PCC Local Time

If you are mystified by the process of obtaining grants for your local government, this episode is for you. This is a masterclass that will help you with your short and long game.

Our guests today include Dr. Beverly Cigler, Professor Emerita at Penn State University in Public Policy and Administration begins our discussion with highlights from a recent study on management priorities in local government in Pennsylvania. She centers us on the type of grants that are available to address these priorities and how to ready your municipality to begin the process of application.

John Mizerak, joins in by giving us an understanding of how the process looks from inside state agencies who are grantors. Now Director of Planning and Development with Dawood Engineering, John has built his career working with grantees from inside public funding agencies and private sector firms. He helps us deepen our understanding of the process and how to build successful strategies for long term funding.

David Kratzer, prior to joining McNees Strategic Solutions Group in 2022 as a managing consultant of Keystone Municipal Solutions, was a professional municipal manager with a strong focus on innovation in local government. He comes to our discussion with an inside perspective on the challenges of municipal management and helps us cut through the maze with a razor sharp eye for what he now sees from the consultant side.

Check out more show notes HERE inside The Pioneering Change Community

Sign up for the PCC Newsletter HERE for a Friday wrap up of conversations inside the community.

CONTACT INFO:

David W. Kratzer, LinkedIn, Keystone Municipal Solutions

John Mizerak, LinkedIn, Dawood Engineering

Dr. Beverly Cigler, LinkedIn, Municipal Management Priorities Survey

Matt Candland is the manager at Upper Moreland Township in Montgomery County Pennsylvania. In this episode he has a few things to say about collective bargaining laws for police and fire in Pennsylvania. He has a depth of understanding and skill for examining issues from multiple angles that not only makes him valuable in his profession but also makes him a great conversationalist. In this interview, We talk about police, the role of the municipal manager and challenges in municipal management today. His advice for young professionals in the field is timeless.

Show Notes:

4:06 Role of municipal manager in overseeing police budgets

5:02 Act 111 is a major to the future financial stability and sustainability of Pennsylvania communities

8:53 Adversarial relationships with police

12:07 Why we will never see reform on Act 111

13:39 Characteristics of successful police chiefs

16:40 Professional transitions as a municipal manager

19:10 Thoughts on role of assistant municipal managers

22:08 Advice for young managers coming up in the field

26:16 What makes it a good profession?

33:50 Tension arising from the blurring the lines between federal, state and local government

38:15 Thoughts on neutrality in municipal management and need for respect

39:37 Change comes with trust

42:34 Great project now: purchase of a dilapidated school building.

• ICMA article authored by Matt Candland:

The Ethical Boundaries When Former Managers Live in Your Town

• Upper Moreland Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania

All you have to do to get into a great conversation with Mark Stivers is ask him about the jobs he has held in his life. From Park Ranger to Addiction Counselor to Planner to Professional Manager, he has seen and experienced the world and brings his unique perspectives to his work.  

“You leave a place better than you found it. 

You don’t burn bridges, you build relationships.

You build teams and that will get you through life.”  

(Lessons Mark learned from being an Eagle Scout)

We start by talking about the arc of Mark’s career. He has explored diverse opportunities and developed a number of talents. As I think about our efforts to build a pipeline of young professionals in this field, I imagine Mark’s story as one that will resonate with people who are guided by a strong desire to build healthy communities.

This interview is part of an early series of interviews we did inside the Pioneering Change Community in 2021 before I began this podcast.  

SHOW NOTES

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In this interview, Ken Battin allows me to tap into my curiosity about how emergency services intersect with municipal services and what role municipal managers play in supporting public safety.

He emphasizes the importance of not relying on any one model but finding a model that works for your municipality. He shares an engaging approach that helps achieve this in his own.

Ken was the Director of Codes and Life Safety at East Whiteland Township in Pennsylvania for many years, which included the building and fire codes, and the fire department. He is now the Manager at London Grove Township in Chester County Pennsylvania.

This interview is part of an early series of interviews we did inside the Pioneering Change Community in 2021 before I began this podcast.  

We talk about his vision of emergency services which I find unique. It has opened my eyes to how central public safety is the role of local government.

Show notes HERE

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Keith Hite spent a good part of his career at the Pennsylvania State Association of Township Supervisors (PSATS) and when we met in the late 90's he had taken the helm as Executive Director. In this interview we talk about some of the challenges he faced during his leadership, not only with helping the organization re-imagine its future but also with helping highly tenured staff make the shift to new ways of doing things.

We also talk about the importance of relationships in professional life, the future of local government and the important and highly rewarding work we did together.

This interview was one early interview recorded in December 2020 prior to the creation of the PCC Local Time podcast..

SHOW NOTES

Dan Zimmerman is a quintessential under-the-radar, always-assessing-potential kind of municipal manager. His career demonstrates the value of commitment to the long game and the outsized results that can come from investment in regionalization.

He recently retired as manager of Warwick Township, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. His work speaks for itself. Over his career he has sheparded the creation of a regional police department, a 7.1 miles rails to trails project and a portfolio of development projects which includes the original site of the ever expanding, world renowned, Rock Lititz which creates stage and sound effects and event production for world class musical talent. Lady Gaga, U2, Usher, Taylor Swift, BTS, Beyonce - just to name a few - arrive here to prepare for their world tours.

SHOW NOTES:

9:34 Core identity of Lititz

11:37 Value Warwick Township brought to the region

13:15 Engagement, e.g., work with HS students to create video; message, “here is why we need to change.”

17:25 Regional Police Project

But the one thing that guided that was whatever the conversation is, it is got to be on what is the benefit for all the members? There can't be any individualism. And the other thing we said was everybody's dirty laundry has to stay at the door…whether it’s pension liabilities or disciplinary actions and whatever, we wanted to start with a clean slate. And so that had to be understood. If we were going to go forward the new entity was not going to take on any of the burdens from the past.

…It is one of the best things we have ever done. The efficiency, the professionalism, it actually brought the municipalities closer together. It just has worked out. It exceeded our expectations.

24:57 Rails to Trails

In the case of the Warwick, the trail way, which actually involved five municipalities, it took 15 years for us to realize …First was ownership of the railroads. And that was really convoluted that took us several years to untangle it because it ended up going through federal bankruptcy court.

So you actually had a federal mandate. It was not a rail bank, like typical abandoned railroad right away as it were. So we had to untangle that. Then we actually had a private owner who bought the right away the seven miles worth of right away out of bankruptcy. So then we had to deal with a private owner. And then we finally got to the property owners, so in Warwick alone we had 150 different property owners adjacent to that rail bed. So we had to deal with their issues. So it took a number of years. Again, the first time it was mentioned it was 1975. So it was a long-term goal of the municipality.

Today it is probably one of the most cherished assets. People love that trail. We would have a riot if we tried to close it down. But it just took time. Letting the soup stew for a while. There are times you move forward fast, and then there's times you just sit back and let it settle for a little while until, it's okay to move forward again.

Again, we have a very small staff, so … it's it matter of judging when you need to get behind something and really push hard. And then there's other times where you're going to tell

someone, Hey, can you run with this for a little while? And then let me know when you need a little bit of help.

31:05 Rock Lititz

Something that came out of the comprehensive plan is that, the boards want to change. We wanted to diversify our development portfolio. Just like an investment portfolio, you don't want to put all your eggs in one basket. So we wanted, for tax base, for community services, for job creation, we wanted to make sure we were attracting industrial growth.

At the same time. We coupled agricultural preservation with that same initiative, we are the largest transferable development right program in the state. And the board through that challenge came out and said, Hey, not only do we want to develop industrially, but we want you to sell TDR so we can preserve farms.

…so we monitored what type of different industrial activities were going on. We were aware and saw significant growth in three major industries that were dedicated to the entertainment industry, actually the live concert industry. Clair Global, which was audio, Tait Towers, which was structural, anything stage or special effects.

They are the number one in the world, producer of special effects and stage [stages], or backdrops and special effects. And then we had Atomic. Which was also a special effects video and audio.

….We were just looking at our local service tax returns and we saw dramatic growth in all three of those industries.

…[It was the middle of a recession, so we asked] Why are you guys expanding? And they're like, Hey, when people were miserable, they want to be distracted.

…In the course of this conversation, (and all three were located in Warwick Township) they said, Hey, and by the way, we're expanding so much. We may have to leave because we don't have enough room to grow. And we're like whoa, wait a minute.

What, why would you leave if it's been this successful? So they're like we need more space. So I said, then talk to us. Let's present this as an element, as part of the comprehensive plan update, which was going to happen actually in that case the next year. And I said let's introduce whether there's community support to expand the capability of three industries. And it just mushrooms way beyond anybody's expectations but the lesson that will be learned here is this, it all started because of a conversation.

…But by the way, they're also supporting this huge sub economy that's out there. And that wasn't just Amish. There were other businesses in the town that we realized that they just subcontract out work. And there were several industries in that recession that actually were in trouble and rock Lititz went out and specifically utilized them because they knew they were in trouble.

It's that whole community - let's work together. We all survive together and it's just what can happen when people work together.

43:21 Mistakes happen, that’s when relationships become critical.

45:07 Lititz Regional Community Development Corporation (LRCDC)

…Cause they're like, Hey, we're really not doing much. And I said, yeah, but you can see the need. It's just, it's a matter of just keeping at it. And the things that made us attractive was it when we have projects ready, we knew what we had come. And we slowly, and the community didn't necessarily trust the development Corp right away.

It all takes time. There's no substitution for seat time. You just got to put your time in, pay your dues, do your work, show that you're dedicated to it. They did a number of public meetings to say, Hey, we're out here. We can help you…And then, then they landed several large grants. It was just a matter of being ready.

53:33 Efficiencies and too much reliance on real estate tax

We were very dependent on earned income tax, but as the demographics change as the baby boomers age out, you're going to start seeing some fluctuation, even in that revenue chain. And so efficiency is one way that you can continue to contain your costs and not, and be able to survive these fluctuations.

1:01 What’s next for Dan

Lititz Regional Community Development Corporation (LRCDC)

Northern Lancaster Regional Police

Regional Rails to Trails

Rock Lititz

[Early Interview Series]

Joe Mench was the first member interview I did when I created the Pioneering Change Community. There was a reason for that. The projects we worked on together represent a critical intersection of customer service, work culture and technology. Joe was the key internal partner to work with me on improving customer service work processes, and integrating them with technology to build a lean one stop customer service center.

Today. He jokingly refers to his customer service staff as our front line Google. At the time of this interview, he was director of IT. Today he is Assistant Manager at Muhlenberg Township in Berks county, Pennsylvania. You will hear in this interview, how a person who understands IT and people can bring your local government new life.

How does an Assistant Manager make a case to buy an empty department story in a declining retail area, raze it to the ground and find a buyer? How does that buyer become a Trader Joe's? It takes a team with vision, willingness to step up to the plate, and steady nerves.

Erin Trone came to the world of local government to make a difference and she stayed the course long enough to do just that. She recalls her journey from young professional to working mom and the joy of watching her kids play in the park she helped create.

This is a great episode to learn about the field of economic development and the positive impact on communities. Erin gives us a sense of how she combines the skill of learning on the fly with confidently proceeding even while outcomes are uncertain.

2:12 Why she left consulting

3:21 Lower Allen Commons Project

5:09 She runs her idea by her manager, Tom Vernau

9:32 Why develop this particular spot? The role of Commercial Broker

11:29 What do we have to offer as a Township?

14:13 Role of development authority

16:12 Value of commercial broker

23:35 Redevelopment projects start from below zero

34:54 Mom and professional

39:28 Influence of John Mizerak and Dan Santoro

42:51 Advice to prepare for funding opportunities

47:11 Innovation in government

50:47 Vision of healthy governmente

53:00 What to preserve in local government / What to progress

Today we talk with Bradley Gotshall about why he is invested in the profession of municipal management and what makes him excited about the future. Hint: he sees the possibilities for technology to increase effectiveness in delivery of services, outreach to community and efficiency within the organization. With so few young professionals in the pipeline, he is one of a small sub-set of managers who are coming up through and has some valuable perspectives for the future.  

He is currently the manager of Lower Paxton Township in Dauphin County Pennsylvania. Find out more about him on Linked In Here.

3:00 Unsung heroes

5:36 Role of Manager

6:36 What will your job look like in 10 years?

10:48 Trash can data, etc.

18:00 Measures of a healthy municipal government

22:26 Moving toward a collaborative management team

28:02 The diversity debate

Marita Kelley recently retired from the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development where she most recently served as regional director and deputy executive director at the Governor's Center for Local Government Services.

She has a distinguished career as a leader in public service with a focus, but the most important thing to know about her is her genuine love of community and all things that connect us to community.

9:50 Servant leadership, how to recognize a good budget document, minimum threshold competencies for a manager in the area of finance.

14:27 Combining faith with professional work

20:28 Working with people who have a different viewpoint. Early days as woman in the field.

25:16 What needs to change in the field. Hint: technology is forcing change, but engagement remains critical.

35:23 Shifting demographics convo and impact on diversity in communities.

44:41 Federal funding becoming available to local governments. Numbers are mindboggling. How do we prepare to manage these funds to avoid problems?