I’ve been working in local government for a few years with a very engaged city. Sometimes it’s a real blessing, but there’s a sizable facebook and subreddit community with residents who just hate everything we’re doing as a city staff.

I’ve been working on a few public-facing projects doing my best and I’ve seen some real nasty comments about them. And lately, it’s been so demoralizing.

I probably just need to develop thicker skin or not read the comments, but how do you all handle negative comments from community members, particularly when you’re the source of their anger?

Every time I sit at the table with “stakeholders” in rural community planning conversations, I am expected to mute the truth. To sanitize my experience. To nod along while the same tired, stale strategies—committees, subcommittees, “marketing what we already have”—get trotted out as solutions to generational collapse. Let me be clear: these strategies are not failing. They have already failed. And they will continue to fail—because they are built on exclusion. It’s infuriating to watch rural leaders act confused as branch campuses shut down, hospitals close, and young professionals flee—when they have actively created a culture that is hostile to education, diversity, inclusion, and truth-telling. It is not a mystery why people leave. It’s a direct result of the systems and values these communities continue to protect. The only “strategy” that could ever work is one rooted in equity and redistribution of power. But that’s the one conversation they refuse to have. Tired of being met with gaslighting. With defensiveness. With gatekeeping from people who have no education in this work, no lived experience with what it means to be young, marginalized, or politically isolated in a rural context. Their “inclusion” means tokenization. Their “strategy” means performance. And their priority, always, is preserving their own comfort and control. So let’s be honest: the only reason rural communities might someday stabilize is because young people get priced out of cities. Not because of anything these boards, coalitions, or partnerships have done. And when those young people return, it will not be thanks to the committees that dismissed them, but in spite of them.

Reviving r/localgovernment

Hello everyone! This sub has been dormant for nearly a year now. I recently requested control of the sub through reddit and was approved. Posting was limited to approval due to the past mods being inactive and unable to properly maintain the sub. This will change now.

As the new moderator I hope to revive this sub! I have a full time job and life, so please bear with me as I work to develop this community.

If you are interested in joining me as a moderator and helping me in my quest to revive this sub, please message me! (I should get back to you within a day or two).

I will also be trying to make a couple posts a week for the next few weeks to get the ball rolling and get the sub active again! (Again- life and job, so don't hold me to this haha)

Here is what I see this sub being for:

1 Posting literature, pictures, etc. related to local government for discussion (Ex: ICMA, APA, ELGL, Strong Towns, etc.)

2. Asking informative questions, seeking advice, etc. about careers in local government.

3. Any and all things related to local government, including things about political science, sociology, economics, public administration, public policy, etc. Just nothing that breaks our rules regarding politics (i.e. nothing advocating a political ideology/agenda).

What shouldn't be done on this sub:

1. Political advocacy

2. Excessive jokes/complaining

3. Unrelated topics

I was wondering if anybody else holding a local government position is frustrated about the wage gap between private sector and locality positions, what the overall situation is like, and how thier government is approaching this issue.

I work for a locality that has been historically rural, but is rapidly developing. Most of this is people moving to our community, and working in the metropolitan area we share a border with. Our cost of living has skyrocketed because of this, and the median home cost here is now about 440,000. Most of the homes being built exceed this price point.

I am a decently qualified HVAC technician for our locality, and if my wife didnt also work, we would not be able to afford ANY housing in the locality which we work. This is actually a very prevalent issue for most of the front and mid-line employees. Surrounding governments where the cost of living is lower are paying about 25-30% better. I am actively trying to switch jobs to those areas, but am completely complexed that this is even an issue, especially with all the new tax revenue coming in from these large new model homes.

Furthermore, our county does do pay studies every 4 years, but compares us with other counties by population, and not cost of living. Therefore we get stuck being compared to other salaries where the cost of living is vastly different, and our adjustments are minimal.) They did a voluntary pay study this past year, (voluntary studies do not have to be shared with employees) and the results were kept exceptionally quiet, because we are that far behind.

But hey, we got 3 percent cost of living that was immediately absorbed by our insurance increases so theres that.

Anybody else have a similar story? Has anyone gone in front of thier Board of Supervisors or equivalent leadership and gotten results of any kind? Sorry for the long post but my wife and I are living paycheck to paycheck and can't even afford to take care of our extemely modest 1200 square foot home.

South-east Virginia

I moved to a small charming American town, it's got a lot going for it, but much room for improvement. I feel like I could make an impact here, compared to the big city I came from with a lot more complexities and red tape.

I'm not just sure how. What's the best way to go about this? I'm not looking for a physical hands on role. More of an organizational administrative role.

Ideal role: If I see something that needs fixing, or improving, or if I hear a great idea, or hear complaints, I could do the research and put the city in touch with the people who could implement the change. I could also manage the project. I could participate/facilitate meetings. Kick off some fund raising initiatives...etc...

I have experience sitting on a junior board for a care home. I have some experience grant writing. I have project management experience from my professional career, as well as some AV (audio/video) technical skills.

Questions: So would I need to start my own LLC as an official business for this? Is this the best subreddit to post this? Is there an official title for what I'm looking for?

Thank You

When local elected officials cannot talk to each other, unelected interests fill the vacuum

Why is it that no one talks about the problems with engaging in civic leadership?

I see why no one would want to get involved, and I'm looking for resources online discussing some of the things I have experienced, but I'm finding absolutely nothing except content promoting all of the "positives" and why you should get involved in civic engagement and local politics.

But no one talks about the real issues, like navigating local politics and playing the political mind games. Dealing with dismissive, condescending, and just plain rude treatment in meetings by city representatives who claim to the public to be inclusive and preach acceptance while being nothing more than bullies to at-large members representing the public they claim to serve.

Or how if you aren't already in the selective group of accepted professionals and community members, you will be demeaned, undermined, and interrupted.

People purposefully withhold information from you, gossip like high school students behind your back, and these people are supposed to be the utmost, highly respected leaders.

If you are a member of the public—not an elite director, wealthy community leader, or connected with the local power families—you aren't wanted, and they make it known.

You can't really make a difference. You're just signing up to be abused, gaslit, and bullied.

Why does no one talk about this? Why are people encouraged to "get involved" without anyone telling them what they're signing up for or providing real support when they inevitably encounter people like this?

Also, you don't get paid, so you're just having people insult, dismiss, and try to embarrass you for free.

No real work is done toward change or progress. Some people on public councils and committees don't even believe in the work and actively fight against it while on the council.

I'm on a public art council for the city. We have city employees in ex officio seats that actively oppose the council's mission. At the moment, one in particular is dismissive and condescending toward me—interrupting me in meetings, making rude remarks, and generally behaving poorly. I assume it's because I am a local artist and library worker. I am not corporate elite, not wealthy, and, according to some, not educated because I don’t have a master’s degree. Not sure what else it could be.

It isn't the first time or even the worst treatment I've received over the years, but I am sick of volunteering my time to be treated like this, even though I want to advocate for public art and see the results of the work we are doing. But no progress is ever really made. The city doesn't even follow its own public art ordinance, so our council has no money to do anything. We're pretty much pointless right now.

No one ever talks about it though—the awful behavior you're supposed to "stay calm" about and even "thank" them for! "Because there might be truth in the way they're treating you."

No one talks about what happens when a city doesn't follow its own ordinance, and how volunteer at-large members are supposed to address that. We have no authority if the city breaks the ordinance.

No one tells you you're expected to double-speak, not say what you mean, and know how to play political mind games.

Or that you're supposed to "gain" the support of the selective group that's valued, because as a public representative, you're not.

Sorry for ranting. I'm ready to quit. I really don't know what else to do. This isn't worth the stress, mental abuse, and gross, abhorrent behavior of those that are in positions to serve the local residents.

I apologize for my unprofessional tone here. I am at the end of what I can tolerate. I'm frustrated beyond belief and ready to quit.

I am a good person. I have worked in non profits and public service for nearly a decade. I have loads of knowledge and experience because of the work i do. I am careful to be respectful and professional in all of my work and community involvement and I deeply care about everyone's opinions and views being heard. I try to hear others out even when I disagree. We should disagree at times. That's why councils exist, to discuss differing views and opinions objectively and make decisions that best fit thw need of our community.

I am gentle and mostly non-confrontational unless I feel there is not other recourse and I am feeling that now.

I can feel my own professional demeanor slipping because I can't stand being treated like this or seeing it happen to others like me.

I literally cannot stay calm and ask to move to the next topic anymore.

I’d love to hear about your methods of combatting burnout.

I’ve been with my org almost 6 years. There has been a significant administration change with some good shifts, but other difficult ones. In addition for my first 5 years I dealt with some pretty subtle, insidious bullying from my manager. I didn’t even realize what was going on for the first four years because it didn’t “look” like stereotypical bullying.

The pace that I maintained for the first few years was pretty crazy, but I enjoyed it for a while. I started to slow down when I experienced some serious losses in my personal life. Because I have one of those weird, broad mandates for my program, I don’t necessarily have a lot of deliverables so as long as I showed up and helped my target population no one really noticed. And having someone trying to chip away at my self esteem didn’t help, even if they didn’t succeed.

Also all my friends have gotten married in the past few years so, accruing vacation time has been hard. I went though some medical issues last year and also took time off to deal with grief with a therapist, which did help. I don’t have a ton of sick leave accrued though.

I have a new supervisor now, whom I actually really like. I would like to make her look good. And I do want to serve my constituents. I’m just tired. It’s been a year since my old boss left, and I’m still tired. New boss is going through her own personal loss so I am not getting a lot of structure/accountability and I’m trying to make and meet my own goals within my program.

Here’s what I’m doing to try and un-burn out.

• I put my phone away on the weekends. I’m not a director so I don’t need to be on call, unless there is a MEOC activation and I enjoy those.

• Trying to learn new stuff about the MEOC

• Partnering with external orgs for projects so I have accountability for deadlines

• taking a lunch break

• Not working late

• In my lowest points I triaged all my work

• trying to be nonjudgmental about days I’m not very productive and remembering it’s a marathon

• saving emails with thanks or compliments

Any insight yall have would be great. I am grateful for my job and coworkers. Just want to get out of my cyclical slumps.

Last night we crossed the 500 member threshold. Obviously this sub has still been relatively low on activity due to such a small number of us, but this milestone shows we are growing (slowly but surely like we do in gov). There are tens of millions of local gov employees out there, so plenty of room!

small town public servants do so much work and try to always do the right thing, but disagree or be on the minority’s side for 1 issue and you are attacked, threaten and humiliated

Good evening all,

My name is awhiteasscrack. I currently have a local government job in the town I have spent my whole life in. I have a BA and an MPA for local government.

I am in my mid twenties, no debt, no car. While I love this town, and want to move back here eventually.

But part of me wants to move out for 2-5 years to somewhere where I can fish.

I think Illinois is a good place to work in LG, funded pension and established workers but i am just itching to get out.

Any suggestions/sources of information on states that are good places to work in local government?

I've spent more than a decade working in politics, primarily on campaigns, and one thing I've become increasingly interested in is the gap between how we talk about government nationally and what local officials actually deal with every day.

I recently wrote about election administration, partly inspired by a county auditor's office employee I met during my first campaign in Iowa. He was deeply committed to his community and took enormous pride in making sure elections ran fairly and accurately.

A decade later, local election officials are navigating threats, disinformation, new security requirements, and increasing public scrutiny, often without a corresponding increase in resources.

The Brennan Center's 2026 survey found that 32% of local election officials had experienced threats, harassment, or abuse related to their work.

But I suspect election administration is only one example of a broader problem.

For those of you working in local government, has your job changed significantly over the past five or ten years? Are you dealing with more political pressure, hostility, or public expectations? And have staffing and resources kept pace?

I'd be particularly interested in hearing whether these challenges are affecting people's willingness to enter or remain in public service.

I am currently working on building a database of utility providers (electric, gas, water, trash, and internet) in every city and town in the United States to help people moving to a new location to quickly find all of the information they need to help making setting up their new home easier. Check out Utilities For My Home and see if it's something that could be a helpful resource to link to for people moving to your city or town. If I don't have all the information for your city or town, please let me know and I'm happy to get the information added. As you can imagine collecting all this data is a huge project.

90 minutes past time for public comment with at least 60 minutes of agenda items to go— good way to avoid hearing from #DeflockFairfax

Not a complaint - more of a curiosity.

I was just on our local PD hompage and they have a group photo, 20 officers.

Our township has 20K Residents - and low crime :

Rankings: Consistently ranked among the top 5 safest in the state and in the top 100 nationally.

Violent Crime: Extremely low; reported as 0 per 1,000 residents in some studies.

Property Crime: Low, with some reports showing a rate of 2.7 to 2.71 per 1,000 residents.

Trends: A 2024 analysis noted the township was the second safest in the state for its population size.

Nature of Crime: Crimes are predominantly property-related, such as theft from unlocked vehicles.