Month in Review: June 2017

Summer vacation? We don’t need no stinkin’ summer vacation! There are WAY too many city council meetings to cover and–despite the work of our time travel research team–so little time.

We saw a little girl get stoked to shake hands with every council member, heard about multiple people getting kicked out of council meetings, and experienced our first meeting in another language. If none of that is ringing a bell, go peruse our June Month in Review page.

And if you’re still not convinced that June’s council meetings were all that cool, have I got the picture to prove you DEAD WRONG:

Month in Review: May 2017

May was our most international month yet, with a whopping five countries getting their city council meetings profiled! Watch out, world, we’re coming for you.

We heard about one councilor who dropped dead in a meeting, one mayor who refuses to televise her council meetings, and even a city council replaced by teenagers. If you missed any of that coverage, you’d do yourself a solid by checking out our May Month in Review.

And if that doesn’t convince you, here is a photo of a likely future murder scene from one council meeting:

Month in Review: April 2017

The biggest news out of April was that we hit our 100th city council meeting review! This project has crisscrossed the United States, with stops in Canada and Australia along the way. Who knows where the future will take us? Europe? Antarctica? The moon?!

Last month, we covered the full range of emotions: sad, angry, confusing…that’s it. But trust me, you’ll be as surprised as this lady to see what kind of council hijinks took place in April!

Year in Review: 2016-2017

City Council Chronicles is one year old this month–and we’re just starting to eat solid food! Also, we hit our one hundredth city council meeting review. Because numbers are fun, let’s share a few of our stats.

Of our 100 reviews,

30 were in the Midwest 🌽

18 were in the Northeast 🗽

18 were in the Southeast 🌳

18 were in the Southwest 🏜️

10 were in the Northwest ⛰️

6 were international 🌏

Editor’s picks

Here are my top five reviews, based solely on amusing screenshots:

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1. #20: Chicago, IL 5/18/16

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2. #88: Tega Cay, SC 2/21/17

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3. #71: Beloit, WI 12/5/16

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4. #38: Dover, DE 7/25/16

5. #77: Hutchinson, KS 1/3/17

We also did 44 interviews. Of those,

55% were women ♀️

45% were men ♂️

59% were council members

25% were city managers or clerks

9% were mayors

Editor’s picks

It’s difficult and basically arbitrary to pick which interviews were the best. But here are some stand-outs:

1. Interview #37: San José, CA Councilmember Lan Diep (with podcast)

2. Interview #29*: Miami, FL City Manager Daniel Alfonso (with podcast)

3. Interview #7: Toronto, ON Councilor Shelley Carroll

4. Interview #40: Gaithersburg, MD Council Member Ryan Spiegel (with podcast)

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

(Oh, and P.S.: There are THREE states in which we have not done a council meeting review or an interview. See if you can find them.)

Finally, we have posted our March Month in Review. Head on over for a “who’s-who” of municipal A-listers!

Month in Review: February 2017

It’s almost April, which makes this the perfect time to look back at what happened in…February! The shortest month of the year was highly productive: it included our first ever State of the City Council Meetings Address (to a joint session of Congress, no less!), our first Australian city council meeting, and a tale of the councilman who saved San José.

So wander over to the February month in review and try not to get your hand stuck in a coyote trap, y’hear?

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Month in Review: January 2017

It is Presidents Days here in the U.S., which means we are taking this day to honor all of the city council presidents/chairs/mayors who make their meetings run like a finely-tuned clock. But more importantly, let’s have a look back at where we chronicled with the January month in review.

Take a moment to find a city council meeting review you haven’t read or a podcast episode you haven’t listened to, then spend your holiday catching up!

Month in Review: December 2016

It’s a holiday, so enjoy your day off and remember to thank your city council members. We will be back on Wednesday with a new podcast interview. But in the meantime–hey, did you read EVERY council meeting review in December? Including the one with the border wall around the city council?

If not, you can do your part to Make America Great Again by browsing the month in review. And as always, you can listen to the regular and bonus podcast episodes (22 in all) on iTunes, Stitcher, and Player FM.

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Month in Review: November 2016

To preserve the sanctity of Boxing Day, we will take a break and revisit all of the fun times we saw in November. Do you remember the time we went to the strange land of Canada? Or the even stranger land of New Jersey? If not, get the highlights on the month in review page!

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Month in Review: October 2016

It’s the day after Thanksgiving, so you know what that means: time for leftovers! For us, that means looking back at everything that was chronicled in October. Take a read–and a listen–of the highlights from Spooktober.

City Council Chronicles

Somewhere out there, a city council meeting is happening. And you're not watching it. But I am. Each week, I bring you the highlights, lowlights, and weirdlights from places you don't live.