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MRSC Insight Blog


Posts for May 2012

Are We Conserving Too Much Water?

May 29, 2012  by  John W. Carpita, PE
Category:  Water Resources

The politically and ecologically correct answer is "no."  Potable water is a relatively finite resource and we – both individuals and communities – should always seek to identify wasteful water usage and reduce it.  However . . .
Many water utilities across Washington State (and the rest of the country as well) have had to raise rates and revise their rate structures to recover fixed costs...

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Roles of the Mayor/Manager and the City or Town Council 101: Hiring

May 24, 2012  by  Paul Sullivan
Category:  Recruitment and Hiring

A city  or town government does not run on its own; it requires employees to perform the work the public expects and depends on.  How and by whom are its employees hired?  While the easy answer is that it’s the city or town’s chief executive officer - either the mayor or the city or town manager - who makes the hiring decision, in reality, the answer is more complicated than that. ...

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Top Five Video Ideas for Local Government

May 21, 2012  by  Tracy Burrows
Category:  Information Technology ,  Public Participation

The digital futurists predict that within three years 80 percent or more of internet content will be via video.  Why is that important to local government?  Citizens are already accessing most of their information about local government via the internet, and there will be a growing expectation that the information presented on your website will be via video.  The flexibility of the internet as a...

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LED Streetlighting - Shedding Light on the Subject

May 8, 2012  by  Lynn Nordby
Category:  Energy Resources and Conservation

At a recent meeting of city managers from King County and Snohomish County, representatives from Seattle City Light and the city of Shoreline presented information about the move to convert street lighting...

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Caterpillar, Inc. chose Spokane for the location of its new distribution center.

Economic Development - Illegal in Washington State?

May 4, 2012  by  Tracy Burrows
Category:  Strategies and Programs

Recently, I was meeting with a new city official who had just moved to Washington from Florida. He’d had a successful track record in attracting major businesses...

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