Clear blue water and deep dirty problems, how the Florida Keys are cleaning their polluted waterways
Developers created miles and miles of beautiful waterfront coastline, but that also created water so polluted you couldn’t sit outside — the smell was putrid. But Monroe County realized that water was their lifeblood. Listen and hear very forward-thinking ideas that are bringing back fish life into now clean waters —-one canal at a time.
A jail that’s not a jail, but a way out of Jail
Putting young teenagers in jail for felony offenses gets them off the street for awhile but it doesn’t rehabilitate them. So, in Smith County, Texas they found a better way. It’s called Hope Academy and it’s an alternative to the county lock up. Here kids learn to live and work and they create a positive...
A Park where Everyone can Bang on the Drum all Day
People with disabilities in Harford County, Maryland now have a wonderful way to get exercise thanks to a local plan. It’s a sensory trail and it features among other things a huge drum, 9-foot-high chimes, a roller table for tactile sliding and lots of other activities for fun and relaxation. There’s also a specially designed...
Suicide Prevention Six Strings at a time
Meet the DD-214’s of Josephine County, Oregon. This is a group of combat war veterans who left their rifles behind and picked up a guitar. Thanks to one guitar playing vet services director, they gather weekly to play music together, forming their own musical support group. They play at local festivals and for a few...
What’s Old is New Again updating a bowling alley to art Center
The county needed theater space and room for a museum. Some creative thinking by a handful of county officials turned an old and abandoned bowling alley into an arts and cultural center. Listen to the stories of performers who got on stage and one person whose life was actually saved by art classes in Johnson...
Taking Care of Women Veterans – Texas style
The state of Texas has the most women veterans in the entire country. But veterans’ programs were originally designed with men in mind. So, they had to think out of the box to provide women veterans with the services they needed. Women networking with women and with the help of the Travis County vets services,...
A solution over 75 years in the making, putting the Disabled to work
In this episode, we go all the way back to the New Deal from President Franklin D. Roosevelt and we meet the folks at Source America. Listen to their inspirational stories about how they were trained, found work and improved their lives in a program still going strong.
Modernizing the old bookmobile
When the people couldn’t get to the library, or worse, didn’t have a library, the librarians in Catawaba County, North Carolina came up with a solution. They packed the books into a van, loaded it with new electronics, a couch and a few chairs and they drove to the folks who needed it most.
A Tiny Piece of Paradise – Homes for the Homeless
For homeless veterans in Sonoma County, California, having the county help build you your own mini-house takes you off the street and gives you a home of your own. It may be small but listen to what a guy with his own home thinks of his new house.
Reading Revitalization
On this episode of the Good Government show we travel to Reading, Pa and meet the folks from Berks County. We meet Peggy Kershner and Nikki Schnovel, who are the co-executive directors of the Berks Connections Pre-Trial Services. They came up with a better way to greatly reduce recidivism and becoming effective members of the...
The Farmingdale Downtown Restoration
Farmingdale is a bedroom community on Long Island, New York. A once thriving factory town, by the 2000’s it had become a shadow of what it once was. A largely empty downtown wasn’t attracting much interest or shoppers and large commercial buildings were laying empty. But, the local Mayor along with other government officials realized...
Preview of The Good Government Show: Season One
Co-hosts David Martin and Carol D’Auria discuss the upcoming first season of The Good Government Show. The hosts discuss the idea behind the podcast and talk with two guests. Scott Thomsen President of the National Association of Government Communicators who discusses the importance of telling listeners why these stories matter. Brian Namey, chief spokesman for...
Join Our Newsletter
Subscribe to receive info on our latest news and episodes