Oregon’s Secretary of State Kate Brown is seeking to make voter registration of individuals automatic. Brown’s plan, would allow Oregon to automatically register new voters at the time they apply for a driver’s license. Those new voters would initially be registered as unaffiliated with any political party. At a later date, they’d receive a postcardRead… Read more »
The arrest of several New York elected officials and political party leaders shows once again how the influence of money and minor party political lines results in corruption. Democratic State Senator Malcolm Smith wanted to run for Mayor of New York City. Smith’s strategy was to run on the Republican line. Under New York StateRead… Read more »
Philadelphia is one of the leading cities in the country as far as making government more open, transparent and collaborative with citizens. Some of the great things being done in Philadelphia are: – The Mayor has issued an Open Data Executive Order. – Created an Open Data Guidebook for city departments. – Created an OpenRead… Read more »
The Buffalo News recently rated the leadership qualities of Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz and Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown. Surveys were sent to 320 individuals identified by The Buffalo News as leaders in one of three sectors of the community: government and political; business; or community/civic sector, which includes religious, educational, and arts and culturalRead… Read more »
So why do our elected leaders have few initiatives? The dictionary defines “initiative” as the action of taking the first step; responsibility for beginning or originating; the characteristic of originating new ideas or methods; the ability to think and act without being urged by another. Napoleon Hill, a well known author on how to beRead… Read more »
This week March 11th is Sunshine Week, a national initiative which promotes the importance of open government and freedom of information. Communities across the country are adopting open government policiesthat commit to putting more government data and information on-line. Information such as building permits, restaurant health inspections, and crime statistics are readily available in manyRead… Read more »
Somerville, Massachusetts is a city of 75,000 people located just north of Boston. Somerville as a city understands the importance of leadership training. Two years ago the city brought in Dr. Hugh O’Doherty a Harvard professor and leadership expert to teach City managers and department heads adaptive leadership skills. Mayor Joseph Curtatone recently created theRead… Read more »
Creativity is the number one skill needed by companies today. Constant change and innovation is necessary for organizations to thrive and survive today. Yet most City Halls and Town halls do things as they have always done them for many years. Boston Mayor Thomas Menino created the Mayor’s Office of New Urban Mechanics to encourageRead… Read more »
As communities across the country make more information available on-line, greater attention is being placed on making that information more understandable to the public. In particular government budgets are often reported in a format that is hard for most people to decipher and understand. The Association of Government Accountants (AGA) several years ago started aRead… Read more »
Chula Vista California is a city with 243,000 residents located seven miles from San Diego. The City Council of Chula Vista has adopted a new strategic approach for making decisions. The goal of the strategy is to link every action in the city to a goal laid out in a strategic plan. The City’s ContinuousRead… Read more »