Local Government

Community Power vs. the Kochs

Aaron Bartley | Posted 05.07.2012

Read More: Wind Power, Renewable Energy, Geothermal Energy, Community Organizing, Koch Brothers, Solar Power, Exxon Mobil, Alternative Energy, Local Alternative Energy, Local Energy Projects, Green Energy, Local Government, Green News

While the oil and gas lobby dominates at the federal level, communities across the United States are making great strides in gaining control of energy production by advancing an impressive range of renewable projects.

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Saving Our Communities and the Nation Starts from the Ground Up

Sam Adams | Posted 04.30.2012

Read More: Education, The Portland Plan, Portland, City Government, Local Government, Mayors, Politics News

I help lead one of America's cities -- Portland, Oregon. It is known for being a well-planned city. It's not. At least, not as well as we want it to be. And not as well planned as every American city must be.

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Participatory Budgeting Lets Citizens Experiment With Economic Democracy

Michelle Chen | Posted 04.16.2012

Read More: Civic Participation, Participatory Democracy, Brazil, Urban Planning, Budget, State and Local Government, Community, Community Organizing, Local Government, New York, New York City, Fiscal Policy, Porto Alegre, Politics News

Who'd have thought that voting to add trash cans on the street or renovate public housing could be a democratic milestone?

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Why Are We Letting Local Governments Go Broke?

Steven Cohen | Posted 04.21.2012

Read More: Government Budget Cuts, Great Recession, Local Government, State and Local Government, Birmingham, Jefferson County, Budget Cuts, Municipal Bankruptcy, Government Funding, Government Employees, Politics News

We've experienced a three-decade long attack on government. While this may have had the effect of constraining unchecked power, it has also started to destroy critical government capacities. This has been especially true at the local level.

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Bankrupt Jefferson County Relies On 'Volunteer' Staffers For Election

HuffingtonPost.com | Janell Ross | Posted 02.16.2012

Read More: County Finance, Consultants, Jefferson County, Municipal Bankruptcy, Elections 2012, Political Corruption, Budget Deficit, Local Government, Business News

In bankrupt Jefferson County, Ala., the financial situation has grown so grim that the county does not have the money to hire enough elections divisio...

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Just 6 Percent of College Students Want To Work In Government: Poll

The Huffington Post | Alexander Eichler | Posted 02.07.2012

Read More: College Students, Government Workers, State Government, Deficit, U.S. Economy, Video, Unemployment, Federal Budget Deficit, Federal Government, Employment, Jobs, Hiring, Government Jobs, Local Government, College Graduates, Business News

The public sector, the part of the economy experiencing cuts at every level, may soon be facing a staffing crisis of sorts. Just 6 percent of stud...

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Let's Talk: Democracy Depends on Civility

Jennifer Gennari | Posted 04.02.2012

Read More: Town Hall Debate, State and Local Government, Town Halls, Town Hall Meetings, Global Warming, Local Government, San Francisco Government, City Planning, Bay Area, Protesters, San Francisco News

These days, self-government is under assault. Unfortunately, a minority faction is overtaking town halls around the nation and suppressing any discussion at all. In the Bay Area the problem is particularly acute.

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More Than Fans, Followers and Likes: Measuring Social Media in Local Government

Steve Ressler | Posted 03.31.2012

Read More: Local Government, State and Local Government, Local Government Engagement, Local Government Media, Government Social Media, Social Media Engagement, Local Government Social Media, DC News

The goals of agencies will inevitably vary based on their size, location, and purpose. However, they all share the same question: How do we measure social media success if we are looking to track quality, as opposed to quantity, of interaction?

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The Heartbeat of Bogotá: Engaging the Population of a City to Reinvent Itself for the Digital Age

Don Tapscott | Posted 03.24.2012

Read More: Open Network Government, Government Crowdsourcing, Crowdsourcing-Technology, Open Government, Crowdsourcing, Small Government Technology, Crowdsource, Government Technology, Crowd Sourcing, Local Government, World News

Around the world our cities are in desperate need of rejuvenation and transformation. Elected officials are scrambling to equip their cities for the 21st century, talking about creating "open," "networked," and "smart" cities.

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Country in Crisis: Looking to America's Mayors to Rise to the Challenge

Arianna Huffington | Posted 03.18.2012

Read More: Sam Adams, Social Media, Social Innovation, Antonio Villaraigosa, Rahm Emanuel, Bob Buckhorn, Michael Bloomberg, Innovation, U.S. Conference of Mayors, Corey Booker, Mayors, Vincent Gray, Local Governments, Code for America, State and Local Government, Local Government, Politics News

I believe the solutions the country is so desperately looking for are going to come at the local level -- from our mayors and engaged citizens working with their communities. It's our cities, not the nation's capital, that are the real idea factory of our country.

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Government Accounted For Nearly A Third Of All Layoffs In 2011: Report

The Huffington Post | Alexander Eichler | Posted 01.05.2012

For government workers and financial sector employees, last year was a particularly bad one -- and 2012 likely won't be much better. More jobs were...

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Both Public And Private Sector Wages Barely Grew Over Twelve Months

The Huffington Post | Alexander Eichler | Posted 01.23.2012

Whether you work for the government or the private sector, it's likely your salary didn't go up much in 2011, but federal workers saw their wages grow...

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Public Sector Losing Jobs At Same Rate Private Sector Adding Them

The Huffington Post | Alexander Eichler | Posted 01.03.2012

Read More: Public Sector Jobs, Layoffs, State Government, U.S. Economy, Federal Layoffs, Unemployment, Super Committee, Unemployment Rate, Private Sector, Federal Jobs, Public Sector, Local Government, Private Sector Jobs, Video, Business News

When it comes to an economy trying to right itself, if it's not one thing, it's another. Even as the economy seems to be moving -- slowly -- in the...

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Future Of Ohio Collective Bargaining Law Discussed

HuffingtonPost.com | John Celock | Posted 12.31.2011

Read More: Public Employees, Collective Bargaining, Issue 2, Ohio Collective Bargaining Bill, Harriet Applegate, Local Government, Ohio Issue 2, Ohio SB 5, Video, Merit Pay, State and Local Government, Sb 5, John Kasich, John Green, Unions, Herb Asher, Politics News

A defeat of Ohio's controversial new collective bargaining law in the Nov. 8 referendum may not be the final death blow to parts of the bill. Polit...

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Tell Your City Leaders: Join Call for Action on Climate Crisis

Kassie Siegel | Posted 11.23.2011

Read More: Epa, Polar Bears, Polar Bear, Green Cities, Climate, Global Warming, Clean Air Act, Smog, Carbon Emissions, Climate Change, Local Government, Green News

We've got to get national leaders off the dime. Here's one way: When city leaders speak out, especially in large numbers, Washington tends to listen.

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Americans Guess Over Half Of Federal Tax Dollars Are Wasted: Gallup

The Huffington Post | Harry Bradford | Posted 11.20.2011

Read More: State Government, Deficit Reduction Plan, President Barack Obama, Tax Cuts, Democrats, Federal Spending, Tax Hikes, Gallup, Local Government, Republicans, Video, Business News

Never in recorded history have Americans been more distrustful of how the U.S. government spends its money. According to a new Gallup poll, Americ...

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Outsourcing Done Right for Local Government

Luis Andre Gazitua | Posted 10.26.2011

Read More: Outsourcing, Miami, Local Government, Latino Voices News

If done right, outsourcing provides the best of both worlds: a robust portfolio of services offered to the taxpayer at a price they can tolerate and, more importantly, afford.

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S&P Threatens To Downgrade State And Local Governments

The Huffington Post | Harry Bradford | Posted 10.19.2011

Read More: State Government, Federal Bureau of Investigation, New Jersey, State and Local Government, Super-Downgrade, Fbi, Credit Rating Agencies, Standard & Poor's, Nevada, Wsj, S&P, U.S. Budget Control Act of 2011, AAA Rating, U.S. Credit Downgrade, Local Government, Business News

Standard and Poor's decision to downgrade the United States' sovereign credit rating has already sent shock waves through the stock market and worsene...

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Want Cable/Broadband Competition? Build Community Networks

Christopher Mitchell | Posted 09.14.2011

Read More: Competition, Community Network, Time Warner Cable, Video, Broadband, Telephone Companies, Broadband Infrastructure, Lobbyists, AT&T, Monopoly, Cable Tv, Local Government, North Carolina, Infographic, Technology News

The federal government has done little to protect citizens from the telecommunications industry's natural tendency toward consolidation and monopoly.

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The Bin Laden Effect: In Praise of Our Government

Peter Block | Posted 07.04.2011

Read More: Civil Service, Government Workers, Community Competence, Community Building, Abundant Community, Government Leadership, Public Servants, Public Officials, Neighborhood, Local Government, Elected Officials, Osama Bin Laden, Politics News

By Peter Block The death of Osama bin Laden completes a painful chapter in our history. The reaction of many is celebration. Some will use this occas...

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Reorganizing Beyond the Beltway

Dan Carol | Posted 07.04.2011

Read More: Government, Growth Zones Initiative, Jobs, US Government, Startup America, Federal Government, Local Government, Workforce Reinvestment Act, Politics News

While it's good that we are focused on streamlining how big federal agencies can more effectively deliver outcomes, let's not forget that the biggest bang for the buck may come from moving the buck from D.C. to community-led growth.

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City Planning: How Cities Can Save Local Manufacturing Businesses

Larry MacDonald | Posted 06.06.2011

Read More: Smb, Internet Business, Taxes, Search Engine Marketing, Economic Development, Online Business, Sba, Innovation, American-Manufacturing, Seo, Local Government, Small Business Lending, City Planning, Manufacturing Jobs, Competition, Shopping Carts, Marketing, Local News, Business News

All across America, small to medium manufacturing businesses are shutting down, resulting in lost jobs and lost revenues for cities. Everyone loses. ...

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Showing Some Love for Local Government

Laura Sturza | Posted 05.31.2011

Read More: Los Angeles Government, Ladot, Budget Cuts, Journalism, Local Government, City Services, Public Workers, Burbank Leader, Los Angeles News

I'm grateful to local editors and journalists who do a stellar job of busting local government's bad guys. But what about including the occasional piece on some of the city's bureaucratic heroes?

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State, Local Governments Cut Jobs At Accelerated Pace In February

Wall Street Journal | SARA MURRAY | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: State Government, Jobs Crisis, Unemployment, Economy, State and Local Government, Jobs, Jobless, Local Government, Business News

State and local governments, aiming to reduce their budget deficits, cut jobs at an accelerating pace in February....

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Weekly Mulch: How to Avoid Fracking and Oil Spills in 2011

The Media Consortium | Posted 05.25.2011

Read More: New Years Eve, Steph Larsen, Truth-Out, Mother Jones, Climate Change, Environment, Green, New Years, Sustainability, change.org, One World, YES! Magazine, Resolutions, Grist, Winslow Myers, Local Government, Green News

Editor's Note: We're posting the Weekly Mulch on Thursday this week because of the holidays. It'll return to its regular Friday morning posting next w...

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