City Hall Stories

In local government it’s easy to forget that residents don’t really care where one district ends and another begins. At the end of the day, they want cohesion and efficiency in the services they utilize.

That’s why Smart Dublin exists. It’s a joint program between 4 Councils, led by our guest today Alan Murphy, with the goal of implementing systemic improvements across the entire region, rather than the more common piecemeal approach.

Coordinating this brings many challenges but also many benefits, and today Alan and I discuss the projects his team is engaged in (like MaaS and 5G rollout), what makes a good private sector partner for government, and the early signs you can use to determine if a project is going to take off, or fall flat.

Please enjoy my conversation with Alan Murphy.

Jack English: LinkedIn

Alan Murphy: LinkedIn

When it comes to local government, Kevin Knutson has been there and done it. Now the Assistant County Administrator for Pinellas County, Florida, he’s led over 200 government consulting projects, sat in the City Manager’s Office of Reno Nevada, spent time in Canada as the Vice President of a GovTech firm, and so much more.

He has insight for days, and today he shares it on the lessons governments should take from the private sector, what it really means to be a Smart government, and how to ensure that every voice at the table feels heard.

Please enjoy my conversation with Kevin Knutson.

Jack English: LinkedIn

Kevin Knutson: LinkedIn, Twitter

Jordan Sun has an incredible resume. Prior to joining San Jose as the Chief Innovation Officer, Jordan was Chief Operating Officer for the Special Operations Joint Task Force-Afghanistan Technology Team, while also holding the rank of Major supporting the US Army’s technology modernization efforts.

In addition to this, Jordan previously held directorate roles at Siemens, and is currently active in start-up investment and mentoring.

This has created a unique service-focused mindset that includes a wealth of operational and technical expertise. We discuss his experience joining San Jose in the middle of the pandemic, how the City is pushing for unparalleled economic mobility, and the ongoing struggle with broadband accessibility.

Please enjoy my conversation with Jordan Sun

Jack English: LinkedIn

Jordan Sun: LinkedIn, Twitter

Karina Ricks sits in the City of Pittsburgh’s Mayor’s Cabinet, as the inaugural Director of the Department of Mobility and Infrastructure. Previously the Director of Transportation Planning for the District of Columbia, Karina now oversees the design and implementation of Pittsburgh’s ‘complete network’: resiliency, transportation, sustainability, autonomous vehicles and more.

Today, we dive into all of these topics to understand how the modern City is being planned and built.

Note, you may hear birdsong and the occasional car drive past. We’ve left this in to help you imagine a summer walk through Pittsburgh as the City wakes up. Or something like that.

Please enjoy,

Jack English: LinkedIn

Karina Ricks: LinkedIn, Twitter

Mike Mendonça is the Chief Resilience Officer of Wellington, New Zealand. Named the fourth most livable city in the world by the Economist this year, Wellington has three central challenges: changing population, earthquakes, and sea level rise.

Mike’s office is tasked with confronting all of these, using a holistic framework that looks 100 years into the future to forecast how Wellington can continue being a safe and dynamic population center.

Today, we discuss how to incorporate indigenous knowledge into strategic planning, how to manage relationships with short-term results oriented peers, and the plan to quake-proof NZ’s capital city.

Please enjoy my conversation with Mike Mendonça.

Jack English: LinkedIn

Mike Mendonça: LinkedIn

Pete Buryk is the Director of CivicLab Norfolk, in Norfolk Virginia. His work building this office of innovation has seen him recognized in the top 20 most influential local government professionals, and CivicLab Norfolk has driven projects across City government resulting in massive efficiency and customer-service gains.

We talk about how to implement innovation in the most cautious industry there is, what differentiates nice to have and need to have technology, and what his Office is doing to help address climate risk.

Please enjoy my conversation with Pete Buryk. 

Jack English: LinkedIn

Pete Buryk: LinkedIn, Twitter

Brent Stockwell is a local government legend. Now sitting in the City Manager's office of Scottsdale, Arizona, he is renowned for leading inclusive, high performance and data driven teams.

Our conversation touches on the misconception that it's impossible to 'fight' City Hall, fundamental issues with electoral voting and Council-Manager governance, plus how to benchmark...when there is no benchmark.

Please enjoy.

Jack English: LinkedIn.

Brent Stockwell: LinkedIn, Twitter

Josh Birks is an economic development star. Overseeing one of the USA’s fastest growing cities, Fort Collins Colorado, Josh and his team have led a $330 million dollar redevelopment project, retained major corporate headquarters and were selected as one of Bloomberg’s Champion Cities in supporting sustainable development.

While we often think of local government as serving the citizens, it’s often overlooked that every City has a business community requiring support and advocacy. Today, Josh and I go deep on how to create a vibrant local economy, the necessary tension between business and citizen interests, plus the unique code of ethics that binds Coloradan cities. 

As the Director of Mobility and Interagency Relations in the Mayor's Office of Oakland, California, Warren Logan is responsible for moving 400,000 residents every day in the safest, most sustainable and affordable way possible.

More than just creating a path from A to B, Warren is committed to using mobility as a tool to change how Oaklanders live. A large part of this is reimagining what a city street can and should do (hint, it's more than just move cars).

Our conversation touches on all things land use and equity, and will make you think differently about the ideal city of 2035.