Be Inspired: What Would You Do With 3 Months to live?
13 years ago I was given 3 months to live. It appeared to be absolute. I had just been diagnosed with one of the worst cases of Head & Neck cancer ever seen. All of those who had gone before me were gone within 3 months. I was just getting to grips with this...
Calling All Veterans: Your County Wants You!
San Diego County’s commitment to the local veterans community, one of the largest in the nation, continues to grow. Recognizing the opportunity to capture the talents and resources of this group, the County’s Human Resources Department launched the Veterans Outreach...
Public Policy: Evaluating Climate Change into Risk Assessments
Public-private partnerships are quickly garnering an increasing amount of attention for public policy requirements, including water/wastewater, energy, economic development, and transportation projects. P3s require an exceptional amount of planning, design, and the...
Recruiting Millennials in Local Government
Gone are the days that local governments can attract top talent based only on the notion of job security. Furthermore, local governments across the country have been forced to lay off staff, reduce benefits, and cut core services. Additionally, even as the market...
Leadership in Government
My fundamental philosophy is that if we are not willing to open our minds, listen with our hearts and seek understanding of some of the most crucial problems of our time, then we have failed as leaders. Over the last few years, I have thought a lot about how leaders...
Public Policy: Economic Growth & Development
There are numerous forces that function together to enhance economic growth and development. The role of public policy has been one of those forces that can have either a positive or negative impact. Examples of additional influences are deficits, educational...
Is The Media Too Hostile Towards Politicians?
In the UK, such publications as The Sun take the cynical position as a default yet the more useful and human response is a neutral one. John Lloyd, in his book What The Media Are Doing To Our Politics, argues the out-of-control media is considerably damaging to the...
Is Tallahassee Guilty of Economic Segregation?
Disclaimer: The following piece only reflects my opinions and analysis as a resident who was born and raised in the City of Tallahassee. My hope is that my research sparks a positive discourse on how funding could be better allocated for easing our proposed economic...
Government Trivia and Facts
Most people, in the United States, have an opinion about our government – whether it be the Federal Government, their State Government or their local government. After serving 30 plus years in government I know opinions about government change: they change from year...
Information Governance: The Accepted Standards
No Matter Where You Go, There You Are If you’ve been keeping up with these articles you have an understanding what Information Governance is and the team you need to get the job done. Next you need to understand the current state of your organization’s information...
Public-Private Partnerships: Leverage for Local Economic Development
Some may regard P3s as the solution for economic growth and development issues facing governments, while others are skeptical regarding their efficacy and desirability. I always exercise caution when applying a one size fits all approach to public policy requirements....
Following OPM’s REDI Roadmap
Are you REDI? The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) asked that question in their recently launched REDI Roadmap initiative. REDI is an acronym that stands for recruitment, engagement, diversity, and innovation. The concept behind it is to build a federal workforce...
Reducing the Cost of Government Contracts Starts in the Classroom
When many people think about government contracting, stories about hammers or toilet seats purchased for use by the military and costing thousands of dollars and huge project cost overruns is often what comes to mind. Are excessive costs typical? Over the last few...
Money Vs. Welfare: The Government Role
Today there are very few things money can’t buy. If we’re sentenced to a jail term in California, we can actually buy a prison cell upgrade. And in Washington, long queues form for key congressional hearings. To avoid waiting in the rain, lobbyists pay companies to...
Information Governance Insights: Part 2
In last month’s article we laid out the basic framework for understanding what Information Governance is and what we are trying to accomplish with a program. The next step in the process is for the Executive Champion to bring together the key individuals that deal...
Changing Landscape in Local Government
During a recent conversation with a peer and Master of Public Administration student, I realized there is a predicament in municipal administration. For soon-to-be MPAs, there is concern among some who would like to be city managers but are not interested in the...
Efficiency Initiatives in Local Government
In a May 2012 Wall Street Journal article, Leslie Kwoh warned that the term “innovation” was at risk of becoming cliché. To support her observation, she provided a number of examples, the most astonishing of which was a 64% increase in the number of times the word...
Hiring: Take Control
Hiring the wrong people costs too much. Here’s how to activate a recruiting process that will attract the right people to your talent bench? No business can afford a bad hire, or to retain employees who don’t perform because the cost of poor talent management...