Archive
St. Louis has the Gateway Arch; Seattle has the Space Needle. So when Dayton, Ohio, began redeveloping its waterfront as an urban park three years ago, civic leaders decided on a fountain as the defining landmark for their downtown skyline.
Walt Disney World and other Orlando theme parks and resorts cut their tax bills each year by claiming they are farming enterprises, in a scheme that two Florida counties say comes straight out of Fantasyland.
An illinois court recently ruled against cigarette maker Philip Morris in a consumer fraud case. But the real losers may have been the states.
State housing agencies are finding ways to bring residents of public
housing across the digital divide.
New Jersey's governor is painting the state's future development in
three colors.
With highways clogged and construction money tight, traffic managers
are experimenting with intelligent transportation systems.
The Justice Department spends a lot of money tracking down state and
local corruption. Is that necessary? Unfortunately, yes.
She grew up in Mississippi's Democratic Party, but Lieutenant Governor
Amy Tuck is now establishing her independence among the Republicans.
Guess who once was given a key to the city of Detroit: Saddam Hussein. The Detroit News discovered recently that in 1980 the Iraqi president was awarded a ceremonial key by a pastor of Detroit's Chaldean Christian community.
To blunt the impact of deep Medicaid cuts, a few states are
experimenting with ways to control the program's costs.
Governments are in the position of trying to reward good performers--
without being able to give raises or bonuses.
For decades, a federal law has obstructed state innovation on private
health care coverage. That's finally changing.
States are pushing a bow wave of operating deficits ahead of them in
hopes that fiscal conditions may brighten.
It's a county plant, but city officials will have some say in how it looks. That's because the site Fulton County officials chose for a new sewage plant is at the eastern entrance to Roswell, Georgia, and Roswell doesn't think a sewage plant makes a good first impression on visitors or prospective businesses.
Budget crises have some states cutting back on tax breaks for attracting and retaining businesses. New Jersey Governor Jim McGreevey is proposing a one-year hiatus for a $38 million incentive program aimed at luring businesses to the state.
Despite federal pressure, more than a dozen states have yet to adopt
the .08 drunk-driving standard.
Florida's radical overhaul of its personnel system is making big
political waves.
A few weeks ago, the chairman of the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority descended 100 feet below ground, unfurled a huge American flag, announced the opening of a tunnel, and began scouring history for superlatives. "This project," he boasted, "rivals the Hoover Dam and the Panama Canal."
Deciding who gets a key to the city is an interesting mayoral
exercise.
State AGs have accumulated an enormous amount of power. Too much, some
people think.
Before officials in Lebanon Junction, Kentucky, can resolve a long- running controversy, they need to figure out where the bodies are buried--literally.
Imagine arriving at the American Legion Hall with a crockpot of baked beans to contribute to the potluck dinner--only to be told they're not welcome there.
Selling lottery tickets on the Internet sounds like a great idea. That's why an Ohio lottery commission recently gave it serious consideration as a way to boost slowing sales of lottery tickets and much-diminished profits.
The snack tax is losing its crunch. The last holdout to single out snack foods for a sales tax--Maine--is poised to repeal the levy.
On the far west side of Detroit, between the murky River Rouge and the suburb of Dearborn, sits a little neighborhood called Copper Canyon. It's a pleasant community of modest brick bungalows, manicured lawns and peaceful streets. It's also one of the few integrated neighborhoods remaining in the city.
Government Webmasters are still churning out pages of documents and
forms that can be unintellgible to the handicapped.
More than half the states have mandatory minimum sentences for drug
offenders. Some of them are starting to rethink and revise their laws.
Last month's `summit' meeting started on the subject of taxes. But it
ended with a much broader challenge.
Living conditions for migrant farmworkers aren't much better in many
places than they were a generation ago. The issue is returning to
state agendas.
A couple of online projects are trying Foursquare to test how the location-based social platform can be utilized for election coverage.
"We had a reputation for providing lousy service," says Kevin Greenlief, director of Fairfax County, Virginia's Department of Tax Administration.
For communities that have difficulty attracting qualified law enforcement recruits, Oklahoma has come up with an interesting solution.
San Francisco is expanding a first-of-its-kind guide for the blind and visually impaired.
You can keep on truckin', New Jersey tells drivers of big rigs heading through the state. Just stay on the highway--scenic roads are off- limits.
The nation's most innovative affordable housing program has survived
25 years. The next 25 may be the hard part.
With computers able to process tons of information quickly, the
complicated muni market is a natural for electronic trading.
Why did a fledging overnight-delivery company relocate in Memphis--and
what does it take to keep it there?
PolitiFact's Louis Jacobson ranks the governor's races, and predicts a strong election night could leave the GOP with better than two-thirds of the governor's seats.
It's become good politics in urban areas to advocate `skills training'
for immigrant groups, even if the skills are pretty basic.
A new report on making results-based state government work is chock-
full of commonsense recommendations.
Back when Lester Maddox was governor of Georgia, in the late 1960s,
there was a riot at the state prison. Reporters asked him what he
planned to do about the conditions that caused the trouble. Maddox
rejected the entire premise of the question. "There's nothing wrong
with our prison system," he said. "We just don't have a very good
class of prisoners anymore."
We Americans profess not to like nepotism very much, but when we see
it on a grand enough scale, we're intrigued. We're not bothered by a
presidential election in which both of the candidates owe every
political triumph in life to the exploits of their fathers. We can get
used to the idea of the president's brother as attorney general, or
the president's wife as chief domestic policy adviser.
Philadelphia's city controller, Jonathan Saidel, didn't mince words in
his audit of one troubled school system technology project. Taxpayers
underwrote a new computer system for financial management, human
resources and payroll that was "inefficiently procured, wastefully way
over budget and still doesn't do many of the things it was intended to
do," Saidel wrote.
Florida has recently become one of a handful of states to adopt a formal system of debt analysis aimed at helping guide debt-issuance decisions.
As director of operations for the West Dakota Department of Social Services, you have long advocated a shift to performance contracts. Finally, you won.
Most of the time, it doesn't bother me when people talk about political issues in moral language. In fact, it bothers me when they don't.
Granville Hicks, the literary critic, would have been a hundred years
old a few weeks ago. Hicks died in 1982, and so he isn't exactly a
household name anymore--I didn't know much about him myself until I
ran across a copy of "Small Town," his portrait of the village of
Grafton, New York, written just at the end of World War II. But the
story is worth remembering, both for the unusual life the author led
and for the ideas he emerged with after decades of personal struggle.
Voting modernization was losing its momentum, but several states and
counties are on a roll with it now.
Building a great Web site that fronts for lousy governmental processes
only advertises how lousy the processes are.
Despite skyrocketing home values and shrinking revenues, few
governments are considering major property-tax hikes.
No one disputes that voting procedures need some serious reform. But
whose job is it to fix them?
Capitalizing on new flexibilities in health insurance for the poor,
states are inching closer to health coverage for all.
A penny saved is a penny shared by Delaware Department of
Transportation employees. Millions of dollars saved can turn into real
dollars in their pockets under two new pilot programs that reward
employees with cash if they propose money-saving ideas.
Minnesota is reaping big savings from a new process for renewing auto
registrations, but the change pushes the state into a new and
controversial role of mailing advertisements to its customers.
The humble neighborhood library is becoming a community magnet and
engine of local revival.
More and more, we want new parents to take time off from work when
their children are born. The question now is whether to compensate
them for it.
Employing a wireless technology developed by the military to hide
radio signals, New York State's Department of Transportation is
bringing traffic light synchronization to several upstate cities--
particularly to streets where the infrastructure for traditional
traffic-data transmission is unavailable. Along Troy's Hoosick Street,
for instance, cables that would ordinarily be used to connect signals
along the road with central computers are inaccessible to engineers.
Cleveland and its neighboring town of Brook Park are about to finalize
a land swap that guarantees construction of new runways at Cleveland's
international airport.
The police department in Lewiston, Maine, believes that to err is
human. So it's being pretty divine about forgiving parking tickets--
but only for first-time violators whose meters have run out.
Strange things have been happening at governors' mansions all around
the country. Last year, South Carolina Governor Jim Hodges fired the
state's prison chief following a widely publicized guards-and-sex
scandal that included inmates having sex at the governor's residence
while he was away. In the aftermath of that episode, a pair of former
South Carolina governors recalled other embarrassing incidents
involving trusties and alcohol.
Most states require photo developers to report any suspected child
pornography they encounter to police. Now, South Carolina has become
the first state to expand this mandate to include "computer
technicians."
For some communities, the decision to allow big-box retailers such as
Wal-Mart to come to town is laced with fear that the chain will kill
off commerce on Main Street. Now, however, local governments have a
new concern about Wal-Mart: that the superstores' massive parking lots
are being turned into free campgrounds for recreational vehicles.
This may be a time for states and localities to keep spending up and,
if need be, to borrow money to finance new projects.
The rapidly changing relationship between prosperous U.S. cities and
their traditional hinterlands is creating 21st-century problems.
Amid the turbulence in the technology industry, many public officials remain bullish on technology and increasingly aware of their responsibility to manage it effectively.
A once-obscure cost-accounting method is becoming the clearest path to
tracking the real costs of delivering services.
Just because a government sets up a useful Web site doesn't mean people will to flock to it. They have to know it exists.
Financial deregulation offers the public some neat opportunities. it
also offers the potential for disaster.
All things being equal, Bob Keenan is a man who prefers to have government stay out of the way and let private enterprise tackle the tough societal jobs.
Four ways agencies and organizations can use Web 2.0 to foster collaboration.
Governments are finally beginning to figure out how to develop solid
figures for the cost of the services they provide.
In the old days, legislatures were secretive and autocratic. In
Albany, the old days continue.
Proceeding with rail plans in the face of voter disapproval is either
innovative management or bureaucratic arrogance.
Amid the cedar-covered hills of Austin, Texas, you will find the corporate campuses of companies such as Dell Computer, Motorola and IBM. You will also find wild hogs.
Up in the mountains of Montana, just south of Missoula, leaders of Ravalli County may occasionally have dispensed with administrative formalities. Sometimes, governing is still stunningly casual in small, rural places.
In San Francisco, it appears as though political correctness might be going to the dogs--and cats.
If you offer a tax rebate, they will come--if they know about it and have enough time to fill out the form.
Several Web-based efforts from the private sector are making it easier for investors to price municipal bonds for sale in the secondary market and to buy and sell them without a traditional broker--all of which should improve investor access to and comfort with the municipal bond market
The cost of prescription drugs is soaring. For many states, it is the fastest-growing health care expense, with prescription drugs doubling over the past six years in some states and costs for Medicaid prescription drugs increasing 15 percent annually in several states.
There was a time, not too long ago, when almost everyone in Seattle remembered Caspar Sharples. He was a revered physician and educator during the early years of this century, the founder of two hospitals and a guiding force behind development of the city's school system.
The blazingly obvious truth about privatization is that in some cases, it leads to better services and lower costs; in other cases, it doesn't.
Security remains an obstacle to voting over the Internet. But more states may be tempted to experiment in order to comply with a new law concerning the rights of military and overseas voters.
With all the great online resources for progressing the open government movement, it's important to remember the offline element and the tools we can leverage to organize, promote and host events.
As we approach Election Day, the number of ads continue to increase, but based on recent data from the Wesleyan Media Project they are no more negative than in previous years.
State and local IT leaders are putting together new playbooks for ways
to move IT into the revenue-stressed future.
Gambling revenue helps fill state coffers the easy way, but reliance
on it makes for lousy public policy.
You've been here before. Once again, you will put out a request for
proposals. Once again, you are looking for quality and innovation.
Once again, you will be pressured to accept the low bid.
In February, an anonymous band of large retailers struck an unusual deal with 37 states. The sellers, which reportedly include Wal-Mart, Target and Toys 'R' Us, agreed to begin collecting sales taxes from their customers who make Internet purchases.
When I started writing this column, I promised myself I wouldn't use
it as a soapbox for personal grudges or quarrels. It can come off as
bad sportsmanship, and most of the time, it bores the reader. But some
opportunities are just too juicy to pass up.
You'd think presidents who used to be governors would cut the states a
break. It never seems to happen.
Estimating revenue is a task that trips up many state finance
officials. West Virginia's Mark Muchow gets the numbers right every
time.
If your community doesn't already have enough worries, here's one: You may be up against a celebrity gap. This is a particular problem for charities, which use movie stars, pop singers, athletic heroes, former presidents and big-time authors to draw donors to their fund-raising events. Clearly this isn't a problem in places such as Los Angeles or New York.
With malpractice insurance rates spiking again, it's time to look at
alternative solutions.
Atlanta's getting back into the water business. After contracting with United Water four years ago to take over the operations and maintenance of its water and sewer systems, the city has changed its mind.
What does it cost to launch a government Web site? It's a question
that makes some governments uncomfortable, fearing apples-and-oranges
comparisons with other jurisdictions. Governments budget for their Web
sites in different ways, some including staff time and maintenance
time, some paying from a central IT office, some paying through
individual departments, some outsourcing, some building in-house.
State library agencies aren't known for having broad public support.
At least not until the governor tries to eliminate them.
So far, it's Maine, zero; the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, two. The state's two attempts to pressure drug companies to extend lower Medicaid prices for medications to certain non-Medicaid recipients have been turned back by the courts.
That reverberating vroom-vroom sound they've been hearing up in Maine may soon be reduced to a purr.
Race is still an issue in big-city politics. It's just not THE issue
anymore.
Before South Carolina first lady Jenny Sanford moved into the governor's mansion in January, the Chicago native recalled how she'd come to feel at home in her adopted state. "I even learned to like grits," she said.
There's a cheap and simple way for governments to get their message
out. It's called radio.
As states slash aid to local governments, some localities are fighting back--in court.
In 2002, state and local issuers used bonds innovatively to build
bridges, clean up brownfields or help balance their books.
One of America's oldest political institutions isn't adapting very
well to 21st-century urban life.
Somewhere in America, I suppose, there is a public official who believes unreservedly in devolution--believes that power, autonomy and flexibility should reside as far down in the governmental system as practically possible--and is willing to act on the basis of those beliefs, even at the expense of his own political authority.
James Mejia owes a lot to his boss, Denver Mayor Wellington Webb. And
now Webb is asking much in return: He wants Mejia to clean up the
city's scandal-ridden parks and recreation department and, in the
process, protect the mayor's own legacy.
The more managers are free to admit an impending failure without fear
of being throttled, the better off a government will be.
Lottery profits are down in a majority of states. And officials are
scrambling to reverse the trend.
Harsh provisions in high-rate mortgages to poor homeowners have
several states and localities taking a legislative stand.
With our busy airports unable to cope with air travel demands, we'll
be experiencing highway-like congestion in our airways.
When a county or city shuts down its public hospital, it isn't off the
hook. There's still political pressure to provide health care for the
needy.
As a deputy sheriff worked an accident in the middle of a heavy
rainstorm, water dripped from his sleeve onto the keyboard of the
laptop computer that was mounted on the floor of his squad car.
Corporal Tom Wood of the Marion County Sheriff's Department in Indiana
says that later, when he used a blow-dryer in an attempt to minimize
the damage, "eight of the keys melted."
Prisoners can be picky about what they eat, but even hardened
criminals would probably think it a stretch for California to declare
a state of emergency when its prisons run out of peanut butter and
jelly.
Florida's hottest fashion item isn't to be found in the shops of
Miami's trendy South Beach area. Instead, it can be observed along the
turnpikes.
Talk about expanding the definition of taxable property. Los Angeles
County Assessor Rick Auerbach wanted to tax eight satellites that
hover 22,000 miles over the earth. Auerbach came across the satellites
during a routine audit of Hughes Electronics. He figured they were
fair game, since they were owned by a business based in the county and
no other jurisdiction was taxing them.
Figuring out how much sales tax a customer owes is about to get easier for Colorado retailers, thanks to a new electronic system developed by the state Department of Revenue.
A decade ago, colleges were doing everything they could to attract
more students. Now they've got more than they can handle.
"Tomorrow's tuition at today's prices." that's the slogan many states use to sell pre-paid tuition plans to parents and grandparents. The plans aim to make college affordable for the next generation of students while promoting in-state public schools.
Protecting network systems against virus attacks takes good
management--and a little bit of luck.
Combative and unpredictable, Steve Peace isn't your typical state
budget director. But a $35 billion shortfall isn't your typical state
budget problem.
One of the handiest concepts for understanding how cities develop is the notion of "clustering," developed by Harvard business professor Michael Porter. Simple concept: It holds that, in some highly developed industries, leading practitioners need to be near one another, even when logic and high land costs might suggest that it's better to disperse.
This isn't the easiest time for localities to get money out of
Washington. But they aren't about to quit asking.
Several health insurance companies have stepped up to say they intend
to promote universal health care coverage.
With the right mix of infrastructure,investment and geography, some
local economies are getting a big lift from air cargo.
At the intersection of Wilson and Highland streets, a few blocks from
where I live in Arlington, Virginia, there is a big, gaping hole in
the ground. It isn't much to look at, as you might expect. But it's a
hole in the ground with a rich history. If you will indulge me in a
few paragraphs of local nostalgia, I think I can use it to draw some
lessons about the ways of growth, planning and survival these days in
metropolitan America.
As budgets tighten, IT officials need to let state leaders know about
the benefits, costs and results of technology investments.
States are taking steps to protect their pocketbooks as Washington tax
cuts take a toll on state revenue.
The key to sensible government reform is refocusing the system around
results.
In 1979, Richard Howorth moved back to Oxford, Mississippi, to open a
bookstore. He had more than simple commerce in mind. Oxford was home
to the University of Mississippi and William Faulkner's native turf,
yet it remained a cultural backwater, remembered around the country,
if at all, as the site of anti-desegregation riots in the early 1960s.
Howorth, who'd grown up in Oxford, saw his store as a place of
culture, literacy and broad-mindedness that could help the town
nurture those values in itself.
Ohio's Mississinawa Valley School District is implementing a pilot program that will allow students to continue their educational instruction from home, even when schools are closed due to inclement weather.
The novelty of a mouse-to-mouse public policy debate from the
convenience of a family-room PC is an intriguing prospect.
The battle over minority set-asides in state contracting is heating up in Florida, where Governor Jeb Bush is charting a controversial course beyond affirmative action.
The tobacco and gun lawsuits stand the traditional checks-and-balances
system on its ear and marginalize Congress.
In this prolonged fiscal crisis, every state has cut into social
programs. But what is happening in Minnesota suggests a new direction
entirely.
Most newly elected mayors celebrate their victory with the pomp and circumstance of an inaugural ceremony. Not Bernard Kincaid.
When Big Tobacco began paying states billions of dollars a year, making good on a landmark legal settlement, many governments took their share straight to the bond market.
Delaware is placing a three-year time limit on rent subsidies. The experiment is part of a larger federal demonstration program to help long-time public housing residents become financially independent.
Florida legislator Susan Bucher is a woman of strong opinions. She's
willing to express them anywhere, anytime.
The competition is tough. Good school superintendents are hard to find.
In an era of uncertainty, states and localities are looking to some
unusual options.
The governors of Arizona and New Mexico have made it official: Homeland security and law enforcement officials will share unclassified intelligence information state to state. And perhaps eventually expand the effort to other states as well.
The Chicago city council has OK'd a deal that will bring fast wireless Internet service to the city by this summer.
