Learning from successful and seasoned Mayors is not only helpful in gaining understanding…it is also a lot of fun! We welcome Caleb Housh, Mayor of Seymour, and Courtney Clark, Mayor of Waukee to The Square where they share about themselves, how they ended up in city government, their accomplishments, and what campaigning is like.…

Milestone birthdays only come around every so often. This year marks the 125th anniversary of the Iowa League of Cities. This is something worth celebrating for any organization, and we will be doing just that this year. We welcome Jess Vogel and Alan Kemp from the League to share their research and insight on the past 125 years and hear about seve…

Each year during the League's Annual Conference & Exhibit we get the honor of inducting someone to the Hall of Fame which recognizes individuals who have provided extraordinary public service to the League and local government. This year was no exception to that rule. This month on The Square, we chatted with our two newest Hall of Fame winners, La…

During this month’s episode, we welcome two very talented (and quite humorous!) city clerks as Trish Gleason with the city of Dubuque and Shelby Hagan with the city of Bondurant join The Square. Gleason and Hagan share how they ended up working as city clerks and the variety their job brings on a daily basis. This episode is full of fun and meaning…

As we all enjoy a nice, warm Iowa summer, The Square sits down with Waterloo Mayor Quentin Hart, whose community will serve as host to the League's 2022 Annual Conference & Exhibit. Mayor Hart and his team are excited to welcome city officials from around the state and show off the impressive work being done in Waterloo, including the redevelopment…

Why does my small city in Iowa need to worry about cyberattacks and cybersecurity? Why would we spend our city funds on something our citizens can’t even enjoy or see the benefits from? How do I know if an email is legit? This month on The Square we invite Cole Two Bears with ThinkGard to tackle these questions and more. We are certain that after h…

This might be called the "Fun Episode" as Parks and Rec Directors Matt Jermier with the City of Waukee and Nick Schenck with the City of Adel stopped by The Square for a great conversation. Both began their careers when the Parks & Recreation departments had just opened in their respective cities and they've been having fun ever since! Hear exactly…

This month we welcome Mayor Matt Walsh from Council Bluffs and Mayor Lorraine Borowski from Decorah. These two strong leaders share advice and wisdom from their combined 57 years of serving in some form of city government. Hear how they measure success, what it means to be “off the clock” as an elected official, and their favorite and least favorit…

This month’s episode features a conversation with the League’s governmental affairs team. Robert Palmer and Daniel Stalder share the importance of the interim months between legislative sessions and the foundation that happens during that time. We also hear an overview of the League’s Legislative Values and they discuss ways cities can become more …

Happy holidays! We're joined this month by Lohrville Mayor, and new League President, Donny Hobbs. Mayor Hobbs shares his perspective on the importance of public services, some of the work the city and local volunteers have done in his community, and what they're hoping to achieve in the near future. He also provides some of the goals he has for hi…

On this months episode we talked to a few of the award winners from our 2021 Annual Conference & Exhibit:Rhonda Wood Smith Award Winner: Holly Berg, Council Member, OttumwaHall of Fame Award Winner: John Lundell, Mayor, CoralvilleHall of Fame Award Winner: Decker Ploehn, City Administrator, BettendorfEach award winner offers great advice to newly e…

The League's Annual Conference & Exhibit is quickly approaching and The Square is joined by Kelly Hayworth, Coralville City Administrator, as he discusses the great events that his community will host in September. Kelly shares some of the benefits of attending the Annual Conference, the fun spots around the Iowa River Landing that attendees can en…

It may be summer but this fall’s regular city elections are right around the corner. This month we brought in Heidi Burhans with the Secretary of State’s Office who is a true expert in all thing’s elections. We discuss what cities need to do to prepare, the nomination process, what is required for someone to be eligible to be a candidate for electi…

What's your favorite place to visit in Iowa? In this month's episode, we chat with Amy Zeigler, the State Tourism Manager at the Iowa Tourism Office, about the many great places around the state to visit this summer. And our hosts, Katie Wheeler and Mickey Shields, also share some of their favorite summer travel spots. Give it a listen and let us k…

Spring is in full bloom and cities across Iowa are gearing up for summer programs and projects. Part of the work includes nuisance abatement, which is usually not a fun part of municipal government but always a necessity. This month's episode of The Square features a lively discussion on city nuisance abatement efforts as we are joined by Clinton's…

A community's road infrastructure is critical to daily life and in this month's episode, we are joined by Travis Goedken, Humboldt City Administrator, who talks about what it's like to manage a city's street system. Travis details the importance of planning and prioritizing needs, the different types of streets that the city maintains, and the proc…

Welcome back! After a bit of a delay, The Square is rolling again as this month we chat with IMWCA's Safety and Risk Improvement Team. Dean Schade, Scott Smith, and Staci Griffin provide insights into working safely during an Iowa winter, pitfalls to avoid, and navigating the roads when winter weather hits. We are then joined by Jim Holz of MSA, an…

City budget season has arrived! The Square chats with Marion's Budget Manager, Zach Wolfe, to get his thoughts on how to prepare for the city budget and what leads to a successful process. As a city official that is relatively new to Iowa, Zach also shares his perspective of learning our state's property tax system, fund accounting and more. We are…

Summer has ended, school has started and The Square is back with a new episode! We talk with Waterloo Mayor Quentin Hart, who was recently elected as President of the League. Mayor Hart shares what led him to serving on the city council and as mayor, the unique position of being a full-time mayor (a rarity in Iowa) and some of the fun and challenge…

Summer is rolling along and we have another episode of The Square for your listening pleasure! This month we talk to Erin Mullenix, the League's Research Director, who provides a rundown on the impact the COVID-19 pandemic is having on city finances. We discuss the various revenues that are projected to decline as well as expenditures that may be a…

How does a native of Southern California end up as the city administrator in Strawberry Point, Iowa? Find out in this month's episode of The Square! Alison Osweiler, who joined the city in 2016, talks about her interesting journey to Iowa and to municipal government. We talk about what it's been like to manage a city during a pandemic, some of the …

The Square is back with a new episode! Enjoy a fun interview with Stacy Goodhue, who serves as the library director for the City of Carlisle. We actually recorded this prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, but Stacy's thoughts on the importance of public libraries rings true now more than ever. Hear what it takes to run a city library and the various pro…

The Square took a break from its regularly scheduled interviews to talk about COVID-19 and the impact it has on city governments in Iowa. We cover some League news, including adjustments we have made thus far to scheduled in-person workshops and how we will continue to operate through remote working. We also discuss some of the critical issues citi…

Buckle up your seat belts! The Square chats with Grinnell Police Chief Dennis Reilly for an insightful discussion on community law enforcement and the critical role police departments play in our cities. Dennis shared some of his background of growing up in New Jersey and starting out as a police officer before eventually working his to becoming ch…

Our first episode of 2020! It's a new year, a new decade and we have a new edition of The Square that features a very interesting discussion about municipal public works. Scott Kleppe, Solon's Public Works Director, joins us to chat about how a city's water and wastewater system works. For those who have wondered how water gets to their faucet, or …

Happy holiday! The Square closes out 2019 with an interview of Tom Lazio, Ottumwa Mayor and President of the League Board. We learned some interesting things about Mayor Lazio's career before he entered public office and how that helped prepare him to be an effective mayor. He also shared some of the great work they're doing in Ottumwa, a few of th…

It is a busy time for the League as we are visiting various cities for our Budget Workshops and Municipal Leadership Academy. So, we decided to have a little fun with this episode with an idea that sparked during our travels. We have 942 great cities in Iowa and each have a unique character and some have a unique name. We discuss our favorite city …

You may have noticed The Square took last month off, but we promise we were busy! In fact, we grabbed some live interviews from the Exhibit Hall of this year's Annual Conference & Exhibit in Dubuque and had some fun chatting with a bunch of great city officials from around the state. Give those a listen and enjoy some of the sounds from the luau-th…

We're back with another fun episode of The Square! This month we focus on the value of training and highlight some important upcoming events hosted by the League. We talk about the 2019 Annual Conference & Exhibit, including some of the great workshops and networking events that attendees can join. And we also discuss this fall's Budget Workshops a…

It's sometimes easy to take employee safety for granted, but cities that have had to deal with workplace injuries know how critical workers' compensation coverage and a safe working environment is to a successful organization. This month we talk to Jeff Hovey and Dean Schade of the Iowa Municipalities Workers' Compensation Association (IMWCA) about…

It's summertime in Iowa, so we wanted to have a little fun with this episode and share some of our favorite city slogans and welcome signs that we've seen around the state. We talk about some of the clever city slogans, interesting welcome signs and memorable places that stand out to us. Check these out when you're out traveling this summer! There …

This month's episode features a recap of the recently completed legislative session, which includes several pieces of legislation important to city governments. We sat down with Robert Palmer and Daniel Stalder from the League's Government Affairs team to get their thoughts on the session. They provided some interesting perspectives on what it's li…

Nuisance abatement is challenging for all communities, and this month we sit down with Charlie Nichols, Linn County's Planning & Zoning Division Manager and formerly with the City of Burlington. Charlie offers his thoughts on how city's can effectively manage nuisance properties and describes the Healthy Neighborhoods program in Burlington, a proac…

The one from ColfaxOn the road again...that's right, The Square ventured out to Colfax for another fun episode. We had the pleasure of talking with city clerk Nancy Earles and city administrator Wade Wagoner about what it's like to serve in their roles. Nancy had a lot of interesting stories from her career working as a city clerk... some the of th…

The Square went on the road this month to visit Atkins, a beautiful city of 1,670 residents that has experienced some growth in recent years with expectations of adding to their population in the coming years. We are joined by Eric Christianson, a field specialist at ISU Extension, who helped the city develop strategic initiatives and plans for the…

Happy new year! The Square kicks off 2019 with a special look at this year's legislative session. The episode features an interesting conversation with Kim Downs, city administrator of Hiawatha, who shares some of the important legislative issues for municipal governments, her role on the League's Legislative Policy Committee and some tips for succ…

As 2018 winds down we took the opportunity to look back over the past year and recognize some big moments for the League and cities around the state. We even brought in the boss to help as League executive director Alan Kemp co-hosts to share his perspective! We talk about some of our favorite Cityscape magazine cover photos and articles, new Leagu…

Jim Thompson, Downtown Economic Development Specialist at the Iowa Economic Development Authority (IEDA), joins the podcast for a fun conversation about his experiences working with cities and programs that can help communities at the IEDA.Jim previously served as a council member in Charles City before getting involved in economic development work…

Our fourth episode of The Square features a fun interview with Scott Naumann, Bettendorf Alderman and current President of the League Executive Board. Scott's passion for his community and local government is evident throughout our chat as he talks about how he got on the city council, the important projects that have been completed in his tenure a…

We took The Square on the road! This month's episode features interviews with city officials in the Exhibit Hall at the 2018 Annual Conference & Exhibit in Council Bluffs. Hear about some cool things happening in different communities and get a feel for the networking and fun that is always part of the annual conference. In the Your Questions Answe…

This month on The Square we feature stories and interviews from our 2018 All-Star Community Awards – Bondurant, Lisbon and Marion! Bondurant won in the 3,000-10,000 population category for its fantastic community entrance project that included a welcome sign unlike any other featuring 10 porch swings and a firefly lighting element. Lisbon won in th…

The one about Home Rule with Bob JostenOur first ever podcast! This inaugural episode focuses on a topic near and dear to all cities: Home Rule. In Iowa, Home Rule was adopted through a Constitutional amendment in 1968, with overwhelming support from citizens across the state. That effort provided city governments the authority to establish local l…