GovLove - A Podcast About Local Government

Sustainable planning and design. Joseph Kunkel, Principal at MASS Design Group and Director of the Sustainable Native Communities Design Lab, joined the podcast to talk about planning projects with Native communities. He discussed his work on affordable housing in Indian Country and engaging with the community to incorporate local context and art. He also shared examples of projects incorporating...

From public meetings to communications. Two guests joined the podcast to talk about how communication and engagement has changed during the COVID-19 pandemic. Ashley Traynum-Carson, Communication Specialist for the City of Asheville, North Carolina, and Jay Dawkins, CEO of Public Input, shared their perspectives and lessons learned. They discussed how receiving comments changed and how local gover...

Adapting the Agriculture and Consumer Services Department. Nikki Fried, Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Services for the State of Florida, joined the podcast to talk about her journey to becoming Commissioner and what her Department does. She discussed how COVID-19 has impacted the work of the Department and how they have adapted, highlighting the Be SMART Florida campaign. She also share...

Reducing unnecessary warrants and jail time. Alissa Fishbane, Managing Director at ideas42, and Dr. Aurélie Ouss, Assistant Professor of Criminology at the University of Pennsylvania, joined the podcast to talk about their study to reduce the number of arrest warrants for failure to appear in court in the New York City criminal justice system. The guests highlighted the use of behavioral intervent...

Social services, not jail. Christopher Leonard, Administrative Supervisor for the City of Forth Lauderdale, Florida, joined the podcast to talk about the City's community court that serves individuals experiencing homelessness. The program focuses on the root causes of each defendant's issues and applies mandates such as community service, drug treatment, or social services to have their cases dis...

Who says you can't go home? Nick Edwards, City Manager of the City of Joplin, Missouri joined the podcast to talk about his career path in local government and coming home to Joplin to become the City Manager. He talked about building new relationships during COVID-19 and how the City has responded to the pandemic. Nick also shared the City's strategic planning process and his plans for 2021. Host...

Building community trust. Eyal Feder-Levy, CEO & Founder of Zencity, joined the podcast to talk about the work Zencity is doing to track the public sentiment of the COVID-19 vaccine in cities across America. He shared there is currently twice as much negative sentiment towards the vaccine as positive. He also outlined the impact local governments and leaders can have on the sentiment of the vaccin...

Redevelopment through arts and culture. Three guests joined the podcast to talk about how the City of Kinston, North Carolina has redeveloped their community through the implementation of a arts and cultural district. Raney Rogers, Executive Director of smART Kinston, details the 12-block residential area in downtown Kinston where artists live and work by long-term residents in colorful houses. Ad...

Building an inclusive government. Nefertiri Sickout, the Acting Chief Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Officer for the City of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, joined the podcast to talk about the work of advancing equity and improving the diversity of the City's workforce. She shared how the City has changed specific hiring practices and methods to improve the diversity of candidates and how the City...

It's been a year. The GovLove co-hosts teamed up to hand out awards and recap the fifth full year of a podcast about local government. Kirsten, Kent, Alyssa, Javon, and Ben all selected four of their favorite episodes to honor with the most prestigious award in local government podcasting, a GovieLovie. They also debated the best holiday movie, made up local government themed songs, and shared a m...

The Port Orange Government Show. Christine Martindale, Public Information Officer for the City of Port Orange, Florida, joined the podcast to talk about her new podcast for the City of Port Orange. She shared her transition from the private sector into local government as well as all of the work she does as a department of one. Christine and Ben discuss the benefits of podcasting and how easy it i...

Placemaking and economic development. Sandi Curd, Promise Zone Coordinator for the Kentucky Highland Investment Corporation, joined the podcast to talk about her work supporting communities and small businesses through placemaking. She shared how the Promise Zone impacts the 22-county service area in southeastern Kentucky and how placemaking can serve as an economic incubator. Sandi also discussed...

Tips for video conferencing. Becky Hirst, Community Engagement Consultant from McLaren Vale, South Australia, joined the podcast to talk about her work as a community engagement consultant and her new e-book covering video conferencing etiquette. She discussed how she works with communities to inform the decision-makers by connecting with the community. She also shared the 10 tips for video confer...

Doing it all. Jamie Hellen, Town Administrator for the Town of Franklin, Massachusetts, joined the podcast to talk about innovation, change management, and responding to COVID-19. He shared how the Town takes a customer focused approach to their work and the freedom departments have to implement new technology. He also discussed how smaller local governments have to manage large issues with fewer...

Preserving black history. Rebecca Bellan, Freelance Reporter for Forbes and CityLab, joined the podcast to tell the story of 227 Duffield in Brooklyn, New York. This home has ties to New York's abolitionist movement and is believed to have been part of the underground railroad. In two articles this year she's detailed the battle over preserving the home and the fight to preserve black history. Art...

Don't make videos, make an impact. Dana Healy, Executive Director of CTV North Suburbs, joined the podcast to talk about the benefits of local community media centers. She discussed CTV North Suburbs which is a collaboration between nine cities in the Minneapolis area that creates video content on behalf of those local governments. The core function of the non-profit is to can help local governmen...

Freedom to move. Kyle Rowe, Global Head of Partnerships for Spin, joined the podcast to talk about the role of micromobility in transportation. He discussed how micromobility helps people travel the last mile to their destination and how Spin, Inc. works with local governments to improve the experience of traveling by bike or scooter. He talked about how COVID-19 has impacted micromobility program...

Government after shock. David Pembroke, Founder & CEO of contentgroup, joined the podcast to talk about how the COVID-19 pandemic is changing communications and digital tools in the public sector. He is the host of the upcoming GovComms Festival , which is an online event exploring how government communications is changing around the world. He talked about how COVID-19 has shown that communication...

A Texas-sized struggle to avoid financial crisis. Sheryl Sculley, former City Manager for the City of San Antonito, Texas, joined the podcast to discuss her book Greedy Bastards , which tells the story of her time leading San Antonio and dealing with financial challenges. Sculley was at the center of renegotiating public union safety contracts, which if not changed, would have bankrupted the City....

Attracting aspiring local government leaders. Eric King, City Manager, and Stephanie Betteridge, Chief Innovation Officer, joined the podcast to talk about a new recruitment in the City of Bend, Oregon. The City is hiring for a Strategic Initiatives Manager (and other roles) and they shared what led to creating this position, what skills they are looking for, and what the first few months on the j...

Inspiring dialogue through art. Salam Rida, Project Director, and Travis Crabtree, Project Manager, discuss the Fertile Ground Project in Jackson, Mississippi. This project uses public art to talk about urban farming, the availability of healthy food, and the history of land use in the City of Jackson. Salam and Travis shared what led to the project and how food access intersects with history, cla...

Empowering local governments. Nathan Lee, the Founder and Managing Director of Civic Pulse , joined the podcast to talk about their research and data analysis into local governments. He shared how he started Civic Pulse and the partnership with ELGL on the Diversity Dashboard measuring the diversity of the local government profession. He also discussed Civic Pulse's research into COVID-19 efforts...

Inspiring equitable cities. Lucas Grindley, the Executive Director of Next City, joined the podcast to talk about local journalism and the role Next City is filling by covering issues that impact cities. He discussed non-profit news organizations and solutions journalism. Lucas also shared he career path into journalism and the topics Next City has covered that local governments can learn from. Ho...

Encouraging diversity. Pamela Antil, the City Manager of the City of Encinitas, California and Founder of the League of Women in Government, joined the podcast to talk about diversity in local government. She shared what the League of Women in Government does and why they were founded as well as the value of diversity. Pamela also talked about her new position, why data is important to the convers...

Creating meaningful experience. Pat Madej, Senior Budget & Management Analyst for the City of Durham, NC, and Molly Gaskin, Graduate MPA Student at the University of North Carolina, joined the podcast to talk about the City of Durham's internship program. Pat discussed how the Budget Department established its internship program. Molly shared what it was like to be an intern during the COVID-19 pa...