Approximate decrease in electricity usage in Juneau, Alaska, since avalanches knocked down transmission lines and cut off the city's source of low-cost hydroelectric power, threatening a fivefold increase in utility bills that sparked residents to install energy-efficient light bulbs, turn off neon signs and TVs and string clotheslines in backyards

More Events >>

EVENTS

May 28-30
Technology Conference, Seattle

May 20-22
Management Workshops, Indianapolis

Radwaste buried here only over my dead body.”

— Who Said That?

Recruiting? Job-Hunting?

Link Up in Executive Marketplace

The latest listings:

• Santa Clara County, CA: Chief Auditor

• Bee Cave, TX: City Administrator

• Town of St. Albans, VT: Town Manager

• Kentucky: Chief Information Officer

• Miami-Dade County: Finance Director

More classified ads >>

Assessments

The Id in Office

Why, asks Alan Ehrenhalt, do so many politicians lose the ability to approach their personal moral lives in the way most ordinary people are required to? It's a question that several generations of social scientists have attempted to answer — and the answers are all over the place.

Illustration by Robert Meganck

Idea Center

Throwing a Fosterware Party

To recruit more foster families, the family-strapped Clark County, New., Department of Family Services put a new spin on an old idea, and held a "fosterware" party.

Benefits Beat

Flunking ‘Investments 101’

In trying to solve their retiree medical funding problem, some Wisconsin school districts may have dug themselves deeper into the hole.
Plus: Entrepreneurial sparks at two public pension funds.

More News & Features

Management Insights

A Formula for Leadership

So many good ideas fall victim to government bureaucracy. For leaders intent on seeing their ideas take flight, columnist Babak Armajani has just the formula to help.

eNewsletters

Health and Social Services

Launching this summer, Governing's Human Services Monthly will track developments and trends. Become a charter subscriber to this free publication.

Pensions

A Tower of Tiers

Pensions are getting less generous for a new generation of government workers. Will they tolerate equal work for unequal benefits, asks Jonathan Walters.

Public Officials of the Year

In Search of the Best

Every year, Governing honors elected, appointed and career officials who are making a difference. Nominations are now open for the 2008 awards.