Category: interview

Interview #36: Edina, MN City Manager Scott Neal (with podcast)

This podcast interview is available on iTunes, Stitcher, Player FM and right here:

Scott Neal is a fun guy to talk to. Not only has he been the city manager of multiple cities around the Midwest, but he’s a bit of a YouTube star for his “On the Job” video series. We talked about what he learned from British city councils and how public commenters affect how he thinks about the city.

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Q: I want to start 4,000 miles away from Edina in England. You were there for ten days in 2005 and you met a queen’s dozen of local councilors. Did you learn anything about city council meetings over there–other than, obviously, their meetings are on the opposite side of the dais?

A: It was a lot of fun. We learned that most of the cities we dropped in on had a huge number of council members compared to the U.S.

Q: What number are we talking?

A: Two dozen, sometimes more. They were amazed that we could get work done with five council members. They had in their mind a link between the number of elected officials and the effectiveness of the organization.

Q: Have you ever gotten sad when a city council member retires or leaves?

A: I’ve had that a number of times over my career. The one that comes to mind most recently is a council member in Edina named Ann Swenson. She was part of the council that hired me. She was clear in what she wanted, which made her an easy person to work for.

Q: At her last council meeting, she said that you put your pen in the air when you want to speak, so she gave you a pen that lights up! Do you use that sparkle pen in meetings?

A: I don’t use it in council meetings. I do use it around my office, yeah!

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Edina, MN City Manager Scott Neal

Q: In Edina, you’ve had a couple of council meetings that stretched on for petty long because you had a bunch of public commenters. You sent out this tweet at a meeting:

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Is that a frequent occurrence?

A: No! I started in this line of work prior to city councils having their meetings shown on local access. I remember when we were making those decisions, city officials worried about that very thing happening: what if we’re having a public hearing and somebody watches it on TV and they decide to just come down and join in? I used to think that was unnecessary to worry about. [This] was the first time in my career it’s ever happened! I’m glad he put on his pants and came here–

Q: Wait, you assume they’re not wearing pants at home?!

A: It’s their privilege. It’s a free country.

Q: Amen to that. There was one contentious public comment back in October. A black man was recorded on video being handled roughly by an Edina police officer. At the next council meeting, for three hours people came up to the podium and they were outraged. When that many concerned people show up, do you think that means the city has failed?

A: I do not. Not necessarily. Doesn’t mean it [hasn’t]. I have had in my career a couple of council meetings that reached that level of anger. They haven’t come around very often, but it certainly makes you sit up and take notice.

Follow Scott Neal on Twitter: @edinacityman

Interview #35: Thames Centre, ON Councilor Kelly Elliott (with podcast)

This podcast interview is available on iTunes, Stitcher, Player FM and right here:

This is exciting: Kelly Elliott is the first Canadian councilor on the podcast! You probably know her as the co-founder of “I Love Thorndale” and a player in the “Girls With Balls” hockey league. But did you know she was embroiled in a dust-up over so-called illegal council meetings?! (Also, Thames Centre council meetings need more viewers, stat!)

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Q: There’s something we’ve gotta talk about: Thames Centre is a municipality. Here in the U.S., “municipality” usually means city or town. In a few states, they’ve got boroughs or townships, but those states are weird and frankly they should be kicked out of this country. What is the “Municipality of Thames Centre?”

A: The municipality was actually two townships that amalgamated in 2001. Our municipality is mostly rural areas. We have two villages and a handful of little hamlets.

Q: What would it take for you to become a city? 

A: I don’t know what the full step is!

Q: Well, I called up my boys at the Ministry of Municipal Affairs for Ontario. It turns out, municipalities can decide what to call themselves. If you wanted to start being the “City of Thames Centre,” you just have to change your stationery and business cards!

A: We’re nice rural country folk. We don’t want to be known as “city!”

Q: I noticed that the mayor wears a very ornate necklace. What is that thing and what kind of powers does it give him?

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The mayoral necklace

A: It doesn’t give him much more powers. The mayor has exactly the same weight of vote as anyone else on council. He just leads the meeting and keeps everyone in line.

Q: In October 2016, the deputy mayor said that some councilors were holding “illegal meetings.” Apparently, one day after a council meeting, Councilor Alison Warwick, Councilor Jennifer Coghlin, and you were sitting in the chamber talking about your son who was in the hospital for a head injury. Is that where this misunderstanding came from?

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Thames Centre, ON Councilor Kelly Elliott

A: That’s right. Having three of us together is quorum. So without a clerk, that would make it an illegal meeting IF we were discussing or furthering the business of the municipality. Of course, we weren’t doing that. But the deputy mayor had thought we were possibly discussing municipal issues.

Q: Did he come over and ask what you were talking about?

A: Probably a great thing would’ve been to come chat with us and he would’ve seen what we were discussing! But we just had a meeting on Monday–everyone was getting along.

Q: Do people show up at the council meetings to give you a hard time?

A: I wish we had more people like that! Our gallery is pretty bare for the majority of meetings. Not many people come just to watch us.

Q: So you would be okay with people showing up to criticize you because that means at least they’re showing up?

A: At least they’re coming, at least they’re caring what we’re talking about. When we see empty galleries, it makes you feel like you’re not doing anything important.

Q: Well, this is Canada, so you’re not doing anything important–

A: Oh, that’s rough.

Q: I’m kidding! I might need to be a refugee there in a couple of months….

Follow Councilor Kelly Elliott on Twitter: @kellyelliottmcm

Interview #34: Fort Lauderdale, FL City Manager Lee Feldman (with podcast)

This podcast interview is available on iTunes, Stitcher, Player FM and right here:

For two decades, Lee Feldman has been a city manager all around the Florida coast. Currently he is the big cheese in Fort Lauderdale, which has its share of commission meeting drama. We talked about Florida’s causal meeting attire and what council members may really be doing when they’re not looking at public commenters.

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Q: You are the city manager of Fort Lauderdale. So, sir, my first question is: how many wet t-shirt contests have you judged?

A: None. Actually, Spring Break–as you may think of–has long gone from Fort Lauderdale. Back in the ’80s, the city fathers felt that Spring Break had gotten a little out of control. They wanted to see the beach evolve to something different, so Spring Break ultimately moved away.

Q: Can you think of anything you’ve done as Fort Lauderdale’s city manager that you think no other city manager in the country might have done?

A: Well, I’ll tell you one. In Florida when you have a quasi-judicial item, you have to be sworn in to give testimony. Our previous process gave you an orange sticker to indicate you were sworn in. I encouraged the clerk to replace that sticker with a sticker that says “I Love Fort Lauderdale.” I’m not sure anybody else in the country has done that.

Q: [Laughs] Yeah, I wouldn’t expect Reno to have stickers that say “I Love Fort Lauderdale!” I noticed in your city commission meetings that some public commenters wear t-shirts, shorts, and baseball caps. Do you find that a little too casual?

A: Over the last 30 years, I’ve seen a general relaxation of meetings. You’ve probably seen some council members that wear t-shirts and ball caps and shorts–

Q: Not yet!

A: You’ll probably find a few, especially in the retirement-oriented communities.

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Fort Lauderdale, FL City Manager Lee Feldman

Q: When you were in Palm Bay, there was a contentious city council meeting over the city’s contract with firefighters. Some of them stood up and said, you don’t care about us. Or, cut your pay. What do you want to say to them?

A: We value the work and effort of every employee. Everybody contributes differently. I remember around that time, these anonymous blogs started showing up and somebody blogged that I had gotten a huge raise, which was not the truth. I got a call from my mom–she was yelling at me about “how dare you take a raise when you’re telling others that they need to have changes?”

Q: Some people express concern in public comment that the Fort Lauderdale commissioners aren’t listening to people. I’ve got to say, from watching a few meetings, that seems largely correct.

A: I think our commissioners get a bad rap…we have electronic agendas now. All of our commissioners and myself use our iPads. As people are speaking and referencing things, we will be looking down at the iPad to see what they are talking about.

Q: How can public commenters get your attention and most effectively make their case?

A: The best way to make a case is to know the issue, be able to state the facts, and it’s okay to even get emotional. I’ve seen speakers tear up because the item means so much to them. But the most effective way is to remain civil.

Follow Lee Feldman on Twitter: @leefeldman

Interview #32: Lee’s Summit, MO Council Member Chris Moreno (with podcast)

This podcast interview is available on iTunes, Stitcher, Player FM and right here:

Lee’s Summit city council meetings have been extremely contentious over the past eight months. Two council members have even called on each other to resign. One of them, Chris Moreno, is facing a recall election because some people are unhappy with his conduct at council meetings. But he remains steadfast. He talks here about his preparation for council meetings and how he deals with the criticism.

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Q: On the day of the council meetings, what do you do to prepare? Do you have a ritual?

A: I just do a lot of studying. I do a lot of prayer, a lot of thinking about the agenda and the topic itself. I play a lot of worship music throughout my breaks.

Q: Interesting. When you were first elected, did you have to do an orientation on things like how to make a motion and how to debate?

A: Yeah, Robert’s Rules of Order and all that good stuff. I was a debater in high school, so I kind of knew [that stuff].

Q: Where did the debating team stand in the social hierarchy in your high school?

A: I was a basketball guy. I loved basketball and so when I was introduced to debate, I kind of was like, “this is not for me.” But I loved the challenge. I loved public speaking. Playing sports, my friends–I loved them all, but we weren’t exactly straight-A students, you know?

Q: Gotcha. So, it came out last year that allegedly Council Member Diane Forte improperly got city contracts for her own business. You were very critical of her and it bled over into the council meetings. You said this about her:

I personally do not believe that after the lies you told to the cameras and to this body, that this can continue to go on.

Here was her response:

To come on this council and try to destroy relationships that I have built in this city–if anyone’s going to resign, it’s not going to be me! It’s going to be you!

How do you think the other council members and staff felt while this was going on?

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Lee’s Summit, MO Council Member Chris Moreno

A: The context of this was: that was four weeks later and she was refusing to acknowledge her illegal business deals. For me, this isn’t personal. For me, it’s about government. We should not have politicians profiting off of taxpayer dollars.

Q: You are facing a recall election in April. Can you think of anything you said–or the way in which you said it–at the council meetings that you would have done differently?

A: No. I think I actually was more courteous than what I should have been. I couldn’t say right then and there, “you have deals that violated state law.” Looking back, I wish I would have.

Q: You once called the public comment at your council meetings a “Jerry Springer Show.” What would you do to reform it?

A: We have these people coming in with an agenda: to personally attack politicians on grounds that have nothing to do with city business. That being said, I’m not opposed to criticism. They have a right to do it. But we should not allow for a political campaign to take place at the dais.

Follow Council Member Chris Moreno on Twitter: @MorenoDadKC

Interview #31: Richmond, VA Councilwoman Kristen Nye Larson (with podcast)

This podcast interview is available on iTunes, Stitcher, Player FM and right here:

We’re doing something different this week: on January 9, four new members of the Richmond, Virginia city council had their first meeting. One of them, Kristen Nye Larson, joined me right before the meeting AND the day afterward to bask in the fresh-council-meeting glow!

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January 9, three hours before the meeting

Q: Does it feel like it’s the first day of school?

A: [Laughs] There’s definitely a little anticipation. We have an informal meeting at 4:00 and a formal meeting at 6:00.

Q: Are you worried that the older council members might say to you new people, “just follow our lead. You just got here. We know what we’re doing. Don’t try to rock the boat.”

A: They all seem really receptive. We’ll see how it actually goes. But you’re right. There are a lot of issues out there that we’re [the new council members] definitely going to come in the middle [of].

Q: Mmhmm.

A: We have four new council members. We have a new mayor. And on the school board, which I just rolled off of, there are eight new members out of the nine.

Q: Wow! You’ve been on the school board for four years, so you’ve got procedure down. Do you feel like there ain’t nothing getting past you in there?

A: The thing that is different about the council meetings is that they are televised live. That will be a bit of an adjustment. School board was taped and it would be showed a couple of days later. You definitely have to be conscious of how you look on camera. If somebody says something that you might think is unusual, you don’t need to show “unusual” on your face. You just need to show, “hey, that’s an interesting idea.”

Q: [Laughs] It’s like being at the State of the Union when they cut away to Congress. And if you’re caught falling asleep, your face will be on the Internet! Now, the meeting is at six, which is an awkward time. You’ve got the classic question: do I eat an early dinner, a late dinner, or do I have my food in the meeting and make everyone hate me?

A: Since we have this 4:00 informal meeting, council members have time to eat in between the informal and formal meeting. They sent around a menu–they bring food in for us. I think it’s, like, chicken and vegetables. I’ll take a picture for you.

Q: Please do!

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Richmond, VA Councilwoman Kristen Nye Larson

January 10, 18 hours after the meeting

Q: How did it go?

A: It was short. I feel like the next meeting will be a little more robust. This is something that’s interesting: I was on school board and we sat in numeric order [by district]. But with city council, they get to choose their seats. So there was a whole seating chart that went around and phone calls, like, “what seat do you want?” I didn’t know it was such a big deal.

Q: When people were calling around asking for seats, do you know if anyone said, “I’d like to sit next to Kristen Larson!”

A: I have no idea if anybody requested to sit next to me!

Q: During your first-ever comments at the council meeting, you gave out your cell phone number on live TV. That was a bold move! How many hundreds of calls have you gotten since last night?

A: [Laughs] None! At least in Richmond, I think that’s an expectation [that you give out your number]. I think people feel empowered if they just have your number.

Q: One loose end from yesterday is that you guys had dinner delivered. And you thought it would be chicken and vegetables. You texted me a picture:

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Photo source: Kristen Nye Larson

A: It was hot! And we had time to sit down and eat it. I know not every night is going to be like that!

Follow Councilwoman Kristen Nye Larson on Twitter: @kristenRVA

Interview #30: West Hollywood, CA Mayor Lauren Meister (with podcast)

This podcast interview is available on iTunes, Stitcher, Player FM and right here:

West Hollywood–or “WeHo” if you’re cool–is a progressive, strongly LGBTQ community in LA County. Its city council meetings are well-attended and are well-corralled by Mayor Lauren Meister. We talked about why she thinks council members shouldn’t be on electronic devices and about the time she evacuated the chamber!

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Q: In the April 2016 council meeting, you became mayor and were sworn in by a drag queen! Why did you decide to do it that way?

A: We are West Hollywood, so we don’t always do things the usual way!

Q: You only give people 90 seconds to public comment. As someone who watches a lot of city council meetings, I think you’re doing the Lord’s work. I think you can get a decent argument out in 90 seconds.

A: If there are a lot of people, my goal is to try to get as many people in–if not everyone. The rest of the meeting may go until midnight. If they have more to say, they’re welcome to stay until the end of the meeting and to speak again. We’ll have 15, 20, 25 people come in to speak.

Q: When you do go that late, do you notice people’s attention and patience start to drop? Do you feel fatigued?

A: Definitely. I come with my triple-shot Starbucks, that’s for sure.

Q: In May of last year, you proposed banning electronic communications–like council members using cell phones or tablets–from the meetings. Why?

A: It just doesn’t look good if people are busy texting. During a public hearing when you’re supposed to be listening to the public–even if you’re just texting your mom, it just doesn’t look good.

Q: Do you have a “no cell phone rule” at the dinner table?

A: [Laughs] No! I guess some people are multi-talented and can do all these things at once but I think we should be paying attention.

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West Hollywood, CA Mayor Lauren Meister

Q: If you had to describe your style of running meetings in three words, what would you say, other than “speedy” or “efficient?”

A: Well, you’re taking away all my words! I’d say I try to run a tight ship.

Q: Do you have any memorable moments from the WeHo city council meetings?

A: It was actually at that meeting when we were talking about electronic devices, there had been a robbery and the suspects had driven to a neighborhood. And there ended up being a lockdown. I wasn’t getting any of the texts because of course I had my phone off!

Q: Oh, the irony! That’s why you need the cell phones, mayor!

A: Another [time], we were in the middle of a discussion and the fire alarms went off. It was 11 o’clock at night and I had a really good run where I was getting us out at 11. We ended up adjourning the meeting outside! Everything was fine. It was just someone who was doing steam cleaning in the garage.

Q: Do you ever have any movie stars come in to the meetings?

A: We have had one or two. Actually, recently we had someone who spoke at public comment.

Q: You had Marisa Tomei from My Cousin Vinny at the last meeting.

A: Yes, that is correct. I still gave her only 90 seconds, by the way!

Follow Mayor Lauren Meister on Twitter: @meister4weho

Interview #28: Alexandria, VA Councilman John Taylor Chapman (with podcast)

This podcast interview is available on iTunes, Stitcher, Player FM and right here:

John Taylor Chapman is a city councilman in Alexandria–not, as I initially thought, the former child star on Home Improvement. We talked about how he learned to tie a bow tie, the thing that bugs him the most about council meetings, and about a controversial city council meeting in 2016. (You will want to listen to the whole episode because we get pretty in-depth about that incident.)

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Q: How did you first learn to tie a bow tie?

A: I hate to say it, but I think it took me about 25 minutes of watching YouTube videos after I bought my first bow tie. I was determined to wear it that day and tie it myself.

Q: There’s no shame in going to YouTube for advice! Forty years from now, we won’t even have parents. Kids will be raised by a series of memes and cat videos.

A: [Laughs] That’s probably true!

Q: Let me run a couple scenarios by you. Say you’re going to a city council meeting and there’s going to be a big hearing about downtown redevelopment. What bow tie do you wear for that?

A: Most likely–I have three different red bow ties. One is a plain, solid red one. That’s my go-to. Then I have one that has polka dots and one that has stripes.

Q: Let’s say that an asteroid has hit Alexandria. The mayor and the other council members are dead. You have to carry on the work of the city council. Oh, and everyone else is a zombie. What bow tie do you wear?

A: I used to have a bow tie with the seal of the city. If that were the case, I would summon my powers to get that one.

Q: Recently, someone in the audience had this to say about you at a council meeting:

Public commenter: Why don’t y’all [council members] get out and see what people are complaining about? Chapman, he come. We went to Goat Hill. And he took care of [the problem].

When someone at a city council meeting calls you out for doing a good job, how important is that to you?

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Alexandria, VA Councilman John Taylor Chapman

A: Honestly, I think it’s one of the best feelings that someone on city council can have, whenever you are recognized for work that you’re doing. Especially when it’s not passive work. Getting down and working directly with folks is what I think our job is all about.

Q: What kind of behavior do you see at city council meetings that frustrates you?

A: I know I suffer from this from time to time: we have folks who like to talk. I think stories are good to follow up with points, but I think there can be a point where there’s too much storytelling and not enough direct decision making.

Q: When you hear the mayor say [at a contentious city council meeting] that you should be able to criticize staff in public, what do you think of that?

A: I…I think it brings on a very bad vibe. It leaves your staff feeling dejected because you’ve gone out of your way to embarrass them in public. We’re supposed to be one team. I don’t think we get quality staff–and keep quality staff–if we take on a culture where we are belittling them in public.

Follow Councilman John Taylor Chapman on Twitter: @j_chapman99

Interview #27: North Las Vegas, NV City Clerk Catherine Raynor (with podcast)

This podcast interview is available on iTunes, Stitcher, Player FM and right here:

Catherine Raynor has been city clerk of North Las Vegas for eight months, after being a clerk in two California cities and an Army officer. We played a game that tested her memory of the city council chamber! Then we talked about time she met John Denver and about unusual uses of the council chamber.

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Q: We’re going to start off with a little game called “How Well Do You Know the North Las Vegas City Council Chamber?” I’m going to put 60 seconds on the clock. Are you ready?!

A: We might have to stop after 30 seconds…okay, yes.

Q: You’ll do fine. How many projector screens are behind the council?

A: There are two, but there are also two that you do not see.

Q: Correct, and I’ll give you extra credit for that last part. Which company manufactured the computer monitors you’re using?

A: We have Dell.

Q: Correct. Which council member sits left of the mayor?

A: That is Councilwoman Pamela Goynes-Brown.

Q: Correct. Does the door beneath the clock open inward or outward?

A: I would say it opens outward.

Q: True or false: there is only one hand railing in the chamber.

A: False.

Q: That is correct. Congratulations, you got all right!

A: Okay!

Q: You were assistant city clerk in Monterey, California. Were there any differences between their city council meetings and those in North Las Vegas?

A: [Monterey’s] meetings are actually split. They have an afternoon session and an evening session. They have a dinner in between. They have the more routine items in the afternoon and they have the other items in the evening so the public can attend.

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North Las Vegas, NV City Clerk Catherine Raynor

Q: You were also the city clerk of Carmel-by-the-Sea, California. Clint Eastwood was once mayor of Carmel. Did you ever see him?

A: He had a movie premiere in Monterey and we purchased tickets to go the Unforgiven film and I saw him there. The only [actor] we were able to talk to was John Denver.

Q: Wow! How would you describe your job to someone who has never seen a city council meeting?

A: For the council, I provide assistance to them in the decorum, the rules of the meeting, how we vote. I also prepare items for council consideration. It’s really a lot about the who, what, when, where, why, and how.

Q: What skills did you learn in the Army that are useful for city council meetings other than being able to kill someone with your bare hands?

A: That was not the kind of Army I was in. I was an intelligence officer and so it’s who, what, when, where, why, and how. Learning that information helped me for taking minutes and for proofing the minutes for what happened at the meeting.

Q: What kinds of things do people use the council chamber for?

A: Congressman Hardy, he uses the chambers. Our police use the chambers for training. The capacity is 344, so if we need a venue that can hold that many people–

Q: So no Zumba or yoga classes?

A: The seats are permanently affixed and it tilts down, so yoga wouldn’t work in there. Unless it was yoga in your chair!

Note: Afterward, Catherine remembered this video of a mannequin challenge in the council chamber:

Interview #26: New York City, NY Council Member Helen Rosenthal (with podcast)

This podcast interview is available on iTunes, Stitcher, Player FM and right here:

Helen Rosenthal represents the Upper West Side on the New York City council and BOY, did she have some fun stories! From the candy in her desk to the Elmo and Batman characters at a council meeting, she gave us a peek inside the City [Council] That Never Sleeps!

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Q: With all the different groups on the 51-person city council, do they stick together in the council meetings? Like, do the progressives all wear armbands on one day, or does someone in the women’s caucus hand out candy, or–

A: Well, to be clear: I have the candy drawer. Definitely, I think candy gets you a long way with your colleagues.

Q: What kind of candy do you have in there?

A: Only York Peppermint Patties.

Q: Love those things! How do you decide where to sit?

A: Every two weeks approximately we get together as a chamber of the whole and we have assigned seating. And we have a little nameplate on our desks so we know just where we sit. And that way, again, no one really has access to my candy drawer, which is critical. The seating plan is determined by the speaker of the council. And it tends to be the same seating plan for the entire term of four years. Very rarely would someone’s seat get switched.

Q: Have you ever seen someone’s seat get moved?

A: I have. There were two of my colleagues who were having too good of a time sitting next to each other, so they were split up. So…that happened.

Q: WOW. Who do you sit next to?

A: I’m between Dr. Mathieu Eugene and Council Member Rosie Mendez. And if we went out to a bar and drank heavily for quite some time, I could tell you the reasons why I have that seat. But now, suffice to say, I love where I sit and–

Q: NO, IT DOESN’T SUFFICE TO SAY. TELL ME THE STORY, COUNCIL MEMBER.

A: That ain’t…that’s under lock and key!

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New York City Council Member Helen Rosenthal

Q: Any interesting moments in the council meetings that you can think of?

A: There was one hearing where we were debating a law as it has to do with the costumed characters in Times Square. You have Elmo, you have Minnie Mouse, you have the Naked Cowboy. Indeed, the costumed characters showed up in their full costumed regalia.

Q: Nice!

A: I more found it amusing that someone would come to a city council hearing dressed up as Batman and the person who was the sponsor of the legislation would want their picture next to Batman. I’m very careful not to be standing next to Batman when a picture is taken.

Q: Batman is an American hero, ma’am. What do you have against heroes?

A: Nothing! I was really traumatized by Dukakis’s moment when he put on that helmet and was swallowed up in it. I try not to wear hats.

Q: I should mention that my researchers found a tweet of yours…it’s a picture of you wearing a Big Apple Circus hard hat, and behind you is a clown wearing face paint and very bright overalls.

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What do you have to say for yourself?

A: Busted. Busted….I love the Big Apple Circus!

Follow Council Member Helen Rosenthal on Twitter: @HelenRosenthal