GovLove - A Podcast About Local Government

Delivering services in a better, faster, and more efficient way. Author Ed Henschel joined the podcast to talk about his career in local government and his new book, which is a practical guide to municipal service consolidation. Ed describes the different types of consolidation and shared service delivery, real world examples and his experience with navigating consolidation.  Book:  Municipal Shar...

Tackling tough policy questions with citizens. Linn Davis from Healthy Democracy joined the podcast to talk about the work of Healthy Democracy and how they use citizen juries to inform decisions. He also shared how they have worked with local governments like Milwaukie, Oregon to engage citizens on the decision on what to pay elected officials. Host: Alyssa Davis

Managing an international city. Tommy Gonzalez, the City Manager of El Paso, Texas, joined the podcast for a wide ranging interview. He talked about his career path, which started with 22 years in the US Army, how he revamped the El Paso budget process and the complexities of running a community on the border. He also shared how he has supported process improvement and what it took to win quality...

Reliable insights for policy makers. Two guests join the podcast to talk about best practices in local government communications, using social media and finding better ways to measure resident opinion. Lisa Holder is the Communications Officer for the City of Sanford, Florida and shared her approach to keeping residents informed. Rachel Rembrandt the Head of Customer Success for ZenCity shared how...

Tackling complex challenges affecting Toronto residents. Paula Kwan the Director of the Civic Innovation Office for the City of Toronto joined the podcast to talk about leading an Innovation Team and driving culture change in an organization. Paula discussed her career path, which started in Toronto's technology sector, and working on issues like translation for residents that speak many languages...

Democratizing data science. Two members of the Civis Analytics team join the podcast to talk about their work and engaging with local governments around Census 2020. Mo Cheeks is a Sr. Business Development Manager, and former Madison, WI Council Member, and Christopher Dick is the Managing Director of Civis Analytics. They talked about using data in a Census outreach campaign. Host: Kent Wyatt

Recognizing communities for civic engagement, collaboration, inclusiveness and innovation. Rebecca Trout, the Program Director of the All-America City Award & Membership, joined the podcast to talk about the National Civic League's work. She shared the history of the All-America City Award and stories from some of the communities they have recognized. Host: Javon Davis

Reinventing fiscal analytics. Chris Fabian, the Co-Founder of ResourceX, joined the podcast to talk about his work with local governments and improving how they prioritize the services they provide. Chris shared why ResourceX was started and examples from communities doing priority based budgeting. He also talked about government as a platform and starting a city from scratch on the moon. Host: Al...

Data equity and local solutions. Dr. Eric Trevan, public administration faculty at Evergreen State College, joined the podcast to talk about economic development and analytics. He talked about his career path, which included time in local government and leading an economic development agencies, as well as the perspective of Native American communities.  Host: Javon Davis

An empathy-driven approach to solving problems and serving everyone. Ryan Dowd the Executive Director of Hesed House, a homeless shelter in Aurora, Illinois joined the podcast to talk about serving people experiencing homelessness. Ryan talked about his book,  A Librarian's Guide to Homelessness , and his training for libraries on how to work with challenging homeless patrons. He also dispelled my...

Using mobile messaging to connect with hard-to-count populations. Perla Ni is the Founder and CEO of CommunityConnect Labs, the Census Outreach Project, and GreatNonprofits. She joined the podcast to talk about how local governments can reach all of their residents for the upcoming census. She shared how it's important to meet people where they are and how the Census Outreach Project can help. Hos...

Building and sustaining a culture of equity. Brion Oaks, the Chief Equity Officer for the City of Austin, Texas, joined the podcast to talk about how they make racial equity actionable. He shared how they work to create a shared understanding around the history of segregation and discrimination in Austin and how old policies still impact the city today. Plus he described how the equity office work...

Managing beaches in an era of climate change. Two guests joined the podcast to discuss shoreline management at the local level. First, Dr. Robert Young from the Program for the Study of Developed Shorelines discussed a recent report that they published which did a cost-benefit analysis of buying out property owners in North Topsail Beach, NC versus maintaining the shoreline. Then Greg "Rudi" Rudol...

Designing better government. Earlier this summer GovLove hosted a live recording at the Code for America Summit in Oakland, California. Three guests joined to talk about trends in local government and how they interact with data and technology in their organization. Warren Logan is the Policy Director of Mobility & Interagency Relations in Oakland, CA; Laura Biediger is a Community Engagement Stra...

Analytics and open data. Jason Jones, the Analytics and Innovation Manager for Guilford County, North Carolina, joined the podcast to talk about his work and career path. Jason shared what it took to set up a data program at Guilford County, how they have partnered with universities on projects and the importance of adding context to data. He also talked about his career path, creating his current...

Helping cities and counties listen to their employees. Dr. Leisha DeHart-Davis joined the podcast to talk about the University of North Carolina School of Government's Workplaces Initiative. She shared her research into public sector organizational dynamics and how managers can make their employees feel valued and part of a community. Host: Javon Davis

Data for good. Three people joined the podcast to talk about the 2020 Census and ways that local governments can ensure their communities get counted. They are all working with the Census Opportunity Project a process for engaging government, communities, and the technology industry to create digital tools related to the Census. Denice Ross is a Fellow in Residence for the Beeck Center for Social...

Public service and civil rights. A father-son duo joined the podcast to talk about their different paths working with local government. Former Mayor Joe Riley led the City of Charleston, SC for 40 years and was involved in redeveloping downtown Charleston and starting the International African American Museum. Bratten Riley is the Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Citibot, a software platf...

Sharing ideas, experiences and stories. Mac Prichard the President of Prichard Communications and Founder of Mac's List joined the podcast to talk about local government communications and job searching. He talked about how communications plans need to be strategic and align with the goals of the organization. Mac also discussed his "Find Your Dream Job" podcast and the skills of job searching. Ho...

To chalk or not to chalk. Two lawyers from Ancel Glink joined the podcast to talk about the recent court ruling outlawing the use of chalk to enforce parking requirements. ShawnTe Raines, Partner, and Matthew DiCianni, Associate, walked through the case and the implications for local governments. They also touched on a few other legal issues at the local level that have their attention.  Host: Jav...

Strategy, planning, storytelling, innovation. Matt Finch joined the podcast to talk about his work with libraries and other government entities on planning for the future. In this wide ranging interview he shared his path into doing this work, becoming future ready and tools for growth and change.   Host: Kirsten Wyatt

The youngest female Mayor in the country. Mayor Tara Campbell from the City of Yorba Linda, California joined the podcast to talk about her two roles in local government, serving as Mayor of her hometown and working as Chief of Staff for Orange County Supervisor Donald Wagner. Mayor Campbell talked about what led her to local government, why she wanted to run for office and what she works on as a...

Empowering new leaders. Niel Laudati,Legislative and Public Affairs Director for the City of Springfield, OR, joined the podcast to talk about how the City is working to empower under-represented leaders. Through their City Link program participants meet leaders from different departments, learn about local government and build their resume for serving on boards or running for office. Niel also sh...

Linking theory to television. Dr. Erin Borry from the University of Alabama at Birmingham is teaching ethics in a creative way, by using the show Parks & Recreation. Scenes involving your favorite City of Pawnee employees are great case studies for understanding the dilemmas that public servants can face. Dr. Borry shares why she wanted to use the show in her classroom and examples of what student...

Solving problems. Terrance Smith, the Director of the Innovation Team in the City of Mobile, Alabama, joined the podcast to talk about innovation, working with departments and taking on blight. Terrance shared the process the i-Team went through to get a handle on the problem of blight and then how to address it, which eventually led to a change in state law. He also talked about how they communic...