PODCAST · government
PCC Local Time
by Nancy Joan Hess
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]
Episodes
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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…
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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 Hall In 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...
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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...
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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...
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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…
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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…
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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...
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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…
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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,...
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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....
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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...
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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...
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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.net In this episode of the APMM Series, produced in partnership...
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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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Back from ICMA in Tampa - and a Deep Dive on Trust, Boundaries, and the Human Side of Leadership
Fresh from the ICMA Conference in Tampa, the Generation on the Rise crew dives into how to draw the line between leadership and politics. Eden reflects on his ICMA session about rebuilding trust after a $3.2 million fraud case, while Dave and Brandon unpack what it means to stay apolitical and...
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APMM Series: Mapping our Path to Sustainable Communities with Sara Gibson, Bailey Rocco and Kate Robeson Grubb
🎧 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 on Sustainability, host Nancy Hess talks with three guests who are redefining what local...
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Generation on the Rise - Episode 2 - Networking, Mentorship, and the Art of Going There
PCC Local Time is pleased to share another episode of a new podcast series, Generation on the Rise, a great companion piece to the content we post here and something we think you are all going to like. In this podcast series, local government's next generation sits down to talk about what's...
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Generation on the Rise — Episode 1 - The New Normal: Why We Chose Local Government
PCC Local Time is pleased to share the the first episode of a new podcast series, Generation on the Rise, a great companion piece to the content we post here and something we think you are all going to like. In this podcast series, local government's next generation sits down to talk about what's...
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APMM SERIES: Lessons from Town Gown Leaders Nicole Sipos, Rebecca DeSantis-Randall and Jessica Whitely
In this episode of PCC Local Time, produced in collaboration with the Association of Pennsylvania Municipal Management (APMM), host Nancy Hess explores the evolving relationship between universities and their surrounding communities — the so-called “Town Gown” connection. Our guests — borough...
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The Limits of Empathy - A Book Discussion about Paul Bloom's book "Against Empathy"
In the first MuniSquare Book discussioin Podcast, colleagues dive into Paul Bloom’s provocative book Against Empathy. Bloom argues that emotional empathy can mislead us, create bias, and open us to manipulation. Instead, he proposes cultivating rational compassion. Our panel wrestles with the...
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APMM 2025 Roundtable Series - Southeastern Dispatch with John Ernst, Amanda Lafty and Dave Burman
In this episode of PCC Local Time, we sit down with three dynamic municipal leaders from southeastern Pennsylvania—John Ernst (Lansdale Borough), Amanda Lafty (Upper Merion Township), and Dave Burman (Haverford Township). Representing three generations of managers, they dive into the hard…
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APMM 2025 Series - Western Roundtable Dispatch - Greg Primm, Kristen Denne and Seth Abrams
This is the first episode of the APMM 2025 podcast series featuring regional roundtables. We are joined by three municipal managers: Greg Primm from Lower Burrell, Kristen Denne from Bethel Park, and Seth Abrams from Forest Hills. We talk about emotional resilience and the personal toll of being...
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Mike Baumwoll on why human-connected communication matters in local government.
In this episode of PCC Local Time, Nancy Hess talks with Mike Baumwoll, co-founder and CEO of Rep’d, about how short-form video and authentic communication are transforming how local governments engage with their communities. From AI-driven script tools to lessons from Twitter and the...
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Everyday Resistance & Local Power: Exploring James C. Scott with Mike Rowe
This is a cross-over podcast episode from our Substack site MuniSquare. We hope you will enjoy and follow subscribe if you like what you see. In this episode Nancy Hess and Mike Rowe from the University of Liverpool explore James C. Scott's groundbreaking book "Seeing Like a State" and its…
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APMM Series: She Leads - Not by Accident: Stephanie Mason, Amy Farkas, Stephanie Teoli Kuhls & Amanda Serock
A few weeks ago, APMM concluded another successful conference in Lancaster Pennsylvania. This episode is a recording from one of the sessions and is part of the 2025 APMM series. In this session, four past presidents of APMM open up about what it means to lead while legacy still shapes the norms....
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APMM Series: The Return of the Managers: Reckoning with the Pennsylvania Exception: A conversation with Municipal Managers who left Pennsylvania
In this powerful session from the APMM annual conference, three former Pennsylvania municipal managers—now working in other states—return to reflect on the structural and political challenges facing the profession in Pennsylvania. They explore what’s holding the profession back, including…
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APMM Series: Pre-Conference Chat with Dan Santoro, APMM President and Sara Gibson, Conference Chair.
Today we have a special first episode of our 2025 APMM series with guests Dan Santoro, Incoming President of APMM and Sara Gibson, Conference Chair. We are going to chat about the upcoming APMM conference in Lancaster, Pennsylvania – Monday, May 19th – Wednesday May 21st. This year’s theme is…
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APMM SERIES: Navigating the Status of the Profession: Insights from Tom Fountaine, David Kratzer Jr and George Needles
In this episode of our APMM series, we dive into the evolving world of local government leadership. I'm thrilled to be joined by three distinguished guests: Tom Fountaine, George Needles, and Dave Kratzer. Together, they bring decades of experience and deep insight into the challenges and...
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Adaptive Thinking and Leadership in Policing with Lou Hayes Jr. and Gary Wong
Today we explore how adaptive thinking, emotional intelligence, and innovative frameworks like the OODA loop and Cynefin transform problem-solving are impacting policing. Lou Hayes Jr., a detective sergeant, and complexity facilitator Gary Wong share insights on navigating uncertainty, fostering...
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Coaxing Out Potential: Coaching Teams and Leaders with Yaron Prywes
In this episode, I sit down with Yaron Prywes, a coaching psychologist, executive coach, and educator whose career has been dedicated to helping leaders and teams reach their full potential. We explore the transformative power of coaching—how it builds trust, unlocks self-awareness, and helps...
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APMM Series: The Life and Times of Larry Comunale
Larry Comunale is a seasoned municipal manager whose career has spanned decades of challenges, growth, and impact. In this episode, Larry reflects on his journey from rigid labor negotiations to fostering trust-based relationships and community cohesion. He shares invaluable insights into...
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APMM SERIES: As the Board Turns: Lessons in Board Transitions and Leadership with Scott Hutt and Sara Gibson
Board transitions can bring about hand wringing or a promise of welcome change, they may feel like a small shift or a seismic one. But at root, there are fundamental lessons to be learned if you, as the executive leader or manager, are going through one for the first time. On today's show, we...
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AI in local government: A conversation with Joe Mench
How many of us feel overwhelmed by the amount of information coming at us about AI today? One of my best thought partners on the topic of AI is Joe Mench, Assistant Manager at Muhlenberg Township in Berks County Pennsylvania. He is truly boots on the ground at the local government level and this...
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Bring your ideas and expertise to life: A conversation with Ghostwriter Emily Crookston
Have you ever thought about capturing your ideas in a book, a TED Talk, or maybe a blog? Perhaps you have a story to tell, expertise to share, or ideas that pile up but never quite come together in a cohesive way. If this sounds like you, stay tuned. In this episode, Emily Crookston explains why...
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APMM Series: Navigating the Crossroads: Crandall Jones on Career Transitions in City Management
In this episode, we explore the multi-faceted career of Crandall Jones, a seasoned City Manager. His is not a predictable story, but one with many twists and turns. Crandall opens up about the challenges that impacted his big decisions. Crandall is currently the Chief Administrative Officer at...
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APMM Series: When Tradition Meets Transformation: A conversation with Rick Kane
In this episode of the PCC Local Time Podcast, we explore the evolving landscape of fire services with Rick Kane, the Manager of Manheim Township and a former Fire Chief. Rick offers unique insights into the critical transition from volunteer to career fire departments, focusing on the importance...
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APMM Series: From Volunteer to Career: Evolving Fire Services in Northampton Township with Robert Pellegrino and Adam Selisker
In this episode, we delve into the evolving relationship between a Township Manager and a Fire Chief, focusing on transitioning from a volunteer to a career fire service. This episode is a fascinating inside look at how a rural community that becomes a suburban one transitions from a volunteer to…
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Fire Services: A conversation with Bert Brugghemans about decision making in crises
Bert Brugghemans joins us from the City of Antwerp, where he serves as the Chief Fire Officer. Today, we'll gain Bert’s perspective on leadership and decision-making when routine operations turn into rapid response situations. We talk about Bert's research and how he has progressed his thinking...
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APMM Series: Stephanie Teoli Kuhls and Sandra Zadell on labor relations and the path from conflict to collaboration..
Welcome to another episode in the APMM Series on PCC Local Time. I am your host Nancy Hess Our guests today offer us a glimpse of how labor relations in your municipality can help or hinder your efforts as a manager, and significantly impact your workplace. What is unique about labor relations is...
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APMM Series: A conversation with Peter Buck about Local Government's Role in Climate Action
This episode is part of our APMM series on Community Health. Today we dig deeper into the connection between climate action and community health. Our guest, Peter Buck, co-directs the Local Climate Action Program and is the Associate Director of Climate and Sustainability Education at Penn State...
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
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]
HOSTED BY
Nancy Joan Hess
CATEGORIES
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does PCC Local Time have?
PCC Local Time currently has 104 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is PCC Local Time about?
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...
How often does PCC Local Time release new episodes?
PCC Local Time publishes regularly with 104 episodes available. Check the episode list for the typical release schedule.
Where can I listen to PCC Local Time?
You can listen to PCC Local Time on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts PCC Local Time?
PCC Local Time is created and hosted by Nancy Joan Hess.
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