2010 Public Officials of the Year

Mick Cornett John Covington Steve Fletcher Ana Gelabert-Sanchez

Jerry Madden John Whitmire Sonny Perdue Diana Urban

 

Features

• Harrisburg's Failed Infrastructure Project
• By: John Buntin
• A new incinerator was supposed to earn Harrisburg, Pa., $1 billion. Instead, it’s a cautionary tale for what happens when an infrastructure project goes bad.

• The Future of Redistricting and Rural America
• By: Josh Goodman
• Redistricting is not likely to be kind to the political clout of rural areas.

• Maintaining Political Balance Through Redistricting
• By: Jonathan Walters
• Bringing truth, light and perhaps even fairness to redistricting.

Departments

• Politics: Problem or Solution?
• By: Paul W. Taylor
• Despite polarization, politics is still the way to get things done.

Politics + Policy

• Philadelphia's Mixed Feelings on Legalized Gambling
• By: Josh Goodman
• In Philadelphia, the SugarHouse Casino’s story reflects the mixed emotions about legalized gambling.

• Reforming Sex Offender Laws
• By: Josh Goodman
• California's Chelsea's Law rethinks the way the state manages sex offenders who will return to society.

• Cuyahoga County's Road to Recovery From Corruption
• By: Josh Goodman
• A lot has changed, and is still changing, in Cuyahoga County since the county was slammed with corruption charges.

• Getting Teens to Register and Vote
• By: Josh Goodman
• A new effort is under way to encourage young adults to start voting and keep voting.

• Finding a Leader With Answers
• By: Peter Harkness
• As problems cry out for solutions, we need more Richard Daleys.

• States' Regulation on the Gadsden Flag
• By: Tina Trenkner
• Is flying the "Don't Tread on Me" flag a protected nod to America’s past? Some states’ laws are unclear.

• California: A National Model for Health Benefit Exchanges?
• By: Jessica Mulholland
• As states implement health benefit exchanges, they’ll likely look west for guidance.

• States Look to Boost Hunting Interest
• By: Elizabeth Daigneau
• U.S. sportsmen are declining. Will a new generation materialize to fuel conservation efforts?

• The Search for Infrastructure-Driven Transformation
• By: William Fulton
• There are infrastructure projects, and then there are infrastructure projects that transform.

• Could Renting Be the New American Dream?
• By: Tod Newcombe
• Renting and returning to urban living -- where energy costs are lower -- could be in the offing.

Problem Solver

• How Rules and Contracts Demean Public Workers
• By: Stephen Goldsmith
• Laws, arbitrary rulings and contracts keep employees locked in an unrewarding work environment.

• Prioritizing and Revamping the Budgeting Process
• By: Katherine Barrett & Richard Greene
• States and localities should prioritize top goals and revamp the budgeting process.

• Ways to Consolidate Government IT
• By: Steve Towns
• It tends to come in two forms: a centralized model and a federated approach.

• The Housing Market's Effect on Government Finance
• By: John E. Petersen
• Plunging real estate values have devastating consequences for government finance.

• Driving Prosecution With Intelligence
• By: John Buntin
• Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance’s vision of “intelligence-driven prosecution” could do for prosecutors what CompStat did for policing.

Training Opportunities

• Accelerating Economic Growth and Vitality
• This white paper describes how developing competencies in five key area can help public safety agencies more effectively do their jobs in the face of extremely important and difficult sets of issues.
• Crime Prediction and Prevention


• FutureStructure: A New Framework