Zach Patton

Recent Articles

• Cataloging Digital History: A New Role For Libraries?
• Mar 5, 2009
• A frequent topic of conversation in the local-government sphere is the changing nature of libraries. As more and more books and research resources move online, ...
• 3 Comments

• The Recession in Purty Colors
• Mar 4, 2009
• The New York Times has put together a fascinating map of the nation that plots joblessness rates on a county-by-county basis. You can filter the ...

• Goodnight Computer
• Feb 28, 2009
• Your computer has an off-button. But if you're like most people, you don't use it very often. Maybe you like to leave certain programs or...

• Plastic Bag Bans: All Talk and No Action?
• Feb 24, 2009
• Several U.S. cities in recent years have been talking about banning the use of flimsy plastic shopping bags -- or imposing fees on them ...
• 1 Comments

• Should Obama Apologize to Las Vegas?
• Feb 11, 2009
• Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman is mad. Earlier this week, when President Obama was in Indiana drumming up support for the stimulus, he emphasized that ...
• 4 Comments

• Maryland Tries to Make E-Filing Sexy, Succeeds in Making Us Uncomfortable
• Feb 10, 2009
• Maryland has made a really, really valiant effort with a new ad encouraging residents to e-file their taxes this year. It's a parody of those ...

• Mark Zandi: Government is the Only Hope for Getting Out of the Recession
• Feb 4, 2009
• Just in case it still wasn't clear just how bad the economic outlook is for cities and states, Moody's economist Mark Zandi laid ...

• Doomier and Gloomier
• Feb 4, 2009
• As GOVERNING's Outlook conference kicked off its second day this morning, attention turned from the localities to the states. But the message was the ...
• 1 Comments

• The $800 Billion Question: What Do Cities Want?
• Feb 3, 2009
• So the situation's bad and the priorities are varied. But for the public officials and industry leaders gathered at GOVERNING's Outlook in the ...
• 2 Comments

• Now Arriving at the International Terminal: New City Residents?
• Feb 3, 2009
• In a discussion this afternoon at GOVERNING's Outlook conference, local leaders from around the country dicussed the priorities that are highest on cities' lists ...

• Cities and Counties: "It's bad and getting worse."
• Feb 3, 2009
• GOVERNING kicked off its Outlook in the States and Localities conference this afternoon with a panel on the economic challenges that cities and ocunties are ...

• Blogging Outlook 2009
• Feb 2, 2009
• This week, GOVERNING is hosting our annual Outlook in the States and Localities conference here in Washington.  As usual, we'll be taking an in-depth ...

• Code Green
• Jan 31, 2009
• Nothing looks particularly avant-garde about the historic building at the corner of Lincoln and Beach streets in Boston's Leather District. Built in 1899, the five-story Beaux-Arts...

• No Posh DC Digs for Ted Strickland
• Jan 21, 2009
• Washington, DC, is settling back to normal after the unprecedented crowd that descended on the city over the weekend for the inauguration. Many of the ...

• Amy Poehler's Coming to Local Government
• Jan 15, 2009
• "Saturday Night Live" alum Amy Poehler has hit federal government (with her hilarious take on Hillary Clinton) and state government (with her instant-classic ...
• 3 Comments