ICG Studio 67’s County Conversations

Explore the diversity in the Florida legislature with Sen. Jason Pizzo in this insightful conversation with FAC's finest, Jeff Scala, Bob McKee, and Christopher Mathews.

Explore the diversity in the Florida legislature with Sen. Bobby Powell in this insightful conversation with FAC's finest, Jeff Scala, Bob McKee, and Christopher Mathews.

We are joined by Eryn Hurley, Legislative Director for the National Association of Counties, to discuss the latest updates from Washington D.C. 

Florida’s 16 ports can easily be taken for granted – simply overlooked as large industrial areas, dotted with heavy equipment, warehouses, and a convergence of transportation modes. While this physical description may be fitting, ports don’t always get the recognition they deserve in terms of their overall contributions to our state’s economy.  In truth, ports are significant economic engines for our state. As evidence of this, in 2022 Florida’s ports --through cargo and cruise activities -- supported 900,000 jobs, with an economic contribution of nearly $118 billion; this equates to more than 13% of the state’s total GDP. To help us understand the critical role of ports, we sit down with Mike Rubin, President and CEO of the Florida Ports Council. A recognizable and respected person at the Florida Capitol, Mike is a champion of our state’s ports and long-time friend of FAC.   

A.I. is all the talk now; but how can you actually leverage it in your county in a controlled manner? In this podcast, we hear from Parth Shah, CEO & Co-Founder at Polimorphic, whose company has helped over 40 local governments use generative A.I. to provide constituents better customer service by replacing physical-based workflows with digital ones.  The result is higher customer satisfaction, decreased workload for employees, and a positive financial ROI for the local government.  Please note that this podcast was originally presented as a webinar on County Connections. Accordingly, there are a few references to slides from that presentation that should not detract from the content presented.  The video can be viewed on the Studio 67 webpage here:   https://flicg.org/county-connections/

Florida has 27 metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs). While the name may imply these organizations perform a general planning function, they actually only plan for one thing: transportation. To improve highway planning across the nation, in 1962 Congress made local planning a condition of federal spending on transportation projects in urban areas through the Federal-Aid Highway Act. That law mandated “a continuing, comprehensive” transportation planning process carried out cooperatively by states and local communities. Metropolitan planning organizations are the venue where that “cooperative” planning takes place.  In this podcast, we talk with the current chairman of the MPO Advisory Council (MPOAC), Commissioner Mayra Uribe of Orange County, and Mark Reichert, MPOAC Executive Director, about the role of MPOs in Florida’s transportation planning process.

While the media continues to report record increases in insurance premiums across the state, there are signs that the market may be heading in the right direction.  The Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR) recently reported that eight new property and casualty insurance carriers were approved to enter the market, while Citizens Insurance has reduced its pool of policies by nearly 275,000.  On this episode, we speak again with Mark Friedlander to discuss what these and other changes mean for Florida’s fragile insurance market. 

With a government shutdown averted following passage of the last appropriations bills on March 23, NACo’s Eryn Hurley walks us through some of the major wins for counties, while highlighting other issues of interest – namely, the interim final rule for ARPA; EPA’s final rule on PFAS, and legislation to extend the Affordable Connectivity Plan (ACP).

As Congress edges toward a partial government shutdown, we are joined by Eryn Hurley, Legislative Director for the National Association of Counties, to discuss the final funding proposals in the last “mini bus” for 2024.

What's it like to spend your entire career working in county government? What do you learn along the way and what can you pass on to others?  While some view county work as a job -- albeit an important one -- others see it as a calling, dedicating long hours to make their communities better.  In this podcast, we sit down with Chris Holley, a former county manager and executive director of the Florida Association of Counties, to discuss what he learned during his long tenure in local government and what others can take away from his experience.