I Have to Ask You...

I Have to Ask: Improving Your Relationships with Consultants

Posted on February 3, 2020

In this series, guest columnists respond to one of three topics selected by ELGL Co-founder Kent Wyatt. This week, Tonya Frank, Account Executive for Strategy, LLC, shares tactics to improve relationships with consultants. Imagine this scenario You’re trying to print off the latest packet for today’s meeting and a black line prints straight down the...

I Have to Ask: Cities vs. Counties

Posted on January 31, 2020

In this series, guest columnists respond to one of three topics selected by ELGL Co-Founder Kent Wyatt. This week, Jeff Weckbach, Assistant Township Administrator, Colerain Township, writes about key distinctions between cities and counties. In my career, I have had the privilege of working for a city, a county, and even the dreaded “unincorporated territory”...

I Have to Ask: Three Misconceptions About ELGL

Posted on January 26, 2020

ELGL Co-Founder Kent Wyatt poses a question and a guest columnist answers it. This week, a familiar face ELGL Executive Director Kirsten Wyatt (LinkedIn and Twitter) shares the three most common misconceptions about ELGL. Background ELGL was founded in 2012 and has grown from a Portland-metro area lunch group into an international organization with thousands...

I Have to Ask: Getting Emotional About City Communications

Posted on January 19, 2020

ELGL Co-Founder Kent Wyatt poses a question and a guest columnist answers it. This week, Jason Jones, Assistant Director, Budget Management & Evaluation, Guilford County, NC, writes how we can understand how people feel when they read city communications. Maybe if I tried really hard I could dazzle you with quotes about how important the...

I Have to Ask: Budget Groupies

Posted on January 14, 2020

ELGL Co-founder Kent Wyatt poses a question and a guest columnist answers it. This week, Megan Erwin, City of Norfolk, Virginia, Senior Budget and Policy Analyst, shares ideas for cultivating budget groupies. What has been your biggest challenge in engaging the public about the budget? How did you address it? “These events are awesome, see...

I Have to Ask: Teaching is in My Bones

Posted on January 13, 2020

In this series, guest columnists respond to one of three questions posed by ELGL Co-Founder Kent Wyatt. This week, Cassie Johnson, Senior Police Analyst, City of Scottsdale, Arizona, reflects on the impact of teaching. Teaching is in my bones. So much so, that when I was a toddler, I climbed up behind the podium and,...

I Have to Ask: Making Budgeting Easier

Posted on January 8, 2020

In this series, guest columnists respond to one of three topics selected by ELGL co-founder Kent Wyatt. This week, John McCarter, Assistant Finance Director for the City of Pearland, Texas, writes about the tools available to make your budgeting process easier. I started in Pearland almost exactly five years ago as Management Assistant in the...

I Have to Ask: Fun in Local Government?!?!

Posted on December 27, 2019

In this series, guest columnists respond to one of three topics selected by ELGL co-founder Kent Wyatt. This week, Kayla Barber-Perrotta, Budget Manager for the City of Brighton, Colorado, makes the case for fun in local government. In thinking about how I wanted to answer this question, it took me a long time to come...

I Have to Ask: Innovation

Posted on December 22, 2019

In this series, guest columnists respond to one of three topics selected by ELGL co-founder Kent Wyatt. This week, Tina Walha, Director of Innovation and Performance at the City of Seattle, highlights examples of innovation. When I first started my job with the City of Seattle, I found myself cringing every time the word innovation was...