South Dakota gov announces transparency initiative, regulatory review

South Dakota Governor Dennis Daugaard is looking to make government more transparent. At an event in Sioux Falls, South Dakota yesterday, the Governor announced his “Better Government Initiative,” which aims to provide more information to the public about the activities of the state government and also seeks to eliminate what the governor calls unnecessary rulesRead… Read more »

Web-Enabled Coordination

How can organizations reach beyond their traditional smokestacks and silos? Coordination mechanisms have existed for years, notes Naval Postgraduate School author Nancy Roberts, but they haven’t been used. But the availability of new web-based tools and the pressures from cost cuts, the war on terror, and emergency management may have created a new environment forRead… Read more »

Daily Dose: Do You Feel Safe At Work?

Even though it’s been ten years since the 9/11 terrorist attacks, federal employees still feel weary when they go to work. The DC Earthquake was a prime example, as many worried that it was not an earthquake, but indeed another attack on a nearby building. This fear, however, has not kept federal employees out ofRead… Read more »

CEIL’s Top Ten Twitter List: Water

Welcome back to another CEIL Top Ten Twitter List! We’ve rounded up ten of our favorite Twitter feeds that focus on water — drinking water, waste water, storm water, flooding, energy from water…you name it, they tweet about it! @SFWater – San Francisco Public Utilities Commission – Your awesome water, wastewater and municipal power agency!Read… Read more »

Local Gov Interview: Andy Maxwell, Director of Planning & Sustainability in Syracuse, NY

I love learning about different roles in local government. I was lucky enough to interview Andy Maxwell, the Director of Planning & Sustainability in the City of Syracuse, New York. This interview was especially interesting to me since I spent the past year completing my MPA program at Syracuse. It was fun to hear someRead… Read more »

MANAGING ATTENDANCE: What Every Supervisor Should Know

Contrary to popular belief, Federal employees having Career Tenure are not made of Teflon®; they are subject to the same disciplinary measures as their private sector counterparts. Career Tenure was originally adopted solely for the purpose of restricting the power of the President of the United States to remove certain office-holders without the approval ofRead… Read more »

Four Lessons Learned From Implementing Forest Service’s Lauded eMNEPA Program

USFS Program Selected by Presidents Council on Environmental Quality as a Pilot Program to Help Modernize and Reinvigorate NEPA The President’s Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) announced August 31st that the Electronic Management of NEPA (eMNEPA) program at the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) has been selected for the NEPA (National Environmental Policy Act) Pilot Program,Read… Read more »

Good morning, here are Tuesday’s political law links

CA CAMPAIGN FINANCE SCANDAL. Politico. “Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) said she was ‘wiped out’ by Kinde Durkee, a well-connected California Democratic political operative who served as treasurer for hundreds of state, local and federal campaign committees.” BOTTOM OF THE 9TH. Roll Call. “One way or the other, the spin will start in a New YorkRead… Read more »