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| Efficiency |
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Municipalities in Virginia, Alabama, and California have done the math, and are employing iPads to save paper and money while they conduct public business. For example, in Hampton, Virginia, the city council estimates that while the devices cost $4,200, their use will save $18,000 annually in paper costs. Critics note that iPad usage may encourage council members to communicate during meetings without having those conversations memorialized in the public record.
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| Employment and Labor Supply |
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Under the Return to Work program, New Hampshire is hoping that its unemployed residents will increase their work skills and chances of getting a job. The program matches an unemployed worker with a company for a non-committal period of six weeks where they work and train on the job. Employers can then gauge how well the employee fits in the workplace while the worker continues to receive unemployment benefits. The program has led to permanent hires.
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| Law Enforcement |
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With retirements looming, the National Park Service is seeking to refresh and diversify its workforce through partnerships with universities. The Service has recently teamed with Temple University to create ProRanger Philadelphia, which offers students four-year paid internships to learn how to patrol the parks and serve the public. The program can lead to full-time ranger positions after graduation, ensuring steady employment in a difficult job market.
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| Court Services |
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Five cites in Minnesota are participating in a driver diversion program for those with suspended or revoked licenses. The program gives qualified errant drivers the ability to continue to operate their car while making supervised payments on their outstanding fines. It also requires them to get insurance if they do not have it. The program was developed to unclog prosecutor and judicial caseloads and to allow people to continue driving to work while resolving their case. So far, 1,200 people have been accepted into the program.
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| Community Development |
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With the High Line, New York successfully transformed an elevated railroad bed into a fashionable city park. This effort has caught the attention of other cities, such as Detroit and Chicago in the U.S., and Hong Kong and Jerusalem internationally, which are considering other types of urban relics for renewal. Since its opening last year, High Line has been extremely popular, with a reported two million people having already visited.
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| Public Infrastructure |
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Rural municipalities, faced with declining revenues and stretched budgets, have been breaking up pavement on lightly traveled roads and putting down gravel as an alternative to expensive repaving. Critics lament the diminished driving experience, increased car damage, and potential long-term cost of having to re-grade gravel surfaces.
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| Health Service Delivery |
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Eagle County, Colorado, has launched a new community paramedic pilot program to ensure that health care services are delivered in a cost-effective manner to patients who have difficulty traveling to receive medical care. Under a partnership between Eagle County's Public Health Department and the Western Eagle County Ambulance District, primary care physicians will refer their patients to emergency medical services personnel for home services such as hospital discharge follow-up, blood draws, medication reconciliation, and wound care. The grant-funded, five-year pilot will not charge patients. Instead, health officials hope to compile enough data to justify reimbursement by Medicare, Medicaid, and private insurers.
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| Public Transportation |
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Across the nation, cities are stepping up efforts to ease congestion on their roadways through varied solutions. In Minnesota, commuters on a highway into Minneapolis can take advantage of several Park & Ride lots that allow them to sail to work 15 minutes faster in bus-only lanes. The city has also widened sidewalks and removed some on-street parking to augment traffic flow. Seattle will become one of the first U.S. cities to use an active traffic management system, installing signs that flash variable speed limits based upon traffic flow. Such information allows drivers to reduce their speed before they approach stopped traffic, thus avoiding collisions.
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| Education Administration |
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With education budgets squeezed, some schools are looking to their incoming students to pitch in with more than just pencils and paper. Schools in Alabama and Texas have placed toilet paper, garbage bags, liquid soap, Dixie cups, and printer paper among the items that students must bring on their first day of school.
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| The High Cost of No Risk |
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Managing
risk is an everyday activity for public officials who must constantly balance actual
risks and perceived risks that affect voters. When public officials seek to
eliminate risk in the wake of a tragedy, you can be certain they're not
thinking about the high cost of
no risk.
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| Goal Erosion: When Goals Don't Matter |
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What does it
mean for government when political leaders routinely set unrealistic goals that
go unrealized? Goals
lose their power to guide and inspire.
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| Breaking the Tyranny of Rules |
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If we want more responsive government in an age of disintermediation, we need rules and regulations that are both categorized and accessible to everyone.
Newsletter produced by: Jessica Engelman, editor; Brendan St. Amant, researcher and writer.
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About the Ash Center
The Roy and Lila Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation advances excellence in governance and strengthens democratic institutions worldwide. Through its research, education, international programs, and government innovations awards, the Center fosters creative and effective problem solving and serves as a catalyst for addressing many of the most pressing needs of the world's citizens. The Ford Foundation is a founding donor of the Center. Additional information about the Ash Center is available at http://ash.harvard.edu.
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