The Square

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 Rich Foley and Tammy Johnson along with Pat O'Connell from the Lynch Dallas law firm (a Community Alliance Partner with the League). The group shares some of the work that has been done in Clinton to deal with nuisance property issues and help turn around derelict properties. Hear what a nuisance process looks like from a city zoning official's perspective and the various problems that can arise. We also chat about the legal concerns a city has when taking action on nuisance properties and staying the course to revitalize neighborhoods. Drop any questions or comments you have at thesquare@iowaleague.org. Enjoy the show!

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 process to complete road projects. We are also joined by Derek Johnson of ISG, one of the League's Community Alliance Partners that provides engineering services to cities across Iowa and the midwest. Derek gives a look at what it's like from an engineering perspective to get public infrastructure projects done and also shares some of his background, which included serving as a city engineer. Send in your comments and questions to thesquare@iowaleague.org, enjoy the episode!

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 engineering and architectural design firm that works with cities all over the state and is a League Community Alliance Partner. Jim shares some tips on how cities can identify when infrastructure needs to be updated, prioritize community needs, and complete important projects. Thanks for listening to another episode and be sure to send any questions or comments to thesquare@iowaleague.org.

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 also joined by Nate Summers from DA Davidson, one of the League's partners that serves as a municipal advisor for cities as they go through capital projects. Nate discusses financing options available to cities, how to manage debt and keep the city budget in the best position to complete needed projects. We hope you enjoy this month's episode and as always, let us know your thoughts at thesquare@iowaleague.org.

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 challenges that come with the job. We also talk about Mayor Hart's plans for his League presidency and finding ways to enhance services and programs. We then chat with Kathryn Kunert of MidAmerican Energy and Joel Schmidt of Alliant Energy about the work each company did to restore power after the derecho storm that swept through the state in August. Kathryn and Joel talked about the importance of having strong partnerships with cities and how critical that is to storm recovery. The League thanks each of these partners for their incredible work in our communities to get power back to residents and businesses following such an unprecedented storm. We hope our listeners and communities are doing well, please contact thesquare@iowaleague.org with any questions or comments!

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 affected. Erin also shares findings from recent surveys of cities that measure the local financial impact of the pandemic. Erin was gracious enough to stick around for the Get to Know Your League segment, which is always a fun listen. We encourage cities to utilize resources we have available online to help respond to the pandemic, including our COVID-19 Finance Tool that can help gauge local impacts. Take care and join us next month for another episode!

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 city's plans for reopening facilities and programs, ideas for making adjustments to the city budget and what it's like living on a farm. Thanks to Alison for the fun conversation! This month's Get to Know Your League features Sara Shonrock, who serves in a joint role with our friends at Iowa State University Extension and leads the Municipal Professionals Institute and Academy. Sara is a native of Ames who got lost in Minnesota for a few years before making the wise decision to come back home! We hope our communities are doing well during these challenging times, and as always, your League is here to support you! Contact us at thesquare@iowaleague.org with any questions or comments you may have.

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 programs and services they provide - you may be surprised at how much libraries do for a community! We are also joined by Emma Kline, the League's Administrative Assistant, for the always entertaining Get to Know Your League segment. We wish all communities good health as we continue to respond to the pandemic, and encourage our members to access a variety of helpful of resources at www.iowaleague.org. Take care and we'll talk to you soon on The Square!

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 cities are facing currently, including the use of electronic meetings to get city business handled. The episode then wraps up with some of the positive stories cities have shared with us that illustrate some wonderful ways communities are coming together to support one another during this trying time. Be sure to check out our Coronavirus Resources page to access a wide variety of helpful information.

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 chief of police, as well as how he landed in Iowa. We also talk about the many jobs of a city police department, which go well beyond writing tickets as police officers are instrumental in effective community engagement. We are joined by Robert Palmer once again for our monthly Legislative Update and sit down with IMWCA's Andrew Justice for the Get to Know Your League interview. We also talk about the value of planning in our Question of the Month. Enjoy the episode and be sure to send any comments or questions to thesquare@iowaleague.org!

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 what happens when you flush a toilet, give a listen and find out! Scott also shares some of his background and how seeing his grandfather do city work gave him the first introduction to public works. We have a new segment to go with the new year as we get our Legislative Update with the League's General Counsel and Director of Government Affairs, Robert Palmer. Hear about the latest issues at the State Capitol important to city officials. And we also sit down with Scott Smith, IMWCA's Senior Loss Control Representative, for the Get to Know Your League interview. We wish all cities a happy new year and we look forward to working with you! Send us your questions and feedback to thesquare@iowaleague.org.

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 their goals for the future and what he hopes to do as League President. This month's Your Questions Answered asks about cities' ability to set their own council meeting rule of procedure, something we strongly encourage all cities to have. And the League's Senior Accountant, Alison Deiter, joins us for the Get to Know Your League segment. Alison's pay our bills, and issues paychecks to staff, so we took it easy on her! As usual, we wrap up with the answer to last month's trivia (which county in Iowa has the most cities) and ask a new trivia question: what is the lowest temperature recorded in Iowa and where? Send in your trivia answers, questions to stump our staff and other feedback to thesquare@iowaleague.org. Enjoy the holidays!

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 names and attempt to pronounce them right! This is meant to be fun (and funny)! We hope no one takes offense if their city is mentioned and do not enjoy the humor in a funny pronunciation or story behind the city name. This month's Your Questions Answered asks if there is a recall process in Iowa for elected positions and our Get to Know Your League interview features Jess Vogel, the League’s Communication Coordinator. We also cover last episode's trivia question, which asked what year did the League's Municipal Leadership Academy begin? (We may know the official date?!). If you do not know what MLA is, make sure to check it out on our website! It is a fantastic training opportunity for newly elected and for veteran officials. In addition, we offer some new trivia: what county has the most cities? Send your trivia answers, questions and feedback to thesquare@iowaleague.org!

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-themed Exhibit Hall! We also review this year's League awards, which were presented during the Awards Banquet at the Annual Conference. We detail the All-Star Community Awards, Rhonda Wood Smith Award, Legislative Service Awards and our new Hall of Fame inductees. As always, we had some tremendous cities and individuals recognized this year for their outstanding contributions to their communities. This month's Your Questions Answered is a question on whether citizens can petition for a city code change in their community and our Get to Know Your League interview features Heather Roberts, the League's outstanding Director of Information Services. Learn a little about Heather, including how she got started at the League (just a few years ago) and what she likes to do in her free time (hint: she's a dog person!). We also cover last episode's trivia question, which asked where the Red Delicious apple originated (a surprisingly controversial answer to this one). And we offer some new trivia: what year did the League's Municipal Leadership Academy begin? Send your trivia answers, questions and feedback to thesquare@iowaleague.org!

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 and Municipal Leadership Academy, which will offer important education at workshops around the state (learn more on our Workshops & Events page). We mixed in a few of our favorite stories from the road as well! Bill Goldy, the League's Membership Services Coordinator, joins us as a guest host and also gets grilled in the monthly Get to Know Your League segment. We put Mickey on the spot again with the Your Questions Answered segment as he was asked about city election systems. And we wrap up by answering last month's trivia question (What year did IMWCA begin offering coverage?) and ask this month's, In what city did the Red Delicious apple originate? Send your trivia answers, questions and comments to thesquare@iowaleague.org