March 2014

New and Noteworthy Washington Local Government Website Features

March 21, 2014 by Byron Katsuyama
Category: Information Technology

I have been a long-time observer of how local governments are using their websites to enhance the delivery of local government services and their interactions with citizens. It has been fascinating to see how local...

Can Local Governments Pass on Credit Card Fees to Customers?

March 19, 2014 by Bob Meinig
Category: Accounting

As a result of a 2013 settlement agreement in a federal district court anti-trust case in New York State, yes, they can. However, that settlement was reversed and remanded in 2016 and is pending further litigation.

Made in Washington: Encouraging Local Industries

March 10, 2014 by Carol Tobin
Category: Strategies and Programs

Contrary to popular opinion, the U.S. is still the top manufacturing nation in the world. And there is renewed interest here in local industries, driven by the rising...

Chameleon Contractors

March 5, 2014 by John W. Carpita, PE
Category: Administration

I recently received a research request involving a contractor who was operating under several names, which in itself is not a bad thing, but in this instance at least one of those "aliases" was an obvious attempt to cover up a bad reputation as another company. MRSC and the agency's attorney had discussions about how to develop supplemental bidder responsibility criteria to address this issue. ...

Leadership: An Inherent or an Acquired Skill?

February 28, 2014 by Stan Finkelstein
Category: Leadership , Guest Author

In the November 2013 issue of the Council/Commission Advisor, I acknowledged that the citizenry expects its elected officials to possess strong and effective leadership skills. I further described what I believe is leadership; its characteristics and the attributes of successful leaders. What I did not delve into is the age old issue...

Google Earth - A City Planner's Best Friend

February 28, 2014 by Bob Bengford
Category: Tools for Planners , Guest Author

In this article, the author shares examples of how he has used Google Earth and Bing Maps in planning projects.