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Podcast: Celebrating Mentor Month with Traca Savadogo

January is Mentor Month! ELGL has been celebrating by telling the stories of mentor relationships and the best advice people have gotten over the years. To celebrate the month we sat down with Traca Savadogo from Tall Poppy Consulting to talk about how to mentor, what to look for in a mentor and more....

Hip Hip Hooray for ELGL Morning Buzzers

Each weekday morning, you can log on to ELGL.org for the latest local government news and headlines, thanks to a dedicated group of ELGL management team members who publish the Morning Buzz. Each Morning Buzz author puts their own personal spin on the Buzz, ranging from eccentric to adorable. This week, we're celebrating our Buzz...

Beyond Bean Counting: Leading from the Finance Department

This is the first installment of a four-part series written by ELGL member organization Management Partners on how local government finance officers can make a BIG impact when given a seat at the table. Be honest: do you sometimes see finance officers as giant buzzkills who come in at the end of all the hard...

Weekly Update

Dear ELGL members, A heads up that in this coming week, I'm going to start doing more fundraising to get ELGL ready for our five conferences in 2017: our annual conference on May 11 and 12 in Detroit, and our four pop ups in Charlotte, Kansas City, Dallas, and Portland on September 22. If you...

Mutual Mentorship: the Platonic Leslie Knope to My Ben Wyatt

January 2017 is Local Government Mentor Month! All month long, we’ll be learning from people about how to be an effective mentor (as well as celebrating the people who have mentored us). Blaise Caudill, Research & Management Intern at the Alliance for Innovation and also the city of Goodyear, Arizona breaks it down in this...

About Me: Jacob Johnson, #InstitutionalKnowledge Project Coordinator

Meet Jacob Johnson, ELGL's new project coordinator for the #InstitutionalKnowledge project. As part of this project, we're interviewing retired or soon-to-retire local government pros about their careers, lessons learned, and perspectives on the future of local government. Hi, I’m Jacob! I am currently studying as an undergraduate in English at Brigham Young University in Provo,...

ELGL Policy Summit: Homelessness

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]On January 12, 2017, ELGL hosted its first online policy summit. Our mission was to provide a conference experience on a topic that our members could participate in from their offices. The first topic we picked was homelessness, given the number of ELGL members who have shared that they've been working on this topic for...

Great Americans Day

Welcome back to Kittelson's Corner my (now) weekly musings on things I think are interesting or important, especially in local government nerd-dom. This week we're brought to you by Martin Luther King Jr. Day the day where we celebrate the life and legacy of a man who strove to hold us to our highest ideals. Don't get...

TCU Takeaways: It's Time for a Hotwash

Chad Doran (LinkedIn and Twitter), City of Appleton, WI, is blogging about his experience at the Certified Public Communicator Program at TCU. Part I: Rattlesnake and Mao 1/14/17: It's Tine for a Hotwash Back in in the classroom, I joined about 25 other communications professionals from around the country. With strategic communication plan drafts in hand we...

The Essential Nature of Good Transportation Resources

Mary Sell has a Master’s of Science in Environmental Policy & Planning from the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor and a B.A in International Relations from Michigan State University. Prior to working at Triangle J Council of Governments, she worked in the Transportation Demand Management & Sustainability sectors for Duke University and Ann Arbor Area Transportation Authority. Connect...

Podcast: You (Yes You!) Can Run for Local Office

Lacey Beaty City Councilor Beaverton, OR LinkedIn | Twitter Michelle Dykstra City Councilor Roanoke, VA LinkedIn | Twitter Beaverton, OR City Councilor Lacey Beaty and Roanoke, VA City Councilor Michelle Dykstra join GovLove for a wide ranging interview on what it takes to run for local office. We talk to each of them individually...

On Momentum & Progress: #13Percent to #GenderBalance

This post initially appears in the Fall 2016 edition of the National Association of County Administrators (NACA) Journal of County Administration. It is authored by Stacy Schweikhart, the Community Information Manager for the City of Kettering, Ohio. “Each of us can make a difference. Together we make change.” -Barbara Mikulski, longest serving female member of United States...

My Life in Presidential Terms with Russell Terry, Oregon Secretary of State

In this series, ELGL members reflect on how their life has changed from 2008 to 2016, and look forward to where they’ll be in 2024. ELGL members can sign up to share their experiences at My Life in Presidential Terms. By Russell Terry, Voter Engagement Advocate for Oregon Secretary of State Eight years ago, I was getting...

Conference Sponsor: Seneca Systems

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] Seneca Systems is the first #ELGL17 and #ELGLPopUp sponsor! The support of sponsors is critical to the success of ELGL learning opportunities. In 2017, we're hosting an annual conference in Detroit on May 11 and 12, and four pop-up conferences in Charlotte, Kansas City, Dallas, and Portland on September 22. Seneca Systems is sponsoring...

City of Hillsboro, Oregon HR Director: Apply Now

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] This application period is now closed. The city of Hillsboro is pursuing next steps in the recruitment process with selected candidates. Thank you for your interest in the city of Hillsboro! The city of Hillsboro is searching for a collaborative, strategic, and innovative Human Resources Director to lead the City's Human Resources Department. Read more...

"Go Home, Scot" And Other Words of Wisdom from Local Gov Mentors

January 2017 is Local Government Mentor Month! All month long, we'll be learning from people about how to be an effective mentor (as well as celebrating the people who have mentored us). Scot Simpson, City Administrator of City of River Falls breaks it down in this installment. Scot Simpson City Administrator, River Falls, WI, Connect: LinkedIn &...

Three Approaches for Highlighting the Social Impact of Local Government

Member Question I would like to find professional development opportunities for an employee to understand the other side of performance measurement (i.e. the return on our investment when it doesn’t have direct $$$ attached to it). I dusted off my Jim Collins “Good to Great for the Social Sectors” supplement, but feel like a seminar...

State of Place: Does Walk Score Walk the Walk?

The beginning of 2017 brings another new column. State of Place will begin contributing a monthly article. What is State of Place? State of Place is striving to serve as a transparent, objective, and accurate measurement and forecasting tool for walkability and quality of place, especially as part of the official metrics used in evaluating...

City Managers Are Real Characters: Anthony Soprano, City Manager

This is the first in a series of articles contemplating how your favorite fictional characters might fare in our field. Local government management isn't for everybody. Does your sitcom sweetheart have the chops to handle a budget crisis? Does your ruthless dark overlord have the temperament to negotiate a labor contract? By Matt Horn, City...

Weekly Update

Dear ELGL members, Last week, we revamped our "Jobs" page to include all of the ways to use ELGL to find a new job. Check it out here. One of the most-asked questions of ELGL is "how do I post a job on your site." We limit our stand-alone job postings to our organizational members....