The Mappyist Hour - Scoot on Down to Imperial Beach

In this episode of The Mappiest Hour, Todd and Silas are joined by Russell Mercer, who manages the Geographic Information Systems for the City of Imperial Beach, California. Russell shares his journey from a geography student at the University of Washington to becoming the one-man GIS powerhouse for a small city facing big challenges. He discusses the critical transition from legacy systems to a modern, integrated GIS infrastructure built on PostgreSQL and PostGIS, all while navigating limited budgets and the unique geospatial issues of a border town. Russell highlights how he leverages open-source tools to deliver enterprise-level solutions, proving that you don't need a massive team to create impactful, data-driven city management systems. Tune in to hear about his "hybrid approach" to GIS, the unexpected benefits of learning SQL, and how he manages everything from sewer modeling to scooter tracking in a city where the beach meets the border.