TABLE of CONTENTS February 2007
Cover StoryMayor in the Middle
BY Rob Gurwitt
During the first week of December 2006, about a dozen Los Angeles hotel workers set up a week-long fast outside the Westin LAX hotel, not far...
Features
Paying for Promises
Call it the six stages of GASB 45: anger, denial, sorrow, acceptance, study and action. That's been the general response to a new set of governmental...
An Indelicate Balance
This is not your father's procurement process.
When Virginia wants to overhaul its aging IT infrastructure, its information technology officials don't gather together to make...
HIV Apathy
On a rainy day last June, local officials in Washington, D.C., gathered under tents erected on a public plaza to be tested for HIV....
Rough Sea's
There's a new and higher level of strain in the already-tense
relationship between GASB and state and local officials.
Disasters Unlimited
Insurance companies see a potential Katrina almost everywhere they
look. And they want homeowners to pay in advance.
Guest Quarter: Retirees and Realities
New Jersey's ill-fated pension reform plan is history. As 2006 drew to
a close, the governor and legislature, hoping to pay for property-tax
reduction through pension plan reforms, failed to come to an
agreement--much to the relief of thousands of state workers, unionized
and otherwise, who marched on Trenton to make known their concerns
about benefit adjustments.
Up Front
Politics News
Rescue Mission
Florida's chaotic social service agency may be ungovernable. But Bob
Butterworth is giving it a shot.
Politics News
The Sale Goes On
Indiana's governor still likes privatization--even if the voters
don't.
Politics News
Granholm's Dilemma
When it comes to fiscal problems, Michigan is in a league of its own.
Hidden Section
The Diffident Leader
Over a long career, George Washington seemed genuinely scornful of personal ambition. In the 21st century, a political leader displaying his humility and reticence is inconceivable.
Potomac Chronicle
Senator Warner's Posse
A new federal law gives the military a domestic function it hasn't had before.
Economic Engines
Running a Railroad
Its schedules are undependable, prices high and on-board service of middling quality. Yet demand for Amtrak's inter-city service grows.
Politics News
Newsom Wins Some, Loses Some
San Francisco's mayor is popular, but his enemies are persistent.
The Business of Government
Energy & Environment
A Bolder Boulder
The Colorado city's citizens are going along with a "carbon tax" to control greenhouse gases that affect the climate.
No doubt the new U.S....
Economic Engines
Stuck at Home
A vibrant local economy needs a good supply of housing for sale at lots of price points. But that's not what's happening right now.
Economic Engines
Stuck at Home
A vibrant local economy needs a good supply of housing for sale at lots of price points. But that's not what's happening right now.
Technology
The Winningest Website
Michigan breaks out of the pack with a world-class online presence.
Technology
Car Spotting: Tapping Tech for Parking Problems
A new generation of technology is driving crackdowns on ticket
scofflaws and making it easier to find a parking space.
Technology
Car Spotting: Tapping Tech for Parking Problems
A new generation of technology is driving crackdowns on ticket
scofflaws and making it easier to find a parking space.
Health & Human Services
Risk Relief: Indiana Aims to Insure Good Health
A growing number of states and localities are turning to incentives to
move the employees they insure into healthier lifestyles. Indiana is
going one step further. It is trying to target employees who are at
risk for illnesses and offering them special services to improve their
odds of staying healthy.
Technology
The New Digital Divide
Electronic billboards are attention-grabbers. Some people argue they
distract drivers.
Finance
The Muni Market's Bumpy Year
2006 had its ups and downs--although it was mostly positive for
issuers and negative for some underwriters.
