Local government consulting services
Experienced capacity for the seat, the transition, or the project.
For a city or county carrying a gap that has an end in sight, or needs one. Scoped in writing before the work begins. Handed back when it ends.
Send it to Rob. A note is enough to start.A few sentences about the situation and the timing. The scoping conversation starts from there.
The moment this page is for.
Three situations bring a leader here. None of them waits.
The seat is empty.
A resignation, a leave, a search that keeps stalling. The daily decisions cannot wait for the permanent hire.
The new manager has arrived.
Staff wonder what changes are coming. The elected body wants early results. The calendar does not pause.
The project has no owner.
The work is named and agreed. Nobody on staff has the hours to carry it to the end.
The common thread: the organization needs experienced capacity now, and none of it should become permanent overhead.
Why an outside partner,
and why this one.
An interim or a project owner from outside brings what an internal appointment cannot.
- No pre-existing political dynamics. Direct communication with staff and elected officials, without a stake in what came before.
- Familiar with the demands of the seat. Ten months as an interim town manager, and years alongside Florida municipalities before that.
- Designed to end. Every proposal names the endpoint and the handoff. Nothing is built to make itself indispensable.
- Not a recruiter. No competition in executive search, so the interim steadies the seat and prepares it for the permanent leader.
Four services. One written scope.
Each is scoped to the situation. Open one for what it includes and how it ends.
Interim management
Coverage of a manager, administrator or department head seat for a bounded period. Momentum kept, decisions made, the next leader set up rather than pre-empted.
What it includes and how it ends
- Daily decisions, staff and elected-body communication, momentum on what is already in motion
- A handoff that prepares the seat for the permanent leader
- The interim serves as an independent contractor: no payroll taxes, retirement, insurance, allowances or dues for the municipality
Ends when the permanent arrangement is in place.
Leadership transition support
Trusted executive capacity around a new manager’s first months, so the leader holds what is urgent while the rest is carried.
What it includes and how it ends
- Assess departments, resources and dynamics in the early weeks
- Absorb the requests and projects that exceed the new manager’s capacity
- Oversee specific projects or situations at the leader’s direction
- Recommend with action steps and accountability, then step away
Ends when the leader’s own team and rhythm are in place.
Part-time executive support
A senior gap that does not call for a full-time hire. A few days a week on site, remote, or a mix, written to the need now.
What it includes and how it ends
- A senior role, or a defined slice of one, covered part-time
- On-site days, remote support, or a combination set in the proposal
- Review points as the need changes
Ends at a permanent hire, an internal promotion, or a restructured role.
Organizational assessment and projects
Focused help on a defined problem with clear deliverables. Assessment, process improvement, search support, or a situation that fits no category.
What it includes and how it ends
- An independent read of culture, operations or leadership dynamics
- Redesign of operational workflows
- Defining a role’s requirements and supporting the transition, without competing in recruitment
- AI governance, which carries its own page
Ends when the deliverables are in hand and the organization owns the result.
How an engagement works
Four moves, in this order, carry every service. The scope is written before anyone starts.
The conversation
The situation, the pressure, and what the organization must protect.
The proposal
Assignment, boundaries, investment and endpoint, in writing.
The work
Visible communication and review points throughout.
The handoff
Closed at the named endpoint, with the organization holding the work.
Who reads the note
Rob Duncan, who founded Imagine That Performance, works with local government from outside it, which is where the patterns inside are easiest to see.
Rob reads every note and leads the scoping conversation. The written proposal names who delivers the assignment, with fit and availability confirmed for that engagement.
Meet Rob DuncanQuestions the proposal answers first
The first note does not need to settle them. The written proposal does, before anything starts.
One assignment. One written scope. One endpoint.
Reading for the situationThe Manager Crisis in Local GovernmentWhat Points Managers at the Wrong Problem?What Stalls AI Adoption in Local Government?
Will the interim be an employee of the municipality?
No. The interim serves as an independent contractor, so the municipality has no obligation for payroll taxes, retirement contributions, insurance, car allowance, professional development or association dues.
Who will deliver the work?
Rob reads every note and leads the scoping conversation. The written proposal names who would deliver the assignment and the responsibilities they would carry, with fit and availability confirmed for that engagement rather than assumed.
How soon can work begin?
Start timing depends on the role, the location, the working arrangement and who is available. The proposal states it, and the answer is direct about what is realistic.
What determines scope and fee?
The proposal defines purpose, responsibilities or deliverables, schedule, fee structure and any reimbursable costs before work begins. No public range, because no two assignments are the same size.
What about a solicitation already in progress?
The note can carry the RFP or a link to it. The proposal is written in the form the procurement requires.
Every leader deserves clarity about what matters.
A seat covered, a transition carried, or a project delivered, and the organization holding all of it when the work ends.
Send it to Rob. A note is enough to start.
- Rob reads it. Every note, himself.
- A scoping conversation on the situation and the timing.
- A written proposal, or a straight answer that this is not the right fit.
Confidential personnel, legal and procurement-sensitive details stay out of this first message.