GovLove - A Podcast About Local Government

Economic development at the state level. Stefan Pryor, the Secretary of Commerce for the State of Rhode Island, joins the podcast to talk about his work attracting companies to the state. Stefan discussed the policies they've used to turn around Rhode Island's economy. He also shared his career path to the position, which included a stint as Deputy Mayor in Newark, NJ.

The City Hall beat. Iris Dimmick, Senior Reporter at The Rivard Report, talks covering local government in the City of San Antonio, Texas. She talked about the non-profit journalism that The Rivard Report conducts, her path to becoming a reporter and the future of local journalism. Then Iris discussed three propositions that were voted on by residents in November, each had a different impact on the City of San Antonio, including one that targeted the City Manager.

Applying technology to make things better. John Covey, Chief Information Office of Shrewsbury, Massachusetts, joined the podcast to talk about software, local government IT and improving processes. John shared his career path to working at the Town of Shrewsbury, his definition of a technologist and what he sees as trends in the field. He also shared their experience working with ViewPoint Cloud to improve the permitting process.

Putting people first. Mike Sarasti, the Chief Innovation Officer and Director of Innovation & Technology for the City of Miami, Florida, joined the podcast to talk about his role driving innovation and scaling solutions throughout the organization. He discussed his path to becoming a CIO, how they put users first through process design and working with Code for Miami. He also talked about how adding IT to his portfolio has impacted the innovation work in Miami, from training his employees on...

Getting the work done. Hana Schank, Public Interest Technology Fellow for New America, joined the podcast to talk about her recently published report on innovation in government. She interviewed problem solvers working across Federal, State and local governments to learn how they are trying to make government services better for residents. From what this field of innovation should be called, what teams across the country look like and common projects that teams are working on, Hana gave more...

Quality neighborhood drama. Jenn Takahashi, the chief lurker and founder of the parody account Best of Nextdoor, joined the podcast to talk about sharing the entertaining drama that happens on Nextdoor. Jenn shares what caused her to start the account, what the Nextdoor CEO thinks of it and what it's been like to have the account get so popular.

Budgeting for Outcomes. In his new book Andrew Kleine, the former Budget Director for the City of Baltimore, MD, challenges how local governments budget. He writes about how he changed budgeting in Baltimore to focus on outcomes rather than line items. He joined the podcast to talk about how he learned about outcome budgeting, the process of writing a book, and his career path in government.

LouieStat and changing culture. Daro Mott, the Chief of Performance Improvement for the City of Louisville, Kentucky, joined the podcast to talk about their use of data and focus on process improvement. Daro described Louisville's particular focus on professional development and training employees to change culture. He also shared his path into local government and their work to earn the What Works Cities Certification.

Navigating the Supreme Court decision. Earlier this year the case of Janus v. AFSCME changed part of the relationship between local governments and unions. No longer can cities and counties collect union dues for non-union employees that benefit from union negotiations. Matthew DiCianni from the Chicago based law firm, Ancel Glink, joined the podcast to talk about the role of unions and the impact of the Janus decision.

Talking crisis management and communication. Melissa Agnes, the author of Crisis Ready: Building an Invincible Brand in an Uncertain World, joined the podcast to talk handling crises. Melissa shared her perspective on plans versus programs and the importance of communication.

A lot of preparation and work goes into hosting a Super Bowl. Two communications professionals from the City of Minneapolis, Minnesota shared their story of hosting Super Bowl 52 in their city. Greta Bergstrom is the Communications Director and Jordan Gilgenbach is the Digital Media Relations Coordinator for the City of Minneapolis. They talked about the working with dozens of partners to keep residents and guests informed, how they prepared for cold weather and all the rowdy fans, plus they...

The President of the Greater Providence, Rhode Island Chamber of Commerce, Laurie White, joined the podcast to share how Providence works to attract businesses and entrepreneurs. She talks about how important it is to know your workforce, what businesses are looking for and how she works together with the State Secretary of Commerce.

Good government for the people. Jenny Reed the Director of the Office of Budget & Performance Management for the City of Washington, DC joined the podcast to talk about how they use evaluation and performance management. She shared the work of the Lab @ DC, how they want to make a more data driven budget process and their use of low cost evaluations. Jenny also shared the process of earning the What Works Cities Certification and how that process helped her office and the City improve.

College Football and Local Government. We continue our series on the relationship between local governments and universities. Tom Casady, Director of Public Safety, joined the podcast to talk about the game day atmosphere in Lincoln, the preparation it takes to get ready for the influx of fans and his favorite memories. On Saturdays enough people come to Lincoln to make it the third largest city in the state. Prior to being named Public Safety Director, Tom was the Lincoln Police Chief from...

A panel of local government staff, an elected official and a tech company staffer discussed the changing workplace. They shared their opinions on what they want to see from their employers, how government can better engage with residents and how local government needs to deal with diversity and inclusion. The group also took questions from the audience that hit on the urban-rural divide, the role of elected officials and white male privilege. The panel included: Lacey Beaty, City Council...

The author of a new book on the Flint water crisis joined the podcast to talk about what happened. Anna Clark, the author of "The Poisoned City: Flint's Water and the American Urban Tragedy," shared her perspective on the role of government in the crisis, the decline of local journalism and the importance of infrastructure. Anna also talked about instant replay, what a book tour is like and whether she still has trust in government.

Trust and accountability in local government. Kevin Knutson, the Vice President of Customer Success at Envisio, joined the podcast to talk about strategic planning, accountability and his view on the biggest challenges facing local governments. He also shared how Envisio, a software company, is helping organizations stick to and achieve their strategic plans.

Game day for one of college football's storied rivalries. Every year, the City of Jacksonville, Florida plays host to the Georgia-Florida Game (or Florida-Georgia, depending on the year) and welcomes two fanbases from rival schools for events, tailgating and more. Brent Fine, the Special Events Manager for the City of Jacksonville, and Rick Catlett, the President/CEO of Gator Bowl Sports, joined the podcast to talk about the planning it takes to pull off the annual event. They shared how...

Live from the 2018 ICMA Conference in Baltimore, MD. The new ICMA President, Karen Pinkos, joined the podcast to talk about her career path, leadership and her tips for young professionals. She answered questions from the audience and talked about her new role as ICMA's 4th female President. Karen was recently selected to serve as the next City Manager of El Cerrito, CA, where she has been the Assistant City Manager since 2001.

Transparency before it was cool. Three people from the City of Kansas City, Missouri joined the podcast to talk about how KCMO uses data to inform their decision making and how they hold themselves accountable to achieving their strategic plan. Kate Bender, Deputy Performance Officer, Bo McCall, Performance Analyst, and Chris Hernandez, Communications Director, shared the story of KC Stat, a monthly data and performance meeting. They also explained how the What Works Cities Certification...