Click here to skip to main content.
scenic picture from Washington state
MRSC FOCUS › Focus Archive

Note: Some of the information on this archival Web page may no longer be current.

Focus Archive - September 2004

Please note that Focus section links were valid at the time of their original posting. However, since Web sites and addresses change frequently, we cannot guarantee that all links will remain operative.

Who Pays for Wireless Cities? (September 28)
Cities and towns are jumping on the Wi-Fi bandwagon. But a municipal model of connectivity may be tricky to pull off. More from Technology Review.

Land Case Is a Hot Property (September 28)
A case that raises what property rights advocates say may be the most important land use issue in decades went before the Supreme Court at its private conference Sept. 27. More from the American Planning Association.

Reduce False Alarm Calls through Enhanced Call Verification (September 28)
The alarm industry, in recognizing the strain false alarm calls place on law enforcement, has initiated its Enhanced Call Verification (also referred to as Multiple Call Verification) program. More from The Police Chief.

RuralTeleCon ‘04 (September 28)
The 8th Annual Conference of the Rural Telecommunications Congress, "Putting Broadband to Work," will be held on October 10-13, 2004 at the WestCoast Ridpath Hotel in Spokane, Washington.

Can Downtowns Survive the 21st Century? (September 28)
Can downtowns survive? The gut reaction of many, particularly in the development community, will be "of course." But an economist's eye on recent trends suggests the future of the downtown is anything but certain. More from the Reason Public Policy Institute.

Succession Planning – Is Your Organization Prepared? (September 28)
In a recent presentation to the Arizona City/County Management Association, "Incorporating Succession Planning into Your Organization," Patrick Ibarra of the Mejorando Group reviewed tips for assessing organizational readiness for succession planning, including a twenty question self-assessment guide.

Smart City - How a City Celebrates Art and Artists (September 28)
Chicago Artists' Month is a 31-day, city-wide celebration of the visual arts, including gallery openings, demonstrations, open studio tours, workshops and presentations. The latest Smart City™ radio show talks about how a city celebrates its art and its artists.

Wastewater - Do You Have Something in a Smaller Size? (September 28)
More regulations plus more people minus money and land equals a growing trend of local governments using small-footprint wastewater treatment technologies. More from American City & County.

Eastern Washington Counties Get Grants to Manage Waste (September 28)
Thirteen counties in Eastern Washington will share more than $2.6 million in grants to help them devise ways to reduce the amount of waste being sent to landfills. More from the Washington State Department of Ecology.

Cable Franchise Renewals (September 28)
In "Key Issues in Cable Franchise Renewals," CATV law specialist Jim Baller, highlights the most important issues that a local government should consider in developing its negotiation strategy and negotiating with cable operators.

Three Out of Five Cities are Less Able to Meet Fiscal Obligations (September 22)
America’s cities were less able to meet their financial needs in 2004, and expectations for 2005 are equally grim, according to a new report released today by the National League of Cities. More from Nation’s Cities Weekly.

New Overtime Rules May Change Some County Employees’ Status (September 22)
New overtime pay rules may send counties back to their employee rosters to determine whether salaried "managers" must now receive overtime pay. More from NACo’s County News.

Housing - Prefab Rehab (September 22)
Star architects are adding style and substance to prefab homes as manufacturers try to boost their share in a sizzling market. More from Time Online.

Emergency Management Task Force Study Released (September 22)
The Task Force on Local Programs recently released its "Study of Emergency Management at the Local Program Level" (Adobe Acrobat Document309kb) including a list of findings and recommendations. More from the Task Force on Local Programs.

The Machinery of Democracy - a History of Balloting (September 22)
NPR’s Morning Edition recently reported on the National Museum of American History exhibit, "Vote: The Machinery of Democracy." The Smithsonian exhibit shows that worries about voting security are as old as the republic.

Toolkit Helps Cities Secure Federal Money for Families (September 22)
A new NLC toolkit highlights the unique roles that municipal leaders can play in helping eligible families claim federal and state earned income tax credits, often worth millions citywide. More from Nation’s Cities Weekly.

Counties Partner with Sister Cities for Economic Opportunities (September 22)
When it comes to expanding economic and cultural opportunities, counties have been looking further than state borders. County governments have found that building international sister city relationships provides opportunities for economic development and cultural exchange. More from NACo’s County News.

New Cable Franchise Agreement (September 22)
The city of Bellevue recently renewed their cable franchise with Comcast (Adobe Acrobat Document3.85MB). The new agreement offers a good example of a well-crafted, comprehensive cable TV franchise.

GIS and Brownfields Redevelopment Report Available (September 22)
The International City/County Management Association recently released a new report, GIS and Brownfields: Encouraging Redevelopment, Public Involvement, and Smart Growth, which offers an introduction to the use of geographic information systems (GIS) for brownfields redevelopment.

Whole Cities as Internet Hotspots? The WiFi Revolution Spreads (September 14)
Philadelphia is debating making all 134 square miles of the city the world’s largest wireless hotspot. Boston, Atlanta, New York, Los Angeles and other cities are considering parallel moves. More from Nation’s Cities Weekly.

Maintaining Traffic Patrols in the Face of Rising Energy Costs (September 14)
Not since the oil embargo of several decades ago has U.S. law enforcement faced such a serious challenge from rising petroleum costs. More from The Police Chief.

The Art of Housing (September 14)
A recent exhibit at The National Building Museum in Washington, D.C., proves the idea that good design is possible with the tight budgets associated with low-cost housing. More from Nation’s Cities Weekly.

Finance - Checking Out Reality (September 14)
One of the easiest ways to balance a budget is simply to predict savings that may or may not ever come to pass. More from Governing.

Worth the Money? (September 14)
The competition for top talent is producing a cadre of highly paid public executives. More from Governing.

Smart City - The Best Mayor in America (September 14)
He's been called the best mayor in America by Governing magazine, American City and County magazine and by Library Journal. The latest Smart City™ radio show features an interview with Richard M. Daley, mayor of Chicago.

Applications Due for 2004 Fire Prevention and Safety Grants (September 14)
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Office of State and Local Government Coordination & Preparedness, will be accepting applications for 2004 Fire Prevention and Safety Grants through September 30.

Geography and Budgets Create Barriers for Rural EMS (September 14)
For reasons of geography and budgetary constraints, many rural areas still do not enjoy the fullest advances in emergency medical services (EMS) achieved in much of the U.S. More from the UC Berkeley Traffic Safety Center Newsletter.

Report Offers Tips on Using HOME for Rental Housing Production (September 14)
A report from HUD’s Office of Policy Development and Research, Using Your HOME Dollars for Rental Production: A Planning Paper for Local Policy Makers, (Adobe Acrobat Document284kb) offers tips on making the best use of your Home Investment Partnership Program (HOME) dollars for the production of affordable rental housing.

Implicit Price Deflator Information (September 14)
The increase in the July implicit price deflator for personal consumption expenditures (IPD) will not be available on the Internet until September 30, two weeks later than in the past. In the meantime, the July "chain-type price index" for personal consumption expenditures can be used as a proxy. More

The Frustrations of Police Chiefs and How to Solve Them (September 08)
Are our communities' police chiefs becoming "battle-weary executives" with unduly heavy burdens? More from The Police Chief.

National Study Shows Traffic Getting Worse (September 08)
The 2004 Urban Mobility Report, published by the Texas Transportation Institute, shows traffic congestion growing across the nation in cities of all sizes, consuming more hours of the day, and affecting more travelers and shipments of goods than ever before.

The Great Creative Class Debate (September 08)
Richard Florida, author of The Rise of the Creative Class responds to his critics. More from The Next American City.

E-Governing 2004 - Digital Magic (September 08)
Governing’s Special Report 2004 - Digital Magic looks at how some early-adopting states and localities are collecting and connecting digitized data and using it in fresh and surprising ways.

Not All Cities Lost Middle-Class Households in Past 20 Years (September 08)
A new analysis of census data, "The Shape of the Curve: Household Income Distributions in U.S. Cities, 1979-1999," (Adobe Acrobat Document1972kb) by the Brookings Institution’s Metropolitan Policy Program, concludes that middle-class households did not abandon American cities over the past 20 years, although most locations increasingly lack the nation's full income diversity.

Transit-Oriented Development in the U.S. (September 08)
A new Transportation Research Board report, Transit-Oriented Development in the United States: Experiences, Challenges, and Prospects (Adobe Acrobat Document11644kb), examines the state of the practice and the benefits of transit-oriented development and joint development throughout the United States.

Report on Rural Road Crashes (September 08)
The majority of fatal crashes - about 60 percent - occur on rural roads. In "The Complexity of Rural Roads," the University of California’s Traffic Safety Center examines how the changing nature of rural traffic demands new ways to improve safety.

New Guidebook for Conducting Effective Watershed Outreach (September 08)
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has released a set of new resource guides designed to assist local governments and watershed groups in planning and conducting effective watershed outreach to improve water quality. More from the Local Government Environmental Assistance Network.

Show Me the Money (and Benefits) (September 08)
America's average public works directors are aging slightly, but, at least in some cases, they are getting paid a little better, too. More from American City & County.

Local Governments Set Noise Level Limits (September 08)
In the battle over noise, local officials from across the country struggle to find the appropriate volume for their communities. More from American City & County.

Web Sightings - Public Art Programs (September 08)
Local governments sponsor a rich array of arts and cultural programs. We've collected links to several public art programs and resources:

Cities and Counties in the News (September)
Here are the latest news clippings from around the state highlighting current events, trends and other news affecting Washington city and county governments: