Chad Trivette

Most people do not think much about local government when it is working.

The road is cleared after a storm. The park is open. The water runs. A permit is reviewed. A public meeting is held. A grant is managed. A project that began years earlier slowly moves from plan to reality.

Behind those ordinary moments are people doing difficult public work with limited time, limited money, and high expectations.

I have a great deal of respect for the city managers, town managers, county managers, administrators, assistant managers, department heads, clerks, planners, finance officers, public works leaders, emergency managers, librarians, public health staff, parks professionals, and many others who help communities function every day.

I am not a city, town, or county manager. I have not had to sit in that chair when the budget is tight, staff are stretched, the meeting is tense, and residents are looking for answers. But from the outside, it is clear that this work requires patience, judgment, communication, ethics, humility, and a serious commitment to public service.

A well run local government is never the work of one person alone. It takes elected leadership, professional staff, department expertise, community trust, and steady management. Managers are not the whole system, but they often help connect the pieces so public priorities can become real services.

That work deserves more appreciation.

Local government is where public issues become practical. Housing, roads, water, parks, public safety, emergency response, planning, libraries, public health, economic development, workforce needs, and long term budgets are not abstract ideas inside a city hall or county office. They are part of the daily work of helping a place function, respond, and improve.

That is also why this profession should be more visible to young people.

Students often learn the names of presidents, governors, mayors, and other elected officials. Those roles matter. But far fewer students are introduced to the professional managers and administrators who help local government function day to day.

That raises a simple question: how many middle and high school students could name their city, town, or county manager, or explain what that person does?

That is not a criticism of students, schools, or local governments. It is an opportunity.

If young people do not know these careers exist, they are unlikely to imagine themselves doing this work someday. A stronger bridge between local government and schools could help students see public management as a real path, not something they discover later by accident.

Many students hear about becoming teachers, doctors, nurses, police officers, firefighters, lawyers, engineers, business owners, or elected officials. Those are important paths. But many students may not realize there is also a career where they can serve a city, town, or county through professional public management.

They may not know that someone helps prepare the budget, coordinate departments, support public meetings, plan infrastructure, manage grants, communicate with residents, recruit staff, respond to emergencies, and help elected officials make informed decisions. They may not realize that local government management can be one of the most practical forms of public service.

There are already strong efforts to introduce college and graduate students to local government careers. ICMA student chapters, local government fellowships, public administration programs, and professional associations all play important roles. Those efforts matter.

But there may be value in reaching students earlier, especially in middle school and high school, in ways that are practical for schools and respectful of already busy local governments.

This should not become one more unfunded responsibility for city halls, town halls, county offices, or schools. A better approach may be a shared pathway where local governments, schools, MPA programs, community colleges, universities, libraries, civic organizations, and professional associations each carry a manageable part.

A useful student pathway could include four basic pieces: exposure, experience, problem solving, and career connection.

Exposure means helping students see that local government careers exist.

That could start with a simple Local Government Learning Day. Instead of putting the full responsibility on one manager, a school could invite a small group of local public servants to speak with students. A manager, clerk, planner, public works leader, finance officer, librarian, parks staff member, public health professional, emergency manager, or department head could explain, in plain language, what they do.

The purpose would not be to make students memorize government structure. It would be to help them see that local government includes many real careers connected to real community needs.

Experience means giving students a closer look at how communities work.

A school, city, town, or county could consider organizing a public service tour once or twice a year. Students might visit a city hall, county courthouse, public works facility, library, parks department, emergency operations center, planning office, water facility, or public health office.

Many students have never seen the places that help keep a community running. Seeing those places can make public service feel more real.

Even small connections could matter. A classroom visit, a public service tour, a student project, a budget exercise, or a conversation with local staff could help students understand that their community is managed and supported by real people doing serious, practical, meaningful work.

Problem solving means giving students a chance to work through local issues in a structured and age appropriate way.

One possible idea is a Run Your Community classroom challenge. Students could be given a fictional city, town, or county with a limited budget and a set of realistic needs. They might have to think through how to balance road repairs, park improvements, staffing, housing concerns, emergency preparedness, water infrastructure, and support for local businesses.

The lesson would not be that students can solve local government problems in one class period. The lesson would be that public service requires listening, tradeoffs, teamwork, fairness, evidence, and clear communication.

Another idea could be a Community Budget Lab. Many adults do not fully understand how local budgets work, so students rarely get a chance to understand them either. A budget lab could help students see where money comes from, where it goes, and why every decision has tradeoffs.

Students could learn about property taxes, sales taxes, grants, public safety costs, road maintenance, parks, water systems, reserves, and capital projects.

That kind of civic education could be practical and memorable. It could help students understand that government is not just politics. It is choices, responsibilities, services, and stewardship.

A Community Problem Solvers Club could go deeper for interested students. It could work like debate, robotics, mock trial, FFA, student council, or Model United Nations, but focus on real local issues. Students could choose one topic each semester, such as sidewalk safety, park access, youth mental health, recycling, senior transportation, emergency preparedness, housing, downtown activity, or water conservation.

Teachers, university students, civic volunteers, or MPA students could guide the regular work. Local staff could serve as occasional advisers when capacity allows.

For students who want a more serious experience, communities could consider a Youth Local Government Fellowship. Juniors and seniors could spend part of a semester working on a limited, supervised project with a city, town, county, school district, library, or regional partner.

One student might create a plain language guide to local services. Another might map youth volunteer opportunities. Another might study park needs. Another might research senior transportation. Another might help a community understand how young people view downtown, recreation, safety, or public spaces.

The project would need to be useful, realistic, and carefully supervised. It should help students learn without creating unrealistic expectations for local staff.

Career connection means helping students see possible pathways.

Students should be able to understand how their interests could connect to local government work. A student who likes numbers might someday become a budget analyst, finance officer, or city manager. A student who likes science might work in water, sustainability, public health, emergency management, or environmental services. A student who likes communication might work in community engagement, public information, libraries, or administration. A student who likes building things might find a path through public works, engineering, planning, or infrastructure.

The goal would not be to promote only one job title. The goal would be to help young people see the full public service ecosystem: managers, clerks, planners, finance officers, public works crews, librarians, emergency managers, public health staff, parks professionals, analysts, and department leaders.

A student who sees that world early may someday become part of it.

MPA programs could be especially helpful.

These programs already train people for public service and public management. They could help introduce the profession earlier, in partnership with schools and local governments. Graduate students could visit high schools, help run simulations, mentor students, create lesson kits for civics teachers, support student case competitions, and host public management discovery days on campus.

MPA programs could also work with ICMA student chapters, state municipal leagues, county associations, community colleges, and local governments to create a stronger bridge from high school to college to graduate school to public service careers.

This does not have to be complicated. A regional toolkit could include a one day lesson plan, a mock budget activity, a local government career map, a public service tour agenda, a student project menu, a speaker guide, and a simple rubric for teachers. That could make it easier for schools and local governments to participate without building everything from scratch.

The partnerships could be simple but meaningful. Local governments could provide speakers, tours, project ideas, or mentors when capacity allows. Schools could connect the work to existing classes and career pathways. Universities and MPA programs could provide faculty support and student mentors. State associations could help share templates so every community does not have to reinvent the wheel.

The benefits could be meaningful.

Students could learn more about how communities actually work. Schools could gain practical civic learning opportunities. Local governments could have another way to tell the story of public service without carrying the whole burden alone. MPA programs could reach students earlier. Communities could benefit from young people who see local government not just as politics, but as service, stewardship, management, and care for place.

This matters because the next generation of managers, assistant managers, planners, finance officers, clerks, public works leaders, emergency managers, public health leaders, librarians, analysts, and department heads has to come from somewhere.

Students cannot choose a career they have never seen.

The message to students could be simple: if you care about your community, there may be a career for that. If you like solving problems, there may be a career for that. If you care about roads, parks, housing, clean water, public safety, local business, technology, public health, fairness, or helping people, local government may be a place where your interests can matter.

City, town, and county managers deserve appreciation for what they do now. They also deserve a stronger pipeline behind them.

One way to honor today’s local government professionals is to help young people see that this work exists, that it matters, and that they could be part of it.

If communities want the next generation of public managers, they may need to help young people see local government before college, before graduate school, and before career choices have already been made.

Local government is where public service becomes visible. It is where a plan becomes a road, a budget becomes a service, a meeting becomes a decision, and a good idea becomes something people can actually use.

The people who do that work deserve respect. The next generation deserves an invitation.