As communities across the country make more information available on-line, greater attention is being placed on making that information more understandable to the public. In particular government budgets are often reported in a format that is hard for most people to decipher and understand. The Association of Government Accountants (AGA) several years ago started aRead… Read more »
Chula Vista California is a city with 243,000 residents located seven miles from San Diego. The City Council of Chula Vista has adopted a new strategic approach for making decisions. The goal of the strategy is to link every action in the city to a goal laid out in a strategic plan. The City’s ContinuousRead… Read more »
Six months ago New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg started a Business Customer Service Initiative to streamline the process of opening a business. A key element of the new initiative was to determine how long it was taking businesses to obtain permits needed prior to opening. Paying rent and other expenses while waiting for cityRead… Read more »
With a New Year upon us, many people will resolve to make improvements in their lives as far as exercise, diet, relationships, and career. Successful people set goals and track their progress in achieving them. Successful organizations also set goals and track their progress in achieving them. As the old saying goes, “What gets measuredRead… Read more »
Over the last few days I’ve been exposed to two ideas that interest me in how each demonstrates the need to properly vet an idea. (As an aside for for all of you familiar with MMORPGs: I figure if life was a game, “Vetting an Idea” would be considered a passive ability for those inRead… Read more »
The New York State Committee On Open Government, led by Executive Director Robert Freeman is a great resource regarding New York’s Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) and New York’s Open Meetings Law. Mr. Freeman is very accessible by telephone, mail and e-mail and always willing to provide guidance to anyone with questions about accessing governmentRead… Read more »
The City of Washington DC has embraced social media tools such as blogs, twitter and facebook as a unique way to grade the performance of city departments on a monthly basis. In the first report card issued in June not one of the five initial agencies being graded scored higher than a C plus, basedRead… Read more »
Recently I wrote about the draft release of Post-Development Stormwater Runoff Performance Standards for Illinois. And in discussions with colleagues over the last few weeks, I have not heard any positive support from anyone who has a professional background in stormwater management or regulation. Instead the consensus among stormwater professionals regarding the draft is thatRead… Read more »
When disasters strike towns and cities, 911 centers quickly become inundated with calls beyond those that are truly life-threatening situations. The result is that emergency response is delayed which can sometimes lead to deadly consequences. A case in point is a story in the New York Post about how New York City’s 911 center wasRead… Read more »
Anybody living in Southern California for the last couple of years has heard of the City of Bell scandal and I suspect that the story is known outside of the state as well. The Los Angeles Times received a Pulitzer gold medal for public service, as a result of its coverage along with titillating storiesRead… Read more »