PCC Local Time

Ed Knittel has been thinking about education and local government for decades and he shares his insights on the future of education and how we might apply new ideas about education to the challenges we are facing in local government. Engagement is a constant theme in our conversation.

This conversation is particularly well-suited for young professionals who are thinking about a career in municipal management. The conversation is focused on what training and education will look like in the future and the importance of engagement in every aspect of public service.   

6:01 What would trg/educ look like if there were no obstacles?

9:50 Virtual reality - applications to training

16:20 We are in unprecedented times

19:32 Lessons learned. When people say "we don't do it that way."

24:54 Public engagement in the time of COVID

27:52 What do we need to preserve, what do we need to progress?

33:10 Encouragement to managers

37:37 Recruiting for local government from high schools

40:11 Diversity in the field of local government

44:24 Managers are going to be challenged about what they will accept or not accept.

54:05 When the Canadians come to rescue us in a snow storm and why I got into this field.

One of the key topics we are addressing this year in the Pioneering Change Community is emergency management. Today we have professionals in the field of research, emergency services and emergency management with us to share their perspectives on what good process looks like, why mitigation efforts are often left behind and the challenge of leadership across silos.

Contributors to the Meet-up:

Bev Cigler, Professor Emerita, Penn State University

Ken Battin, Manager, London Grove Township, Chester County

Lucas Martsoff, Assistant Manager, Cranberry Township, Butler County

Scott Garing, Fire Chief, Cranberry Township

Paul Leonard, Former Manager, Upper Dublin Township, Montgomery County

Key areas of conversation:

• How do we bring stakeholders together and what does that look like?
• Is the current model of staffing appropriate for significant incidents and emergency events?
• What are the key challenges of modernization?
• How do we capture institutional knowledge of key players?
• What communication, education and training strategies are we using to build awareness and capacity?

Bev Cigler, Ph.D., is a Penn State Distinguished Professor of Public Policy and Administration, Emerita. She specializes in intergovernmental relations, focusing on state-local relations and state and local policy, politics, and management. Much of her published work has received national and state funding and includes more than 175 peer reviewed articles and book chapters, several co-authored and co-edited books, and dozens of professional essays, as well as op-eds, an research monographs prepared for municipal associations. She has received honors and awards many times over. In 2015 she received the Leslie Whittington Award for Excellence in Teaching from NASPAA and in 2021 she received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Keystone chapter (Pennsylvania Chapter) of the American Society for Public Administration.

Highlights from this podcast:

8:59 - Emergency Management and the need for collaboration in local government

15:26 - The understated role of professional manager

24:07 - Thoughts on the future research agenda for local government

26:14 - Working with elected official, civics education and citizen engagement

28:23 - Social equity, race and ethnicity issues and the impact on role of local government manager

32:00 - Learning and Communication skills for MPA students

44:11 - The most important decision students make in life

46:29 - Gender, sex discrimination and harassment in academia

48:00 - The importance of inclusion in conversations

58:53 - COVID research on nursing homes and frontline workers

1:08:00 - How we increase visibility of profession

1:14:00 - Book recommendations

Links:

Learning and Communication Skills for MPA Students

Advice for PhD Students

https://www.planetizen.com/

State and Local Government Review Podcasts

Have you ever wondered what it might be like to manage a municipality that provides its own electric service? Although a modest sized Borough of nearly 21,000, Chambersburg, located in Franklin County Pennsylvania delivers a full complement of utility, emergency, parks and recreation and a host of other municipal services, but that is not what makes my guest Jeffrey Stonehill so unique. His well honed ideas about municipal management are both traditional and original. He is a change agent who values hierarchy and structure.

I am interested in his methods from an HR perspective, but his managerial style speaks more closely to the tremendous challenges facing the public sector today. That is how do we stay the course, be reliable, and at the same time, turn the ship around to navigate the future.