When Andrew Cuomo began his term as Governor of New York State he promised that he would run the most transparent and open government in state history. While Cuomo talks a good game his actions are very different as far as keeping his promise of open and transparent government. The most recent example is aRead… Read more »
The Erie County Clerk’s Office (Buffalo, NY) spends $3,000 per year to purchase 10,000 pens. The office loses nearly 5,000 pens a year, due to customers walking off with them. The office has tried tying the pens to clip boards, but that still did not solve the problem. At 30 cents a piece, lost pensRead… Read more »
Centennial Colorado (a suburb of Denver) is a city of 100,00 people that was formed in 2001.Centennial has a policy of contracting with outside providers for all public services, unless there is a demonstrable, quantifiable advantage to providing services in-house. By contracting out services Centennial has approximately 51 full-time equivalent employees. The number of employeesRead… Read more »
As followers of this site know I am very interested in encouraging and applying creative ideas in government. There are many creative individuals working in government jobs but bureaucracy and poor leadership does not allow them to contribute their creativity. Hats off to the folks that came up with the interesting idea described below thatRead… Read more »
Bill Schrier served for 30 years as an employee for the city of Seattle. For the past ten years until his recent retirement Mr. Schrier served as the Chief Technology Officer for Seattle. As part of a Seattle newspaper series, Schrier was asked if he were Mayor of Seattle, what three actions would he takeRead… Read more »
The city of Atlanta has embraced technology and the data created from creative apps developed by citizens in a big way, as reported in an article at Creative Loafing Atlanta. Some examples of interesting things happening in Atlanta: Tires App– Tires dumped on the side of the road or in vacant lots is a neighborhhodRead… Read more »
All politicians talks about their support for and the importance of small businesses. Every campaign season I hear new candidates and incumbents talk about lowering taxes and creating a one stop center to make life better for small businesses. Very few government officials go beyond this lip service and take a serious look at addressingRead… Read more »
Federal & State Freedom of Information Laws (FOIL), allows citizens to obtain copies of government records. In 2009, the Buffalo News after not receiving adequate responses to several FOIL requests wrote an editorial directed to Mayor Byron Brown stating: “The law is clear. When we request city records, you must provide them, completely and inRead… Read more »
It is only a press release and I should not let it bother me, but I feel compelled to highlight the smoke and mirrors of a recent politician press release. Not much of substance typically happens at a Erie County Legislature meeting (Buffalo, NY). A typical Legislature meeting consists of resolutions honoring people who recentlyRead… Read more »
One of the most important actions a government body takes is the passage of a budget. A community’s priorities are reflected in their governmental budgets. In todays economic times budgeting at the local government level is not easy. Tough choices have to be made as to what items receive funding, what items are cut andRead… Read more »