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Generation on the Rise Podcast

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by Hosts Dave Pribulka, Eden Ratliff & Brandon Ford (with Executive Producer, Nancy J Hess)

17 episodes

Updated Daily

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Podcast Overview

Generation on the Rise is where local government’s next generation of municipal managers wrestle with what’s changing in the work, what’s hard, and why it’s still worth doing. Join hosts: Dave Pribulka, Brandon Ford, Eden Ratliff, and Executive Producer Nancy J. Hess as they find the new normal — not the one we’re used to, but the one we create. This is an audio stream of the podcast. In addition to our MuniSquare YouTube channel, we have recently started a new stream with video on Spotify. If you like this, please check out: https://open.spotify.com/show/4PyJy4Btzw1MrYI9FE3Z8Q?si=c226374f75e04b24 <a href="https://munisquare.substack.com/s/generation-on-the-rise-podcast?utm_medium=podcast">munisquare.substack.com</a>

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🇺🇲

Publishing Since

10/27/2025

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Recent Episodes

May 14, 2026

So this is goodbye....

Host reflects with guests Dave and Brandon on the podcast's conclusion and the departure of Eden, exploring leadership challenges and professional growth.

April 8, 2026

Marbles in the Pocket

<a target="_blank" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/brandonjhford/">Brandon Ford</a> rejoins <a target="_blank" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-pribulka/">Dave Pribulka </a>and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/edenratliff/">Eden Ratliff</a> and wastes no time stepping back into the role of host. He deftly guides the conversation from how have expectations changed for managers to something much deeper that touches on what it means to be apolitical in this new reality and how compartmentalization may or may not serve the profession going forward.This is a genuinely important episode for anyone wondering where the profession is headed. What are your thoughts? Leave us your comments and the crew will respond in a future episode.MuniSquare is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.“We have to hold the line—apolitical, professional management. Period.” - Brandon “Politicization of local government … it’s your ink on that resolution condemning, promoting whatever social issue … and when the board change is over, they know you wrote that.” - Dave But with time, you know, each thing you compartmentalize … it’s like a marble, right? If you put one marble in your pocket, that’s not so bad. But if you put a marble in your pocket every day I mean, how is that that box you’re compartmentalizing going to feel in 15, 20, 25, 30, 35 years? - EdenChapters00:00 Sports and Local Engagement03:56 International City Management Association Insights09:30 Expectations of Local Government18:44 The Role of Technology in Local Governance23:13 Navigating Civic Engagement and Emotional Appeals25:13 The Complexity of Local Governance28:35 Engaging the Next Generation of Managers30:26 The Balance of Politics and Management32:34 Compartmentalizing Personal Beliefs in Governance36:34 The Future of Political Neutrality in Local Government40:18 Maintaining Professional Standards Amidst Political Pressures Get full access to MuniSquare at <a href="https://munisquare.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4">munisquare.substack.com/subscribe</a>

April 1, 2026

Connectivity in Community

Recorded on Opening Day for baseball! Today the Generation on the Rise crew (minus <a target="_blank" href="https://substack.com/profile/401122608-brandon-ford">Brandon Ford</a> who is galavanting around Ireland with an ICMA team) steps up to bat and the field is wide open on the topic of connectivity. Although the vision is alluring, it is also a technical rabbit hole. But well worth the effort if you are interested in taking on connectivity in your community.Host <a target="_blank" href="https://substack.com/profile/401121677-eden-ratliff">Eden Ratliff</a> goes toe to toe with <a target="_blank" href="https://substack.com/profile/357546209-dave-pribulka">Dave Pribulka</a> and <a target="_blank" href="https://substack.com/profile/59637120-nancy-j-hess">Nancy J Hess</a> on how and when we see connectivity happening in local government. Eden, Dave, and Nancy dig into the Strong Towns movement, multimodal transportation, and the tension between walkability ideals and the hard economics of development. From Nancy’s memory of walking to work in Baltimore’s Inner Harbor to Dave’s Vancouver revelation, from Greencastle sidewalks to Charlottesville’s radical parking-free experiment, this conversation travels far to make a local point: the decisions managers and elected officials make about streets, sidewalks, and parking minimums are fundamentally decisions about who gets the advantage and and how connectivity impacts the larger system.Part urban planning seminar, part management mentorship, all great conversation.MuniSquare is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.QUOTES:"The essential tension is: how does local government policymaking actually shape the community and the culture?" - Nancy"This is a car-centric country, but that doesn't mean we need to be a car-centric community. That's a hot take. You can really start to unpack that." - Eden"The more we invest in this connectivity and infrastructure, the higher it drives housing prices and the more it's gonna push out the people that need it the most — 'cause they don't have cars or other means of transportation." — Dave"They did not (by the way) ruin the city because there's no parking requirements. People work it out." - Eden"It's a chicken-and-egg kind of thing. You've gotta really be partnered with a developer that's gonna be willing to take a little risk." — Dave"In the comprehensive plan it talks about trails and connectivity a lot, and it was very community led — the community was all for it. But when it comes time to build that trail in front of your house, all of a sudden your opinion changed. So he would say: sell the romance." - Eden"Always be thinking five, ten years down the road. Because if we are so laser-focused on the issues in front of our nose today, we're not going to be setting our communities up for success in the years ahead." - DaveI went back to OhioBut my pretty countrysideHad been paved down the middleBy a government that had no prideThe farms of OhioHad been replaced by shopping mallsAnd Muzak filled the airFrom Seneca to Cuyahoga FallsSaid, ay, oh, way to go, Ohio - Lyrics to OHIO by Chrissie Hynde of the Pretenders-Nancy’s experience of returning to her home in Ohio." ‘They paved paradise and put up a parking lot.’ That was our mantra. We saw it coming and we didn't do our part. I wish we would've done more to protest — but here we are." - Nancy, referring to Joni Mitchell’s 1970 folkson🚗 Hot Takes for Managers | Connectivity * “Car-centric country ≠ car-centric community.” You don’t have to accept the infrastructure you inherited. Even small towns with tiny budgets can move the needle — painted crosswalks, one sidewalk, one park trail. Start somewhere.* The parking minimum is a small business killer. Every space you require a developer to build is real estate that priced out the coffee shop that would have made your downtown worth visiting. Know your ordinance. Consider what you’re actually asking for.* Sell the romance, not the project. When your community loves trails in the abstract but hates the one going past their yard, stop arguing the specifics. Zoom out. Connect the project to the vision they already said they wanted in the comprehensive plan.* Onboard elected officials before they’re sworn in. Eden’s pre-election onboarding meetings include trying on fire gear, checking out police cars, a frank conversation about property rights law…. “You can’t just say no” is much easier to hear before the vote, not after.* If you think you’re the smartest person in the room, you’re in trouble. Build your team of consultants, solicit, and engineers. Enable them to speak up. Your job is to grease the wheels — not to be the wheel.* Vancouver is the benchmark. Build toward it anyway. You can’t retrofit your nineteenth-century borough into a complete streets city overnight. But you can make one block more walkable this year. And the next. That’s how Phoenixville happened. Get full access to MuniSquare at <a href="https://munisquare.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4">munisquare.substack.com/subscribe</a>

17 total episodes available with 13 transcripts

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Frequently asked questions

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What is Generation on the Rise Podcast?: Generation on the Rise is where local government’s next generation of municipal managers wrestle with what’s changing in the work, what’s hard, and why it’s still worth doing.

Join hosts: Dave Pribulka, Brandon Ford, Eden Ratliff, and Executive Producer Nancy J. Hess as they find the new normal — not the one we’re used to, but the one we create.

This is an audio stream of the podcast. In addition to our MuniSquare YouTube channel, we have recently started a new stream with video on Spotify. If you like this, please check out: https://open.spotify.com/show/4PyJy4Btzw1MrYI9FE3Z8Q?si=c226374f75e04b24 <a href="https://munisquare.substack.com/s/generation-on-the-rise-podcast?utm_medium=podcast">munisquare.substack.com</a>
How often does this podcast release new episodes?: This podcast updates daily.
Where can I listen to this podcast?: This podcast is available on 4 platforms including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and more. You can also use the RSS feed directly.
Does this podcast accept guests?: Yes, this podcast regularly features guests.

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