The Public Works Nerds

This week we start what will become a series of podcasts chronicling the journey of the City of Shakopee, MN through the APWA Accreditation process. Shakopee decided to take this on several months ago and a couple of months into the process at the time of this recording. This is a great conversation about why Shakopee decided to do this, how they found an internal champion and what

In our 32nd episode we are joined by the City of Edina's Master Electrician and Supervisor Noah Silver. Noah guides us through this nerd session on Electric Vehicles and the required infrastructure to support them. Join us for a transformative discussion on how the City of Edina is spearheading the future of electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure. With insights from our este

This week we may have to temporarily rename the podcast "The Parks and Recreations Nerds" as we welcome Matt Johnson, Director of Parks and Recreation for the City of Roseville. Along with my guest co-host Bryce Shearan, a colleague of mine at Bolton & Menk and former Parks and Recreation Director at the City of Little Canada. Bryce also hosts another podcast - MRPA On the Air.

We are back for our 30th episode here at The Public Works Nerds! Here is the AI Generated Description. I have to call it out because I can't take credit for this prose:Unlock the secrets to transforming public perception and securing project funding through masterful communication with our esteemed guest, Sara Renney, Carver County's communications guru. Her rich tapestry of experi

Join us for Take 2 of the Nerds Unplugged where I sit down with Deb Heiser, Engineering Director for the City of St. Louis Park, MN, and Richard McCoy, Public Works Director and City Engineer for the City of Robbinsdale, MN. We recap the last four episodes and chat about some random topics like college tours, bridge collapses, and infrastructure funding. I plan to have these Unplug

Episode 8 of Season 2 features Chris Evers, a 2023 APWA Top Ten Public Works Leader award winner. That's why I contacted Chris, but I'm so happy I did for many reasons. First of all, I was finally able to nerd out on pavement maintenance. But I was also able to meet a pretty funny, smart, and gracious person in Chris Evers. And since Chris brought up Stuart Smalley in the podcast,

This episode took some time to get out there! Blame vacations and some tech issues, but I am finally dropping the 7th episode in Season 2 - and its a good one! Super fan and Tree Nerd Hannibal Hayes from the City of Minnetonka, MN joins me to talk about using technology to better manage the urban forest. We go off on some tangents about Emerald Ash Borer and tree species diversity

This week I'm joined by a Smart Cities team from Raleigh, North Carolina. Jim Alberque is the GIS and Emerging Technology Manager for the City of Raleigh and John Holden is the Smart City Manager for Raleigh. We talk about what does Smart Cities mean for Raleigh and how is the City focusing on different efforts under this umbrella. We cover quite a bit of ground from asset manageme

In this episode I sit down with my hometown Public Works Director, Sean Kershaw. As any public works nerd knows, we are at times over critical of those that serve us where we live, and we most likely have experienced that heightened scrutiny from current and retired public works professionals that live in our communities. It can be good, reaffirming, constructive, and frustrating.

Welcome to the first Nerds Unplugged episode! Deb Heiser, Michael Thompson and Mark Ray join me as a panel of opinionated Public Works professionals talking about random issues related to Public Works. This is planned to be a monthly or so feature where we recap recent podcast episodes, talk about public works issues in the news and give updates to what's going on in our public wor