Mark Funkhouser

Recent Articles

• What's Really Needed to Save Detroit: Democracy
• Apr 1, 2013
• Certainly spending must be cut and services must be restored, but it's essential that the voices of the loyal Detroiters who have stayed be heard.
• 6 Comments

• How to Insult Government Workers
• Mar 29, 2013
• There are lots of problems with pay for performance, but one of the most salient is that it implies that employees are slackers.
• 8 Comments

• How Four Students Solved a Difficult Mental-Health Service Problem
• Mar 28, 2013
• The winners of this year's National Public Policy Challenge had a guiding principle: Think big, start small.
• 1 Comments

• A Transplant from Queens in the Heart of the Confederacy
• Mar 21, 2013
• Stephen Benjamin, the mayor of Columbia, S.C., has ambitious goals for his city. He's off to a strong start.
• 1 Comments

• The Tools We Need to Help Poor Neighborhoods
• Mar 11, 2013
• The Community Reinvestment Act doesn't always get at underlying economic issues. It's time to redesign it.
• 1 Comments

• A Transportation Funding Power Shift
• Feb 28, 2013
• States are moving into the void left by Washington’s paralysis.

• A Small-Town Mayor in the National Arena
• Feb 28, 2013
• Clarence Anthony, the National League of Cities' new executive director, wants the NLC to be a strike force for cities at a time when our federal system is undergoing profound changes.

• Giving Citizens Numbers They Can Understand
• Feb 25, 2013
• 'Citizen-centric' financial reporting is a way for governments to improve transparency and accountability. It isn't hard, so why aren't more jurisdictions doing it?
• 5 Comments

• Municipal Securities and the Waiting Game
• Feb 21, 2013
• Federal law gives the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board the authority to protect issuers, but it can't do that job until the SEC gives it a tool it needs.

• Our Ebbing Urge to Incarcerate
• Feb 7, 2013
• California seems to be finding a way out of its prison-overcrowding problems. Have we decided that locking up so many people isn't the best way to keep the public safe?
• 3 Comments

• The Emerging Power of China's Auditors
• Jan 31, 2013
• Cracking down on corruption is critical to China's growth.

• The Real Role of Cities
• Jan 31, 2013
• As one thoughtful city manager see it, in our focus on service delivery we're lost sight of a fundamental purpose of government.
• 2 Comments

• Can You Run a Government on $9.90 an Hour?
• Jan 28, 2013
• There are signs that the pendulum is swinging away from the anti-public-employee rhetoric of recent years. That's good for governments and for the people they serve.
• 8 Comments

• Bringing a 'Green Tint' to Sacramento
• Jan 23, 2013
• Mayor Kevin Johnson has big ideas for California's capital. Will the drive that made him an NBA star serve him as he tries to remake his city?
• 1 Comments