#722 Public Communications and Building Trust in Rural Communities with Nick Lemmer, Goodhue County, MN

Nick Lemmer, Outreach & Communications Specialist for Goodhue County, Minnesota joined the podcast to discuss public communications. He talked about the challenge and importance of building trust in rural communities. He shared rebranding projects from his past position, communicating cost shifts in reduced federal funding, and public communication related to data centers. Host: Lauren Palmer

Emma Falkenstein, Associate Planner at Highland Planning joined the podcast to discuss participatory mapping. She talked about community walk audits and how can local governments can incorporate walk audits into their regular planning procedures. She also talked about the value of community relationships as it relates to shaping where people live. Host: Toney Thompson

Cori Zarek, Vice President for North America at Apolitical joined the podcast to talk about her career in public interest technology and helping make government smarter. She shared how Apolitical is working to support peer learning among government staffers and a recent report they published on 50 states, 50 breakthroughs from organizations across the country. She also discussed the trends and insights they have found in how government staffers are using artificial intelligence and how organizations can support their staff. Host: Meredith Reynolds

Chachi Angelo, Director of External Affairs at Pennie, the State of Pennsylvania's Health Insurance Marketplace, joined the podcast to discuss how state healthcare marketplaces and local governments are interconnected. He shared what the healthcare marketplace does and how residents interact with it, how municipalities partner with Pennie during enrollment periods, and how to communicate in a way that builds trust at the local level. Host: Marissa Baum

Joseph Sherlock, Assistant Professor of Behavioral Science and Public Policy at King's College London, joined the podcast to discuss the state of behavioral science in government. He talked about what is behavioral science and examples of how it has been applied in the public sector. Then he shared how the field is evolving and the importance of running experiments in your organization. Host: Toney Thompson

Two guests from Reno County, Kansas joined the podcast to talk about the process behind unifying rural fire districts. Randy Partington is the County Administrator for Reno County and Adam Weishaar is the Director of Emergency Management for Reno County. They shared the challenges the fire districts were facing that led to the unification such as equipment, training, and staffing issues. Then they discussed the transition toward consolidation and lessons learned and takeaways from their experience. Host: Lauren Palmer

Alex Lawrence, Chief People Officer for the City of Boston, Massachusetts, rejoined the podcast to talk about organizational change, development, and human resources. She discussed change management and the importance of communication for human resources. She shared how her background in innovation has influenced her career. She also reflected on local government trends from the last 10 years. Host: Ben Kittelson

Chyanne Eyde, Deputy Chief of School Planning for the Government of the District of Columbia joined the podcast to discuss how not to engage historically marginalized communities in public outreach. She shared difficulties she was having in engagement and how it was negatively impacting her work. She then discussed how the engagement process has evolved and lessons learned in engagement. Host: Toney Thompson

José Madrigal, City Manager for the City of Durango, Colorado joined the podcast to talk about leadership and changing culture. He discussed his decision to take on the City Manager job and how he decided to leave Texas for Colorado. He shared how he got to know the organization, figured out what to change, and how he has worked to break down silos in the organization and create a unified leadership team. Host: Ben Kittelson

Yocelyn Galiano, Village Manager for the Village of Pinecrest, Florida joined the podcast to discuss their floating flower islands project to help with water pollution. She discussed what the project entails, the primary inspiration behind launching this pilot program, and how have the floating islands have performed so far in reducing invasive plant species and improving canal water quality. Host: Meredith Reynolds