IBJ Podcast: City-County Council’s new chief of staff on role models, soft power and public policy

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Doran Moreland grew up in Indianapolis, fell in love with politics and public policy at a relatively young age and became the special assistant for Mayor Bart Peterson soon after he graduated from Indiana University in the year 2000. That’s a pretty good introduction to how politics and policy work on the local level.

Fast-forward a quarter century or so: On Monday, Feb. 2, Moreland returned to the City-County Building for the first day of his new job as chief of staff and chief policy officer for the City-County Council. The 25-member council dominated by Democrats has new leaders, including President Maggie Lewis, who have said they want to emphasize policymaking, collaboration and transparency after instances of internal infighting last year.

Moreland’s new job has nuts-and-bolts aspects like budgeting, managing staff, maintaining community access and helping push the council’s initiatives across the finish line. It also entails supplying higher-level policy guidance on topics like data centers, inclusive growth, the city’s built environment and maintaining competitiveness. In this week’s episode of the IBJ Podcast, he discusses the lessons learned from his father as a small business owner, his own foray into business, the administrative and public policy experience he’s gained since then and what he expects from his new position.

Click here to find the IBJ Podcast each Monday. You can also subscribe at iTunesTune In, Spotify and any other place you find podcasts.

You can also listen to these recent episodes:

IBJ Podcast: Pete the Planner answers, ‘Stocks are at all-time highs, so why am I terrified?’

IBJ Podcast: Two perspectives on IU’s championship game in Miami

IBJ Podcast: Explaining the blitz of news about the Bears’ potential move to Indiana

IBJ Podcast: Indy-centric arts and culture offerings to circle on your calendar

IBJ Podcast: ‘I joke that I went from selling paper money to toilet paper,’ former banker says

IBJ Podcast: World Cup team could call Westfield home; plus, progress reports on downtown projects

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