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PODCAST

Municipal Equation Podcast

NC League of Municipalities

Municipal Equation is a podcast about cities and towns in changing times. Created by the North Carolina League of Municipalities. Producer/host: Ben Brown.

government documentary

All Episodes

16:57

Episode 100: Shop With A Cop

Municipal Equation Podcast ·

2025/11/25

We've had many great occasions on this podcast to highlight different ways local governments maintain warmth and trust with the community. For our 100th episode, coinciding with Thanksgiving week, we chat with the Town of Davidson about its Shop With A Cop program underway right now, in which local police officers give children from economically disadvantaged families an unforgettable holiday experience. Other towns have similiar initiatives; Davidson walks us through how theirs works, how its

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22:53

Episode 99: Clerks

Municipal Equation Podcast ·

2025/10/23

This historic, fascinating and expansive world of municipal clerks is the focus our latest episode. Folks who believe clerks mostly just serve to prepare agenda packets and record council vote outcomes might be surprised by how far and wide the job goes. It’s one of the most public-facing roles in town hall; generally, the clerk is the one employee that law requires municipal governments to have. Municipal Equation traveled to Cherokee recently for the annual conference and 50th anniversary of the

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37:08

Episode 98: From the 'Top of the Arc'

Municipal Equation Podcast ·

2025/09/25

Cary Town Manager Sean Stegall is on the podcast discussing his new book, "." From the book's promotional materials: "Instilling a 'people first' philosophy, Stegall and the elected Cary Town Council are reshaping local government through collaboration, experimentation, innovation, and adaptation. Cary remains an exceptional place to call home, an inspiring destination for visitors, and a compelling case study for helping keep cities strong."

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30:56

Episode 97: Renew NC, Rebuilding from Helene (One...

Municipal Equation Podcast ·

2025/09/25

We're joined by Stephanie McGarrah of the NC Department of Commerce for a discussion of resources to rebuild homes that Hurricane Helene damaged or destroyed in the North Carolina mountains exactly one year ago. We cover the Renew NC initiative, its Single-Family Housing Program (https://renewnc.org/), and other relief, including free assistance that NCLM offers, for the people of western NC.

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39:15

Episode 96: Building a Town Center

Municipal Equation Podcast ·

2025/08/27

As with other episodes of Municipal Equation, this one originated from a casual, hallway conversation with a local government official. In this instance, podcast host Ben Brown was chatting at a League event with Mayor TJ Cawley of Morrisville, who'd noted the progress there in a major project to essentially build a downtown from scratch, as Morrisville up to this point hasn't had one. The idea is to create that convergence of residence, business variety, fun and identity that can bring locals

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42:41

Episode 95: Municipal EVs

Municipal Equation Podcast ·

2025/07/24

Are electric vehicles, or EVs, right for your municipal fleet? They've surged in everyday popularity over the past 20 years and now are available from most of the mainstream automakers. Increasingly, governments and agencies are bringing on EVs, and peers are researching the merits. But EVs have evolved a lot, and it's easy to talk about them in general conversation with outdated info. So, we reached out to an expert to better understand today's context and possibilities with municipal government

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26:05

Episode 94: Civic Trust, Together (With Matt Lehrman)

Municipal Equation Podcast ·

2025/06/26

Public leaders often find themselves in situations of disagreement -- and that's not inherently bad. "Effective leadership isn't about avoiding disagreement," says Matt Lehrman, a civic facilitator and past CityVision keynote speaker. He adds: "Disagreement isn't just natural; it's necessary." On this half-hour episode, Lehrman of Social Prosperity Partners circles back with Municipal Equation to go over the overarching importance of a shared sense of purpose and effective communication points so

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47:35

Episode 93: Marion's GEM, Sanford's RISE

Municipal Equation Podcast ·

2025/05/22

One of Municipal Equation’s favorite topics to cover is the kind of partnership and idea-sharing that can make success easier for everyone. When the City of Marion learned about a commerce-boosting concept that seemed to work for other cities, they tried it, and it worked for them. When the City of Sanford learned about it from Marion, they tried it, and it worked for them, too. In this instance, it was two cities in separate parts of the state with the initiative to directly trade know-how, and it

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30:53

Episode 92: For the COOP (Continuity of Operations)

Municipal Equation Podcast ·

2025/04/24

Emergencies happen, and sometimes at scales that surprise us. We can shrug, or we can invest that sensitivity. That goes for all of us, and our shared stakes in the kind of local governance that can keep vital functions going for communities amid disruptive wildcards like hurricanes or other natural disasters. More than a basic conversation for our cities and towns, it's filled with varying nuance, science and new technologies for better outcomes. Deeply familiar with the subject is Bill Hollingsed,

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23:52

Episode 91: Municipal Community

Municipal Equation Podcast ·

2025/03/27

With any profession, hobby, cause or life experience, there's community. The NC League of Municipalities itself is an expression of that, and so are the many affiliate groups and friend organizations that seek to advance focus on nuanced issues as specifically understood by, for example, municipal clerks, or local government attorneys, or budget officers, or women serving in public office, or the many other groups that represent distinct communities or expertise. These groups create important

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25:56

Episode 90: WNC Recovery Communication

Municipal Equation Podcast ·

2025/02/27

In mid February, the League and its longtime friends at the N.C. Association of County Commissioners (NCACC) and western North Carolina region Councils of Governments held a second, large convening of governments -- local, state and federal -- in storm-hit Asheville to go over the latest in the post-Helene recovery work for western North Carolina, demonstrating again the power of same-page communication in a shared comeback that ultimately involves the entire state. The multimedia teams from the

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27:51

Episode 89: Car-Optional Cities

Municipal Equation Podcast ·

2025/01/23

It's nice to have a car, for all the practical reasons. But cars can be a bummer, too. They cost a lot up front, need regular maintenance, require insurance, lose on resale value, might have varying degrees of reliability along the way and bring other kinds of risks and exposures. What if that kind of stress went away for everyday folks? What if your town grew to be car-optional? Greensboro is one U.S. city looking at that possibility -- not as some kind of thought experiment, but as a reality. Two

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44:48

Episode 88: The Changing World of Cybersecurity

Municipal Equation Podcast ·

2024/12/19

There’s always something new with cybercrime – what it looks like, how it’s carried out, what the trends are, who the targets are, and on and on. It’s a full-on industry, and it evolves as such. There is, however, a constant: the fact that letting our guard down online can have enormous costs. Most of us exercise basic internet security smarts, but, with the landscape always changing, how do we keep informed enough to stay ahead of the bad guys? On this episode, we talk with cybersecurity expert

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21:10

Episode 87: The Hurricane Helene Recovery Begins

Municipal Equation Podcast ·

2024/11/26

Aerial views of Hurricane Helene's devastation in western North Carolina are hard enough to process, but imagine being in charge of the actual recovery. On this episode, we're going to hear directly from the leaders of these hard-hit communities about what they've witnessed and what they need right now to position for a comeback -- one that everyone expects will take a long time. But they're on it. Just recently, members of the NC League of Municipalities and the NC Association of County

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31:48

Episode 86: ARP Deadline Ahead

Municipal Equation Podcast ·

2024/10/22

We called it once-a-generation legislation when Congress passed it in 2021. The American Rescue Plan Act provided $1.9 trillion across the nation to restrengthen from the global pandemic that hurt so many communities. For their part, the cities and towns of North Carolina got about $1.3 billion -- and there's an important deadline coming up with it, which you can learn more about at arp.nclm.org. We're joined on this episode by NCLM's Stephanie Hughes, who has traveled to various municipalities

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36:38

Episode 85: Commit to Civility

Municipal Equation Podcast ·

2024/09/26

While disagreement is a fact of life, and indeed it happens in the government space, there's a lot of potential in resolution. On this episode, we look at how local governing boards across North Carolina can tap into that together. Commit to Civility is a certification course from the N.C. League of Municipalities that explores the dynamics of discussion and disagreement and provides local leaders with the tools to navigate tense or emotionally charged situations with composure and respect. NCLM's

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31:56

Episode 84: Dangerous Crossroads

Municipal Equation Podcast ·

2024/08/22

At a recent gathering of North Carolina municipal leaders, discussion briefly fell on a viral form of accountability activism from the public: “First Amendment audits," performed by citizen "auditors," with whom many local governments have had unforgettable experiences. Styles and practices of auditing vary, but generally in this context it’s the term for when private citizens, equipped with recording devices, occupy public spaces and engage with government officials (police officers, mostly) to

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43:31

EP 83: Navigating Police Challenges

Municipal Equation Podcast ·

2024/07/24

Municipal Equation over the years has covered the challenges and successes of local law enforcement in a variety of ways. Today, we hear from the League of Municipalities’ in-house Shield Services experts – Tom Anderson and Joe Graziano, both of whom help agencies through the times, able to cite their own experience on the clock as sworn officers – about what it’s looking like out there today for law enforcement and public safety. Analysis of risks and liabilities; work toward innovations and

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52:11

EP 82: Connecting City Hall and Residents

Municipal Equation Podcast ·

2024/06/27

Government communications, specifically the kind meant to connect with a diverse mix of everyday people, are always evolving in their reach, variety, and challenges. “I’ve been in the government communications side of things for 12 years, and it has changed dramatically over time,” said City of Hickory Communications and Marketing Manager Dana Kaminske. “It’s not just a press release anymore.” Kaminske, recently named Communicator of the Year by trade advancement group North Carolina City and County

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27:27

EP 81: Generative AI in Municipal Government

Municipal Equation Podcast ·

2024/05/28

You’ve heard of “artificial intelligence,” or AI, in one sense or another; we’ve been reckoning with the concept through books, movies and academic discussions since its earliest mentions in the 1950s. When you hear about it today, though, it’s typically in the context of “generative AI,” the rapidly evolving web-based tool that humans are using right now to enhance their worlds. Generative AI (like the popular ChatGPT engine, among others) writes up entire documents, draws up complex images,

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