What startups and local government can do to work better together. Barry Greenfield the Co-Founder of GovLaunch, a platform for local governments to compare and review technology solutions. Barry discusses his career path, which includes a stint as an elected official, and what local governments and startups can learn from each other.

Topics: Lightning round (0:45), why Barry ran for local office (3:00), how local government can better engage (4:00), the mission of GovLaunch (7:00), what cities and startups can learn from each other (13:10), and how the procurement and RFP process can be improved (16:40).

This interview was recorded at the 2017 ICMA Conference in San Antonio, TX.

Innovation, performance and public service in Little Rock. Two people from the City of Little Rock, AR join GovLove to talk about their work. Melissa Bridges, Performance & Innovation Coordinator, and Susan Langley, City Clerk, discuss the Commodores, their career paths and a cross-departmental quality of life group.

Topics: Lighting round (2:30), how children impacted their careers (7:45), challenges and innovations in Little Rock (10:20), communicating to the public (19:25), what they want to bring to Little Rock (23:00), thoughts on public service and balancing work and life (26:35).

This interview was recorded at the 2017 ICMA Conference in San Antonio, TX.

Get to know the City Manager of Decatur, Georgia. Peggy Merriss joins GovLove to discuss her career in local government, which includes 24 years as City Manager and stints in leadership positions with ICMA. She talked about the projects going on in Decatur, her experience as a woman in local government and more.

Topics: Lightning round (0:50), Peggy's career background (1:45), road diets (4:30), what keeps her in Decatur and how it's changed during her career (6:40), her time as ICMA's first female president (12:30), the importance of local government (18:05), top speakers at ICMA (21:00), and advice to someone starting their career in local government (25:00).

This interview was recorded at the 2017 ICMA Conference in San Antonio, TX.

Forest fire and emergency response. Cindy Cameron Ogle the City Manager of Gatlinburg, Tennessee joins GovLove to discuss what it was like to manage the city through a forest fire that destroyed 2500 buildings last year. She shared her experience dealing with the crisis and how both her home and the Mayor's home were lost in the fire. Cindy also discussed her leadership style and her path to becoming a City Manager.

Topics: Lighting round (1:10), Cindy's path into local government and becoming a City Manager (3:30), the experience of the 2016 wildfires in Gatlinburg (8:15), losing her home in the fire and supporting employees (17:50), and rebuilding after the fire (27:40).

This interview was recorded at the 2017 ICMA Conference in San Antonio, Texas.

Leading Gahanna, Ohio and improving processes. City Administrator Jennifer Teal joins GovLove to discuss how she's used her black belt in Lean Six Sigma to improve operations and the unique way they taught residents to use roundabouts. Jennifer also shared her experience as a female City Administrator and how she balances her work and life.

Topics: Lightning round (1:30) including her celebrity look alike and top four mentors and concerts attended. Jennifer's career path and her experience being a woman in local government leadership (5:05), what she looks for when hiring (7:40), the issues she deals with in her job (8:45) like infrastructure, growth and personnel issues. Her work using Lean Six Sigma principles and changing culture to challenge the way things have been done (14:20). Teaching residents about roundabouts (25:25). Her thoughts on diversity in local government and supporting families in the workplace (29:35).

This interview was recorded from the 2017 ICMA Conference in San Antonio, TX.

From City Manager of Austin, Texas to leading ICMA, get to know Marc Ott. The Executive Director of the International City/County Management Association (ICMA), Marc Ott, joined GovLove to discuss his career path in local government and his first year on the job at ICMA. Marc also shared his thoughts on diversity in local government as well as the importance of cities in the age of ineffective federal and state governments.

Topics include: Lightning round (0:50) including what book he's reading & his role model. What got Marc into local government (6:20), his time at the City of Austin, TX (11:50), his role with ICMA (23:50) including his thoughts on diversity, reflections on his first year and comparing being a City Manager with being Executive Director. Working with strong mayor cities and the National League of Cities (37:15) and the importance of local government (40:15).

This interview was recorded from the 2017 ICMA Conference in San Antonio, TX.

Open data and innovation from coast to coast. Brendan Babb, the Chief Innovation Officer of Anchorage, Alaska and Sam Edelstein, the Chief Data Officer of Syracuse, New York join GovLove. They answered questions from our listeners, talked about how innovation doesn't have to be fancy and the role of an innovation office in a city.

Local solutions to homelessness and practicing radical empathy. Andrew Hening the Director of Homeless Planning & Outreach for the City of San Rafael, California joins GovLove to discuss his work reducing the homeless population in Silicon Valley. He also discussed his career path into local government, from law school to Americorps Vista. Andrew Hening took the #1 spot in this year's ELGL Traeger List of local government influencers. This episode was hosted by Javon Davis and Alyssa Dinberg, two Cookingham-Noll Management Fellows in Kansas City, MO.

He started as a management assistant and now he's the Director of Economic and Property Development for the City of Long Beach, California, get to know John Keisler. John was also the innovation team director in Long Beach. In this episode Kent talks with John about his career path, role models and his definition of innovation.

An international perspective on reporting and government. We're joined by a columnist and foreign correspondent during his recent trip to Kettering, Ohio. Ian Birrell a contributing editor of The Mail on Sunday and writer for several papers in London, England talked about his work as an international reporter and adviser for speech writing and crisis management. This episode was guest hosted by Stacy Schweikhart.