Montgomery Insider
Montgomery Insider
Montgomery Citizens' Leadership Academy (MCLA)
Today we're diving into one of our favorite programs, the Montgomery Citizens' Leadership Academy (MCLA). If you've ever wondered how your city really works, from budgeting and council decisions to snowplowing and emergency response, this is your chance to find out. MCLA is a ten-week immersive experience that runs from January through March. Each week, we explore a different aspect of city operations, including the tools and technology used by our police and fire departments, how your tax dollars are spent, and how services are delivered to your neighborhood. Joining me today are two recent graduates of the program, Robbe Bluestein and Jenny Hardison, proud members of the class of 2025.
Welcome to the Montgomery Insider Podcast, your inside look at the people, programs and policies that shape the city of Montgomery. I'm your host, Amy Frederick. Today we're diving into one of my favorite programs, the Montgomery Citizens Leadership Academy, or MCLa. If you've ever wondered how your city really works, from budgeting and council decisions to snowplowing and emergency response, this is your chance to find out. Mcla is a ten week immersive experience that runs from January through March. Each week, we explore a different aspect of city operations, including the tools and technology used by our police and fire departments, how your tax dollars are spent and how services are delivered to your neighborhood. And yes, every session begins with a great dinner because we believe good food fuels great conversations. Joining me today are two recent graduates of the program, Bluestein and Jenny Hardison, proud members of the class of 2025. So this is going to be like talking to two old friends. You're both graduates of 2025. So let's start with what inspired you to sign up for MCLa? Robbe, let's start with you.
Robbe:I've always been interested in the civic component of where I lived. As you know, my application, I was two term Camp Washington Council president, and I just heard so many good things about Montgomery as a city. And I said, I want to learn more. And so when I saw this opportunity, I went, this is everything I want.
Amy:Oh, that's a great answer. I love that answer. What about you, Jenny? What inspired you to sign up?
Jenny:I think for me, I signed up because we moved to Montgomery seven, maybe eight years ago, and I was feeling disconnected from the community. And I was when I saw the advertisement for the class, I thought, man, I bet this is it. I bet this will help give me that little bit of connection. And I was not wrong.
Amy:How do you think it's given you that connection?
Jenny:I it the people in the class meeting the people in the class. Um, building those relationships that have lasted outside of the class. And then of course, seeing those people in the community. But I think also meeting some of the, um, community volunteers and the people who work for our city and seeing them out and about. And I recognize them, I have an immediate bond to, oh, I met him. Oh, I know that person. Um, and so I think that's just made me feel like this is my city.
Amy:I love that answer. I think that's such a great answer. And I think one of the most important things about MCLa, yes, you learn about the city, you learn, you know, how the snow, the streets are plowed, how your tax dollars are spent. But I think there's definitely something to be said for the other students that you meet, because there's so many different people in our program that come through your classmates that you. It's to me, it's part of the fun of getting to know people that you you really haven't or may not ever cross paths with. Do you think that's true, Robbie?
Robbe:Oh, absolutely. One of the things that amazed me I have no children in the school system at this stage of my life, but how many people went to the Sycamore School District, moved away and came back? And the fact that there were people who lived in the same neighborhoods that really didn't even know each other that well, but all of a sudden they went, oh, you live in that house there, or you're my neighbor. And I just think that it was a good group of people, and we fed off of each other's excitement and our interest in the city.
Amy:I totally agree. So for me, since I organized the class, I've sat through it now for three years. There are certain things I couldn't always tell you about. Like, I don't know what a tiff is. We cover that every year on taxes and tiffs. But the fun thing for me is to see you every week. And I think it's so fun to just have a conversation with somebody. It's like old friends, like, you came here today and I'm like, oh, this is going to be fun because it's meeting two old friends. So I have other questions for you. So what would you say surprised you most about the program? Jenny.
Jenny:Um hmm. One of the things I was surprised by was how dedicated I was to the program. I am a busy person, not always by choice, but I have lots of children and a full time job. Um, but I found myself racing to get back into town to be a part of that evening. I think I drove from Atlanta.
Amy:Yes, you called me and you said, save me a plate. And it was the best food that night. We were the Remington.
Jenny:We're very glad you saved me a plate. Um, so for me, it surprised me how dedicated I was that I put other things aside to make sure I was here that night. Because, like you had mentioned, we did form a bond as a group. Um, I think the classmates of mine were from all different ages, Is backgrounds, walks of life. Some are were born and raised here, some had just moved here. And it is interesting that the the bond that was formed. So I would say that surprised me. I also was surprised at how little I knew of the inner workings of just a city in general, what it takes to keep a city going and how many volunteers are needed aside from, um, employees. So I think that surprised me.
Amy:That's good. That is an interesting answer. I don't you know, there's some people who've never been to a city council night. Um, they didn't they know where City Hall is. They've never sat through a council meeting. They don't know how, um, the order that the streets are plowed. There's an order in a way that that's done. I always find that sort of interesting. And I don't even know that I know that about the city that I live in. I don't live in. I live in Monroe and not Montgomery. And I'm not always sure that I know the answers to those questions. What about you, Robbie? What was what do you think surprised you most about MCLa?
Robbe:Well, the biggest single thing was the absolute passion and dedication of this city employees, starting with, uh, basically the council people when we had session three, uh, which, as you know, I was the mayor of, I bring it up all the time. Uh, but the passion that everybody, especially Chris, when he was telling us why he was on council and everyone had been a previous alumni or alumni of the program, and then to listen to each of the sessions, and I don't care what the session was about, the enthusiasm, the passion for Montgomery, for the citizens, for the fact that they were always looking to be more effective and cost efficient, which is benefiting us as taxpayers. But it's just every week it was like, I didn't know any of this stuff happened. Like you said, with TIFFs, for example, I know what it is, but I wasn't sure how and the way they plow the streets. That was a there was something interesting because this was right after Cincinnati went through their debacle, and we have this nice, neat system. And then when we went to Public works and the guys were showing us all the equipment and all the things they made, and when we had the fire and police night. Yeah, uh, I went home that night after they gave us a demonstration of products that they use or equipment that they use. I was watching, uh, one of the Chicago one shows, the fire show, and they had a a wreck, and they pulled the exact same equipment off of their truck that I had just touched an hour before, and I went, wow, we are up to date.
Amy:That's actually really cool. Yeah. So have you been there done that right? Chicago Fire? Yeah, I think that's I think that's a really good point. Yeah. There's some nights that I think are just, you know, some things you don't know. And like, I didn't realize, um, my first MCLa class, we went up to to public works, and I didn't realize that an employee had created the system that holds like the brine and the salt. And I thought, wow, I just always thought that was something that a city would purchase. But it was really interesting to me to see public works and how much talent and, um, how much skill they have in creating their own work. Things like they weld stuff together that they use, they created that brine system I thought was really interesting. And I they take care of the Hopewell Cemetery, which I don't know. A lot of people know that. And I, the people that do that, um, Tony, he, he really invests his heart into that. And I think people don't know that. And I think, you know, people should. And MCLa really does show you that. So having said that, what is your favorite session? Which one spoke the most to you? Jenny.
Jenny:Um, I had a hard time when we voted at the end. I really it's hard to pick a favorite. Um, I would I, I have different favorites for different reasons.
Amy:Okay.
Jenny:Tell us. City Council night was so fun. Um, I loved that we got to do a mock session. Um, we all played a little part.
Amy:Like Robbie was the mayor.
Jenny:Robbie was a fantastic mayor. Yes. Thank you. Um, I don't know why your name's not up there, but, um, it was just a lot of fun to see, even though it was a mock session to be a part of that and to say, hey, maybe I should come to more sessions here. Maybe I should voice at as. As people who live in the city, we have a voice. Um, so just learning that, seeing that, that was also just a lot of fun. Um, I think when we went to Public Works, I, um, I liked meeting the people who are taking care of our city. And like I had mentioned before, like, I've seen some of them out watering the flowers, cutting the trees off the road, I'm like, oh, I know that guy. Like, it's just a fun feeling, and I think they all had given each other nicknames that night. Yes, and I still remember some of those nicknames, so, you know, so both of those sessions I think were fun, were engaging. Um, I actually think my favorite. Okay, if I have to pick my favorite, it was um, it was the Saturday we walked the the town.
Amy:The history and development.
Jenny:The history and development tour. And we did a little planning session that day as if we were to be able to plan this part of the city. What would we put here? And for me, that was like getting my creative energy going. I just felt like I had all these ideas. I just felt very connected to the city. And maybe that was one of the last sessions.
Amy:It is. It's the one before graduation.
Jenny:And so I think I just felt very invested. So I would say that was my favorite.
Amy:I do like and that's the thing about MCLa, a lot of people don't know is it's very immersive. We put you to problems and questions. So what Jenny's talking about is we gave them a piece of property downtown off Shelley Lane and said, what would you do with it? And people in the class worked together to kind of decide what they would put in there. And then we have all kinds of different ideas. I won't share them because somebody is going to say, well, that's a really good idea. I'm going to call City Hall and keep bugging us about that.
Jenny:I had an idea and I was so excited to present it. And then somebody in the city was like, oh, we're about to do that. We're already doing that. I'm like, I knew it was a good idea. So it was just that was really fun for me. And I love just walking the city. And like, I've driven through that through downtown Montgomery a hundred times. I've parked out there, I've gone to dinner with my family, we've walked around, we've got ice cream, we've gotten coffee. But walking in with a group and learning the historical side of it, um, again, just made me feel more engaged.
Amy:I think so too. You learn not only the landmarks they have names, why they're named that way, but who built them and the stories behind them. And I think that's always interesting to see and why some of the architecture looks the way and how the city. My other favorite part about that morning is how the city is bringing things like Montgomery Quarter in next to the historic district, and why we're building buildings that kind of like when you're driving through the historic district, you don't want to see a fast food restaurant, you want to see something that kind of meshes with it. And we and Traci and Kevin, they do a great job of talking about that. So, Robbie, it's your turn. Which one is your favorite session and why?
Robbe:Of course, personally it was session three. I even wear the t shirt around town.
Amy:Of.
Robbe:Course, but what I liked about session three was really understanding how council works. Like for example, when you get the magazine and everything is always voted 7 to 0 and you go, come on, they can't all be together. I was never aware that, for example, no one goes Republican or Democrat when they're running for office. I never have heard that in my life. And I think that's a good thing. And then once again, hearing so strongly from all the council Counsel people, their devotion, their dedication, the knowledge. Like what? Ken is a walking library of what's happened here. And I think that what I saw the most was just the idea that. We are special in Montgomery. We're surrounded by other special communities, but there's something just a little bit more special about us and the way we do things. The other one I really liked, and I did miss the one you went on because of my knee, but the other one was public works. And the reason for that is that if you look at the hierarchy of employees in any city, probably Public works is looked at by the average citizen as not as important as fire, not as important as police. But those guys put their hearts and souls into entertaining us and to teaching us. And they made it a super fun night.
Amy:I would agree with you completely. When you go when we went into public works, I'm not going to in case they want to repeat the evening, I want to say what they did, but they had um, to to kick things off. They introduced one another. There was nicknames to your point. Um, somebody's name is nickname is Juicebox, which I had never heard before, but it was a fun night. I mean, you get to climb into a snowplow, you get to see what it's like to sit behind the wheel of a tractor, which is something like, I've never been inside a snowplow before, so I think that's really rewarding. And to meet the people that are doing this to your point, saying that I don't know that they're always recognized and rewarded for their work, but they do keep the city looking beautiful and running the way that it should. So to recognize them in that way is it's really a special night too. I would agree with that. And I think that was our winner that night. So we have a competition, and the reason we have that competition is to keep it's an internal one. So all the places like Bethesda, North, Sycamore schools, we don't include them only because we keep this internal to keep. Ourselves challenging ourselves, to make our own personal programs better so that we don't become complacent. So, you know, police and fire have one night public works, city Council has another. So we're all trying to outdo one another. And you learn more about that internal competition each night rolls on. And I'm always asking what you think, and people are trying to get you to vote for them. And that's why because we're always trying to make our sessions better and see who's going to top the winner. So usually it goes to fire and police, but sometimes we'll have our public works, but sometimes we'll have a day where it's city Hall or even the in the history. So let's talk about the food we feed you. Well do we not? That was one of my favorite parts. Um, we had a past. The first night is kind of our get to know you night, and we invited a previous graduate, and I was really surprised by what she said. She did such a great job. I expected her to say, you're going to like the program because. But she said, I went through. I give everybody a biography about everybody else. And she said each night she studied that so that she could come in and have a meaningful conversation. And that's what we did. So over dinner you would talk about all kinds of stuff. And so the food that we order, I ordered the food I take pleasure in that. It's like you're at my mercy, what I like. And sometimes I can be a picky eater and sometimes I can't. So what was your favorite meal that we had? We had all kinds of pizza. We had, um, mashed potatoes. Somebody even wrote on their on their, uh, summary that they thought their vote, they were like, it was, it was mashed potatoes for me all the way. So what was your favorite meal, would you say?
Robbe:I would say the one at the Remington House.
Amy:Oh, the Remington room. The mashed potatoes. It was comfort food.
Robbe:Yes.
Amy:Yes. Susan is the chef down there. And she does a wonderful job.
Jenny:So interesting. Like, right off the bat, I thought of the first night, and I think maybe I was just surprised at how well you were feeding us that. First night I showed up. Yes. I know it said food was provided, but I think I was expecting to walk in and, I don't know.
Amy:See a cheese.
Jenny:Tray, maybe.
Amy:Some pizza rolls. That's at my house. Not here.
Jenny:But it was. Such good food. And I just remember like whatever was left over, they kind of gave us some boxes to take some home. Um, yeah, I, I so I'm gonna go with the first night just because I was surprised and I think we ate that well, every week.
Amy:And what I like about the first night, it's kind of our get to know you. So it's kind of like people are just meeting each other for the first time, where you're hearing from each of our senior staff members what you're going to learn, who you're going to meet along the way. Our council members are there, the mayor is there. It's just a night to just meet the staff for the first time and then learn about each other. We kind of ask you, like, what's what's the one thing that's interesting about you and people always share. You know, we have people say all kinds of things. And I always think that kind of endears you to other people.
Jenny:I think with the food, too, there were a couple of things that were like very Montgomery specific and like the dessert came from a place in Montgomery.
Amy:Hot chocolate? Yeah. It was one night.
Jenny:I just I think that's important, too, that we're learning about this city. But then also we're taking these little nibbles going, whoa, who made this or where did this come from? And so we're also giving back to the city while we're taking and absorbing all this information from the city.
Amy:I think that's a great point because we've there's always some people that have never eaten at this place and they're like, this is in Montgomery. I'm like, yes, we I try to order stuff that I think is here, get people to taste what's in their own community and support that business later on. So I think that's an excellent point. So I'm going to ask you one more thing. And in your words, why do you think someone should sign up for MCLa? Robbie you go first.
Robbe:It will be a once in a lifetime experience of learning why Montgomery is important to you. And number two, it's a lot of fun and the food is great. And the people you meet are fantastic. And it's something that I know other cities have programs like this, but ours was just amazing. It was just so much fun. Ten weeks. The weird thing was, every night when I went home, I wanted to spill everything I learned to my family. And a couple nights I came home and the house was dark because they didn't want to hear me. So they turned all the lights off early. But no. It basically is because if you ever wanted to have a deeper meaning of what it means to be a Montgomery resident and why, that's it. That program taught us everything you'd ever need to know.
Amy:I think that's a great answer. And I'm going to tell you, I recently talked to a graduate in your class. Her husband is signed up because of the exact reason you just described. He told me she would come home every night, keep him up at night telling him everything that she learned, and he was like, fine, I'll just sign up. And that really is how we get a lot of people. We get spouses. This year was was kind of unique to we'd never had a spouses. We had spouses this year, which we now allow. Some people just feel more comfortable with the spouse next to them. And then we had a father and his adult daughter, which was really, I thought was really cool. The year before, we had brother and sister. So I think it's kind of cool to go through this program with somebody that, you know, you can share time with or by yourself. So, Jenny, if somebody was thinking about signing up, I'm going to pose that to you. Why should they sign up?
Jenny:Well, let me first start by saying that I talked about the program for ten weeks straight, not just to my family, but to my coworkers, to people I just met. I was talking about it. People I go to church with like it was so top of mind. It was like I couldn't help but talk about it. And you know, I have so many neighbors who either took the class that could sit around and talk about it with me, or so many neighbors who now are signing up because they're like, oh, she's so excited about it. I guess we better get on board with this. But so that would be my answer too. I think that, um, what I saw in the program was our city employees. Our city volunteers have so much pride for the city of Montgomery, and it was very evident that they have one purpose, which is what is best for, um, the people of Montgomery. And I saw how many of our city workers and city volunteers seem to put what's best for them aside and focus on what's best for the city. And I think that is contagious. And that is something that was easy for me to get on board with to say, where can I serve my city? Where can I get involved? Um, I couldn't stop talking about the program and the things I was learning. Um, so I think, uh, it's important for other people, you know, like, trickles down, right? So if if you are even thinking that you want a little more pride in the place that you live, which I'm sure most people already have pride in the city of Montgomery, it's a great city. Um, but it'll just trickle down and kind of feed the people around you.
Amy:I think that's a great answer. And I thank you both for joining me today. Seeing a 20. Oh, absolutely.
Robbe:Robbie, go ahead and interrupt you. But to me this was very important. You asked for feedback at the end of every session. Yes. Most of us sent it back to you. Um. You responded back within two days and you personally addressed what we put in our feedback. It wasn't just a blanket to everybody. Thank you for sending this in, but you took the time to personally address each persons in statements and questions. And that was very important because once again, when you talk about an employee being invested in something that showed up in tremendous strength, that that's the type of person you were. An example of the people who work for Montgomery.
Amy:I appreciate that that actually kind of makes me tear up. I kind of think of you as friends. Like when I get you from the time I get your application, I read it. I'm not one of those people that's like, okay, he lives on Deerfield. Next question. No, I read it, and I think, okay, well, you know, Jenny has four kids. Robbie used to serve on this board. And I think to myself, you know, these are these are people coming in. This is conversations. I want to learn more about you. I want to learn more about your family and what you tell me about the class. And the summary is important to me. I think of us as friends. So for ten weeks and I. And that's what it is to me personally. Yes, I go to public works every year. Yes, I go to Sycamore. Yes, I go to Bethesda. I'm there every night to say hello and good night. But it's this the the times in between. I think of you as my friends. And then when I see you out, I see you volunteering. I'm like, oh, this meant something to them. And I'm always happy to see you. And if you ever stop by, if you see me at Bastille Day, always stop by and say hi. I'm currently accepting applications for the 2026 class, and spots are limited. If you're curious about how decisions are made in Montgomery, want to meet city leaders and connect with your neighbors who care about our community? This is your opportunity. Mcla kicks off Thursday, January 8th at 545 and meet. We meet weekly through March. You can register online at Montgomery, ohio.gov. Or give me a call at City Hall at 513891 2424. I'd be happy to help you get signed up. Thanks for tuning in to the Montgomery Insider Podcast. I'm Amy Frederick. Until next time, stay curious and stay connected to the City of Montgomery.