CitiesSpeak With Clarence Anthony

Send us Fan Mail Doug Linkhart is an expert in civic engagement and works to connect residents, government, nonprofits and business. As the National Civic League President, he draws on his lifelong values of inclusiveness and equity to guide his leadership. He shares his 40 years of experience in the public policy arena and best practices to engage residents and drive positive civic engagement. Fo...

Send us Fan Mail Mayor Freddie O’Connell is the tenth mayor of the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County. He served on the Metro Council from 2015 to 2023, and he is welcoming the National League of Cities to town for City Summit, November 19 – 21. For more information, visit us at nlc.org .

Send us Fan Mail Newly proposed census rules will not only change who is counted in the upcoming 2030 census, but also where and how they are counted. This change is expected to lead to an undercount of residents, which will decrease a city's political representation and power, as well as its state and federal funding allocations. NLC’s Second Vice President, Doreen Garlid, Councilmember, Tem...

Send us Fan Mail NLC leadership applications are open until September 28. That means anyone interested in serving on NLC’s Board of Directors or applying for a leadership role with our constituency groups, member councils, or federal advocacy committees should act now. NLC President Kevin Kramer hosts conversations with Councilmember Bradley Carter , Mayor Jodi Miller , and NLC CEO and Executive D...

Send us Fan Mail Data centers have quickly become one of the most consequential local issues in the country. More than 3,000 currently operate in the United States, and over half of the world’s hyperscale, or AI data centers, are located here. A recent Gallup Poll shows that 70% of Americans oppose data centers in their community, and communities are responding differently. NLC research has found...

Send us Fan Mail Brad Gaolach is Director of the National Urban Research and Extension Center, or NUREC. He also leads the Building Integrated Agriculture (BIA) Academy, a NUREC initiative in partnership with the National League of Cities University, which supports local leaders in exploring BIA as a strategy for community and environmental resilience, sustainability, food access, and economic opp...

Send us Fan Mail For the past five years, Rick Reinhard has been a consultant and thought leader on the issue of the reuse and redevelopment of empty faith properties. He’s leading a new course with NLC University called “Spiritual Brownfields:  How Can Cities Strategically Reuse and Redevelop Their Emptying Faith Properties?” which explores ways cities can redevelop their unused houses of worship...

Send us Fan Mail The Supreme Court wrapped up a memorable term in July, and their decisions will have big impacts for America’s cities, towns and villages. We saw rulings on local government tax foreclosure and the amount of equity that is due back to a homeowner after a tax sale; election law and redistricting issues; law enforcement issues, including qualified immunity and geofence warrants; bir...

Send us Fan Mail NLC Legislative Director, Brittney Kohler , discusses what the Congressional August recess means and how local leaders can make the most of it with NLC's Director of Federal Advocacy, Irma Esparza Diggs . For more information, visit us at nlc.org .

Send us Fan Mail Mayor Pro Tem Alejandra Chávez from the City of El Paso, TX, discusses the consequences of a Census undercount and how cities can prepare ahead of 2030. For more information, visit us at nlc.org .

Send us Fan Mail Explaining the New Housing Act with Mike Wallace and Jason Jordan In this episode, Lauren Lowery, Director, Housing and Community Development, National League of Cities, is in conversation with Mike Wallace , Legislative Director, Housing, Community and Economic Development, National League of Cities, and Jason Jordan , Public Affairs Director, American Planning Association, on th...

Send us Fan Mail The U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) proposed substantial changes to the Uniform Guidance, which governs federal grants and other forms of federal financial assistance. Toby Barker, Mayor of Hattiesburg, Mississippi, and NLC Board of Directors member, discusses the proposed changes and how they might impact local governments, both small and large, if implemented, and giv...

Send us Fan Mail Amanda Lovelee is an artist who works in civic systems as a translator between government and community with the goal of building places where everyone belongs. She creates bright, joyful, engaging and complex large-scale public art projects, partnering with arborists, planners, biologists, water resource managers, and scientists. Amanda is a US Cultural Policy Fellow at Stanford...

Send us Fan Mail Seán McCarthy , CEO of Build America Mutual, works with cities, town and villages preparing to sell municipal bonds to finance their infrastructure plans for decades into the future, and it’s fair to say that every municipality in America will eventually enter the municipal bond market. However, for a lot of local leaders, the municipal bond market is not something they usually th...

Send us Fan Mail This episode dives deep into a prominent local-federal issue that has touched every aspect of daily life: digital access. Reliable internet and accessible online platforms are no longer simply optional for thriving communities; they are essential. At the federal level, policies like the American Broadband Deployment Act aim to accelerate infrastructure expansion, while new web acc...

Send us Fan Mail Nicole Handy, Executive Director of America 250 Utah, joins CitiesSpeak to talk about America’s Potluck and how local leaders can bring the celebration to their community. On July 5, 2026, neighbors will sit down for America’s Potluck to share a fun, communal meal, creating a sense of connection and belonging and fostering interactions among people from all walks of life. For more...

Send us Fan Mail Dr. Jill Sonke, a research professor and research director at the University of Florida’s Center for Arts in Medicine, is a leader in arts and health research and policy advocacy nationally and internationally. Her research focuses on population-level health outcomes associated with arts and cultural participation, arts in public health, and the arts in health communication. For m...

Send us Fan Mail The U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) proposed substantial changes to the Uniform Guidance, which governs federal grants and other forms of federal financial assistance. Bianca Motley Broom, Mayor of College Park, Georgia, and President of the Georgia Municipal Association , discusses the proposed changes and how they might impact municipalities, both small and large, if...

Send us Fan Mail Father’s Day is this weekend and we’re focusing on leadership and fatherhood, and how they shape outcomes for early childhood and serve the children and families in our cities, towns, and villages across America. Mayor Brandon Scott and Council President Zeke Cohen from Baltimore City join Clarence Anthony to discuss both. For more information, visit us at nlc.org .

Send us Fan Mail Julia Novak, CEO & Executive Director of ICMA, the International City/County Management Association, brings together city and county managers, the people who get the work done alongside mayors and councilmembers. Which is why NLC’s partnership is so important, as we all put residents' needs first. She oversees all aspects of ICMA, including membership, staff, and implemen...

Send us Fan Mail June is Small Cities Month at NLC! With 40% of the National population coming from cities with a population of 50,000 or less, small cities play a significant role in strengthening local government and shaping NLC’s initiatives, opportunities and federal advocacy. Ashley Harpstreith is the Executive Director for the Wyoming Association of Municipalities, which serves all of Wyomin...

Send us Fan Mail National Arts & Health Day – NLC’s annual celebration of the impact the arts have on public health around our country. It’s coming up later this summer on July 25th, and here to share how the arts have impacted his community is Mayor Michael M. Vargas of Perris, California. For more information, visit us at nlc.org .

Send us Fan Mail What does it take to turn a good idea into real policy that improves people’s lives? As anyone in local government knows, the path from identifying a problem to passing meaningful legislation can be complicated. For more information, visit us at nlc.org .

Send us Fan Mail Today, we are sharing a panel discussion about America 250 from our 2026 Congressional City Conference in Washington, D.C. On the conference stage, NLC President Kevin Kramer moderated a discussion with local leaders from Harrisonburg, Virginia; Baltimore, Colorado Springs, and Philadelphia on how city, town and village leaders are designing and driving the celebrations this summe...

Send us Fan Mail NLC public safety legislative director Yucel Ors breaks down what the recently ended Department of Homeland Security (DHS) federal shutdown means for local government. The DHS shutdown began on February 15th after Congress failed to pass a funding bill. Finally, last week, on Thursday, April 30, the longest shutdown of a federal department in U.S. history came to an end when the P...