PCC Local Time
By Nancy Joan Hess
Categories: Government, Society & Culture, Documentary, Business, Management
No other level of government impacts us as much in our daily lives as local government. For the last 40 years I have been talking to managers as an organization consultant and am as fascinated by their work today as when I began. The professional municipal manager is entrusted with a ship that often runs over rough waters even as it delivers vital services to communities. This show is about the ideas and innovation that will drive the future of the profession of municipal management. If you are interested in learning more about the Pioneering Change Community, sign up for the Friday newsletter and get access to more in-depth episode information. Check for a link in the show notes. [Intro and exit music by Joseph Hess. Cover art by Nancy Hess]
105 episodes indexed on PodSearch.
Recent episodes
- A Problem that Lives in Many Places with Christa Breum Amhøj
I have spent much of my professional life working with people inside local government organizations. Helping them learn together, build relationships, think differently about problems and discover new ways of working.But what happens when we take that work outside the organization and into the…
- The Glue that Binds Better Together: A Conversation with Pennsylvania's Councils of Government
What happens when municipalities stop trying to solve every problem alone?In this episode, members of the Pennsylvania Councils of Government explore how intermunicipal cooperation creates capacity, improves services and helps communities learn from one another. Patrick Conners of South Hills COG…
- APMM Series: Sandra Zadell and John Ernst: Affordable for Whom? Managers on the Front Lines of the Housing Crisis
When the Housing Crisis Comes to Town HallIn this APMM series episode, Nancy Hess speaks with John Ernst, Borough Manager of Lansdale, and Sandra Zadell, Township Manager of Upper Gwynedd, about what the housing crisis looks like from the municipal manager’s desk.The conversation begins with an…
- So this is goodbye....Closing a chapter on Generation on the Rise
As producer and publisher here at MuniSquare on Substack, today’s post is hard to write… we have decided to bring the Generation on the Rise podcast to a close, at least for now. Dave, Brandon and Nancy start off with a little light bantor today before making their way to the core message which…
- APMM Series: The Role of Emergency Management: From a Title on Paper to a Mature Agency
What does a mature emergency management program look like before a community is tested? In this 2026 APMM series episode of PCC Local Time, Nancy Hess talks with Shawn Kauffman, Fire Director for the Centre Region Council of Governments and former Emergency Management Coordinator, about the human…
- A 25-Year Relationship, Expressed in Three Words: How safety culture rests on wellness and connection.
"I need help."There are conversations in local government that change how you think about leadership. This is one of them. In this episode of PCC Local Time, I sit down with Chief David Lash of Northern York County Regional Police and Chief Dave Steffen, retired chief of Northern Lancaster County…
- APMM SERIES: What Does a Four-Star Restaurant Have to Do With Local Government? Unreasonable Hospitality in Public Service
Two municipal managers introduced host Nancy to the same book: Unreasonable Hospitality by Will Guidara. Chris Garges and Joe Hogarth (also Chief of Police) join her to unpack what a four-star Manhattan restaurant can teach local government. Through a municipal lens, they talk about the front of…
- The Stories We Carry: On James C. Scott and the Art of Not Being Governed
Why would anyone choose to evade governance, and what do contemporary versions of that choice look like in the communities we serve? What familial stories do we carry forward that are, at root, an attempt to evade government?The late James C. Scott, Yale political scientist, agrarian studies…
- Who Decides What a Place is Worth? Guests Christa Breum Amhøj, and John Diamond
Who gets to decide the value of a place? In other words, who gets to decide the metric?I brought that question to Christa Breum Amhøj, a Danish practitioner, researcher, and what I can only describe as a social architect because she reads a place the way a building architect reads a site. And to…
- Generation on the Rise: Marbles in the Pocket
Brandon Ford rejoins Dave Pribulka and Eden Ratliff and wastes no time stepping back into the role of host. He deftly guides the conversation from how have expectations changed for managers to something much deeper that touches on what it means to be apolitical in this new reality and how…
- APMM Series: Who Really Shapes the Future of a Place? with Erin Trone and Keri (MIller) Kenepp
Economic development isn’t just about buildings and business, sidewalks and parking, blighted malls and dying downtowns, housing shortages and shrinking workforces, casino controversies and data center ordinances. It’s actually about facilitating conversations with the people invested in the…
- APMM Series: What Happens When a Community Wants to Change its Local Government?
Structural change in local government is rare. Therefore, we don’t often get the opportunity to learn how it works.My three guests today, Jerry Andree, Toby Cordek, and Michael Foreman were invited to work with a group of engaged citizens in Millcreek Township, Erie County to shepard a community…
- Finding Your Place: Why Boroughs Demand Everything. A conversation with Maggie Dobbs
Maggie Dobbs is a trained city planner (Rutgers) who spent a decade writing comprehensive plans across Montgomery County before stepping into her current role as Borough Manager of Narberth, Pennsylvania, a half-square-mile community tucked inside Lower Merion Township just outside of…
- Free Agency in Local Government: A conversation with Brad Gotshall about protection, advocacy and reputation.
There is a polite fiction in local government that serving “at the pleasure of the governing body” rests securely on mutual trust. Often it does. Increasingly, it can feel more fragile.In today’s political climate, the employment relationship between elected officials and their chief…
- Crisis as the New Normal - Management Under Pressure with Jeffrey Stonehill
Eden and Dave are joined by guest Jeffrey Stonehill, Borough Manager of Chambersburg Pennsylvania. They begin with an examination of how crises today differ from those Jeffrey encountered when he began in the field. Although they traverse the doom and gloom of dealing with crisis in the…
- Heavy Lies the Crown - The Managers Toughest Job
Hey listeners, if you like video with your podcast, check out this episode on Spotify with the video feed included. Don't forget to hit the follow button. And subscribe to MuniSQuare where you will find more on the Pioneering Change Community channel."We are all one elected official away from a…
- Inform, Respect, Deliver: Local Government Managers in the Policy Arena
In this kickoff-to-2026 episode of Generation on the Rise, hosts Dave Pribulka, Brandon Ford, and Eden Ratliff tackle the question: what is the real role of a municipal manager in forming local government policy? Generation on the Rise is produced by Nancy Hess (Publisher of MuniSquare) and…
- When Loyalty Gets Complicated in Local Government - Generation on the Rise shows us some heat!
Summary: In this thought-provoking episode, Brandon, Dave, and Eden tackle the complex topic of workplace loyalty in local government. The hosts debate what loyalty means in practice, whether it’s connected to tenure, and how it differs from professionalism. The conversation takes an unexpected…
- Strategic Planning: From Vision to the Cross-offable Action
As the calendar year closes out, Eden Ratliff sits down with Brandon Ford and Dave Pribulka to talk about strategic planning in the real world: not as a glossy document, but as a working “rudder” for budget decisions, priorities, and day-to-day execution.They dig into the tension between…
- Generation on the Rise: Navigating Bias in Local Government
In this episode of ‘Generation on the Rise’, the hosts Dave Pribulka, Eden Ratliff, and Brandon Ford “go there” to unpack the inherent biases present in local government, and how it can impact decision-making processes.They explore how biases affect hiring practices and public policy formation…
- Generation on the Rise: Work Life Balance
In this episode, Brandon Ford leads the conversation with co- hosts Eden Ratlif and Dave Pribulka. They discuss the challenges of work-life balance in local government, touching on public comment dynamics, the pioneering leaf blower ban initiative, and the importance of personal life beyond work…
- APMM Series: Everybody’s Hometown: How Media Borough Built a Sense of Place with Brittany Forman
🎧 This episode of PCC Local Time is part of the APMM Series, featuring conversations with Pennsylvania’s municipal managers and leaders about the evolving practice of local government.In this episode, I talk with Brittany Forman, Manager of Media Borough in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, about…
- Generation on the Rise - How to Shape Your Team
Hosts Dave Pribulka, Eden Ratliff, and Brandon Ford, candid talk about shaping your team in your municipal organizations. They explore the essential roles needed in local government, the importance of dedicated HR departments, and the challenges of managing diverse personalities within teams. The…
- APMM Series - City Managers as Deliberative Systems Leaders with Martín Carcasson
🎧 This episode of PCC Local Time is part of the APMM Series, featuring conversations with Pennsylvania’s municipal managers and leaders about the evolving practice of local government.Follow APMM on LinkedIn and Read more at APMM.netIn this episode of the APMM Series, produced in partnership with…
- Conditions for Change: What it Takes to Move......a team, an organization, a local government.
Hosts Dave Pribulka, Eden Ratliff, and Brandon Ford, are joined by Nancy Hess for a candid talk about what real change management looks like in local government. They explore how trust, timing, and human connection shape change — from labor negotiations to leadership teams to community-driven…
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