Local Government

As a member of my local Planning Commission, I have participated in voting on various economic contributions that benefit our community at different levels, from local municipalities and townships to the entire county. While most of these votes are routine and uneventful, last week we had a meeting with a…

From Politeness to Radical Candor — Local Gov is generally not very strong in handling feedback and performance. During my recent one-on-one meetings and check-ins with product and project teams, I’ve noticed a tendency for us to be overly polite, causing us to delay raising issues and hold back on providing feedback, especially in situations involving…

We’ve been through a pandemic and the times are unsettling. Through this work I’m leaning into discomfort and truthiness, for curiosity, and for unity. — Ko Hereheretaura te maunga My mountain is Hahei peninsula, Coromandel Ko Te Whanganui o Hei te moana My sea is Mercury Bay Kei Kāpiti, Pōneke, Albuquerque, Berlin tōku kāinga i mua I have lived in these places Kei Whakaoriori, Te Kauru rohe tōku kāinga ināianei I live in Masterton Ko Kirsten Browne ahau I’m…

A new collaborative innovation project from the New Citizenship Project aimed at breaking the gravitational pull of business-as-usual in local government As COVID-19 swept through the United Kingdom and the country went into lockdown, something extraordinary happened within the realm of local government. In their tens of thousands, council officers…

26 April to 16 May Welcome to Sprint Notes #63! Our Round 6 projects are starting to get into their stride, and in this issue you can find out what they’ve been working on this sprint. You can also read an update on our Local Digital Declaration discovery project and…

By D’Anne Witkowski, TGP Senior Copywriter I have a public service announcement: transgender/gender queer/nonbinary people are human beings and the concerted extremist attack on the right for transgender people to exit is deeply, deeply sick. As of April 3, 2023, at “least 417 anti-LGBTQ bills have been introduced in state…

By Ryan Bellinson Cities are on the frontlines of society’s biggest challenges. The climate crisis, economic inequality, historical racial injustice, inequitable access to basic social services, severe mistrust of public institutions — these overlapping challenges have been described as a ‘polycrisis’, and cities are squarely on the frontline of dealing…

This blog is written by Adam Nie, an Intern for the Department of Innovation and Performance and recent graduate of the University of Pittsburgh’s Public Administration Master’s program. The department hopes that this blog provides unique insight into our work for any prospective interns or employees. I have always been…

Brookline community members, BEC wants to make sure you are aware of the active movement by some Town officials to disregard the results of the May Town election. The voters approved the debt exclusion (Question1) and override (Question 2), clearly expressing a desire to build a new Pierce school as…