Elected officials are always trying to find ways to create jobs or improve the lives of folks living in poverty by raising the minimum wage. Small business entrepreneurs are key to creating jobs and one of the best approaches government officials can take is to lessen burdensome licensing and regulations. Erica Smith an attorney withRead… Read more »
I have never been on a Segwaybut they look like a fun way to get around. On vacations to various islands it seems that one of the things you can always do is rent a Segway to go exploring around town. While they look like fun, Segway’s have been a failure as a commercial product.Read… Read more »
In January of 2010 the Phoenix City Council created the Finance, Efficiency and Innovation Subcommittee, which has identified more than $40 million in savings, and expects to save $125 million over the next five years. The subcommittee created five working groups: communications, process improvements, private-public partnerships, rightsourcing, and technology. Highlights of the committees accomplishments asRead… Read more »
By my count there are seven golf courses located in the Town of Amherst, NY (a suburb of Buffalo, population 116,000). Four of the courses are privately owned and three are owned and operated by the Town of Amherst. As reported in the Buffalo News, since 2009 the town owned courses have lost $1 millionRead… Read more »
The city of Indianapolis, IN, is moving forward with a plan to install solar panels on city-owned public works buildings to make them more efficient. The goal is for private companies to finance, build, own and operate the system, paying the city for rooftop leases. The “Office of Sustainability” in Indianapolis has selected two companiesRead… Read more »
Since term limits were enacted in California 22 years ago there has been three efforts by politicians to loosen the term limit requirement. New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg ran for Mayor of New York City knowing that he was limited to two terms, but that did not stop him from changing the law soRead… Read more »
Two years ago the residents of the village of Seneca Falls New York (population 6,600), voted to have the village absorbed by the town of Seneca Falls, New York, which had 2,500 people living outside of the village. The vote to dissolve the village passed in March 2010 by only 86 votes — 1,198 toRead… Read more »
An article in AZcentral.com highlights innovative efforts undertaken by local governments in Arizona: – The city of Mesa eliminated some departments and challenged the rest to rethink how they operate. One of the earliest results was a proposal from the Fire Department to stop sending large engines and four-person crews to every medical call. TheRead… Read more »
Weston Florida is an affluent suburb 25 miles northwest of Miami. When Weston was incorporated in 1996, its residents approved a charter that states the city must use contractors as opposed to city employees to perform traditional government services, unless four out of five councilmembers vote to make an exception. As a Governing article reportsRead… Read more »
Andrew Cuomo as Governor of New York State talks a lot about reducing the cost of government and operating government more efficiently. Cuomo has done some good things like forming the Spending and Government Efficiency Commission. I applaud Cuomo for seeking to address government spending and efficiency but believe that he has made a mistakeRead… Read more »