When Carl Rossi started his new job in January 2023 as director of public works in Holyoke, Mass., one of his tasks was to reboot the city’s recycling program. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, Holyoke, a city of 38,000 on the … Continue reading →
While the COVID-19 pandemic brought some aspects of life to a halt, it caused others to pivot and go in a new direction. Technology in municipal governments might be at the top of some of those pivot lists. While cities … Continue reading →
The summer of 2021 proved to be a struggle for seasonal staffing for businesses and city operations alike around the country. Cities as large as Denver reduced the number of flower beds in parks and the frequency of trash pickups … Continue reading →
If four fires and a flood in four years were not enough, add in a global pandemic, and it all could make a city want to revise its emergency action plan. That’s exactly what motivated the city of Cloverdale, Calif., … Continue reading →
Municipal recycling programs have had a tough time lately. Markets like China and Malaysia, where recyclables were being sent, found that their own citizenries were generating enough recycled material to satisfy their expanding manufacturing economy. The cost of recycling was … Continue reading →
The city administration of Denison, Iowa, found itself in a bit of a dilemma last year when two key employees of the public works department decided to retire within a short time of each other. The announcements got City Manager … Continue reading →
When it comes to water, rainfall and snowfall can seem like a feast or famine commodity. Right now, it’s definitely famine in the western United States. In March 2021, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration warned that nearly half the … Continue reading →
Keeping a city alive and well when the economy makes a major shift requires generous touches of both creativity and courage. So, when Bay City, Mich., began the shift from an industrial economy to a tourism-based economy, city officials … Continue reading →
When a person thinks about the local fire department, images of fighting building or brush fires, rescuing victims from a rushing river or educating school children about fire safety often come to mind. But in a municipality where there … Continue reading →
When the newly hired California City police chief arrived in town, he realized he had three goals to achieve. The goals were aimed at “making this a good place to work,” Jon Walker, a retired Los Angeles police officer, … Continue reading →
In January 2020, few people had heard of the disease that started to make the news channels. But, with the spread of COVID-19 worldwide, government agencies and businesses were forced to begin thinking about what they would do if the … Continue reading →
