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I Have to Ask: Welcome Efforts in Grand Forks

In this series, guest columnists respond to one of three topics selected by ELGL Co-Founder Kent Wyatt. This week, Robin David writes about welcoming efforts in Grand Forks, North Dakota. Every year, people come to Grand Forks from across the world or from small towns down the road, drawn by employment, good schools, safety, the...

UNC MPA Research Team: Remote Connection for Innovation Cohorts

Each spring, ELGL submits project ideas to the first-year students in Leisha Dehart-Davis’ class in the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s MPA Program, and we wait with our fingers crossed to see if the students will select our program ideas. We are happy to say that our proposal was accepted, and this year we're hosting a...

COVID-19 Action Tracker From Bloomberg & NLC

The Covid 19 Local Action Tracker is an initiative from NLC in partnership with Bloomberg Philanthropies that launched (in beta) this week. NLC received many calls from municipalities looking for guidance in responding to COVID-19, so they partnered with Bloomberg Philanthropies to build a local action tracker to help municipalities share with and learn from...

The Children Shall Lead Us: Keep Wipes Out of Pipes

Two ELGL members' children are leading the way in online videos about keeping wipes out of pipes. The below videos were submitted and share as part of our "Disposable Wipe Meme & Video" challenge: Wilsonville, OR City Councilor Kristin Akervall's daughter made two videos urging people to not flush disposable wipes - one version in...

Rewind: Local Government Tools to Combat COVID-19

This webinar with Vince Vu from Qualtrics aired on March 27, 2020.

Introducing... #CityHomeSelfie

We know that many ELGL members are working from home so we've modified #CityHallSelfie into #CityHomeSelfie for the time being. The concept is the same: snap a pic of your local government work and use the updated hashtag to showcase your community pride. Engage your employees to show how they're continuing to serve your community,...

Podcast: Digital Communications & COVID-19 Response in King County, WA

Warren Kagarise Digital Engagement Manager King County, WA LinkedIn | Twitter Colette Cosner Public Health Digital Lead King County, WA LinkedIn | Twitter Strategy and public health information. Warren Kagarise, Digital Engagement Manager, and Colette Cosner, Public Health Digital Lead, from King County, Washington joined the podcast to talk about communicating during COVID-19. King County...

Three Easy Ways to Stay Sane During a Stay-Home Order

I'm Jessica VanderKolk, Communications Manager for the City of Battle Creek, Mich. Join my Twitter fam and find me on LinkedIn. What I’m listening to: My husband teaching college virtually, my son watching his 30 minutes of afternoon TV, and my dog panting after playing outside. What I’m watching: Parks & Recreation when I can...

12 Survival Tips for Working From Home During COVID-19

This guest blog is by Angelica Wedell with Polco/National Research Center. City and state-wide physical office closures related to coronavirus quarantines are changing the work-from-home game. That means most everyone who can is now working from home. Polco / National Research Center (NRC) staff and our local government friends are happy to do our part...

It's Okay to Struggle

When I write my morning buzz, my standard approach is to talk about something that I am passionate about and share some related practical advice with readers. But the reality is that today we are all focused on responding to the COVID-19 crisis as local government professionals and as individuals with friends and families that we care deeply about.

Residents' Key Concerns About COVID-19: Analysis by Zencity

This post is from an analysis that Hannah Levenson with Zencity compiled from their local government clients. The coronavirus outbreak is completely changing day to day realities across the world, and fast. As more cities announce positive cases, create new policies, and implement different measures, the concerns of their communities change as well. And we...

OurStreets App: COVID-19 Supplies Tracker

ELGL member Mark Sussman shared this update on his app's pivot from a transportation focus, to crowd-sourcing local businesses, economic development, and essential supplies. Just like street safety, the COVID-19 pandemic impacts us all. This is why we’re leveraging the power and flexibility of OurStreets infrastructure to crowdsource the inventory of essential supplies at retailers across...

Remote Work: A Game Changer for Local Government Work Culture

Today’s Morning Buzz is by Jessica Hoffman, Assistant City Administrator in Wentzville, Missouri Last year, our organization upgraded from Office 2010 to G-Suite. After evaluating the many pros and cons with our IT and Communications departments, along with the City Administrator, we decided to move forward with the G-Suite tools. We were sold on...

Rewind: Water Systems & COVID-19 Webinar

On Tuesday, March 24, 2020, George Hawkins and Andy Kricun joined ELGL for a webinar on water systems and COVID-19. Watch the video below, and also below please find follow-up materials from George and Andy's presentation. Read George and Andy's blog post titled "Coronavirus & Water: Immediate Action Required to Improve Resiliency Now & in...

Disposable Wipes Meme Challenge

Disposable Wipe Meme Challenge As we stockpile and use disposable wipes and paper towels in response to the COVID-19 outbreak, local government infrastructure is significantly impacted. We've challenged ELGL members to create memes about his huge problem for local government infrastructure. Anyone can submit a meme via email, Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram. Why memes? Anyone can create one,...

Big Time Changes in a Small Town - How COVID-19 Pushed Us to Embrace Technology

Today's Morning Buzz is by Ann Marie Townshend, City Manager for Lewes, Delaware What I'm Watching: The Americans What I'm Reading: Information about the Coronavirus What I'm Doing: Working almost constantly I am not sure where to begin. I had a Morning Buzz ready to go about dealing with performance issues. Somehow that doesn’t seem...

Building Your Strategic Communications Plan for COVID-19

This guest blog is by Kimbra McCarthy, City Manager, and Chris Hsiung, Deputy Police Chief/Strategic Communications Team Lead, City of Mountain View, California There is typically a honeymoon period when an organization gets a new City Manager, with plenty of time to focus on relationship-building, active listening, and gathering feedback for what is working well...

"Flushable" Wipe Meme Challenge

It's time for the collective brainpower of ELGL members to build out a meme library to educate and share about the dangers of "flushable" wipes on local government wastewater systems. (We've done this once before, to highlight the low percentage of women in city manager roles.) As we stockpile and use disposable wipes and paper...

Census 2020 Updates: Response Rates & More

Response Rate Map Shows Data for Your Community The 2020 Census response rate map shows how cities and towns across the country are now responding. The map will be updated daily around 3 p.m. for everyone to see the response rate in their area and compare it to other areas across the nation. The map...

Public Leadership Through Crisis 3: Be Brave, Calm, Adaptive

Today's blog is written by ELGL member Matt Andrews and cross posted from our friends at the Building State Capability program at Harvard University. The Public Leadership Through Crisis blog series offers ideas for leaders questioning how they can help and what kind of leadership is required in the face of a crisis (like the...