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The Life of an Engaging Local Government Leader

Today's #MorningBuzz is brought to you by Katie Ludwig, Director of Resource Development, Government Finance Officers Association. You can connect with her on LinkedIn. What I’m Reading: “Demon of Unrest” by Erik Larson What I’m Watching: The latest season of “Stranger Things” What I’m Listening To: Olivia Dean, Role Model, and…Taylor Swift I’ve been listening...

Santa's Real Elves

Today’s Morning Buzz is by Jackie Wehmeyer, Senior Director of Strategy and Intergovernmental Affairs for the City of Parkland, Florida and proud Secretary of ELGL’s Board of Directors Connect with Jackie on LinkedIn. What I’m excited about: The ELGL Mug Exchange – I can’t wait to add to my collection! What I’m baking tonight: Double Chocolate...

Podcast: Development and Customer Service with JC Hudgison, Tampa, FL

JC Hudgison Chief Building Official City of Tampa, FL LinkedIn JC Hudgison, Chief Building Official for the City of Tampa, Florida rejoined the podcast to discuss development, technology, and process improvement. He talked about how the City responded to and has been recovering from Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton in 2024. He shared how the...

The Joy of Budgeting

Today's Morning Buzz is cooked up by Andrew Kleine, Managing Director, Government & Public Sector at EY-Parthenon, Ernst & Young LLP. He is the author of “City on the Line: How Baltimore Transformed Its Budget to Beat the Great Recession and Deliver Outcomes” (Rowman & Littlefield, 2018) and has served as a county administrator and...

Podcast: Staying Authentic with Aarón Zavala, Pleasanton, CA

Aarón Zavala Assistant to the City Manager City of Pleasanton, CA LinkedIn Aarón Zavala, Assistant to the City Manager for the City of Pleasanton, California joined the podcast to discuss his role with the City. He talked about the work he does for the City and his career goals moving forward. He also shared how...

We Analyzed 5,718 Local Government Strategic Plans; Here’s What We Found

Today’s Morning Buzz is by Ted Jackson, Co-Founder of ClearPoint Strategy. Follow Ted on LinkedIn. What I’m reading: "Mornings on Horseback" by David McCullough What I’m watching: "Poldark" on Netflix What I’m listening to: Snowball Podcast ClearPoint just published its first-ever Strategic Planning Report. We analyzed 20,582 strategic plans across seven industries, all of which...

Your City’s Greatest Strength is its People; Let's Start Saying that Out Loud

Today's Morning Buzz is by Caitlin Lewis, executive director of Work for America. Connect with Caitlin on LinkedIn. What I’m watching: "Slow Horses" and "Department Q" What I’m listening to: The Moth Radio Hour What I’m eating: White chicken chili Every public servant knows the feeling of doing too much with too few people. Across...

Cloud Migration in Local Government: A Snapshot of Progress

Today’s Morning Buzz is brought to you by Clayton Thomas, vice president of cloud strategy at Tyler Technologies. Connect with Clayton on LinkedIn. What I’m reading: “The Creative Act: A Way of Being” by Rick Rubin What I'm listening to: The HardFork podcast What I'm working on: Enabling our teams, partners, and clients to more...

Pilgrimage and Passing Stones: A Leadership Lesson from the Camino

Today’s Morning Buzz is brought to you by Sheila Shockey, Founder, CEO, Futurist, Shock Talk Podcast Host at Shockey Consulting and artist/gallery owner at 80 Santa Fe in Downtown Overland Park, Kansas. Follow Sheila on LinkedIn and Instagram, and Shockey Consulting. What I’m listening to: They turned the Christmas music on at work today — bah, humbug! What...

Podcast: The Mayor Has a Hammer and Other Poetry with Jim Schutz, JMSB Strategies

Jim Schutz Principal JMSB Strategies LinkedIn Jim Schutz, a Principal at JMSB Strategies joined the podcast to discuss his transition from a City Manager to poetry author. He shared how he decided to transition into consulting and how he got into local government poetry. Plus he talked about his favorite poem and other highlights from...

Surfing the Silver Tsunami: How Albany is Navigating a Quarter of Our Workforce Retiring

Today’s Morning Buzz is by Kayla Barber-Perrotta, the Deputy City Manager for the City of Albany, Ore. Connect with Kayla on LinkedIn. What I’m eating: Ghost pepper beef jerky What I’m watching: Agenda management demo recordings What I’m working on: Post-ICMA conference catch-up We’ve all been hearing about the “silver tsunami” for years. Seriously, it’s been...

It’s 5:00 — Do You Know Where Your Employees Are?

Today’s Morning Buzz is by Greg LeBlanc, Assistant Town Manager for the Town of Snowmass Village, Colorado. Connect with me on LinkedIn. Where I see myself in five years: Celebrating the fifth anniversary of this question! Will ICMA let me do my stand-up routine at next year’s conference?: I hope so! Which hobby excites me:...

Podcast: Leading ICMA and the Roots of Professional Government with Julia Novak, ICMA

Julia Novak CEO and Executive Director ICMA LinkedIn Julia Novak, the CEO and Executive Director of the International City/County Management Association (ICMA), rejoined the podcast to discuss her new role at ICMA. She shared how the organization is adapting after reduced federal grants for international work. She discussed how she has engaged with members and...

How Serving Three Organizations Made Me Better at All of Them

Today's Morning Buzz is by Aarón Zavala, Assistant to the City Manager for Pleasanton, Calif. Connect with him on LinkedIn and Instagram. What I’m working on: BELONG Pleasanton, our initiative for Building Equity, Leadership, Opportunity, Nurturing, and Growth, plus Emergency Management and internal communications strategy. What I’m listening to: College football season means the Peristyle...

From Typewriters to TikTok: The Evolution of the Government Communicator

Featured image created by Google Gemini Today's Morning Buzz is brought to you by Tabitha Clark, Communications Director for the City of Perry, Georgia. Connect with Tabitha on LinkedIn. What I’m Listening To: AI Six Podcast, Joanne Sweeney Picture a government communicator today: putting out a social media fire, filming a reel, hosting a live...

Podcast: An ICMA Conference Recap, Leadership, Urban Revitalization, and Hot Wings - GovLove Island

GovLove Co-hosts Meredith and Ben were joined by several friends of the pod to recap the 2025 ICMA Conference. Tom Modica is the City Manager at the City of Long Beach, CA, April Walker is the Assistant City Manager at the City of Long Beach, CA, Jackie Wehmeyer is the Senior Director of Strategy and...

From Rules to Real Life - Designing with Empathy in Local Government (Part II)

This is the second post in a two-part series from Dana Healy, Chief Operations Officer for Tightrope Media Systems (connect with Dana on LinkedIn) that explores how small, compassionate design choices build trust and inclusion in public communication. In Part 1 of this series (see Removing Rocks, Not Moving Mountains - Building Habits of Care in...

Removing Rocks, Not Moving Mountains - Building Habits of Care in Accessible Design (Part I)

Today’s Morning Buzz is brought to you by Dana Healy, Chief Operations Officer for Tightrope Media Systems. Connect with Dana on LinkedIn. What I’m reading: Inclusive Design for Accessibility What I’m watching: Need suggestions! What I’m listening to: Government Video Podcast - Episode 9, Season 2 This year, I’ve traveled to conferences around the country...

The Sounds of Silence (or, "When People Still Don't Show")

Today’s Morning Buzz is brought to you by Matt Horn, the Director of Strategic Growth and Development for MRB Group – once described as “the worst audience participant Cirque du Soleil ever had”. Check out his stoic musings on LinkedIn. What I’m Watching: The Ambassador on Netflix. Who knew Kerry Russell was still around? What I’m...

Podcast: Parks Commissioner to City Council Member with Mitchell Silver, Raleigh, NC

Mitchell Silver Council Member City of Raleigh, NC LinkedIn Mitchell Silver, City Council Member for the City of Raleigh, North Carolina rejoined the podcast to talk about the transition from working as a staff member in local government to becoming an elected official. He reflected on his work as Parks Commissioner for the City of...