{"id":462,"date":"2026-07-17T15:32:45","date_gmt":"2026-07-17T20:32:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/phonelive.io\/blog\/?p=462"},"modified":"2026-07-17T15:32:46","modified_gmt":"2026-07-17T20:32:46","slug":"gfg_ep92","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/phonelive.io\/blog\/gfg_ep92\/","title":{"rendered":"From Fire Chief to City Manager (with Chuck Winn) | Ground Floor Government Ep. 92"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

In this episode of Ground Floor Government, host Hugh Plappert speaks with Chuck Winn, the City Manager of Bozeman, Montana. Chuck shares his journey from aspiring police officer to fire chief and eventually city manager, emphasizing the importance of community service and the unexpected paths that can lead to fulfilling careers in local government. The conversation explores the challenges of managing a growing city, the significance of partnerships, budgeting for community needs, and the vital role of internal services in local government operations. Chuck also highlights the importance of building relationships and encouraging new talent in the field.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ready to explore your own local government career options?<\/strong> Download this free guide on how to transition into a successful career in local government: https:\/\/icma.org\/documents\/breaking-local-government-guidebook-career-transitions<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

    \n
  1. Always consider the impact of your career choices on your community.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. Service-oriented careers can lead to unexpected opportunities.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. Building a strong team is essential for overcoming challenges.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  4. Community engagement is crucial for effective local governance.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  5. Partnerships enhance problem-solving capabilities in local government.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  6. Budgeting reflects community priorities and needs.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  7. Digital accessibility is a growing challenge for rural areas.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  8. Internal services are the backbone of successful local government operations.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  9. Leadership in local government requires strong interpersonal skills.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  10. Local government careers can be rewarding and impactful.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Summary In this episode of Ground Floor Government, host Hugh Plappert speaks with Chuck Winn, the City Manager of Bozeman, Montana. Chuck shares his journey from aspiring police officer to fire chief and eventually city manager, emphasizing the importance of community service and the unexpected paths that can lead to fulfilling careers in local government. […]<\/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-462","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-technolgies","tag-audiopodcast"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nFrom Fire Chief to City Manager (with Chuck Winn) | Ground Floor Government Ep. 92 | PhoneLive Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Host Hugh Plappert speaks with Chuck Winn, the City Manager of Bozeman, Montana. Chuck shares his journey from aspiring police officer to fire chief and eventually city manager, emphasizing the importance of community service and the unexpected paths that can lead to fulfilling careers in local government. The conversation explores the challenges of managing a growing city, the significance of partnerships, budgeting for community needs, and the vital role of internal services in local government operations. Chuck also highlights the importance of building relationships and encouraging new talent in the field.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/phonelive.io\/blog\/gfg_ep92\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"From Fire Chief to City Manager (with Chuck Winn) | Ground Floor Government Ep. 92 From Fire Chief to City Manager (with Chuck Winn) | Ep. 92\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Host Hugh Plappert speaks with Chuck Winn, the City Manager of Bozeman, Montana. Chuck shares his journey from aspiring police officer to fire chief and eventually city manager, emphasizing the importance of community service and the unexpected paths that can lead to fulfilling careers in local government. The conversation explores the challenges of managing a growing city, the significance of partnerships, budgeting for community needs, and the vital role of internal services in local government operations. Chuck also highlights the importance of building relationships and encouraging new talent in the field.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/phonelive.io\/blog\/gfg_ep92\/\" \/>\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=\"2026-07-17T20:32:45+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-07-17T20:32:46+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 Fire Chief to City Manager (with Chuck Winn) | Ground Floor Government Ep. 92\" \/>\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_ep92\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/phonelive.io\/blog\/gfg_ep92\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Hugh Plappert\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/phonelive.io\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/f45f58a0a738f6be4e4ef0519f99d117\"},\"headline\":\"From Fire Chief to City Manager (with Chuck Winn) | Ground Floor Government Ep. 92\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-17T20:32:45+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-07-17T20:32:46+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/phonelive.io\/blog\/gfg_ep92\/\"},\"wordCount\":225,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/phonelive.io\/blog\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"Podcast\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Technologies\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/phonelive.io\/blog\/gfg_ep92\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/phonelive.io\/blog\/gfg_ep92\/\",\"name\":\"From Fire Chief to City Manager (with Chuck Winn) | Ground Floor Government Ep. 92 | PhoneLive Blog\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/phonelive.io\/blog\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-17T20:32:45+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-07-17T20:32:46+00:00\",\"description\":\"Host Hugh Plappert speaks with Chuck Winn, the City Manager of Bozeman, Montana. Chuck shares his journey from aspiring police officer to fire chief and eventually city manager, emphasizing the importance of community service and the unexpected paths that can lead to fulfilling careers in local government. The conversation explores the challenges of managing a growing city, the significance of partnerships, budgeting for community needs, and the vital role of internal services in local government operations. Chuck also highlights the importance of building relationships and encouraging new talent in the field.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/phonelive.io\/blog\/gfg_ep92\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/phonelive.io\/blog\/gfg_ep92\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/phonelive.io\/blog\/gfg_ep92\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/phonelive.io\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"From Fire Chief to City Manager (with Chuck Winn) | Ground Floor Government Ep. 92\"}]},{\"@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 Fire Chief to City Manager (with Chuck Winn) | Ground Floor Government Ep. 92 | PhoneLive Blog","description":"Host Hugh Plappert speaks with Chuck Winn, the City Manager of Bozeman, Montana. Chuck shares his journey from aspiring police officer to fire chief and eventually city manager, emphasizing the importance of community service and the unexpected paths that can lead to fulfilling careers in local government. The conversation explores the challenges of managing a growing city, the significance of partnerships, budgeting for community needs, and the vital role of internal services in local government operations. Chuck also highlights the importance of building relationships and encouraging new talent in the field.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/phonelive.io\/blog\/gfg_ep92\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"From Fire Chief to City Manager (with Chuck Winn) | Ground Floor Government Ep. 92 From Fire Chief to City Manager (with Chuck Winn) | Ep. 92","og_description":"Host Hugh Plappert speaks with Chuck Winn, the City Manager of Bozeman, Montana. Chuck shares his journey from aspiring police officer to fire chief and eventually city manager, emphasizing the importance of community service and the unexpected paths that can lead to fulfilling careers in local government. The conversation explores the challenges of managing a growing city, the significance of partnerships, budgeting for community needs, and the vital role of internal services in local government operations. Chuck also highlights the importance of building relationships and encouraging new talent in the field.","og_url":"https:\/\/phonelive.io\/blog\/gfg_ep92\/","og_site_name":"PhoneLive Blog","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/PhoneLive.io","article_published_time":"2026-07-17T20:32:45+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-07-17T20:32:46+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 Fire Chief to City Manager (with Chuck Winn) | Ground Floor Government Ep. 92","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_ep92\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/phonelive.io\/blog\/gfg_ep92\/"},"author":{"name":"Hugh Plappert","@id":"https:\/\/phonelive.io\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/f45f58a0a738f6be4e4ef0519f99d117"},"headline":"From Fire Chief to City Manager (with Chuck Winn) | Ground Floor Government Ep. 92","datePublished":"2026-07-17T20:32:45+00:00","dateModified":"2026-07-17T20:32:46+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/phonelive.io\/blog\/gfg_ep92\/"},"wordCount":225,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/phonelive.io\/blog\/#organization"},"keywords":["Podcast"],"articleSection":["Technologies"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/phonelive.io\/blog\/gfg_ep92\/","url":"https:\/\/phonelive.io\/blog\/gfg_ep92\/","name":"From Fire Chief to City Manager (with Chuck Winn) | Ground Floor Government Ep. 92 | PhoneLive Blog","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/phonelive.io\/blog\/#website"},"datePublished":"2026-07-17T20:32:45+00:00","dateModified":"2026-07-17T20:32:46+00:00","description":"Host Hugh Plappert speaks with Chuck Winn, the City Manager of Bozeman, Montana. Chuck shares his journey from aspiring police officer to fire chief and eventually city manager, emphasizing the importance of community service and the unexpected paths that can lead to fulfilling careers in local government. The conversation explores the challenges of managing a growing city, the significance of partnerships, budgeting for community needs, and the vital role of internal services in local government operations. Chuck also highlights the importance of building relationships and encouraging new talent in the field.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/phonelive.io\/blog\/gfg_ep92\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/phonelive.io\/blog\/gfg_ep92\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/phonelive.io\/blog\/gfg_ep92\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/phonelive.io\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"From Fire Chief to City Manager (with Chuck Winn) | Ground Floor Government Ep. 92"}]},{"@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\/462","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=462"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/phonelive.io\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/462\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":463,"href":"https:\/\/phonelive.io\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/462\/revisions\/463"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/phonelive.io\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=462"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/phonelive.io\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=462"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/phonelive.io\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=462"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}