and does not necessarily reflect the views of the Strong Cities Network Management Unit, Strong Cities members, event sponsors or participants.

Summary

On 15 September, the Strong Cities Network’s North America Regional Hub, in partnership with Eradicate Hate, launched the City Manager Working Group at the Eradicate Hate Global Summit in Pittsburgh. The Working Group brings together city managers, chief administrative officers (CAOs) and representatives from the Canadian Association of Municipal Administrators (CAMA) and the International City/County Management Association (ICMA) to share good practices and develop practical resources for city managers and CAOs to prevent and respond to hate. Co-chaired by Lori Curtis Luther, City Manager of Overland Park (Kansas, USA), and Eric Rosand, Global Chair of the Strong Cities Network, the Working Group will convene monthly consultations to inform the development of a new toolkit for city managers and CAOs, which will be unveiled at the 2027 Eradicate Hate Global Summit. This toolkit will complement existing Strong Cities resources, including its guides for mayors, for cities and on incident response.

Threat Landscape

Katherine Keneally, Director of Threat Analysis and Prevention at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue-US (ISD), which hosts Strong Cities, outlined an increasingly complex threat environment facing US cities. ISD identified 74 violent attacks and disrupted plots in 2025 linked to extremist movements, online radicalisation and grievance-based violence, a 72 per cent increase from the previous year. The year also saw a significant rise in deaths and injuries, alongside emerging trends including ‘violence as a service’, AI-amplified misinformation, foreign interference and state-backed hybrid warfare. These dynamics are increasingly affecting local government: hostile state and domestic actors are using AI, social media and the broader online ecosystem to impersonate trusted local figures, spread false information, recruit individuals and contribute to radicalisation, and encourage offline violence. Young people were highlighted as a particular target. Natural disasters and contentious domestic issues, including immigration, are also being exploited to deepen divisions, spread destabilising narratives and undermine social cohesion within local communities.

The Role of City Managers and CAOs

The meeting underscored the importance of engaging city managers and CAOs as leaders in whole-of-city approaches to preventing and responding to hate, extremism, harassment and related threats. These officials occupy a distinctive position at the intersection of elected leadership, city departments, municipal employees and community partners. This position enables them to coordinate action across local government, align departmental practice and embed prevention and response into existing municipal systems. Participants described city managers and CAOs as a ‘one-stop shop’ for coordinating responses to these challenges. They can also shape organisational culture, establish expectations around workplace behaviour and civility and help protect municipal staff.

Challenges Facing Local Governments

Local governments are operating in an increasingly difficult civic environment. Participants described increasing incivility, threats and harassment targeting local elected officials, city staff and, in some cases, members of city commissions and advisory groups. Participants noted increasing disruption at public meetings, while social media and the broader online ecosystem can rapidly spread misinformation and erode trust in government. Discussions highlighted how city managers and CAOs must also navigate difficult questions around free speech, public access, security and maintaining safe civic spaces. These challenges may be particularly acute in smaller communities, where threats and harassment can extend to public officials’ homes and families. Participants acknowledged that city managers and CAOs may not always be sufficiently prepared or equipped to respond to these challenges or to the local effects of broader national or global crises.

Emerging Municipal Practices 

The discussion identified several ways in which local governments, under the direction of city managers and CAOs, are building prevention capacity and strengthening resilience. At the community level, cities are supporting alternative response programmes, community safety and well-being frameworks, data- and information-sharing tools and youth engagement initiatives. Internally, local governments are hosting employee affinity groups, providing training on bias and microaggressions, strengthening onboarding for newly elected officials and staff and implementing protocols for disruptions at public meetings. Participants also shared practical safety and recovery measures, including redesigning City Council chambers, establishing graduated responses to meeting disruptions, providing security at City Hall, and creating opportunities for staff and leaders to debrief and access peer, mental health, or well-being support.

Toolkit Priorities 

Participants emphasised that the forthcoming toolkit should be practical, accessible and grounded in municipal realities. It should include tools, resources, case studies and scalable examples that reflect the needs of both larger cities and smaller communities. Priority areas identified include:

• Define the role of city managers and CAOs: clarify responsibilities for prevention, preparedness, response, staff protection and coordination across local government.
• Ensure city managers and CAOs have up-to-date information on local threats, needs and vulnerabilities of their residents: identify ways they can receive regular briefings on evolving online and offline threats affecting their residents and the safety and well-being needs of local communities.
• Prepare for difficult civic moments: offer guidance for public meetings, community events, disruptions, security decisions and de-escalation.
• Protect staff and elected leaders: address threats, harassment, digital safety and support for municipal employees and elected officials, including women local leaders.
• Rebuild trust and model civility: identify ways city managers and CAOs can promote respectful democratic engagement and strengthen belonging before incidents occur.
• Integrate prevention into existing systems: prioritise approaches that can be embedded in existing policies, training, orientation, and hiring practices, and community partnerships rather than requiring new programmes or funding.
• Address structural constraints: include guidance on jurisdictional boundaries (e.g., involving the county and/or state), sustainable funding, data literacy and collaboration with community partners.
• Support smaller communities: provide scalable models that account for limited budgets, staff capacity and technical expertise.

Next Steps

The City Managers Working Group will meet virtually over the course of eight months to inform the development of a practical toolkit for city managers, CAOs and their staff. The process will draw on participant experience, partner expertise and local case examples to identify guidance that municipalities can adapt to their own governance structures and resource realities. The toolkit will be unveiled at the November 2027 Eradicate Hate Global Summit and is intended to support the efforts of city managers and CAOs to strengthen preparedness, protect staff and city leaders and build more resilient civic spaces before, during and after incidents of hate, harassment or extremism.

Additional Resources 

• A Guide for Mayors: Preventing and Responding to Hate, Extremism & Polarisation, Strong Cities Network (Updated March 2025)
• A Guide for City-Led Response, Strong Cities Network (Updated August 2026)
• A Guide for Cities: Preventing Hate, Extremism & Polarisation, Strong Cities Network (Updated April 2025)
• A Toolkit for Cities: Building a Multi-Actor Local Prevention Framework, Strong Cities Network (Updated October 2025)
• Understanding AI-Driven Threats to Local Governments and Social Cohesion, Strong Cities Network (July 2026)
• Women Mayors on the Frontlines: Gender-Based Hate, Harassment and Democratic Resilience in European Cities, Strong Cities Network (June 2026)
• Women Mayors on the Frontlines: Closing the Gaps in Responses to Gender-Based Hate, Harassment and Intimidation, Strong Cities Network (June 2026)
• Guest Article: Harassment of Women Mayors Erodes Local Democracy — Addressing it is a Shared Responsibility, Strong Cities Network (June 2026)
• Addressing Anti-Government Hate and Harassment in Times of Crisis — A Federation of Canadian Municipalities Workshop (June 2026)
• Safeguarding and Elevating Women Local Leaders in Building and Maintaining Strong Cities, Strong Cities Network (April 2026)
• ‘Tick tock traitor:’ The rise of violent rhetoric targeting US public officials, Institute for Strategic Dialogue (February 2026)
• City Leadership in Partnering with Local Communities for Social Cohesion: Ten Considerations for Mayors and Local Governments, Strong Cities Network (Updated February 2026)
• From Conversation to Action: How CAMA Addressed Incivility in Local Government, Canadian Association of Municipal Administrators (July 2026)
• Digital Safety Guide: How to Prevent and Respond to Swattings and Threats, Institute for Strategic Dialogue (2026)
• City Leadership in the Face of Rising Incivility and Polarisation: Ten Considerations for Mayors and Local Governments, Strong Cities Network (December 2025)
• A Toolkit for Manitoba Municipalities: Addressing Anti-Government Hate and Harassment, Strong Cities Network (December 2025)
• City Spotlights Library, Strong Cities Network

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