Municipal Leaders: Develop Faster, Lead Stronger, Build Better
Every week, you’ll get insights and actionable steps to help you navigate personal growth and professional success.
What happens when your city doubles in size… but your infrastructure doesn’t?
Shawn Bell didn’t set out to become a city administrator. In fact, he started his career deep in politics—campaigning, lobbying, even working in D.C. But one grad school conversation, followed by an internship in Ferguson, Missouri, sent him down a different path: one that traded national headlines for neighborhood potholes, and policy theory for real-life leadership.
Local government doesn’t have a process problem.
It has a people problem.
That’s the bold but deeply accurate statement from this week’s guest on The HaltingWinter Podcast, Janice Allen Jackson. With decades of experience as a city and county manager in Georgia and the Carolinas, Janice has seen firsthand how policies and procedures can only go so far when the real issues stem from leadership gaps, cultural toxicity, and organizational fear.
Some people chase leadership. Others step up because the job simply needs doing.
Rebecca Houseman is the latter and the kind of leader every community deserves.
What if the real infrastructure problem in local government isn’t roads or pipes—it’s trust?
That’s the challenge Sam Toles, CEO of CiviSocial, brings to this week’s episode of The HaltingWinter Podcast. And it’s not just a critique—it’s a call to action.
Some leaders rise through the ranks.
Michael Herbert had to claw his way up from rock bottom.
In this week’s episode of The HaltingWinter Podcast, the Town Manager of Ashland, Massachusetts shares a story rarely heard in public sector leadership—a story of addiction, homelessness, and ultimately, redemption through service.
It’s not just a story of survival.
It’s a story of purpose.
And it’s a masterclass in the kind of quiet, resilient leadership that sustains local government through its hardest seasons.
If you lead in local government, you know this tension intimately:
The need to act—fast.
The need to include—thoroughly.
The reality that doing both well is rarely easy.
In this week’s episode of The HaltingWinter Podcast, Will Ibershof, City Administrator of Madras, Oregon, shares a story that’s equal parts hilarious, humbling, and hard-earned.
It starts with a dare.
And vomit on a perfectly manicured lawn.
But it leads to multi-million dollar infrastructure wins, community connection, and a life reshaped by the call to serve.
What do Amazon, Chick-fil-A, and your local public works department have in common?
Ideally—more than you think.
Leadership in local government carries a weight that few outside the role ever fully grasp. It’s not just the pressure to solve problems, manage crises, or balance competing priorities. It’s the quiet burden of being the person everyone looks to, even when you’re unsure yourself. It’s the weight of the title.
In a sector that often rewards caution, Bret Prebula is choosing courage. And not just in words, but in action, innovation, and the way he leads his city.
In Episode 182 of The HaltingWinter Podcast, Bret—City Manager of Suisun City, California—shares his powerful journey: from leading golf retail stores to managing multimillion-dollar investments in Napa County to now reshaping the culture, speed, and strategic direction of a city in urgent need of reinvention.
Oh, and he’s doing all of it while legally blind.
