Over the course of 10 years, Seattle has studied the possibility of creating a municipal-run broadband network seven times, most recently this year. Although it was determined in June that the cost would be lower than expected (somewhere in the range of $463 million to $630 million), city officials again rejected the idea, citing barriersRead… Read more »
I work in local government. Apparently, this makes me: lazy unsuitable for to work in the private sector ever again guaranteed not to be accepted onto temping agency books looked down upon by private sector colleagues in the same job roles behind the times incapable of maintaining my own self development incapable of keeping upRead… Read more »
Maybe those are the best kind? I am struggling to find the space to fit the words in. Or rather, the space to let the words out into. So we shall have a go here and see what comes. Local government is a strange place, I’ve decided. Nothing happens at all for months. Or atRead… Read more »
Change Management is a planned approach to transitioning the people of an organization through a business transformation. A unique problem with the implementation of a new system, program or strategy, is the natural resistance of certain individuals to change of any kind. Frequently, this resistance results from personnel not understanding the issues involved. It isRead… Read more »
Dear Santa, I’ve been pretty good this year. I completed a year of public service through AmeriCorps, I started Graduate School at Syracuse University’s Maxwell School, and I moved out of my parents house. So, this year I am not asking for much, just that the City of Syracuse become a beta city. “Beta City”Read… Read more »
Last week, I served on a panel at the National League of Cities Congress in Denver, Colorado. Fellow panelists included Harvard’s John O’Leary, The Performance Institute’s Alan Shark, Muni Gov 2.0 co-founder Pam Broviak and Social Media for Responders founder Mark Basnight. Each of us offered our insights about the state of social media inRead… Read more »
Another day at the National League of Cities Congress and Exposition, another opportunity for insight. Right now, I’m in a workshop being led by Patrick Ibarra entitled “How To Inject Innovation into Local Government.” Ibarra is the Co-Founder and Partner of The Mejorando Group based in Glendale, Arizona. Here are some of my notes fromRead… Read more »
In two previous blog posts, I highlighted remarks from Harvard’s John O’Leary and PTI’s Alan Shark and a keynote by Obama campaign guru Andrew Bleeker. Below is my slide deck, which tells the story of James Hammond from the City of East Point, Georgia, who was seeking advice from GovLoop’ers as he launched social mediaRead… Read more »
(This article was prepared for the Oklahoma Academy’s 2010 Town Hall on municipal government. If, like me, your ADD struggles with the line spacing below, download the PDF here: The Case for Youth Engagement.pdf) The Case for Youth EngagementThe issue of youth engagement often falls on the back burner for most municipal governments — anRead… Read more »
An internal blog post at my work has had me thinking quite a bit. A senior leader – who I have a great deal of respect for – has challenged my notions of government work by stepping right out of government examples altogether to identify an organization he thinks does it very, very right. Disney.Read… Read more »