Governance & Finance: Page 10


  • A detailed landscape design plan showing topographic contour lines, orange building illustrations, green trees, and directional arrows. The layout includes winding paths and clustered vegetation. A triangular scale ruler lies on the left, and three colored pencils, colored blue, green, and yellow, rest on the lower right corner of the page.
    Image attribution tooltip
    Toa55 via Getty Images
    Image attribution tooltip
    Column

    Small budget, strong security: Why Zero Trust is key to protecting critical infrastructure

    Traditional security measures, reliant on perimeter defense, are no longer sufficient. Agencies must stop solely focusing on perimeter defenses and flip the paradigm with an inside-out strategy. This strategy mirrors how threats operate, enabling faster detection and neutralization before escalation, and ultimately building the resilience needed for modern defenses. This approach is at the heart of Zero Trust.

    By Gary Barlet • Nov. 15, 2024
  • New York congestion pricing to start Jan. 5

    Gov. Kathy Hochul announced plans to begin the controversial program with reduced fees, but President-elect Donald Trump, House Republicans and some New Jersey Democrats remain opposed to the plan.

    By Updated Nov. 19, 2024
  • A detailed landscape design plan showing topographic contour lines, orange building illustrations, green trees, and directional arrows. The layout includes winding paths and clustered vegetation. A triangular scale ruler lies on the left, and three colored pencils, colored blue, green, and yellow, rest on the lower right corner of the page.
    Image attribution tooltip
    Toa55 via Getty Images
    Image attribution tooltip
    Column

    Are combination inspectors a good choice for municipalities?

    The inspection process can be streamlined by using multi-disciplined inspectors, allowing for a more efficient use of human resources, reducing the need for a large staff of specialized inspectors.

    By David Adcock • Nov. 13, 2024
  • Cars, buses and trucks bumper to bumper on a city street.
    Image attribution tooltip
    Spencer Platt via Getty Images
    Image attribution tooltip

    NY Gov. Hochul pressured to reinstate congestion pricing before Trump takes office

    President-elect Donald Trump opposes New York's plan to toll drivers entering Manhattan's central business district. Advocates want the plan implemented now.

    By Nov. 13, 2024
  • A detailed landscape design plan showing topographic contour lines, orange building illustrations, green trees, and directional arrows. The layout includes winding paths and clustered vegetation. A triangular scale ruler lies on the left, and three colored pencils, colored blue, green, and yellow, rest on the lower right corner of the page.
    Image attribution tooltip
    Toa55 via Getty Images
    Image attribution tooltip

    When they search for new staffers, cities and counties should cast a wide net and recruit globally

    If local governments need to hire qualified workers to replace those leaving, where can they turn to when recruiting? Two experts weigh in.

    By Michael Keating • Nov. 11, 2024
  • Gavin Newsom
    Image attribution tooltip
    Chip Somodevilla via Getty Images
    Image attribution tooltip

    Trump agenda has states, advocacy groups girding for legal battles

    California, New York and Illinois are among states readying to sue the Trump administration over divisive issues such as reproductive rights, climate regulation and immigration.

    By Justin Bachman • Nov. 11, 2024
  • A detailed landscape design plan showing topographic contour lines, orange building illustrations, green trees, and directional arrows. The layout includes winding paths and clustered vegetation. A triangular scale ruler lies on the left, and three colored pencils, colored blue, green, and yellow, rest on the lower right corner of the page.
    Image attribution tooltip
    Toa55 via Getty Images
    Image attribution tooltip

    Ransomware presents a growing threat to vulnerable local governments

    In the past, cities and counties were not a prime target for ransomware attacks, says Rahul Mahna, a partner who leads the Outsourced IT Services team at Eisner Advisory Group LLC.

    By Michael Keating • Nov. 6, 2024
  • President-elect Donald Trump giving the thumbs-up against a background of U.S. flags.
    Image attribution tooltip
    Chip Somodevilla via Getty Images
    Image attribution tooltip

    How will a second Trump administration affect transportation policy?

    Federal support for public transportation, Amtrak, high-speed rail and electric vehicles may be at risk, experts said.

    By Nov. 6, 2024
  • Construction continues on a mixed-use apartment complex
    Image attribution tooltip
    Mario Tama/Getty Images via Getty Images
    Image attribution tooltip

    National Housing Crisis Task Force unveils agenda for next president, Congress

    The federal government must “fundamentally restructure” its organization to address the housing crisis, according to recommendations from 28 public, civic and corporate leaders. 

    By Ysabelle Kempe • Nov. 5, 2024
  • A detailed landscape design plan showing topographic contour lines, orange building illustrations, green trees, and directional arrows. The layout includes winding paths and clustered vegetation. A triangular scale ruler lies on the left, and three colored pencils, colored blue, green, and yellow, rest on the lower right corner of the page.
    Image attribution tooltip
    Toa55 via Getty Images
    Image attribution tooltip

    Local governments are less impacted by polarization, survey finds

    Political polarization is having a substantially negative impact on the nation, according to 87% of local government leaders recently surveyed by CivicPulse and Carnegie Corporation of New York.

    By Nov. 4, 2024
  • A man wearing a hardhat and safety vest climbs down the stairs to a subway station.
    Image attribution tooltip
    Spencer Platt via Getty Images
    Image attribution tooltip

    Transit agencies must improve rail worker safety under new FTA rule

    The Federal Transit Administration seeks to reduce the number of workers killed and injured while working on or around tracks.

    By Nov. 4, 2024
  • A detailed landscape design plan showing topographic contour lines, orange building illustrations, green trees, and directional arrows. The layout includes winding paths and clustered vegetation. A triangular scale ruler lies on the left, and three colored pencils, colored blue, green, and yellow, rest on the lower right corner of the page.
    Image attribution tooltip
    Toa55 via Getty Images
    Image attribution tooltip
    Column

    2024 elections meet social media – How local governments can stay ahead

    Social media is a critical aspect of the 2024 election in different ways from years prior. This is due to younger generation voters engaging on platforms like X, Instagram and TikTok, and with half of all U.S. adults saying they at least sometimes get news via social media, according to a 2023 Pew Research Center survey.

    By Eric Grant • Nov. 1, 2024
  • A detailed landscape design plan showing topographic contour lines, orange building illustrations, green trees, and directional arrows. The layout includes winding paths and clustered vegetation. A triangular scale ruler lies on the left, and three colored pencils, colored blue, green, and yellow, rest on the lower right corner of the page.
    Image attribution tooltip
    Toa55 via Getty Images
    Image attribution tooltip
    Opinion

    Traverse City’s broadband project is a cautionary tale for other communities

    As a former telecommunications executive who created business plans for fiber networks, I’ve watched Traverse City, Mich.’s efforts to build a fiber municipal broadband network with both interest and concern.

    By Gerald DeGrazia • Oct. 29, 2024
  • A detailed landscape design plan showing topographic contour lines, orange building illustrations, green trees, and directional arrows. The layout includes winding paths and clustered vegetation. A triangular scale ruler lies on the left, and three colored pencils, colored blue, green, and yellow, rest on the lower right corner of the page.
    Image attribution tooltip
    Toa55 via Getty Images
    Image attribution tooltip

    As cyber threats evolve, cities and counties need to safeguard staffers’ mobile devices

    No question, more local governments are facing cyber threats in 2024, says Tim LeMaster, vice president, worldwide systems engineering at Lookout.

    By Michael Keating • Oct. 25, 2024
  • Large group of people in front of an eVTOL aircraft inside a building.
    Image attribution tooltip
    Courtesy of Archer Aviation
    Image attribution tooltip

    FAA sets air taxi pilot training, operations final rule

    Powered-lift aircraft like eVTOL, which operate like both helicopters and airplanes, are "the first new category of aircraft in nearly 80 years," the FAA administrator said in announcing the new rule.

    By Oct. 25, 2024
  • An aerial view of a Texas Oil Refinery
    Image attribution tooltip
    Brandon Bell via Getty Images
    Image attribution tooltip

    NYC comptroller proposes stopping pensions’ private market investments in fossil fuels

    The funds would be the first U.S. public pension plans to have exclusions on investing in fossil fuel infrastructure like pipelines and liquefied natural gas terminals.

    By Lamar Johnson • Oct. 25, 2024
  • People sitting at desks sorting mail-in ballots.
    Image attribution tooltip
    Justin Sullivan via Getty Images
    Image attribution tooltip

    How transit ballot measures fared in Nov. 5 elections

    Many local and state transportation improvements earned bipartisan support even when measures asked to increase taxes, an analyst said.

    By Updated Nov. 8, 2024
  • A smiling person at a podium speaking to an audience.
    Image attribution tooltip
    Dan Zukowski/Smart Cities Dive
    Image attribution tooltip

    Massachusetts investing in commuter rail to relieve traffic congestion

    “Our roads are at a standstill,” the state’s transportation secretary said at a conference last week, detailing how the state is making passenger rail a priority.

    By Oct. 22, 2024
  • A person in a suit stands at a podium with a microphone. Behind him are flags and three people wearing face masks.
    Image attribution tooltip
    Alex Wong via Getty Images
    Image attribution tooltip
    Opinion

    Communities could lose unspent ARPA funds in December if they don’t do this

    Governments generally must “obligate” the funds, which requires more than passing a budget or earmarking them for use.

    By Tom Kaleko and Lucas Peterson • Oct. 21, 2024
  • A detailed landscape design plan showing topographic contour lines, orange building illustrations, green trees, and directional arrows. The layout includes winding paths and clustered vegetation. A triangular scale ruler lies on the left, and three colored pencils, colored blue, green, and yellow, rest on the lower right corner of the page.
    Image attribution tooltip
    Toa55 via Getty Images
    Image attribution tooltip

    Nominations open for the 2024 American City & County Crown Communities and Exemplary Public Servants awards

    Nominations are now being accepted for the 2024 American City & County Crown Communities and Exemplary Public Servants awards.

    By Oct. 18, 2024
  • A person walks into a building with a sign out front that says "This is a no smoking area."
    Image attribution tooltip
    Spencer Platt via Getty Images
    Image attribution tooltip

    Platform compiles ‘proven solutions’ to urban challenges, from air pollution to homelessness

    Bloomberg Philanthropies' Cities Idea Exchange added programs and policies that it says have a track record of stoking stakeholder interest and attracting investment.

    By Ysabelle Kempe • Oct. 16, 2024
  • Several bicycles at a docking station on a street.
    Image attribution tooltip
    Dan Zukowski/Smart Cities Dive
    Image attribution tooltip

    9 bike-friendly laws signed by California governor

    Bicycle advocates cheered laws that spur bike and pedestrian infrastructure construction, but Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed two bills that advocates hoped would rein in driver speeding.

    By Oct. 14, 2024
  • A detailed landscape design plan showing topographic contour lines, orange building illustrations, green trees, and directional arrows. The layout includes winding paths and clustered vegetation. A triangular scale ruler lies on the left, and three colored pencils, colored blue, green, and yellow, rest on the lower right corner of the page.
    Image attribution tooltip
    Toa55 via Getty Images
    Image attribution tooltip
    Column

    Procurement purchasing card perils: Will you be the next headline?

    In January, Local 10 news in Miami reported that a former Miami-Dade School Board member used district-issued credit cards to rack up more than $100,000 in personal purchases that included everything from refrigerators to a trip to Disney World.

    By Shannon Castillo, MBA, CFE • Oct. 11, 2024
  • A blue hybrid-electric bus in New Haven, Connecticut.
    Image attribution tooltip
    Alexander Farnsworth via Getty Images
    Image attribution tooltip

    How the White House influences transportation grantmaking

    Priorities vary among administrations, an Urban Institute report found. “The president actually has substantial discretion over a lot of these programs,” one researcher said.

    By Oct. 9, 2024
  • A detailed landscape design plan showing topographic contour lines, orange building illustrations, green trees, and directional arrows. The layout includes winding paths and clustered vegetation. A triangular scale ruler lies on the left, and three colored pencils, colored blue, green, and yellow, rest on the lower right corner of the page.
    Image attribution tooltip
    Toa55 via Getty Images
    Image attribution tooltip

    On technology buys, it’s important that agency stakeholders work together throughout the process

    Teamwork is essential when cities and counties plan to buy new systems and equipment, says Gary Mitchell, director of SLED (state, local and education) business development at Iron Mountain Government Solutions, a company that provides secure management of data and assets; it works to protect, connect and activate high-value customer data.

    By Michael Keating • Oct. 8, 2024