November 2011
Features
Tech trends 2012
From apps to the cloud, reader survey shows where technology is headed....
Green team
County connects cities to move sustainability initiatives forward....
Street smarts
Many transportation departments are turning to Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS), which enhance communication between operators and traffic agencies, incident and traffic management and congestion mitigation....
Columns
Editor’s Viewpoint: The ‘hang in there, baby’ economy
The protests from the middle class are the results of knowing the system isn’t working for them....
Viewpoint: Don't overlook a shining opportunity
Closed landfills can find new life as prime solar energy development parcels....
Issues & Trends
Super committee now in session
Local governments are watching the Congressional Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, aka the "super committee," with concern....
Madison, Wis., police captain discusses crowd control
Capt. Tom Snyder, who oversees the Madison, Wis., Police Department's Special Events Team, talks about the way Madison handles protests and large crowds, and its preference to avoid confrontation....
Seven city CIOs work together
Collaboration speeds development of tech solutions and cuts costs....
Parks and recreation departments seek new funding
Cities expect resources to dwindle in coming years....
Readers' Viewpoint: Are pensions a draw?
American City & County asked readers if they thought public sector pensions and retirement benefits would continue to draw new employees....
Locals push for public safety broadband network
Progress could be helped or delayed by super committee....
Ahoy, ye hat lubbers!
Eloise Pennington, warehouse coordinator for Fort Myers, Fla., took this photo of a faux swashbuckler handmaking a pirate hat at the Fort Myers Beach Pirate Festival....
Contracts & Awards Announcements
View the latest technology, public safety, transportation, and water contracts, as well as awards related to city, county and state governments....
Government by the Numbers
CDW report: IT investments expected to continue
State and local government information technology officials are expecting to make significant IT investments in the next six months, despite lowered...
Survey: Counties settle into the frugal 'new normal'
Counties appear to be settling into the "new normal" of lower revenue, staffing and service levels, according to a new National Association of Counties survey....
Census: Poverty continues to rise
The nation's poverty rate increased 1 percent between 2009 and 2010, from 14.3 percent to 15.3 percent, according to the U.S. Census Bureau's 2010 American Community Surveys. ...
New Laws on the Books
California protects right to circumcise
Californians will retain their right to choose whether to circumcise their sons, thanks to a new law passed in response to a proposed referendum in San Francisco to prohibit the genital clipping....
Rhode Island establishes health benefits exchange
Rhode Island has taken a step toward the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act by establishing a health benefits exchange. ...
Local Governments' Lighter Side
Jesus is my lawyer
An Alabama town is allowing people charged with non-violent crimes to avoid jail if they put a little more religion in their lives....
Where's a fig leaf when you need one?
Nudist take to San Francisco's streets, sans clothes, to protest proposed rules that would limit their behavior....
To love, cherish and ticket
For one New Jersey police chief, the call to duty meant imperiling his own domestic tranquility after ordering one of his officers to ticket his wife for double parking....
Nothing worse than cocky neighbors
New York's Lower East Side is quiet again now that a pair of noisy roosters have been evicted....
Across America
Commemorating community
Texas City, Texas, unveils a wind sculpture to mark 100 years....
Night lights
The brightness of LED lighting in beach community's entertainment district changes with the times....
Next on the agenda
City eliminates paper meeting packets for elected officials and committee members with tablets....
Painless meter reading
New technology lets utility read water and power meters remotely....
In our century
Public works departments begin to use computers to save time and expand the capabilities of engineering staff....
