Ep 9: Practical tips for building better committees and volunteerism in your town with Nate Bernitz

Ep 9: Practical tips for building better committees and volunteerism in your town with Nate Bernitz

Welcome to a special episode of the RETHINK LOCAL podcast. In it, I talk with Nate Bernitz who is a community and economic development field specialist at the University of New Hampshire extension about ways to improve retention and recruitment on municipal boards and committees and help leverage the power of volunteers to improve local decision-making.  This topic has come up a lot in meetings and workshops with town officials, and some best practices have been highly requested, so Nate and I run through a bunch of best practices and practical tips that you can implement in your community to increase how effective these boards and committees are as well ensure they have full and representative membership from your community. Nate and I recorded a long conversation here and I actually decided to break it into two shorter episodes. This episode is the practical tips that you can take right to your town and implement. The second conversation which I'll post shortly, is a more conceptual conversation around the importance of effective community engagement and building your local civic ecosystem. There is also a free four-page PDF linked below with a guide for your town on low-cost, high-impact ways to step up your board, committee, and volunteerism game. Check it out and let us know if you have any tips that you've found to work well in your community!  In this episode, we roughly cover the following topics: 1. Why public meetings are not always the best starting point for engagement 1. Long meetings, formal public comment, and limited back-and-forth can make it hard for residents to participate meaningfullyDifferent types of boards and committees 2. Statutory boards 1. Enabled or optional boards 2. Standing advisory committees Ad hoc, task-focused committees 3. Why ad hoc committees are underused 4. They can be time-limited, goal-oriented, and easier for new volunteers to join. They can serve as an on-ramp for people who may not be ready for a permanent board role. 5. Retention comes before recruitment 6. Towns should ask why people are not staying before simply trying to recruit more people. Clear scopes, expectations, training, good meetings, and support matter. 7. Making boards visible and relevant 8. Residents are more likely to get involved when they understand what boards are actually doing and why the work matters. 9. Recruiting differently 10. Use broad volunteer invitations, community nominations, and “matchmaking” conversations instead of expecting residents to pick from a long list of boards. 11. Next steps for towns 12. Clarify committee purposes. Train chairs well. Recognize and retain volunteers. Run better community nominations. Track interested residents. Create more practical, accessible ways for people to contribute. Do everything part of a broader effort to build engagement and trust and decion-making capacity I also prepared a handout/takeaways PDF that you can download for free online at Rethink Local, and that is an action plan for your town. Additional resources: * Ten best practices PDF with implementation tips: https://rethinklocal.us/build-engaged-volunteers-committees-and-boards-in-your-town/ * Authentic and Effective Public Engagement, in ICMA PM Magazine: https://rethinklocal.us/alex-featured-in-icma-magazine-on-public-engagement/ [https://rethinklocal.us/alex-featured-in-icma-magazine-on-public-engagement/] * Understanding Public Trust at the Local Level: https://extension.unh.edu/resource/understanding-public-trust-local-level [https://extension.unh.edu/resource/understanding-public-trust-local-level] * https://extension.unh.edu/resource/beyond-vacancies-building-strong-enduring-municipal-boardsBeyond Vacancies: Building Strong and Enduring Municipal Boards: https://extension.unh.edu/resource/beyond-vacancies-building-strong-enduring-municipal-boards [https://extension.unh.edu/resource/beyond-vacancies-building-strong-enduring-municipal-boards] * Civic Health Report: https://carsey.unh.edu/new-hampshire-listens/civic-health [https://carsey.unh.edu/new-hampshire-listens/civic-health] * https://scholars.unh.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2232&context=extension [https://scholars.unh.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2232&context=extension] * https://scholars.unh.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2214&context=extension [https://scholars.unh.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2214&context=extension] More about Nate Bernitz and UNH Extension: Nate is a community & economic development field specialist for UNH Extension, providing educational outreach that builds community and regional leaders’ capacity to grow and sustain the economy. Nate’s areas of focus include economic development, business retention and engagement, and building partnerships that stimulate innovation and foster regional collaboration.  Nate serves the New Hampshire Seacoast Region. Nate holds a Master’s in Public Administration from the University of New Hampshire. UNH Extension works in five broad topic areas:  Community and Economic Development, Education & 4-H Youth Development, Food & Agriculture, Health and Well-Being,  and Natural Resources. By working in collaboration with county, state and federal governments, UNH Extension is at work in every New Hampshire county, making the state’s key industries stronger, developing vibrant communities and municipal leaders, fostering healthy families and an informed and engaged citizenry, and keeping the state’s natural resources healthy and productive.

Ep 8: What we're missing in the discussion about local government public records

Today I want to talk about public records requests — not from an abstract legal perspective, but from the ground level of actually working in towns across Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and New Jersey. I believe public records access is essential. But things are getting more challenging and we are having the wrong conversation in some key areas, falling into an overly binary debate that doesn't get us closer to better solutions. But there are several solutions that help meet the goals of "both sides" of the debate.  So I want to walk through five areas: 1. Commercial use (and abuse) and cost fairness 2. Streamlining simple requests vs. guidance for complex requests 3. The value of records management and digitization 4. State guidance, enforcement, and appeals 5. The bigger trust problem foundational to all of this Have you had a similar or different experience with public records requests? Reach out to share your thoughts, ideas, or challenges that you are facing.   Additional resources: * VT Digger article: https://vtdigger.org/2026/02/26/corporate-requests-for-public-records-are-weighing-down-already-burdened-town-officials-in-vermont/ [https://vtdigger.org/2026/02/26/corporate-requests-for-public-records-are-weighing-down-already-burdened-town-officials-in-vermont/] * Vermont SOS on public records: https://digitalservices.vermont.gov/about-us/public-records-requests-and-statewide-database [https://digitalservices.vermont.gov/about-us/public-records-requests-and-statewide-database] * NHMA on public records: https://www.nhmunicipal.org/right-know-law [https://www.nhmunicipal.org/right-know-law] * Join the New England Municipal Manager's email group: https://rethinklocal.us/new-england-municipal-managers-email-list/ [https://rethinklocal.us/new-england-municipal-managers-email-list/]

Ep 7: The high stakes of land use and zoning

In this quicker update type episode, I share a bit about the contract that Rethink Local just started over the last couple weeks in Randolph Vermont, where my company was brought in to provide planning and zoning services, as well explore some opportunities for shared services in the future. I'll be serving as Randolph's Zoning Administrator under the title of Director of Planning, Zoning, and Regional Partnerships. In this episode, I wanted to share why local land use and zoning is so critical. Not just about "housing" as we typically think about it, which is already a major priority in our region, but how it is a bedrock to some themes around community and belonging that our country is struggling so much with in 2025, and which housing is one of the early-chain contributors to. We also cover some thoughts and opportunities for people to plug in at the local level to be involved in helping ensure local policies and practices support creating diverse, resilient communities.  For more information about the work between Rethink Local and Randolph, visit rethinklocal.us or randolphvt.org.  Additional resources:  * "I voted, now what?" about specific ways you can get more involved locally: https://rethinklocal.castos.com/episodes/ep-5-i-voted-now-what [https://rethinklocal.castos.com/episodes/ep-5-i-voted-now-what]  * Rethink Local: https://rethinklocal.us/ [https://rethinklocal.us/]  * Randolph, VT website: https://randolphvt.org/ [https://randolphvt.org/]  * Brick and Mortar Substack: https://brickandmortar.substack.com/ [https://brickandmortar.substack.com/]  * My Substack: https://alextorpey.substack.com [https://alextorpey.substack.com/]

Ep 6: Community nursing in the Upper Valley

In this episode of Upper Valley Vibes, we're going to talk about community nursing - the program mostly centered in small rural communities in the northeast US, get to know some of the folks who helped drive the adoption of these programs in the Upper Valley and hear from several nurses in different towns about what it's like and why this healthcare service is so valuable.   Part of what I'd like to do on this podcast is spotlight some of the ways in which really large challenges, such as healthcare, are actually being worked on or addressed by creative solutions driven by people right here in our local communities.   It was challenging to try and edit the conversations because there was so many interesting topics. So, this episode is just an overview of a few of the most interesting key points about these programs. In future episodes, I will release the full 30-minute or so conversations with each of the community nurses that we hear from in this episode.   The conversations touched on a range of topics from their backgrounds, how they don't work with insurance the benefits that brings, how community nursing is different than other medicine and healthcare and how they work together, why relationships matter in medicine, why community matters, the value of preventative care, and the overall vibe of this piece of our healthcare system, one of the only ones, that isn't centered around a large corporation making as much money as possible, but rather, with the number one goal as supporting and improving the lives and health of people. In this episode we'll hear from : * Kristin Barnum from Community Nurse Connection, * Jodi Hoyt the town nurse in Tunbridge VT, * Katie Williams the community nurse in Hartford VT, and * Doris Yates, the community nurse in Hanover NH.   Resources:   * Community Nurse Connection FAQs about starting a program in your town and more information: https://www.communitynurseconnection.org/ [https://www.communitynurseconnection.org/] * Hanover, NH Community Nursing info: https://www.hanovernh.org/777/Hanover-Community-Nurse [https://www.hanovernh.org/777/Hanover-Community-Nurse] * Hartford, VT Community Nursing info: https://www.hartford-vt.org/3660/Community-Nurse [https://www.hartford-vt.org/3660/Community-Nurse] * Tunbridge, VT Town Nurse info: https://tunbridgevt.org/town-nurse/ [https://tunbridgevt.org/town-nurse/]

Ep 5: "I voted!" Now what?

Last month, millions of people turned out to vote in the 2024 elections.  I voted stickers made their way across social media, ads and signs littered our internet and streets for weeks and months leading up to it, and billions was spent on the whole thing. But, the truth is that voting for president is only a drop in the bucket compared to the number of opportunities that our system of government makes available for us all to be involved in. In fact, our systems are designed specifically to have more of us more involved regularly. At the same time many people are looking for ways to get involved, many local communities are struggling to find people to help out. Let's fix that! In this episode, we talk a bit about how much attention has shifted to the presidency from the nation's original founding, and cover five areas that if you have energy, ideas,  to get more involved you can start doing tomorrow. Some of you will already be familiar with at least some of these, but hopefully there are some ideas in here that can provide you or anyone you know some inspiration or guidance on ways they can get more involved beyond just voting. We talk about five nonpartisan, accessible, and impactful ways that anyone get more involved: 1. Why voting for other levels of governments, especially at the local, is so important 2. The need, simply, for better people to run for office, whether you yourself think you're up to the task or perhaps you may know someone who could be a great leader 3. Serving on a statutory or advisory board at a local level and helping guide policies, make recommendations, or make decisions in a wide range of areas 4. Helping out on a shorter term basis, such as volunteer days, volunteering during elections, helping on a river cleanup, or other things local businesses and groups routinely need help with on 5. Helping connect people around you to better and more information about their local governance, such as through journalism, town meeting voter guides, being a good Civic Citizen, and more. Are there other ways you have found helpful in getting involved? Send anything I missed or any questions over to me at alex@rethinklocal.us [alex@rethinklocal.us].   Episode links:     * American Nations: * https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11140803-american-nations [https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11140803-american-nations] * Decision in Philadelphia * https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/619794.Decision_in_Philadelphia [https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/619794.Decision_in_Philadelphia] * A quick summary and further reading on the presidential election * https://csac.history.wisc.edu/document-collections/constitutional-debates/executive-branch/ [https://csac.history.wisc.edu/document-collections/constitutional-debates/executive-branch/] * How many elected officials are there in the US? * https://poliengine.com/blog/how-many-politicians-are-there-in-the-us [https://poliengine.com/blog/how-many-politicians-are-there-in-the-us] * Note: I believe this may be undercounting with many local official positions elected in certain parts of the country but not in others, or not well kept track of such as judges in some state, mosquito control warden, or trustees of trust funds, library trustees, etc.   This is a special episode that I'm posting in December to both of my podcasts, Rethinking and Upper Valley Vibes. On one hand it's the holiday season and taking a quick break from the time required for having and editing discussions which will resume on Upper Valley Vibes in January with some great stuff lined up, but also, I've had so many conversations with people about wanting to get more involved after this really intense presidential election - so I recorded this special episode to help provide some information for people looking for some ways to invest their time and energy in helping contribute to their community or others around them beyond voting for president. I hope you find this information valuable and have a great and relaxing holiday season with family and friends, and if you have any suggestions of things I missed for this episode that I should add to the list, please send them over to me at alex@rethinklocal.us.