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MRSC Insight Blog


Posts for Governance

How Can Local Governments Celebrate the Holidays?

November 10, 2025  by  MRSC Insight
Category:  Governance ,  Gift of Public Funds ,  Special Events

Celebrating the winter holidays can be fun, but local governments, their staff, and elected officials should think carefully before pulling out decorations, planning parties, or accepting gifts. 

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Speaking Versus Regulating — The Government Speech Doctrine

May 31, 2022  by  Oskar Rey
Category:  Governance ,  Court Decisions and AGO Opinions

Government speech is analyzed differently by the courts than government regulation of the speech of others. This blog looks at government speech case law, including the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision in Shurtleff v. City of Boston.

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Let's Talk Winter

December 13, 2018  by  Jill Dvorkin
Category:  Governance ,  Snow and Ice Removal ,  Ethics and Conflicts of Interest

In this blog post, Legal Consultant Jill Dvorkin compiles existing MRSC resources to address some of the challenging issues jurisdictions routinely face during the winter months. 

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An Inquiry Response Sampler

October 25, 2018  by  Paul Sullivan
Category:  Governance

This blog post is a grab bag of questions posed to MRSC's consultants through our Ask MRSC service. Covering broad but common local government concerns, the questions (and answers) should interest all our readers.

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Sanctuary Cities and Counties

February 16, 2017  by  Robert Sepler
Category:  Governance

Sanctuary cities and counties have recently taken center stage in the national debate on immigration. While MRSC does not take a position on this issue, this post will explore what "sanctuary" jurisdictions are.

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Are You Communicating Your Goals?

February 10, 2017  by  Bob Jean
Category:  Governance ,  Guest Author

Are you communicating your goals effectively? How do you cut through all the noise and clutter to reach the people you need to reach? This post gives you a Road Map to help. 

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