Collaborating for Technology (December 22)
By going in on IT together, rural places can get business basics for less. More from Governing.

Building Public Support for Affordable Housing (December 22)
A report produced by the Institute of Local Government, Building Public Support for Affordable Housing: A Toolbox for California Officials, outlines strategies that local officials can adopt to help overcome NIMBYism and to promote affordable housing development.

Andres Duany on Smart Growth (December 22)
A founding father of the Congress for New Urbanism talks about zoning reform, climate change, and the fate of greenfield development. More from Builder Magazine.

Unhealthy Economy, Sick People (December 22)
The recession may have a lasting and negative impact on the nation's health. More from Governing.

The Crisis in State and Local Government Retiree Health Benefit Plans (December 22)
The Center for State and Local Government Excellence has updated its first issue brief on retiree health benefits, The Crisis in State and Local Government Retiree Health Benefit Plans: Myths and Realities.

Leading the Way in Smoking Cessation (December 22)
When Massachusetts began offering antismoking treatments through its public health plan, no one believed it would reap such big benefits so soon. More from Governing's Idea Center.

San José Taps Citizens to Improve Neighborhoods (December 22)
Through a new mobile application launched this weekend, the City of San José now has thousands of eyes (and iPhones) watching the city’s streets for graffiti, abandoned vehicles, potholes and other maintenance issues. More from CivSource.

Gifts that Give Back to the State (December 22)
Washington State is looking to narrow its budget gap and one way the state is trying to do so can be seen at malls this holiday season. More from Governing's Idea Center.

Public Library and Police Partner to Meet Public Safety Needs (December 16)
A new partnership between the Pendleton, Oregon Public Library and the Pendleton police force is providing numerous benefits for the city and its residents. More from ICMA.

Washington's New Stinginess (December 16)
There's no more cash for state and local governments in the latest round of federal spending to prop up the economy. More from Governing.

Attracting and Retaining Talent (December 16)
A recent report from the International Regions Benchmarking Consortium, A Tale of Ten Cities: Attracting and Retaining Talent, explores whether actions can be undertaken at the local level to enhance the attractiveness of highly skilled and talented people to metropolitan areas for career and lifestyle enhancing purposes.

Mini-Medicare Proposal Could Solve Municipal Retiree Benefits Problems (December 16)
A proposal in Congress to allow police, fire and teachers to use Medicare at 55 could cut localities' costs for retiree benefits. More from Governing.

Guidelines for Digital Archiving of Web sites and E-mails (December 16)
Starting January 1st all Washington local governments are required to comply with WAC 434-662-140 & -150, dealing with web site and e-mail archiving. The State Archivist has recently provided guidelines to assist with the archiving process.

Public Records Seminar (December 16)
The newly-formed Washington Association of Public Records Officers is sponsoring an all-day seminar on Public Records 101 at the McGavick Center in Lakewood on Tuesday, January 26, 2010. All public employees who assist with Public Records Act compliance and want more knowledge about the Public Records Act should attend. For more information, see the seminar announcement.

Postal Mail, Post-Internet (December 16)
Hoping to save money and paper, governments are giving a new service that replaces postal mail a try. Will it catch on? More from Governing.

Transit Agencies Need to Invest in Marketing: A Lesson from Los Angeles (December 16)
Los Angeles’ Metro is doing something that no transit agency in the country has ever done: it’s marketing its products and services as if it were a private company bent on turning a profit. More from The City Fix.

Employer-Paid Humbug! (December 16)
Public employers can no longer afford to pay employees' share of pension costs. More from Governing.

Retirement at the Tipping Point (December 16)
A recent report by Age Wave, Retirement at the Tipping Point - The Year that Changed Everything, explores how four generations are rethinking retirement in light of the current economic crisis.

Reforming Support Services: The Hidden Keys (December 09)
The first in a series of key lessons on reforming internal support services. More from Governing.

Planning Near Pipelines Web Page (December 09)
MRSC has posted a new webpage on "Planning Near Pipelines" as part of a federally funded project for sharing information on pipeline safety issues. The federal grant will cover the costs for having an MRSC legal consultant or a member of the Pipeline Safety Trust staff come to your jurisdiction to discuss planning options. Contact Jim Doherty at MRSC or the Pipeline Safety Trust for more information.

Frugality is the New Normal (December 09)
Recession cuts may be permanent, city and county managers say. More from American City & County.

Government and the Stress Mess (December 09)
Layoffs and furloughs are taking a toll on those who are still on the job. More from Governing.

Partnering with Universities to Attract Young People to Public Service (December 09)
The good news is that university students share many of the same public service values as the baby boomers who joined local government in great numbers in the 1960s and ’70s. More from ICMA.

The Return of the Two-Way Street (December 09)
Why the double-yellow stripe is making a comeback in downtowns. More from Governing.

Municipal League Releases Report on Land-Use Regulation (December 09)
A new report from the Municipal League of King County, "Rights, Wrongs and Reforms: Selected Issues on Land-Use Regulation within King County, is the result of a two-year study originating from a review of the 2006 Property Rights Initiative, I-933.

Public Records Act Publication Revised (December 09)
We have completed significant revisions to our Public Records Act publication. It can be accessed online, and it will now be regularly updated online. Information regarding disclosure and preservation of electronic records has been added, as well as citations to recent cases and research sources.

Driving Change: Go Big or Go Home (December 09)
Forget incremental improvement, create a team focused solely on change. More from Governing.

Are Charters Changing in Large Cities? (December 09)
With the results of the charter change referendum in Pueblo, Colorado, in November 2009, now is a good time to update what is happening in efforts to change form of government in large cities. More from ICMA.

Gender Bias Policies Required by January 1st (December 02)
Every city, town and county that operates athletic programs, or allows others to use their public facilities for athletic programs, is required by new legislation to adopt policies prohibiting gender discrimination by January 1st. We now have a webpage with details and sample policies.

D-Day for Municipal Broadband Services (December 02)
The battle between municipal operations and state bans barring them from offering broadband service hits the supreme court, as an unprecedented number of supporters create a new unified front in the fight to enter the market. More from Broadband Reports.

Web Sightings - Transportation Concurrency (December 01)
This month we’ve selected Web sites addressing transportation concurrency. “Concurrency,” or the provision of adequate public facilities and services to serve development, is one of the goals of the state Growth Management Act (GMA). The GMA requires that transportation improvements or strategies to accommodate development impacts be made at the time new development occurs (or within a specified time period).

As a starting point, see MRSC’s Web page on Concurrency Provisions

State Guidance and Regional Resources

• Concurrency and GMA - Washington State Department of Commerce
• Concurrency and the State-Owned Transportation System - Washington State Department of Transportation
• Concurrency Resources - Puget Sound Regional Council (Includes links to regional reports on the effectiveness of concurrency)

Local Concurrency Programs

• Bellingham Multimodal Transportation Concurrency and Transportation Reports on Annual Concurrency (TRAC) – Innovative multimodal transportation concurrency program; winner of 2009 APA/PWA transportation planning award
• King County Transportation Concurrency - Includes explanation of county program, FAQs, and application form
• Redmond Transportation Concurrency - Multimodal Plan-Based Transportation Concurrency System; includes link to report on transportation concurrency
• Snohomish County Traffic Mitigation and Concurrency Ordinance - Includes links to concurrency reports and interlocal agreements regarding reciprocal traffic mitigation
• Vancouver - Introduction to Concurrency - See Concurrency Table of Contents for FAQs, maps, and documents
• Whatcom County Transportation Concurrency and Transportation Impact Fees
• Yakima Traffic Concurrency

Workers’ Compensation Insurance Premiums Increasing by 7.6 Percent (December 01)
The Department of Labor & Industries (L&I) recently announced a 7.6 percent average increase in workers’ compensation insurance premiums for 2010. More from L&I.

The Crisis in State and Local Government Retiree Health Benefit Plans (December 01)
The Center for State and Local Government Excellence has updated its issue brief, The Crisis in State and Local Government Retiree Health Benefit Plans: Myths and Realities, with 2009 data. More from the Center for State and Local Government Excellence.

Make the Most of Your Energy Efficiency Stimulus Funding (December 01)
Do you need help in planning, implementing, and monitoring your energy efficiency initiatives funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009? More from ICMA.