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 NC Association of Municipal Clerks to record perspectives, wisdom and nuance that people might not realize about the profession. Learn more about the NC Association of Municipal Clerks: https://www.ncamc.com/
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Episode 98: From the 'Top of the Arc'
Cary Town Manager Sean Stegall is on the podcast discussing his new book, "Top of the Arc: Cocreating a More Innovative, Adaptive, and Effective Local Government." 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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Episode 97: Renew NC, Rebuilding from Helene (One Year Since the Storm)
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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Episode 96: Building a Town Center
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 together and give outsiders a new destination. Several years ago, we'd looked at how Kannapolis re-energized from hard times in part by remaking its downtown district, and so we brought Morrisville leaders onto Municipal Equation to ask how they imagined their project (a public-private pursuit called Morrisville Town Center), how they've involved the public, and how they intend to fill it with a distinctly local vibe.
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Episode 95: Municipal EVs
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 use. On this episode, guest John Bonitz of the NCSU Clean Energy Technology Center helps us out with questions about EVs, market points, costs, infrastructure needs and more. Notes: John Bonitz, NCSU Clean Energy Technology CenterÂ
Municipal Equation is a podcast about cities and towns in changing times. Created by the North Carolina League of Municipalities. Producer/host: Ben Brown.
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