Author: Jason Stershic

Sometimes when you’re a county commissioner you just have to get out in the streets and … Picking up the trash with Tommy Calvert (S3E11)Read more

When you get your start in politics and your mentor is the former first lady and her husband, former President Jimmy Carter, as you will hear in my conversation, you get a good start. Listen to the conversation with DeKalb County commissioner Larry Johnson and you will also hear how he walks the county and meets the people.

Meet Phil Armstrong, he is county executive of Lehigh County, Pennsylvania. He presides over a county that is experiencing fast growth and business is moving in. Forget the song Allentown, it’s a new day in Allentown. And we talk about the local Iron Pigs baseball team, apparently there is a way to prepare to throw the first pitch.

Not everyone’s political hero is a talk show host. But it is for Toulumne County Supervisor Jaron Brandon. His hero is Jon Stewart. Come to think of it, Stewart is an advocate for much better government. Brandon serves in what was the gold fields of California. The days of the old 49ers are alive and well and folks still pan for gold and find it. Join my conversation with Toulumne County supervisor Jardon Brandon and hear the new challenges in the old gold fields.

Chicago politics is historically a rough game. Listen to a Conversation with Toni Preckwinkle the president of the Cook County board of commissioners. She is a legend and she’s a groundbreaker. She continues to champion issues she has always worked on. She talks about all that during our conversation.

When you talk about Sonoma County wine is the first thing that comes to my mind. So listen to my conversation with County Supervisor James Gore. But we don’t just talk wine, although we do spend some time on the subject, but we also talk about preparedness and check in on a housing for the homeless project we covered on a previous episode of The Good Government Show.

Senator Joe Manchin is one of the leaders of the United States Senate and he talks to us about issues important to both his home state of West Virginia and the nation. Converting away from fossil fuels efficiently is an issue he is working on, and he calls his ATV his second car.

The U.S. hasn’t admitted a new state since Hawaii in 1959. Could Washington DC become the 51st state? It could. The people of Washington have voted for statehood. Congress must decide and there are more senators leaning that way. But it’s still a longshot. Listen as proponents of statehood for Washington explain how there should be the 51st star on the flag.

Meet the county executive that has had the toughest year of maybe anyone in government. The people of Buffalo, NY lived through a tragic racist shooting. Then they were hit with a once in a generation snowstorm. Mark Poloncarz talks about how to manage two of the worst tragedies in the US. And being Buffalo, we talked wings.

The Internal Revenue Service may be the least liked agency in the federal government. But in a conversation with Kristen Deazeley, a Management and Program Analyst for the IRS, we learn that the IRS actually does a lot of work to make sure they provide good government for taxpayers. Listen as she explains the many ways the IRS provides help and support, really.