Donald Trump’s tariff policies pose an economic threat to Rochester Hills, Michigan — and Republican Mayor Bryan Barnett has not been shy about speaking out. “More robots are made in my city than in any other city in North America,” Barnett told Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed and former Philly Mayor Michael Nutter, along with Citizen Co-founder Larry Platt, in the latest episode of the podcast. “Our two biggest trading partners — and it’s not even close — are Canada and Mexico.” Barnett has held onto the mayoral office for an astounding 18 years — in no small part because of his unique style of “governtainment,” as well as the realization that cities are firmly in the business of customer service. “Our competition isn’t who you think: It’s Amazon,” Barnett says. “If you can get something delivered to your house from across the world in 24 hours, but it takes four or five visits to city hall to get a dog license, people say this just doesn’t make any sense. Most mayors are more practical than political, so while I am Republican, most of my day-to-day work is solving problems for our community.” “What you’re doing is good for the soul of the country,” Reed tells him. Join us for a conversation about getting shit done, all while entertaining your city along the way. Remember to subscribe to the podcast to keep up on all the latest episodes. You can watch highlights from this episode or view the full podcast right on YouTube. As cities go, so goes the nation!
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43:36
Where Local Matters
In this episode, former Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed and former Philly Mayor Michael Nutter, along with Citizen Co-founder Larry Platt, bring Scranton Mayor Paige Cognetti onto the show. Cognetti is demonstrating how cities are blazing a way forward amidst the daily chaos spilling out of Washington, D.C. “This is where local matters,” Cognetti says. “At the local level, we’re nimble, we’re able to try things that are harder at the state level, and definitely at the national level.” “I think you’re modeling a new way,” says Platt. “You’re in that mold of the efficient governing wing of the Democratic Party.” Join us for this episode about “green shoots of encouragement” coming right from Scranton, PA. Remember to subscribe to the podcast to keep up on all the latest episodes. You can even watch the conversation play out on YouTube. As cities go, so goes the nation!
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45:16
The “Elusive Wizard” Of Housing
In our latest episode, former Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed and former Philly Mayor Michael Nutter, along with Citizen Co-founder Larry Platt, invite an “elusive wizard” onto the show. Bruce Katz is the Founding Director of the Nowak Metro Finance Lab at Drexel University, and an architect of the National Housing Crisis Task Force at Accelerator For America. “Bruce has forgotten more about cities than I’ll ever know,” Larry tells our mayors before referencing the Trump Administration’s gutting of federal agencies and funding. “Given your experience, Bruce, how scared should we be?” “This is a war on the poor,” Katz says. “This is a war on science. This is abandoning our allies and the dismantling of the federal government. We should be very scared.” That doesn’t mean there is no hope, though. “The U.S. has always shown the power of the local,” Katz tells the hosts. “We are really unlike any other place in the world. We have a long tradition of volunteerism, philanthropy and corporate engagement. It’s local. People are committed to place. This will be our salvation.” Join us for this episode about how to really fix housing in this country. Remember to subscribe to the podcast to keep up on all the latest episodes. You can even watch the conversation play out on YouTube. As cities go, so goes the nation!
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51:29
Will Civility Save Us?
Years of acrimony and conflict in our national politics has unfortunately trickled down to cities, where disdain for civil servants — and each other — has had a chilling effect on the work needed to get things done. So what can we do about it? Former Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed and former Philly Mayor Michael Nutter sat down with Diane Kalen-Sukra, a former city manager, current evangelist for political civility and author of Save Your City: How Toxic Culture Kills Community & What To Do About It — the perfect guest to explain how we can bring down the temperature of our political conversations … and what happens if we don’t. “Incivility exists on a spectrum,” Kalen-Sukra said, “but it leads to mobbing, harassment, then threats, then violence, and ultimately civil war.” “Has there been an inflection point over the last 10, 15 years, where you saw an uptick in incivility?” Nutter asked. “And when we have a conversation about what happened,” Reed interjected, “The President of the United States has traditionally been the exemplar of behavior and decorum. Donald Trump opened up a tear in the fabric of our society.” “There’s no question that our social fabric is unraveling right now,” Kalen-Sukra responded. “And unless we address incivility intentionally, it is only going to escalate. It spreads like a contagion. Because civility is not about being nice. It's about having the backbone to boldly speak the truth, even in difficult situations." Also on this episode’s Accelerator for America policy segment, the mayors discuss the role of bipartisanship in these times and the importance of “keeping the American team together.” Remember to subscribe to the podcast to keep up on all the latest episodes. You can even watch the conversation play out on YouTube. As cities go, so goes the nation!
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50:18
Cities Under Siege
On our latest episode, former Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed and former Philly Mayor Michael Nutter invite onto the show Tom Henkey, who served for six years as Chicago's Senior Emergency Management Coordinator. Henkey is currently the Director of Emergency Management for Titan Security Group, and adjunct faculty at DePaul University. In the wake of weather-related emergencies all across the countries, not the least of which being the horrific fires that have devastated L.A., Henkey is a timely and knowledgeable guest for this moment. Emergencies like these, Reed said, show why being a mayor is one of the three toughest jobs in government. “During every mayoralty, there is something unforeseen that happens.” “Yes,” Henkey said, “and two former mayors of Chicago were voted out of office because they botched … or were perceived to have botched a major response to a weather event.” “We thank our first responders for their service,” our hosts noted, “but most people aren’t aware of the service of city emergency managers. So, thank you.” And in our first-ever policy segment from our partners at Accelerator for America, we hear about the National Housing Crisis Task Force, which is currently tackling one of the thorniest issues of our time. Remember to subscribe to the podcast to keep up on all the latest episodes. You can even watch the conversation play out on YouTube. As cities go, so goes the nation!
About How to Really Run a City powered by Accelerator for America
Former Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed, former Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter, and Philadelphia Citizen co-founder Larry Platt talk about what it really takes to get sh*t done in cities on How to Really Run a City powered by Accelerator for America. New episodes twice monthly.
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