City Manager Unfiltered
City Manager Unfiltered is a podcast by a city manager for city managers. I am your host, Joe Turner, and I’m on a mission to build a community for ambitious city managers. I want to provide you with the career tools and resources to help make you a better executive so you can rack up victories, polish your resume, dominate interviews, land your dream job, and win your contract negotiations. If you are a city manager looking to level up, check out my podcast, City Manager Unfiltered. Hit that subscribe button today so you don’t miss an episode.
Episodes
Episodes
Wednesday Jul 17, 2024
The AAME is Born & Signup Deadline Extended | Ep. 62
Wednesday Jul 17, 2024
Wednesday Jul 17, 2024
For a variety of reasons listed in this podcast, the sign up deadline to become a founding member of the American Association of Municipal Executives has been extended.
You have until midnight central on Thursday, July 25th to take action and join this historic, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
This is the last call -- so sign up here today.
We have the following membership plans:
Executive Suite CEO/CAOs
Executive Suite ACM/DCMs
Aspiring Executives
Retired City Managers (free)
Managers-in-Transition (free)
Go here to sign up: Community.AAME.org
SUBMIT JOB POSTING:
Do you have an executive or senior level vacancy in your organization? Use this form/link to submit your job listing in my weekly newsletter for just $100:
https://forms.gle/ceMzWqeLwiRFRAGj9
SUPPORT THE PODCAST:
Subscribe to my FREE weekly report of city and county manager resignations, terminations, and retirements (RTRs) at this link:
https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/city-manager-rtrs-job-board-7164683251112992768/
If you would like to support the podcast by making a donation, please use the "Buy Me A Coffee" link.
Please rate and review the podcast on Apple or your preferred platform if you enjoy the show. It helps tremendously. But more importantly, refer your friends and peers to podcast through personal conversations and posts on your social media platforms.
Joe Turner's LinkedIn Page
City Manager Unfiltered YouTube Page - Subscribe Today!
Note: Page may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Wednesday Jul 10, 2024
Audio Recording: ICMA Staff Supports AAME | Ep. 61
Wednesday Jul 10, 2024
Wednesday Jul 10, 2024
A confidential source sent me an audio recording of ICMA West Coast Regional Director Pat Martel discussing the American Association of Municipal Executives. This discussion took place two weeks ago at the Oregon City/Count Management Association conference..
In this audio clip, Martel states that the ICMA is very much aware of the AAME, that it supports the AAME mission, and that it is perfectly acceptable for ICMA members to join AAME and other organizations.
In this episode, I talk about how many ICMA members who are supportive of my efforts have expressed an unwillingness to join the AAME. They state they fear retaliation.
And I urge the ICMA executive board to make a public statement attesting to the fact that members will not be targeted if they do join the AAME.
SHOW NOTES:
If you want to join the American Association of Municipal Executives and becoming a founding member, register today at: https://community.aame.org/.
Deadline to become a founding member is July 15.
SUBMIT JOB POSTING:
Do you have an executive or senior level vacancy in your organization? Use this form/link to submit your job listing in my weekly newsletter for just $100:
https://forms.gle/ceMzWqeLwiRFRAGj9
SUPPORT THE PODCAST:
Subscribe to my FREE weekly report of city and county manager resignations, terminations, and retirements (RTRs) at this link:
https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/city-manager-rtrs-job-board-7164683251112992768/
If you would like to support the podcast by making a donation, please use the "Buy Me A Coffee" link.
Please rate and review the podcast on Apple or your preferred platform if you enjoy the show. It helps tremendously. But more importantly, refer your friends and peers to podcast through personal conversations and posts on your social media platforms.
Joe Turner's LinkedIn Page
City Manager Unfiltered YouTube Page - Subscribe Today!
Note: Page may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Wednesday Jul 03, 2024
Ep. 60 | ICMA CEO Marc Ott "Retires" & Freed Gets a Trial Date
Wednesday Jul 03, 2024
Wednesday Jul 03, 2024
Last week the big news story was the announcement by the ICMA that CEO Marc Ott was retiring to spend more time with family. We also learned that Port Huron City Manager James Freed was given a trial date for his defamation lawsuit against the ICMA.
Coincidence?
These two stories are inextricably linked and are the topic of this week's podcast episode.
SHOW NOTES:
In this podcast I mentioned that Caribou, Maine City Manager Penny Thompson is a founding member of the American Association of Municipal Executives and that she is looking for an assistant city manager. You can find the job description here: https://www.cariboumaine.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/ACM-for-Planning-and-Economic-Development.pdf
If you want to join the American Association of Municipal Executives and becoming a founding member, register today at: https://community.aame.org/.
SUBMIT JOB POSTING:
Do you have an executive or senior level vacancy in your organization? Use this form/link to submit your job listing in my weekly newsletter for just $100:
https://forms.gle/ceMzWqeLwiRFRAGj9
SUPPORT THE PODCAST:
Subscribe to my FREE weekly report of city and county manager resignations, terminations, and retirements (RTRs) at this link:
https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/city-manager-rtrs-job-board-7164683251112992768/
If you would like to support the podcast by making a donation, please use the "Buy Me A Coffee" link.
Please rate and review the podcast on Apple or your preferred platform if you enjoy the show. It helps tremendously. But more importantly, refer your friends and peers to podcast through personal conversations and posts on your social media platforms.
Joe Turner's LinkedIn Page
City Manager Unfiltered YouTube Page - Subscribe Today!
Note: Page may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Wednesday Jun 26, 2024
Marilyn Rivers Just Wanted Her Good Name Back | Ep. 59
Wednesday Jun 26, 2024
Wednesday Jun 26, 2024
Marilyn Rivers had a stellar career and an impeccable reputation having served for nearly 20 years as the Director of Risk and Safety for the New York city of Saratoga Springs.
About 18-months away from this 20-year mark where she would be eligible for her pension, a newly elected commissioner set his sights on her to settle an "old score" from fifteen years ago.
Rivers wanted to do this podcast because she never had a chance to defend herself, her record, or address the toxic behavior of this commissioner during the entire ordeal. She told me that she needed to do the podcast because she wanted her "voice" and her good name back.
This is slated to be Part 1 of a multi-part series. Stay tuned for the next episode when Marilyn will reveal tips, tricks, and tactics to reduce your insurance costs and make you look like a star for your governing body or your city manager.
SHOW NOTES:
Here is a link to Marilyn Rivers' consulting firm: Rivers Risk Consulting, LLC. The company's LinkedIn page can be found here and this is a link to her personal LinkedIn Page
If you want to join the American Association of Municipal Executives and becoming a founding member, register today at: https://community.aame.org/.
SUBMIT JOB POSTING:
Do you have an executive or senior level vacancy in your organization? Use this form/link to submit your job listing in my weekly newsletter for just $100:
https://forms.gle/ceMzWqeLwiRFRAGj9
SUPPORT THE PODCAST:
Subscribe to my FREE weekly report of city and county manager resignations, terminations, and retirements (RTRs) at this link:
https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/city-manager-rtrs-job-board-7164683251112992768/
If you would like to support the podcast by making a donation, please use the "Buy Me A Coffee" link.
Please rate and review the podcast on Apple or your preferred platform if you enjoy the show. It helps tremendously. But more importantly, refer your friends and peers to podcast through personal conversations and posts on your social media platforms.
Joe Turner's LinkedIn Page
City Manager Unfiltered YouTube Page - Subscribe Today!
Note: Page may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Friday Jun 21, 2024
The Case for Terminating ICMA CEO Marc Ott | Ep. 58
Friday Jun 21, 2024
Friday Jun 21, 2024
ICMA CEO Marc Ott has presided over an organization that is dysfunctional, lacks accountability, and produces mediocre work product.
His permissive and absentee approach to managing employees allowed ethics staffers to prosecute a personal and political vendetta against Port Huron City Manager James Freed -- a stain that will be forever left upon his legacy.
Combined with an international development emphasis that has lacked focus and failed to deliver results, it has been Ott's shepherding of the organization towards the promotion of a leftist political ideology that has alienated many members who simply desire to be in a non-partisan, apolitical organization that will help them become better public sector executives.
For these reasons and more, it is time for the ICMA executive board to terminate Ott and begin the process of repairing the damage done during his tenure.
SHOW NOTES:
Here is the court ordered motion to compel issued against members of the ICMA executive board.
Here is the most recent ruling by the judge highlighting the stall tactics used by the ICMA in its case against Freed.
If you want to join the American Association of Municipal Executives and become a founding member, register today at: https://community.aame.org/.
SUBMIT JOB POSTING:
Do you have an executive or senior level vacancy in your organization? Use this form/link to submit your job listing in my weekly newsletter for just $100:
https://forms.gle/ceMzWqeLwiRFRAGj9
SUPPORT THE PODCAST:
Subscribe to my FREE weekly report of city and county manager resignations, terminations, and retirements (RTRs) at this link:
https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/city-manager-rtrs-job-board-7164683251112992768/
If you would like to support the podcast by making a donation, please use the "Buy Me A Coffee" link.
Please rate and review the podcast on Apple or your preferred platform if you enjoy the show. It helps tremendously. But more importantly, refer your friends and peers to podcast through personal conversations and posts on your social media platforms.
Joe Turner's LinkedIn Page
City Manager Unfiltered YouTube Page - Subscribe Today!
Note: Page may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Wednesday Jun 19, 2024
Scott Jorgensen Rebukes the Oregon City/County Management Association | Ep. 57
Wednesday Jun 19, 2024
Wednesday Jun 19, 2024
Rainier City Administrator Scott Jorgensen is no fan of the Oregon City/County Management Association (OCCMA).
A few years ago, he was the subject of an anonymous ethics complaint without any clear explanation of his alleged offense. About a year later, Jorgensen learned that another city manager had accused him of leaking his listserv comments.
The evidence was a conversation between this city manager and one of his elected officials the city manager had surreptitiously recorded.
Jorgensen maintains that he did not leak the listserv comments and even if he did, he vehemently rejects the notion that those comments are not public records since the city manager used his official city email address.
Moreover, Jorgensen was disgusted by the fact that the OCCMA ethics committee knew that the conversation was recorded without the consent of the elected official and did nothing about it.
Jorgensen has some strong opinions about the OCCMA, the value of his membership not only to himself but the taxpayers, and how other city managers conducted themselves during the pandemic.
He is a fascinating person with a very unique background having worked in politics as an official staff to state legislators in the Oregon capital, to being a journalist, an author, and a guitarist in a rock band.
Don't miss this episode where the guest is as unfiltered as the host!
SHOW NOTES:
W. Scott Jorgensen's LinkedIn page
You can catch his band, Robots Building Robots, on Spotify where you can listen to their album "Dysphoria."
Jorgensen has four books he has written listed on Amazon. You can view them here.
In the episode, I discussed Ferris, TX city manager Brooks Williams' book "Rising to Serve."
If you want to join the American Association of Municipal Executives and becoming a founding member, register today at: https://community.aame.org/.
SUBMIT JOB POSTING:
Do you have an executive or senior level vacancy in your organization? Use this form/link to submit your job listing in my weekly newsletter for just $100:
https://forms.gle/ceMzWqeLwiRFRAGj9
SUPPORT THE PODCAST:
Subscribe to my FREE weekly report of city and county manager resignations, terminations, and retirements (RTRs) at this link:
https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/city-manager-rtrs-job-board-7164683251112992768/
If you would like to support the podcast by making a donation, please use the "Buy Me A Coffee" link.
Please rate and review the podcast on Apple or your preferred platform if you enjoy the show. It helps tremendously. But more importantly, refer your friends and peers to podcast through personal conversations and posts on your social media platforms.
Joe Turner's LinkedIn Page
City Manager Unfiltered YouTube Page - Subscribe Today!
Note: Page may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Wednesday Jun 12, 2024
Why is Ed Meece excited about the AAME? | Ep. 56
Wednesday Jun 12, 2024
Wednesday Jun 12, 2024
We continue our conversation with Polson, Montana city manager Ed Meece in Part 2 of our interview series.
In this episode, Ed talks about:
✅ a new state association for Montana city managers that is not affiliated with the ICMA,✅ a conversation he had with ICMA CEO Marc Ott and Ray Baray, his chief of staff, and✅ why he is so excited about the new American Association of Municipal Executives
SHOW NOTES:
Ed Meece's LinkedIn page
SUBMIT JOB POSTING:
Do you have an executive or senior level vacancy in your organization? Use this form/link to submit your job listing in my weekly newsletter for just $100:
https://forms.gle/ceMzWqeLwiRFRAGj9
SUPPORT THE PODCAST:
Subscribe to my FREE weekly report of city and county manager resignations, terminations, and retirements (RTRs) at this link:
https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/city-manager-rtrs-job-board-7164683251112992768/
If you would like to support the podcast by making a donation, please use the "Buy Me A Coffee" link.
Please rate and review the podcast on Apple or your preferred platform if you enjoy the show. It helps tremendously. But more importantly, refer your friends and peers to podcast through personal conversations and posts on your social media platforms.
Joe Turner's LinkedIn Page
City Manager Unfiltered YouTube Page - Subscribe Today!
Note: Page may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Wednesday Jun 05, 2024
Why did Ed Meece cancel his ICMA membership after 25 years? | Ep. 55
Wednesday Jun 05, 2024
Wednesday Jun 05, 2024
In 2015, city manager Ed Meece did something he never thought he would do. He canceled his International City/County Management Association membership twenty-five years after joining the organization.
What happened?
Meece explains his reasoning in Part 1 of this two-part series.
SHOW NOTES:
Ed Meece's LinkedIn page
SUBMIT JOB POSTING:
Do you have an executive or senior level vacancy in your organization? Use this form/link to submit your job listing in my weekly newsletter for just $100:
https://forms.gle/ceMzWqeLwiRFRAGj9
SUPPORT THE PODCAST:
Subscribe to my FREE weekly report of city and county manager resignations, terminations, and retirements (RTRs) at this link:
https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/city-manager-rtrs-job-board-7164683251112992768/
If you would like to support the podcast by making a donation, please use the "Buy Me A Coffee" link.
Please rate and review the podcast on Apple or your preferred platform if you enjoy the show. It helps tremendously. But more importantly, refer your friends and peers to podcast through personal conversations and posts on your social media platforms.
Joe Turner's LinkedIn Page
City Manager Unfiltered YouTube Page - Subscribe Today!
Note: Page may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Joe Turner
Born and raised in Southern California, Joe Turner moved to Kansas in 2018 to pursue a career in city management after spending many years working for elected officials and engaged in grassroots advocacy.
As a non-traditional entrant into the field, he brings a unique perspective on city management and local government issues.
However, it has been his ruminations on the evolving professional landscape for city managers and his opinions on contract negotiations and compensation packages that has propelled him to the forefront as a thought leader and influencer amongst peers.
Turner has lamented the lack of advocacy on behalf of city managers as professionals and believes there is a void in this space with respect to advocating for and on behalf of public sector managers, not just the profession of city management.
You can catch up with him over on Linkedin.