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Teachable Moment: ELGL Journalist Trio Weighs-In on #KirbyDelauter

By Bridget Doyle, Sam Taylor and Patrick Rollens Earlier this week, a Councilman named Kirby Delauter from Frederick County, Md. threatened a local reporter with a lawsuit for using his name without permission (note: the threat was posted on Facebook). In its response to the threat, the Frederick News-Post released a witty editorial chastising Delauter and...

Quotables for 2015

Quotables by Kitty Wooley - Column, LinkedIn, Twitter As we pause to ring in the New Year, here are some statements and commentary for review. Your reactions, additions, or subtractions are most welcome. Here’s to your happiness, health, and career success in 2015. "At the end of the day, what qualifies people to be called ‘leaders’ is...

From the Desk of the Intern with Laura Lake

Imagine this for a minute. You graduate college and head to a different state to start a Master’s Degree. You have a week to move yourself, your pong table, your jar of loose change, and everything else you own. A week after moving, you start interviewing for internships with local governments and hope you land...

6 Tips for Succeeding in Local Government

6 Tips for Succeeding in Local Government by Harrison Wicks - LinkedIn and Twitter As a professional at the beginning of a local government career, I am continuously learning tips for succeeding in the workplace. Full disclosure, a lot of this learning is trial-and-error, doing the wrong thing and learning not to do it again. I was...

You're Invited to Local Grapes and Local Gov

ELGL leaders - Bridget Doyle, John McCarter, and Ryan Adams - will be attending the SGR Conference from January 21-23. (Let's hope they are treated more fairly than the Detroit Lions.) The trio will be presenting Fresh Ideas to Inspire a Committed Team. On January 22, SGR & ELGL invite you to attend Local Grapes and Local Gov. RSVP...

Social Media Superstar: Ferguson Library

The first ELGL "Social Media Superstar" award goes to the Ferguson Municipal Public Library. Carrie Ann Taylor collects some of Ferguson Library's best social media posts in the below Storify, and she writes: "Ferguson Library was literally the heart and soul of the city. They not only offered books and resources to readers, but activities...

360 Review with Mattie Sue Stevens, City and County of Durham, NC

Who doesn’t love a good ol’ fashioned performance review? ELGL loves them so much that we’re embarking on a “360 Review of Local Government.” We’re going to evaluate every single inch of the local government arena by talking to ourselves (a.k.a: other local government professionals), tech companies, journalists, professors, and anyone else who hasn’t blocked our...

Social Media Superstars

Here at ELGL, it's no secret that we're huge advocates for local governments to have a healthy and robust online presence. (In fact, just last night, the ELGL management team was 100% perplexed by an unnamed Oregon city that lists fax numbers - but not email addresses - on their city web page). To recognize...

Digital Storytelling: Does "Mikey Like It?"

Digital Storytelling: Does Mikey Like It? By: Kim Ervin, LinkedIn and Twitter One of the questions from our webinar on Building the Case for Social Media in December someone asked was, “How the heck do you figure out what people like and what you should share?” Admittedly, the question wasn’t exactly worded that way, but that...

Behind the Camera: 6 Lessons Learned from Episode One

Civic Leaders is an exclusive local government web-interview series hosted and operated by Springbrook Software, produced by the VOLSTA Media Network, and syndicated by ELGL. Each month the show shares a candid look into the challenges and triumphs experienced by passionate public employees that are committed to their calling. Behind the Camera: 6 Lessons Learned from...

Social Media is not Microsoft Word

Local government organizations, particularly public safety agencies, regularly feel pressure to get out in front of developing news or trend stories. If it happens nationally, there is doubtless a local angle or message to share with residents. These organizations view social media as a great way to join the conversation – and rightly so. But...

Trending Now: MPA@UNC Announces Fellowship for ELGL Members

MPA@UNC Announces ELGL Fellowship Connect: Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn, Twitter, Web, YouTube ELGL members are now eligible to receive a $5,000 fellowship to earn your Masters in Public Administration online from the University of North Carolina School of Government. Applications and enrollment happen on a rolling basis and you can find out more below or by going...

Playing Matchmaker Between Local Government and Affordable Housing

Dean Porter, a Program Officer at Enterprise Community Partners, speaks with Tim Klont at the Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago about the relationship between local government and affordable housing.

The Future of the Local Government Workforce

ELGL first met Eric Ameigh, City of Boulder (CO) Projects Coordinator at #ELGL14. If you talked with Eric at #ELGL14, you know that he embodies that out-of-the-box, creative ELGL mindset. We've asked Eric to highlight his persepctive on the future of the local government workforce. Note: "The Wave" featured in the below Vine was taken at #ELGL14....

California Love: Mythbusting Local Government in CA

As part of our ongoing effort to provide more California-related content, Julie Underwood, Daly City assistant city manager, leads us on a myth-busting tour of local government in California. California Love: Mythbusting by Julie Underwood - LinkedIn and Twitter Every time I think of California, 2Pac’s song, California Love, starts playing in my head. It has...

Cannonball! Web Redesign Project Continues...

We're taking a cannonball into the pool of website redesign with a member survey to learn more about how you use the site, and what you wish we would (or would not) include on ELGL.org. (You'll recall in a prior post that we'll be working with the awesome Sarah Hellems Design on this project thanks to...

Cookingham Connection Series

After 21 weeks and learning from 42 local government practitioners, the inaugural season of the Cookingham Connection series is over. Huge thanks to SGR for their assistance with the column (especially to Hope and Muriel) and to Bruno Rumbelow, the City Manager of Grapevine, TX, for developing this column concept for us. It's been an...

Municipalities and Mary Jane

Hat tip to Kyle Steitz, SAFEBuilt for contributing this timely article. Municipalities and Mary Jane by Kyle Steitz and Eric Pendley, SAFEbuilt Nationwide, community development departments have been dealing with a new industry that has never before been regulated by zoning or building codes. Marijuana has been legalized for recreational use in four states and medicinal use...

Webinar: Town Gown Relations with Dr. Gavazzi

Article: Town and gown relationships are like a marriage Our next ELGL webinar offering will explore the important and sometimes tumultuous relationships between universities and the towns they reside in. Known as Town-Gown relations, university and municipal administrators have to work together despite sometimes centuries of baggage. Dr. Stephen Gavazzi will explain how we can measure...

#1 in '14: Birth of the #CityHallSelfie

We’re counting down the hits from 2014….. #10: ELGL expanding to Washington State #9: SeeClickFix Names ELGL as a Civic Space Leader #8: Foreignness of Local Government #7 Two Cities. Two Mayors. One Cause #6: A Night of Funk(houser) #5: CPBB, IAMMA, OPRA, and SGR #4: Faces of the Future – American City County Magazine #3: 234,864 Views #2: Change Comin’...