Broken windows, caved-in roofs, and abandoned buildings have a negative effect on the way residents think and feel about their city. These — and other symptoms of blight — are more than just eyesores. Blight becomes everyone’s problem when it leads to increased crime and lower property values throughout neighborhoods. In New Orleans, blight hasRead… Read more »
Former Buffalo Councilmember Brian Davis was recently sentenced to one year in prison for stealing taxpayer dollars that he controlled through discretionary funding that is provided to all Councilmembers. The Buffalo City Charter states one of the responsibilities of the City Comptroller as: “The comptroller shall engage an independent consultant to conduct an audit ofRead… Read more »
The Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority located in Buffalo, NY has developed a bus shelter with a living roof. The shelter roof contains short, hardy succulent plants called sedum in shades of green, yellow, blue-green, brick red and burgundy. In addition to the plants, the roof also contains a solar panel, that illuminates an ad onRead… Read more »
Have you ever seen a civic app and thought to yourself, “I want that app in my city!” I have. Snow covering fire hydrants isn’t an issue in Norfolk, Va. but storm water drains get clogged all the time and that’s a problem. As we debate and consider light rail in Virginia Beach I haveRead… Read more »
I’ve blogged previously on the subject of the future of local government but some posts were very scattered and half-baked, like most of the posts I write however I have written two previous posts which I’d like to associate this one with: Part 1 – Future of Local Government Part 2 – Future of LocalRead… Read more »
This month, our elections team in Monmouthshire Council asked me along to Chepstow Comprehensive to talk to students about how people can get involved in community life using social media. This is a post about what this group of young people told me about how they use social media. A day of democracy in theRead… Read more »
Citizen engagement is one of the most popular topics today in municipal government. There’s not a city out there that isn’t trying to figure out a way to get their citizens more involved and it’s understandable why. A new study came out that showed cities and states that have higher levels of citizen engagement, actuallyRead… Read more »
Regionalization or municipal collaboration continues to be a big topic in local government. It can be an especially useful pursuit in “home rule” states like Massachusetts with generally weak or no regional governments, and reliance on each city and town to provide residents with all local governmental services. As we know, local government budgets haveRead… Read more »
Local authorities in the UK spend up to £67.85m every year publishing public notices in local newspapers.The individual cost of publishing a notice can reach over £20 per column cm in some publications, upwards of three times the cost for other adverts. This is resulting in a weighty burden on councils. Local authorities are cryingRead… Read more »
In Los Angeles city officials want to spend $10 million dollars to do a three year survey of sidewalks to determine which need repair. Citizen Peter Griswold wants to save that money by creating Volunteers for Sidewalk Brigades to complete the sidewalk survey. As reported in a Los Angeles Timesarticle Griswold sates “There are soRead… Read more »