City Manager Unfiltered Podcast

Clarendon City Administrator Brian Barboza, CPM literally started at the bottom and worked his way to "the chair." When he was a young man, recently graduated from high school, Hereford City Manager Rick Hanna took an interest and gave him an application to become an employee in the streets department. Barboza worked for the city while going to college with plans to becoming a police officer. A fateful conversation with Hanna who pitched Barboza on the idea of becoming a city manager would forever change his life. In this episode, we talk about how Brian worked his way up from the bottom and how important it is to have mentors and people who believe in you. You can listen to that episode here: https://lnkd.in/eEgfimDM

City Manager Brooks W. brings a passionate but demanding philosophical approach to local government. He joins the program to talk about the importance of innovation and efficiency, accountability, employee development, and building strong relationships with your elected officials as he leads the City of Ferris, Texas. Brooks recently published "Rising to Serve," which I can only describe as his personal love letter to public service and city management. The foreward was penned by the incomparable Tommy Gonzalez. In his book, available on Amazon, Brooks sets out on a mission to reimagine public administration in this era of unprecedented change. I enjoyed my time with Brooks and I believe you will enjoy this episode, too. ------ This episode is sponsored by KUDO. They provide live speech translation of city council meetings and public hearings. This allows those who are hearing impaired or struggle with English as a second language to follow and understand public meetings because they can translate into 45+ languages. I negotiated a FREE, no risk, one month trial offer that is only available to my listeners. If you would like to try this out in your community for FREE, please visit this link: https://lnkd.in/eXmMsAgP

Some people see the hypocrisy. Others see it and don't care. Imagine you are a member of the ICMA in good standing for more than a decade. You do the right thing and hold the "ethics guru" accountable in a polite and professional manner. You are then retaliated against by that ethics guru and her subordinate on three bogus ethics investigations where you are finally censured publicly and stripped of your credential. You then have to sit back and watch as your persecutors are rewarded with promotions, a retirement ceremony, and an award named in honor of one of them. And not just any award -- an award for advocacy for the profession.

As I predicted, the ICMA finally capitulated and settled the anti-defamation lawsuit brought forth by Michigan city manager James Freed. As part of the agreement where financial details were not releaed, the ICMA agreed to retract the censure by removing it from their website. The settlement was announced via a joint statement on ICMA letterhead. However, I have received overwhelmingly negative responses from the city managers in my network regarding the language of that statement. In this episode, I dissect the statement and compare it to the original press release issued by the ICMA when it announced the public censure of James Freed. And now that this matter has been resolved to the satisfaction of both parties -- we ponder the logical question that remains: Now what? You can listen to the episode here: https://lnkd.in/ezqv_SfC

Massive interest in the podcast as we smashed the all-time high for single day downloads. Listenership has been very strong since the ICMA broke its silence on September 6th and commented on the James Freed lawsuit. Don't forget how they equated Freed to a disgruntled gadfly filing a frivolous lawsuit. Don't forget how they called me a peddler of misinformation and disinformation. Trust me -- I will not be forgetting that. Just remember this when they settle with Freed so they can keep those depositions sealed and count on the loyalists burying their head in the sand.

Things are heating up in the battle between Port Huron City Manager James Freed and the ICMA over the last two weeks. The two-year saga began in June 2022 when the ICMA publicly censured Freed and stripped him of his credential. Freed countered with a lawsuit alleging the ICMA engaged in a conspiracy to defame him. On September 5, 2024, Freed sent out an email along with a 21-page court filing. On Friday the 6th, the ICMA issued its first public statement on the lawsuit mentioning James Freed by name and referencing yours truly indirectly. On Monday the 9th, Freed and the ICMA once again made public statements. Freed addressed his employees at an annual luncheon and spoke about the lawsuit and upcoming trial. His remarks were about 20 minutes long and have been included in this podcast. Additionally, the ICMA's director of advocacy pubished an article on its website. Jason Grant argued that public censures were not punitive and defended the organization. However, the final paragraph signaled to me thta the organization is preparing to settle with Freed while trying to save face. You can listen to the podcsat here: https://lnkd.in/dZHAatA5

Audree Guzman refused to become a statistic and has courageously battled through childhood sexual molestation and domestic abuse as a young woman. We discuss her battles along with other struggles encompassing eating disorders and mental health issues. This is very powerful episode but listener discretion is strongly advised. Check it out here: https://lnkd.in/eBvseABM

Audree Guzman was hired into her first city administrator gig at the beginning of the COVID pandemic. Less than a year later, she would be forced to deal with another historic event that rocked her community. In this episode, Audree and I discuss the trials and tribulations she faced down in her first city administrator gig in small town Kansas. We also discuss the impact a mentor had on her and what impact, if any, her being a Latina in a predominantly white state has had on her career. Originally planned to be a single episode interview, Audree and I ended up spending considerable time discussing the impacts of child and domestic abuse on our lives. This segment of the conversation will be released next week in part two of the series. https://lnkd.in/e5ZTx6Vk

In Part 2 of my interview with Sam T. of CiviSocial, we discuss keyboard warriors and social media terrorists. I offer up my distinction between the two and urge elected officials to exercise more discernment when evaluating online attacks. We discuss the outsized impact of the minority, whether they are truly engaged and participating in the process, and how spineless elected officials can send demoralizing signals and messages to their staff. Sam also shares a secret tip he uses to differentiate himself from the competition when competing for jobs. If you are a public sector executive or aspire to become one, you should definitely listen for this little nugget in the first half of the episode. You can listen to this episode at this link or all major podcasting platforms: https://lnkd.in/epqxfheV

Baker Tilly Public Sector Executive Recruitment is getting smoked on X after making a huge blunder with the City of Dallas recruitment. For $130,000, you can hire the Baker Tilly braintrust to put a picture of the Houston skyline on your next city manager recruitment brochure. Thankfully, this was just a "draft" version. It could have been worse. Remember when they went live with the El Paso brochure that was riddled with mistakes (see last slide)? Baker Tilly is arguably the worst recruitment firm operating in the space. Stop hiring them! #BoycottBakerTilly