Management and Administration
These articles are about the nuts and bolts of government administration, from IT governance, including security and privacy policies, to management best practices affecting procurement, workforce development and retention.
What happens when familiar words of government are blended to take on new meanings? Perhaps a chortle or two.
There are reasons Congress writes vague laws. Giving courts more latitude to strike them down will ultimately limit the power of Congress, not just the agencies that interpret those laws.
The Bay Area city had recently touted a 33 percent year-over-year decrease in crime. But a review of police data found that the city overstated the improvements and has been using incomplete information for years.
People associate climate effects more with California and Florida, but Florida has seen flooding, wildfires and devastating thunderstorms in addition to this week's hurricane.
The Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers ranked the state first in terms of the share of women who serve in municipal government, at 46.1 percent. The center also ranked Colorado second among states for women legislators.
The 4-3 decision ensures that the public is “guaranteed access to public records unless a law specifically and unequivocally provides otherwise.”
The changes in Houston Independent School District rival some of the most significant shake-ups to a public school system ever. Could it change schools nationwide?
The new program aims to close health-care gaps when people are released and tackle addiction problems.
Absenteeism rates in K-12 schools are falling but remain higher than pre-pandemic levels.
A 2023 study found that 90 percent of the state’s beaches tested positive for unsafe levels of fecal bacteria for at least one day. Fecal contamination can come from urban runoff, sewage overflows and factory farms.
Fireworks consumption skyrocketed during the pandemic as public displays were canceled and Americans were stuck at home. Now the big pyrotechnic shows are back, and sales have plummeted to pre-pandemic levels.
At least four cities across the state are replacing traditional Fourth of July firework displays with laser and drone shows.
In the midst of a “skills tsunami,” agencies and their workers understand the problems better than central HR offices do. And workforce planning should focus on local labor markets.
State and local economic development organizations can ease barriers to defense contracting for local businesses, benefiting both companies and communities.
Boston and Dallas have achieved success in bringing down murders and other violent crimes by deploying an array of promising programs and approaches.
Two executives at Done, a California-based telehealth company, were indicted for allegedly scheming to provide easy access to Adderall and other stimulants to patients who didn’t need them.
The state’s Department of Education failed to act on warning signs of fraud at the nonprofit Feeding Our Future and failed, on numerous occasions, to monitor federal dollars.
Michigan’s first-in-the-nation chief growth officer is working to refresh the state’s brand with help from partners whose survival depends on attracting more workers.
The Surfrider Foundation found that of the nation’s 10 most polluted beaches, three are in California. San Diego’s Imperial Beach held the top spot, with every water sample failing the state’s health standards.
Two years after Congress passed the CHIPS and Science Act, some significant steps are now underway. Major manufacturers hope to position the nation as a player in global semiconductors.
Mayor Brandon Johnson has struggled to accomplish big things, and his predecessor had an even harder time. History suggests some building blocks of mayoral success.
Local governments want to see empty and underused offices converted to housing, but that’s often difficult. An examination of office and housing markets reveals the specific cities where this approach is most promising.
The state’s system for finding missing children was implemented in 2002. Since then, Minnesota has helped to recover all but one of the 46 children for which the state has sent out alerts, usually on the same day.
Governments and private employers are beginning to reap the benefits of this move, but sweeping changes in state and federal policy and adoption of new technologies are needed to make good on its promise.
In 2012, the city was spending five times more on sewers than it was on drinking water. In 2017, it was losing an increasing amount of water to leaky pipes. Last month’s crisis reiterated a history of jumping from crisis to crisis without fixing long-standing issues.
A Los Angeles fourth-grader brought a stolen 0.40-caliber Glock 22 to his elementary school this week, reflecting a larger problem. As of April 15, there were 903 weapons incidents across L.A. schools.
“Staying small is important to me,” says one of the microschool’s founders. “I value the small classes and the strong sense of community here. Everybody knows each other.”
About 150,000 people work in U.S. dairies. But as of May 22, just 40 people connected to dairy farms had been tested for the bird flu, a virus that has been spreading among cows.
A pilot program will develop generative artificial intelligence tools to investigate near misses of injuries and deaths on California roads to locate hazardous areas and reduce traffic.
Most government employees at the state and local level have returned to their respective offices at least part time, but some legislators and other officials want to make in-person work mandatory.
With most public retirement systems seeing improved actuarial funding levels, there’s an opportunity to offer options that could make government compensation more competitive. But any impetus for change should come from pragmatic public employers, not partisans or lobbyists.
