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A simple card game provided community and a career in public service for Bryan Barnett. He hadn’t found inspiration for his scholastic studies until he was invited to join a card game at lunch. It didn’t seem transformational at the time, but he “said yes, met a group of people… That led me to becoming the student body president among the myriad of other leadership roles in the university.” The seemingly simple invitation ended up paving his path into serving his community as a public servant.
The mayor has used his community of Rochester Hills, Mich., and his community of peer mayors to build a city with high marks for its business prospects, safety, fire department and more. While he was the youngest person in the nation to be elected mayor of a city with a population greater than 50,000, Bryan Barnett attributes his city’s many successes to the great team he has in Rochester Hills that focuses on innovation, infrastructure and inclusion.
Even despite the uncertainty and fear of the coronavirus pandemic that’s affecting the nation, Mayor Barnett believes that combating COVID-19 will require a local, state, national and global response that would be impossible without the notion of community. As social distancing creates feelings of isolation and loneliness, Mayor Barnett is inspired by his constituents that create community through their tremendous optimism and willingness to help.
Listen to the full interview to hear Bryan Barnett discuss glow-in-the-dark sidewalks, the importance of “being invited,” and how mayors across the nation are "In the Arena" together during this coronavirus pandemic.
Previous Guests:
- Ryan Coonerty, County Supervisor of Santa Cruz, Calif.
- Lydia Mihalik, Director of Ohio's Development Services Agency
- Chris Cabaldon, Mayor of West Sacramento, Calif.
- Affie Ellis, State Senator, Wyo.
- Beth Niblock, CIO of Detroit, Mich.
- Eric Garcetti, Mayor of Los Angeles, Calif.
- Ed O’Keefe, CEO of the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library Foundation
- Blair Milo, Ind.'s first Secretary of Career Connections and Talent
- Phil Bertolini, Co-Director, Center for Digital Government
- Jo Ann Davidson, Ohio State Representative
- Dow Constantine, Executive of King County, Wash.
- Harry LaRosiliere, Mayor of Plano, Texas
- Rebecca Rhynhart, City Controller of Philadelphia
- Michael Crow, President of Arizona State University
- Mayors Melvin Carter of St. Paul, Minn.; Jenn Daniels of Gilbert, Ariz.; Jacob Frey of Minneapolis and Francis Suarez of Miami
- Chris Castro, Director of Sustainability for Orlando, Fla.
- Kim Foxx, State's Attorney for Cook County, Ill.
- Doug Burgum, Governor of N.D.
- Steve Benjamin, Mayor of Columbia, S.C.
- Kristen Cox, Executive Director of Utah Office of Management and Budget
- Acquanetta Warren, Mayor of Fontana, Calif.
- Greg Fischer, Mayor of Louisville, Ky.
- Themis Klarides, Minority Leader of the Conn. House
