• 08.03.12 Knope of the Week
• Lightning Round with Jessica Struyk, City of Gresham
• 08.08.12 Your Morning Buzz
• Boring, Oregon Defeated by Toad Suck, Arkansas
• Are You a Psychopath if You’re Not on Facebook?

Participate

ELGL Willamette Valley Meeting - ELGL Willamette Valley would like to announce this month’s meeting scheduled for the 16^th from 12:00-1:30 p.m. The City of Veneta will be hosting and Ric Ingham, City Administrator for the past 8.5 years, will be presenting on Urban Renewal and the City of Veneta’s experiences.

ELGL Central Oregon Event: Transforming Government - Bend Police Chief Jeff Sale and Lieutenant Chris Carney will discuss how government can no longer afford to operate in status quo mode.  They will use the Bend Police Departments current transformation as an example of how the lack of funding and ever increasing costs are forcing these changes.

10th annual Clackamas River clean up registration open - Several local entities, such as Clackamas River Water Providers, Lake Oswego-Tigard Water Partnership and Clackamas County, are sponsors of the 10th annual Down the River Clean Up of the Clackamas River.

Poll: Better Off? - Are you better off today than you were four years ago? Ronald Reagan’s famous question to voters in his 1980 campaign now looms over the 2012 presidential election.

City of Beaverton - Please plan on attending the annual Beaverton Community Vision Celebration, this Saturday, August 11th, 10 am to 2 pm, at City Park. Games and activities for all ages. See what 60 community partners are doing to make the vision happen. Don’t forget to bring canned or fresh food for the summer food drive.

 

Spotlight

Grandview’s brain drain - At age 57, Arteaga is preparing to retire from the city of Grandview, the only employer he has ever known. And he’s not the only one. Police Chief Dave Charvet and Assistant Police Chief Mark Ware, each with roughly 40 years at the city, also have announced retirement plans.To ease the transition, they have staggered their end dates throughout the next 2½ years. But when they go, they will take with them 120 years of collective experience.That’s impressive, said Janet Matkin, a spokeswoman for the Association of Washington Cities. ”Forty years is a little crazy,” she said. “That’s truly amazing.” However, longevity in municipal government is not uncommon.

Portland’s response to ‘Occupy’ protestors in national spotlight - Portland’s response to Occupy Portland protestors who demonstrated in Terry Schrunk Plaza late last year is providing fuel to conservative attacks on the White House.

Town Talk: Management intern comes to Marana - My name is Samantha Wolfe and I am a management intern in the Town of Marana Manager’s Office and recipient of the Marvin Andrews Scholarship from the Arizona City and County Management Association. The award is a competitive scholarship established 22 years ago to honor Arizona graduate students in public administration with strong academic achievements. Andrews Fellows participate in a three-month internship with a city, town or county in order to become a new generation of leaders who aspire to careers in local government management.

How Much Should a Bankrupt City Pay Its Retired Police Officers? - With Stockton, California, officially bankrupt, one of its luckier residents, Tom Morris, once again finds himself in the news. His $204,000 per year pension is seen as a symbol of the public employee excesses that helped push the city into insolvency. $204,000 is a lot of money most places in America. The San Joaquin County municipality is no exception. The average median household income there is $45,700 per year. The vast majority of its residents can scarcely imagine retiring at age 52 and receiving more than $200,000 every year for the rest of their lives.

Is metro Atlanta vote a bellwether for transportation funding? In my best grandpa voice: Way back in 19 and 96, as a reporter for the Atlanta Journal Constitution, I wrote a series of stories under the heading “Gridshock” that laid out the traffic hell facing metro Atlanta absent something resembling a plan. At the time, the Georgia DOT was wrapping up its $3 billion “Freeing the Freeways” paving bonanza, and the last planned extension of MARTA rapid rail was winding down.

City of West Linn employees deserve gold medals - I would like to hand out gold medals to all of the city employees, school district employees, resident volunteers and anyone else that takes the time to make West Linn a better place to live.

Career

5 Questions Great Job Candidates Ask - Many of the questions potential new hires ask are throwaways. But not these.

The case for vacation: Why science says breaks are good for productivity - A 2010 survey indicated that the average American accrues 18 vacation days and uses only 16. The average French worker takes more than twice the vacation time. To some, this statistic encapsulates the difference between American and European workers. We’re productive.

12 Things Killer Employees Do Before Noon - A recent study published in an American Psychological Association journal, Emotion, suggests that early birds are generally happier than night owls.

HR pros offer bleak assessment of federal managers - One-third of federal human resources professionals don’t think agency managers have the skills to succeed, according to a new report.

Inside the UGB

• Should ODOT install sharrows on the Oregon City bridge?
• A plan uniquely Lake Oswego
• Wilsonville releases 2012 community report
• Hillsboro reviews policy as mother fights for son’s accident memorial
• For City Council, August is for vacation: Portland City Hall roundup
• Milwaukie Rules blogger Mandy Zelinka Anderson enters city council race
• Troutdale should release full probe of mayor’s property
• Tigard Street Fair builds community
• Editorial: County code change allows for strategic siting of public buildings
• LO prepares to make case for expanding urban boundary
• Bowerman announces bid for city council

 

Outside the UGB

The Social Network

ELGL Facebook, ELGL Twitter, ELGL LinkedIn, ELGL Google+, ELGL Pinterest

The Psychology of Social Networking - Has social media increased our collective self-obsession, or is it merely a reflection of our current culture?

Stay connected by following these feeds.

Facebook: California City News, Public Policy Institute of California

Twitter: Hillsboro Library, Hood To Coast Relay

Pinterest: LivePortland Oregon, Rose Garden

Google+: Go Northwest!