CHEYENNE - Public sector people must embrace, not recoil from, enormous changes sweeping the nation and its communities, a keynote speaker at the Wyoming Association of Municipalities said Friday.

John Luthy said challenges lie ahead to deal with changes in population, climate and problems like AIDS.

"People have to be more aware than ever before and need to seek information," Luthy said. "Be award of the impact of everything you do. Impact is the key."

Luthy made his presentation, "The New Age of Public Leadership: A Legacy of Change, Challenge and Opportunity," to the opening general session of the WAM convention at East High School.

Luthy, who is from Boise, Idaho, is considered a leading authority on public sector strategic planning, performance management, leadership development and the relationship between community development and long-term public agency success.

Change also will come from the 81 million members of the X and Y Generations who make up 30 percent of the population, he noted. This compares to 75 million "baby boomers."

"They are different than us," said Luthy, who grew up in the 1960s. "Things are going to change."

They also will change because of the rising numbers of the Asian and Hispanic populations.

At the same time 24 million people in the U.S. live below the poverty level.

The physical infrastructure of the cities is deteriorating 8 to 10 percent faster than it can be rebuilt. The federal Environmental Protection Agency reported that 772 communities serving 40 million people have inadequate waste water and sewage facilities.

Moreover, Luthy added, health care access is declining while costs soar "and the drought persists."

"I would hate to be an elected official," he said. "You live in a tough environment. You only have so much money in your checkbook."

In Wyoming, Luthy said, there's an economic shift from agriculture and minerals to tourism and nonagricultural employment is increasing.

"Let's embrace it," he said. "Let's build on it."

He said retirements in the public sector and loss of institutional memory "is killing us," and it's harder to recruit new talent.

To cope with all these developments, Luthy urged the municipal officials to welcome all the data they can get from their professionals and department heads.

He said men hold onto information and are more reluctant to share it with others than are women.

"You don't lose anything by sharing information," Luthy said.

In times of stress, he said, people and communities want clarity, direction, the truth and "quiet dignified, harmonious leadership."

"We want to see people who know how to work together," Luthy said.