In today’s buzz: bans, waste, pensions, and procurement. Yesterday, my brother asked me if I had any hobbies and I said “pretty much just work-related stuff.”
This buzz is brought to you by executive orders with food quotes from Parks & Recreation. Wanna make your own?
Right now with Rebecca Woodbury (LinkedIn/Twitter)
What I’m Listening to – Trololo
What I’m Reading – the internet
What I Watched Last Week – Fixing Government: Bottom Up and Outside In (audio available now; video will be posted soon)
What I’m Doing – listening to the rain
Buzzin’
- 9th Circuit Court declines to quickly reinstate travel ban: A federal appeals court on Sunday ruled that President Trump’s controversial immigration order will remain suspended for the time being, allowing those previously banned from coming to the United States at least another day to get here.
- Melissa McCarthy nails amazing Sean Spicer impression in ‘SNL’ skit: Saturday Night Live continues to assemble an A-list dream team of guest stars to lampoon President Donald Trump and his administration with a surprise appearance by Melissa McCarthy as White House press secretary Sean Spicer.
- European Countries Are Competing Who Can Troll Trump The Best: There is a new viral competition on the internet…
- And, some dudes played football yesterday. Learn more about football.
#Trending
- Live from a Couch during Super Bowl LI: Political Hot Takes
- Round of 32: ELGL City Hall Madness
- 02.05.17 Jobs, Jobs, Jobs (VLGMF Remix)
- Weekly Update
- Kittleson’s Corner: Elevators and Crosswalks
- February 3, 2017 Diversity Dashboard Conference Call Summary
Upcoming
- Webinar: Technology Efficiency Series: Strategies for Digital Cities – Wednesday, February 8, 2017 at 12:00 pm
- Summit: PSU’s Elevating Impact Summit 2017 – Monday, February 13, 2017
- Webinar: The Art of Negotiation: Advice, Guidance, & Best Practices – Wednesday, February 15 at 9:00 am
- Conference: Ohio City Managers Association Winter Conference – February 22 to 24
- Webinar: Technology Efficiency Series: E-Permitting – March 9, 2017 at 10:00 a.m.
- Webinar: Technology Efficiency Series: E-Purchasing – April 5, 2017 at 10:00 a.m.
50 Nifty
- Seattle Bikeway Named America’s Best New Bike Lane for 2016: Seattle’s Westlake Avenue bikeway was named America’s best new bike lane of 2016 last month by People for Bikes, an industry coalition of bicycling suppliers and retailers, as well as a charitable foundation.
- Flint residents seek $722M over water crisis: More than 1,700 Flint-area residents and property owners have filed suit against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for the “mishandling” of the city’s water crisis in a legal action seeking more than $722.4 million in damages.
- Ybor City Bans Truck Traffic, Eyes a Balanced Future: As heavy truck traffic is removed from the streets of Ybor City, efforts to return the area to its place as one of West Florida’s most vibrant urban neighborhoods receive a major boost.
- Grand Rapids plans $21M biodigester to deal with Founders, Amway waste: Grand Rapids is preparing to build a $21 million biodigester at its Water Resource Recovery Facility on Market Avenue.
- The Great Texas Pension Fix: Houston owes its police, fire, and city workers about $7.8 billion, and it doesn’t exactly have the cash on hand. Their hard-fought solution could serve as a model for the rest of Texas, and the nation.
- Going paperless in procurement: A common struggle among public agencies across the nation in running operations is doing more with less resources. That’s what we faced here at Palo Alto’s Purchasing and Contracts Administration, but we have since broken that cycle under my leadership as chief procurement officer (CPO).
- Tiny Homes Get Chippewa Falls Committee’s OK: A Chippewa Falls committee recommended Wednesday that two tiny houses be permitted in a church parking lot downtown for use as homeless shelters.
- The Swedish-Inspired Way American Cities Are Trying to End Pedestrian Deaths: Shirley Gonzales made no secret of her views on transportation when she ran for the San Antonio City Council in 2013. She laid them out in her answer to a questionnaire: “pedestrians first, followed by cycling, public transportation and private automobiles, in that order.”
Local Government Confidential
- Cobb alters code violation reporting because neighbors can’t get along: You know you’ve thought about it: reporting your neighbor to Cobb County for some bogus code enforcement thing because you don’t like the way they look at you.
- Boulder City Council votes to relax bear ordinance: Last year, more than 1,200 residents were fined for not securing their trash and keeping the bears away.