Voices in Local Government

Latest Episodes:

Authentic Employee Engagement May 12, 2022

Show notes

Massive wildfires and other challenges large and small over a few years created a difficult working environment in Butte County, CA. Their director of public works, Joshua Pack joins the show to explain how an employee survey based on a genuine desire to listen and improve went a long way to gather honest feedback and respond with employee-driven changes.

Civic Matchmaking and the Power of Retired Baby Boomers Apr 27, 2022

Show notes

Episode one in a two-part series uncovers the power of tapping into baby boomers for communities interested in improving community engagement and helping government and nonprofits address the growing workforce crunch. The Give 5 Civic Matchmaking program was started in Springfield, Missouri to address social isolation among retirees, while plugging the highly skilled boomers into the community for meaningful projects. It has grown into an initiative filling service gaps and improving trust in local government.

In Part One, Listeners Will:

Learn how to recognize the value retirees and other older adults have and the positive impact they can have on our communities, including municipal boards and commissions and special projects that fill service gaps.
Understand the detrimental impact that the growing (and "silent") challenge of social isolation is having on our communities and identify at least one strategy to combat it.
Hear how the Give 5 program provides "fuel" to volunteer efforts that can address their community's most critical issue(s).
Learn how to leverage the support of volunteers to improve civic engagement across the entire community during a time when all communities need enhanced dialogue.

Part 2 will provide specific details about how communities can partner with them to launch the program in their home cities.

Ransomware: Plan, Respond, Recover Apr 13, 2022

Show notes

This episode begins with a short excerpt from Cyber Mayday and the Day After on a real ransomware negotiation with cyber-criminals. Then Nancy Rainosek, chief information security officer of Texas, and Dan Lohrmann, field CISO of Presidio speak on how local government can better plan, respond, and recover from ransomware attacks, as well as how to best coordinate with state or regional-level resources. Then we answer audience questions, including:

If it happens, should we pay or not?
What do the stats say on release rates?
Our city manager is non-technical and IT is limited, who should be in charge of cybersecurity?
What are best practices for involving law enforcement? And does it even help?
When a serious attack is reported, should we power off all devices? (Spoiler: No. But disconnect from the internet, WiFi, and Bluetooth.)

This episode is brought to you by our sponsor, OpenGov.

Resources:

Download free e-books from OpenGov: The Strategic Planning Guide for Local Government and 10 Tips for Success with ARPA Reporting.

Sustainable Economic Development [Plus Bonus Content] Mar 23, 2022

Show notes

Dan Dowell of ABM shares long-term investment ideas local governments can make for their economies and quality of life. Plus bonus content: Victor Cardenas, ICMA-CM, assistant city manager, Novi, Michigan and Midwest VP, shares on the pulse of the region.

Dan Dowell discusses how recent local government funding can go beyond immediate fixes to focus on sustainable long-term investments, including:

Economic development
Infrastructure
K-12 support (other than teacher pay and curriculum debates)
Savings and sustainability through electric fleets and buildings

Then, Victor Cardenas gives the pulse of ICMA's Midwest region ahead of in-person regional events. (22:03).

This episode is brought to you by our sponsor, ABM.

Resources:

Download ABM's Stimulus Solutions Guide

ICMA Economic Development

The Balancing Act: Serving Members and Constituencies Mar 16, 2022

Show notes

Troy Brown, ICMA-CM, city manager of Moorpark, CA, and ICMA President, discusses:

Changes in dues structure that makes membership more accessible.
Priorities, challenges and opportunities city managers and their staff are taking on in 2022.
How Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) is different than Social Justice and why it matters. Plus ICMA’s current position on addressing each and how leadership is open to feedback directly from members.

This episode is brought to you by our sponsor Smarsh Inc. – a leader in Enterprise Information Archiving

View Smarsh's Government Solutions

Resources:

Read Smarsh's Professional Archive for Government Datasheet

ICMA 2022 Regionals: Build Your Resilience

Three Ways to Encourage Citizen Engagement [PLUS Bonus Content] Mar 07, 2022

Show notes

Odie Donald joins the show to discuss how local government can improve its accessibility and service delivery through three specific examples of citizen engagement.

The advantages and challenges of open budgeting, and how ARPA funding fits in.
How outdated 311 systems can transform into improved services through better technology.
How a “Mayors Walk” can also be an opportunity for non-elected professionals to meet people who are not as engaged in their local government and win them over with real-time fixes.

Then Kenneth Williams gives the pulse of ICMA's Mountain Plains ahead of in-person regional events.

Resources:

ICMA Community Engagement

How to Start a New City Feb 25, 2022

Show notes

Janice Allen Jackson, city manager of Stonecrest, Georgia, discusses the expected and unexpected challenges when undertaking the immense task of starting a new city.

We dive into the reasoning and context on why and when a location may want to break off an existing city or county jurisdiction to create their own city, how to overcome the many challenges–like logistics to gaining and keeping community support–and how the form of government makes a huge difference.

This episode is brought to you by our sponsor ABM.

Download ABM's Stimulus Solutions Guide

Resources:

Visit the Stonecrest, GA Government website

Purpose in Professional Development Jan 27, 2022

Show notes

David Street, chief of staff of Loudoun County, Virginia, joins us for a follow up episode to talk about professional development and optimizing your time and energy to maximize ROI.

Discussed in this episode:

How to blend professional, educational, and personal development into an overall growth mindset.
When is saying yes to almost everything good approach?
What criteria is used to better prioritize time and energy?
How to measure impact and progress to short or long-term goals.

Resources:

EP08 Two-way Relationship for Mentors and Mentees

Learn more about the National Mentoring Month campaign

Learn more about the free ICMA Coaching Program for local government professionals

Get more information about ICMA's 12-month Local Government Management Fellowship (LGMF) | Host a fellow or Become a fellow

Read David Street's professional development series on the ICMA Blog:

Two-way Relationship for Mentors and Mentees Jan 12, 2022

Show notes

Every January 1st, marks the beginning of National Mentoring Month, the month-long celebration of mentoring that focuses national attention on the need for mentors. Mary Furtado, deputy county manager of Catawba County, North Carolina, David Street, chief of staff of Loudoun County, Virginia, and Rob Carty, director of career services at ICMA, know first-hand the positive impact effective mentoring can have on your career and organization. They all agree that the best mentors listen more than lecture, and the best mentees learn to solve problems rather than expect answers. They join Joe Supervielle, host of the Voices in Local Government podcast and content marketing manager at ICMA, to share and explore what elements are essential to finding the right balance for professional and personal success in a mentoring relationship–for mentors and mentees.

Discussed in this episode:

Favorite fictional mentor-mentee pairs
Avoiding unrealistic expectations
Best methods to find, form, and develop mentor relationships
Desired mentoring outcomes

Resources:

Learn more about the National Mentoring Month campaign

Learn more about the free ICMA Coaching Program for local government professionals

Get more information about ICMA's 12-month Local Government Management Fellowship (LGMF) | Host a fellow or Become a fellow

Read David Street's professional development series on the ICMA Blog:

Cybersecurity in Local Government Dec 29, 2021

Show notes

Parham Eftekhari, Executive Director at the Cybersecurity Collaborative, and Hemant Desai, Chief Information Officer at the International City/County Management Association (ICMA), discuss the universal threat of cyber-attacks and the unique challenges local governments face as high-profile targets, including:

What are best practices?
What do we prioritize?
How can we train a reluctant staff?
How to translate between a city manager and the CTO role?
How can we demonstrate urgency to gain more resources?
What are realistic and measurable goals beyond did we suffer a major attack or not?

Resources:

ICMA Cybersecurity Leadership Academy

Cybersecurity Collaborative

Cybersecurity Infrastructure Security Agency

Cybersecurity Considerations to Implement IoT