Thomas Whitener recently unseated a 13-year incumbent in a tight election that was fueled by promises of change and cultural shift that was highly sought after across the county. Thomas is licensed Real Estate Agent, entrepreneur, and former interactive systems and balance designer who is making a big impact on Kalamazoo County. He has built his career on openness and transparency and plans to establish a culture of accountability and fairness to all constituents.

Thomas joined us to discuss many of the challenges that local government leaders are facing and highlight some of the best insights across the industry.

Here's a sneak peek of the episode:

· What it was like to run a people focused campaign during the pandemic

· The roles and responsibilities of county treasurer

· The Delinquent Tax Responsibility and how that was affected by COVID

· Resources that helped constituents avoid foreclosure

· Budget shortfalls

· What recovery look like for Kalamazoo County as we climb out of the pandemic

Resources from today’s episode:

· Host Brennan Middleton, Director of Marketing at Avenu

· Avenu Insights & Analytics

This discussion with Thomas Whitener was taken from our show, Local Government Insights: Modernizing Government Leadership. If you want to hear more episodes like this one, check us out on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

If you don’t use Apple Podcasts or Spotify, you can find every episode here.