Dr. Kimberly Nelson, Professor of Public Administration and Government at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, returns to the podcast to talk about her most recent article about the politics versus administration debate. She provides an in-depth explanation of the role of the Local Government Manager in policymaking as it relates to the politics vs. administration dichotomy.

Host: Ben Kittelson

Two guests joined the podcast to talk about inclusive prosperity in economic development. Jessica L. González Martínez is an Inclusive Economic Development Advisor for the New Growth Innovation Network. Sterling Johnson is the Just Opportunity Portfolio Director for the Partnership for Southern Equity. They discussed the joint partnership between their organizations to produce the Communication Resource Guide for Inclusive Economic Development and how local governments can integrate equity and inclusion into economic development strategies.

Host: Lauren Palmer

Linda Mastandrea, Director of Regional ADA Planning and Local Safety for the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning, joined the podcast to talk about the Americans with Disabilities Act and creating more accessible communities. She shared some of the history of the ADA, how compliance can help cities, and what cities should be doing to create an ADA transition plan. Linda also shared her career path from Paralympic athlete to working with local governments to create a more equitable region.

Host: Dan Bolin

Preparation and service. Denise Bevan the City Manager of the City of Palm Coast, Florida joined the podcast to discuss her career path from environmental planner to City Manager. She talked about the history of Palm Coast and the infrastructure challenges the City deals with. She shared an internal leadership training program used to develop and retain staff. She also discussed her time as interim City Manager and the transition to taking on the role permanently.

Host: Ben Kittelson

People, purpose, and performance. Dan Biles, County Administrator for Pasco County, Florida, joined the podcast to discuss employee engagement and culture. He shared what makes a place great to work at and tools to get organizational buy-in. Dan outlined the robust training the County offers to build leaders and shared employee retention strategies.

Host: Ben Kittelson

Helping communities better withstand natural hazards and severe weather events. Jennifer Carpenter, Assistant Director of Policy for the Disaster Recovery & Special Issues Division at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, joined the podcast to discuss resilient building codes. She outlined the work of the Disaster Recovery & Special Issues Division and the Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery Program. She also shared the benefits and how cities can get started to modernize building codes.

Host: Lauren Palmer

Building the future of city management. Scott Neal, City Manager for the City of Edina, Minnesota, joined the podcast to discuss his career in city management. He shared how the City's Management Fellowship works and his goal of creating leaders for the profession. He talked about affordable house and equity work happening in Edina and he provided an in-depth look at his career path along with many lessons learned along the way.

Host: Ben Kittelson

Two guests joined the podcast to talk about diversity, equity, and inclusion work in libraries. Christy Mulligan is the Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Coordinator for Hennepin County Library. Ayanna Muata is the Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Project Manager for Hennepin County Library. They talked about how they have integrated equity into programs, the origins of their work, and the impact of COVID-19 and the murder of George Floyd on their work. 

Host: Ben Kittelson

What do we want city planning to do? M. Nolan Gray, author and researcher at the UCLA Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies, joined the podcast to talk about his new book, Arbitrary Lines: How Zoning Broke the American City and How to Fix It. Nolan provides an in-depth history of zoning including the impacts and ways zoning has distorted American cities. He shared ways that cities can reform zoning and what a city without zoning might look like. He also discussed what the future of planning profession would be without zoning.

Host: Ben Kittelson

Alisa Dougless, Program Manager at the City of Tulsa, Oklahoma, and Jen Tolentino, Director of Local Practice at Results for America, joined the podcast to talk about spending federal funding from American Rescue Plan. They discussed best practices in managing and spending funds as well as working how the City of Tulsa worked with local partners.

Host: Alyssa Dinberg