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.
Episode 252 of The HaltingWinter Podcast
Brought to you by Tyler Technologies
When most people think about improving government, they think about efficiency. Better data. Smarter systems. Faster service.
But Stephanie Hirsch has learned that numbers alone don’t change lives—people do.
Episode 251 of The HaltingWinter Podcast
Brought to you by Tyler Technologies
How do you go from digging trenches in 100-degree heat to leading a full-service city of 40,000 people?
For Enrico Villegas, City Manager of Hutchinson, Kansas, the answer lies in grit, growth, and an insatiable will to learn.
Episode 249 of The HaltingWinter Podcast
Brought to you by Tyler Technologies
There’s a certain kind of chaos that only happens in local government.
You can spend months negotiating a $100 million development deal—balancing politics, logistics, and public pressure—and just when the future of your city hangs in the balance, the next agenda item is… feral cats.
Episode 248 of The HaltingWinter Podcast
Brought to you by Tyler Technologies
In a world that celebrates moving on, Paula Schumacher’s story is about the power of staying.
She began as an intern in Bartlett, Illinois, in 1991. Three decades later, she’s the Village Administrator, leading the same community she once served from the basement of Village Hall.
Episode 246 of The HaltingWinter Podcast
Brought to you by Tyler Technologies
What if one day could change your entire career?
For Tansy Hayward, City Manager of Thornton, Colorado, that day came when she shadowed a local government leader as a college student and discovered the purpose that would define her life’s work.
Episode 245 of The HaltingWinter Podcast
Brought to you by Tyler Technologies
What would make someone turn down the NFL to serve in local government?
For Ifo Pili, it wasn’t about walking away from football, it was about running toward purpose.
Episode 242 of The HaltingWinter Podcast
Brought to you by Tyler Technologies
National headlines shout about division. Political fights dominate cable news. But when residents turn the faucet, drive on the road, or walk into city hall, they aren’t asking for red or blue solutions; they just want their community to work.
That’s where local government steps in.
Episode 242 of The HaltingWinter Podcast
Brought to you by Tyler Technologies
When hundreds of Kentucky’s city leaders came together for the Kentucky League of Cities Annual Conference, the energy in the room was unmistakable. Mayors, clerks, and administrators gathered not just for sessions and speeches, but to connect, share stories, and remind each other why local government matters.
Episode 241 of The HaltingWinter Podcast
Brought to you by Tyler Technologies
What if the utility billing clerk became the city’s CEO?
That’s not a hypothetical; it’s Amber Vogan’s story. And it’s one every municipal leader should hear.
Episode 239 of The HaltingWinter Podcast
Brought to you by Tyler Technologies and Zencity
What does leadership look like when tragedy strikes?
For Ghida Neukirch, City Manager of Highland Park, Illinois, that question became more than hypothetical on July 4, 2022, when a mass shooting devastated her community during its annual parade.
In Episode 239 of The HaltingWinter Podcast, Ghida shares her remarkable journey, from fleeing civil war as a child to leading through one of the darkest days in Highland Park’s history, and the lessons she carries for every city manager and local government leader.
