Morgantown, Kentucky<br />As the first CAO in Morgantown, KY, Jerrod Barks was facing some serious challenges for the town of 2,500 that lost 60 jobs and was saddled with a large amount of debt when Kentucky Copper went bankrupt. But instead of guessing or acting on anecdotal information, he conducted a survey, researched deeply, and came up…

Life, Well Run received a wonderful response to the call for Community Hero Nominations. Nominees were submitted from across the country including states such as Alabama, Colorado, Florida, Michigan, New York, Nevada, Virginia, and Wisconsin. Heroes come from all roles in local government, from waste collector to assistant city manager, from police officer to the…

Working in local government calls us first to serve our own community, but the work we do does not stop at our political boundaries. Our impact regularly extends regionally, nationally, and even sometimes globally. Exceptional city and county leadership has the power to change the world not only by example, but also through the dissemination of…

Swamps are filled with odorous, stagnant water and creatures that breed disease. November’s highly divisive national election filled the public’s mind with disturbing images like this – rhetorical exaggerations to remind people of any negative experience they’ve ever had with a government agency. But the vast majority of employees at any level of government are…

Bend, Oregon<br />In just over two years, Bend, Oregon has seen major benefits to restructuring its emergency response system, including reduced response times, increased reliability and an improvement in gender balance in fire department staff. But much of this would not have happened without the support and skilled management tactics of professional City Manager, Eric King,…

Managing the human resources department is interesting to say the least. On one hand, I have been a candidate and suffered the experience of submitting a resume that seemed to be sucked into a bureaucratic black hole. On the other hand, I have been overwhelmed by inquiries from anxious candidates looking for status update only…

Longmont, Colorado<br />Longmont, Co. lies at the foot of the Rocky Mountains. The area is strikingly flat in comparison to what lies just 30 minutes away in the National Park that celebrates the mountain chain. That drastic drop in elevation leads to major runoff as waters flow east off of the mountains and in 2013, Longmont…