{"id":358,"date":"2026-05-20T14:39:28","date_gmt":"2026-05-20T19:39:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.phonelive.io\/?p=358"},"modified":"2026-05-20T14:39:29","modified_gmt":"2026-05-20T19:39:29","slug":"gfg_ep68","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/phonelive.io\/blog\/gfg_ep68\/","title":{"rendered":"From Civil Engineer to Public Leader (with Weston Young) | Ground Floor Government Ep. 68"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Summary<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this episode of Ground Floor Government, host Hugh Plappert interviews Weston Young, the Chief Administrative Officer of Worcester County, Maryland. They discuss Young’s career journey from civil engineering to public service, the importance of local government infrastructure, the challenges faced in administrative roles, and the intricacies of budgeting in local government. Young shares insights on the rewarding aspects of public service and offers advice for those interested in pursuing a career in local government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Takeaways<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  1. Weston Young transitioned from civil engineering to public service due to the financial crisis.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. Public works play a crucial role in community infrastructure and safety.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. Local government offers diverse career opportunities beyond elected officials.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  4. Challenges in local government include managing multiple stakeholders and unexpected issues.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  5. Achieving a AAA credit rating can significantly reduce borrowing costs for public projects.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  6. Broadband internet access is essential for modern community needs and economic growth.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  7. Budgeting in local government requires balancing various departmental needs and community expectations.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  8. Public service is about helping people and making a positive impact in the community.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  9. Internships can be a valuable way to enter local government careers.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  10. Living in the jurisdiction you serve enhances your connection to the community.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Summary In this episode of Ground Floor Government, host Hugh Plappert interviews Weston Young, the Chief Administrative Officer of Worcester County, Maryland. They discuss Young’s career journey from civil engineering to public service, the importance of local government infrastructure, the challenges faced in administrative roles, and the intricacies of budgeting in local government. Young shares […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[36],"class_list":["post-358","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-technolgies","tag-audiopodcast"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nFrom Civil Engineer to Public Leader (with Weston Young) | Ground Floor Government Ep. 68 | PhoneLive Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Host Hugh Plappert interviews Weston Young, the Chief Administrative Officer of Worcester County, Maryland. They discuss Young's career journey from civil engineering to public service, the importance of local government infrastructure, the challenges faced in administrative roles, and the intricacies of budgeting in local government. Young shares insights on the rewarding aspects of public service and offers advice for those interested in pursuing a career in local government.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"From Civil Engineer to Public Leader (with Weston Young) | Ground Floor Government Ep. 68 From Civil Engineer to Public Leader (with Weston Young) | Ep. 68\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Host Hugh Plappert interviews Weston Young, the Chief Administrative Officer of Worcester County, Maryland. They discuss Young's career journey from civil engineering to public service, the importance of local government infrastructure, the challenges faced in administrative roles, and the intricacies of budgeting in local government. Young shares insights on the rewarding aspects of public service and offers advice for those interested in pursuing a career in local government.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/phonelive.io\/blog\/gfg_ep68\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"PhoneLive Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/PhoneLive.io\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-05-20T19:39:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-05-20T19:39:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/phonelive.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/PL_Site.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"630\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Hugh Plappert\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"From Civil Engineer to Public Leader (with Weston Young) | Ground Floor Government Ep. 68\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@PhoneLive_io\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@PhoneLive_io\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Hugh Plappert\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":[\"Article\",\"BlogPosting\"],\"@id\":\"https:\/\/phonelive.io\/blog\/gfg_ep68\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/phonelive.io\/blog\/gfg_ep68\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Hugh Plappert\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/phonelive.io\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/f45f58a0a738f6be4e4ef0519f99d117\"},\"headline\":\"From Civil Engineer to Public Leader (with Weston Young) | Ground Floor Government Ep. 68\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-20T19:39:28+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-05-20T19:39:29+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/phonelive.io\/blog\/gfg_ep68\/\"},\"wordCount\":210,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/phonelive.io\/blog\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"Podcast\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Technologies\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/phonelive.io\/blog\/gfg_ep68\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/phonelive.io\/blog\/gfg_ep68\/\",\"name\":\"From Civil Engineer to Public Leader (with Weston Young) | Ground Floor Government Ep. 68 | PhoneLive Blog\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/phonelive.io\/blog\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-20T19:39:28+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-05-20T19:39:29+00:00\",\"description\":\"Host Hugh Plappert interviews Weston Young, the Chief Administrative Officer of Worcester County, Maryland. They discuss Young's career journey from civil engineering to public service, the importance of local government infrastructure, the challenges faced in administrative roles, and the intricacies of budgeting in local government. Young shares insights on the rewarding aspects of public service and offers advice for those interested in pursuing a career in local government.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/phonelive.io\/blog\/gfg_ep68\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/phonelive.io\/blog\/gfg_ep68\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/phonelive.io\/blog\/gfg_ep68\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/phonelive.io\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"From Civil Engineer to Public Leader (with Weston Young) | Ground Floor Government Ep. 68\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/phonelive.io\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/phonelive.io\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"PhoneLive.io Church Tech Blog\",\"description\":\"Turn your live stream into a phone call. Phone streaming for churches and local governments \u2014 reach seniors and offline members, no internet needed.\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/phonelive.io\/blog\/#organization\"},\"alternateName\":\"PL - Church Tech Blog\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/phonelive.io\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/phonelive.io\/blog\/#organization\",\"name\":\"PhoneLive.io\",\"alternateName\":\"PL\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/phonelive.io\/blog\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/phonelive.io\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/phonelive.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/New-Logo.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/phonelive.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/New-Logo.jpg\",\"width\":1920,\"height\":1080,\"caption\":\"PhoneLive.io\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/phonelive.io\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/PhoneLive.io\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/PhoneLive_io\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/phonelive\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@PhoneLive\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/phonelive.io\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/f45f58a0a738f6be4e4ef0519f99d117\",\"name\":\"Hugh Plappert\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/phonelive.io\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/32555a63035a9b779ebc61330c883b660034bf089be5a5d0cac05919ea27b117?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/32555a63035a9b779ebc61330c883b660034bf089be5a5d0cac05919ea27b117?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Hugh Plappert\"},\"description\":\"Hugh Plappert co-founded PhoneLive with his son David, building the phone-streaming platform now used by 1,200+ churches and local governments to reach members and residents who cannot get online. Drawing on 41 years in ministry and operations, Hugh leads PhoneLive's operations and customer success, keeping the technology simple enough for any volunteer to run so homebound and offline members are never left behind. Based in Saint Paul, Minnesota.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/plappert\/\"],\"jobTitle\":\"Co-founder & Chief Officer, PhoneLive\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"From Civil Engineer to Public Leader (with Weston Young) | Ground Floor Government Ep. 68 | PhoneLive Blog","description":"Host Hugh Plappert interviews Weston Young, the Chief Administrative Officer of Worcester County, Maryland. They discuss Young's career journey from civil engineering to public service, the importance of local government infrastructure, the challenges faced in administrative roles, and the intricacies of budgeting in local government. Young shares insights on the rewarding aspects of public service and offers advice for those interested in pursuing a career in local government.","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"From Civil Engineer to Public Leader (with Weston Young) | Ground Floor Government Ep. 68 From Civil Engineer to Public Leader (with Weston Young) | Ep. 68","og_description":"Host Hugh Plappert interviews Weston Young, the Chief Administrative Officer of Worcester County, Maryland. They discuss Young's career journey from civil engineering to public service, the importance of local government infrastructure, the challenges faced in administrative roles, and the intricacies of budgeting in local government. Young shares insights on the rewarding aspects of public service and offers advice for those interested in pursuing a career in local government.","og_url":"https:\/\/phonelive.io\/blog\/gfg_ep68\/","og_site_name":"PhoneLive Blog","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/PhoneLive.io","article_published_time":"2026-05-20T19:39:28+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-05-20T19:39:29+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":630,"url":"https:\/\/phonelive.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/PL_Site.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Hugh Plappert","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_title":"From Civil Engineer to Public Leader (with Weston Young) | Ground Floor Government Ep. 68","twitter_creator":"@PhoneLive_io","twitter_site":"@PhoneLive_io","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Hugh Plappert","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":["Article","BlogPosting"],"@id":"https:\/\/phonelive.io\/blog\/gfg_ep68\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/phonelive.io\/blog\/gfg_ep68\/"},"author":{"name":"Hugh Plappert","@id":"https:\/\/phonelive.io\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/f45f58a0a738f6be4e4ef0519f99d117"},"headline":"From Civil Engineer to Public Leader (with Weston Young) | Ground Floor Government Ep. 68","datePublished":"2026-05-20T19:39:28+00:00","dateModified":"2026-05-20T19:39:29+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/phonelive.io\/blog\/gfg_ep68\/"},"wordCount":210,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/phonelive.io\/blog\/#organization"},"keywords":["Podcast"],"articleSection":["Technologies"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/phonelive.io\/blog\/gfg_ep68\/","url":"https:\/\/phonelive.io\/blog\/gfg_ep68\/","name":"From Civil Engineer to Public Leader (with Weston Young) | Ground Floor Government Ep. 68 | PhoneLive Blog","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/phonelive.io\/blog\/#website"},"datePublished":"2026-05-20T19:39:28+00:00","dateModified":"2026-05-20T19:39:29+00:00","description":"Host Hugh Plappert interviews Weston Young, the Chief Administrative Officer of Worcester County, Maryland. They discuss Young's career journey from civil engineering to public service, the importance of local government infrastructure, the challenges faced in administrative roles, and the intricacies of budgeting in local government. Young shares insights on the rewarding aspects of public service and offers advice for those interested in pursuing a career in local government.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/phonelive.io\/blog\/gfg_ep68\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/phonelive.io\/blog\/gfg_ep68\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/phonelive.io\/blog\/gfg_ep68\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/phonelive.io\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"From Civil Engineer to Public Leader (with Weston Young) | Ground Floor Government Ep. 68"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/phonelive.io\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/phonelive.io\/blog\/","name":"PhoneLive.io Church Tech Blog","description":"Turn your live stream into a phone call. Phone streaming for churches and local governments \u2014 reach seniors and offline members, no internet needed.","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/phonelive.io\/blog\/#organization"},"alternateName":"PL - Church Tech Blog","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/phonelive.io\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/phonelive.io\/blog\/#organization","name":"PhoneLive.io","alternateName":"PL","url":"https:\/\/phonelive.io\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/phonelive.io\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/phonelive.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/New-Logo.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/phonelive.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/New-Logo.jpg","width":1920,"height":1080,"caption":"PhoneLive.io"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/phonelive.io\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/PhoneLive.io","https:\/\/x.com\/PhoneLive_io","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/phonelive","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@PhoneLive"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/phonelive.io\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/f45f58a0a738f6be4e4ef0519f99d117","name":"Hugh Plappert","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/phonelive.io\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/32555a63035a9b779ebc61330c883b660034bf089be5a5d0cac05919ea27b117?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/32555a63035a9b779ebc61330c883b660034bf089be5a5d0cac05919ea27b117?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Hugh Plappert"},"description":"Hugh Plappert co-founded PhoneLive with his son David, building the phone-streaming platform now used by 1,200+ churches and local governments to reach members and residents who cannot get online. Drawing on 41 years in ministry and operations, Hugh leads PhoneLive's operations and customer success, keeping the technology simple enough for any volunteer to run so homebound and offline members are never left behind. Based in Saint Paul, Minnesota.","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/plappert\/"],"jobTitle":"Co-founder & Chief Officer, PhoneLive"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/phonelive.io\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/358","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/phonelive.io\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/phonelive.io\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/phonelive.io\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/phonelive.io\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=358"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/phonelive.io\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/358\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/phonelive.io\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=358"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/phonelive.io\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=358"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/phonelive.io\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=358"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}