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Phyllis J. Anderson

Assistant Borough Manager, Oakmont, Pennsylvania

ICMA Member since 2018

Advice for Leaders of Small Communities

Get out into your community to understand what your needs are in order to be better equipped to handle some of the issues you may face. Get connected with neighboring towns and communities. I am an executive committee member of a regional consortium called CONNECT (Congress of Neighboring Communities) that identified key projects that member municipalities would be able to fund through IRA money. We work in tandem with each other as opposed to being in competition. We are finding ways to communicate messages from municipalities to residents in a consistent manner.

Getting Council Onboard with Sustainability

When looking at our Sustainable Pennsylvania criteria, I realized that Oakmont received a Silver Designation, so I made plans to push our community to platinum status, researching numerous sustainability initiatives. With recent council turnover, some of these previously approved initiatives were being questioned, and my work virtually started from the beginning. Thankfully, I convinced enough councilmembers to see that we want to be on the forefront of this innovation, not scrambling to catch up with the rest of the world. As a result, the motion to approve the installation of three dual port charging stations was passed by a 6-1 vote.

An Unexpected Career Highlight

When faced with overgrown vegetation on our riverbank, we explored the option of hiring a company to spray herbicides, which was not ideal seeing as the chemicals would leak into the soil and river. I searched for alternatives and came across the option of hiring goats to eradicate the vegetation. After some persuading, the manager agreed, and we brought on six adorable goats with big personalities to clear the land. While residents could finally enjoy the view of the river, the unintended consequence was that it gave them something to feel good about! The manager and council began to see that we can make small, innovative changes with out-of-the-box thinking to help become better stewards of the Earth.