Commentaries

Commentaries are contributed, non-commercial and educational articles that subject matter experts write for American City & County. If you would like to submit an exclusive commentary, click here to view our guidelines.

Highlights

Looking to increase civic engagement? Support the local press

The McGregor Mirror in Texas; The Mayo Free Press in Florida; The Olive Hill Times in...

Setting the (government) records straight

In the digital age, government records management teams must balance both physical, paper copies...

Adaptive reuse and municipal facilities: Strengthening mutual trust

Every community has its share of underutilized buildings—empty warehouses, shuttered schools,...

Commentary

Looking to increase civic engagement? Support the local press

The McGregor Mirror in Texas; The Mayo Free Press in Florida; The Olive Hill Times in Kentucky; The Progress Review in Iowa: What do all of these news outlets have in common? They’re all defunct; closed in the last year due to declining revenue and budget shortfalls. Over the last 50 years, the journalism industry has […]

Article

How to accelerate SLG cloud modernization through emerging technology solutions

State and local government (SLG) leaders have been on the road to IT modernization for more than a decade. First appearing on NASCIO’s State CIO Top Ten Priorities list in 2010, IT modernization has ranked a top-three priority every year since. For some organizations, the pandemic served as a catalyst for cloud adoption and as-a-service […]

Article

Setting the (government) records straight

In the digital age, government records management teams must balance both physical, paper copies of documents and electronic copies. Because of how much falls under the umbrella of records management, there are a variety of challenges that records administrators face when it comes to managing records. The three most common problems that arise—making records more […]

Article

How local governments can overcome federal grant roadblocks

As the nation begins to recover from the pandemic and prepares for the possibility of another harmful variant, it’s critical that local governments access all available federal grant funds they’re eligible for to meet community needs. For the past two years, many local governments shifted budgets to combat COVID-19. Federal grants like those outlined in […]

Commentary

Adaptive reuse and municipal facilities: Strengthening mutual trust

Every community has its share of underutilized buildings—empty warehouses, shuttered schools, abandoned grocery stores and retail strip malls, and aging postal facilities—that have reached the end of their useful lives. Many pose safety concerns, while others often become magnets for crime. With the cost of construction increasing year after year, many municipalities are taking another look […]

Commentary

Municipal broadband: Using today’s technology to support your community’s future

Amidst the ups and downs of the COVID-19 pandemic, one thing that remains constant is your community’s need to stay connected. But stay-at-home, work-from-home and learn-from-home measures have highlighted a glaring gap in the availability and distribution of reliable, high-speed internet networks, and many citizens and businesses are still unable to access the online resources […]

Article

ARPA opens doors to modernizing the infrastructure of government itself

U.S. cities, counties, tribes and other local governments are now in the process of digesting about $148 billion of the $1.9 trillion in investment from the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA). Infrastructure as recognized traditionally (highways, public housing) and less traditionally (solar installations, EV charging stations) tend to dominate the imagination. These are […]

Article

Deming’s 14 points of management for procurement professionals

Public procurement’s focus over the last decade, has been that of “digital transformation” with a keen eye on the new technologies and tools available to public procurement leaders. Although such “transformation” is of keen interest and vital to moving public procurement ahead, there are some fundamental managerial truths about “organizational transformation” that have been around […]

Commentary

Building trust: Moving away from self-administration

Trust is the fundamental currency of leadership. This is particularly true in the public sector, where elected officials, appointed commissioners and public administrators are entrusted with the safety and well-being of their constituents. From neighborhood associations to city councils, county boards, state legislatures and Washington, D.C., the U.S. has many forms of government. But as […]

Article

Six ways states could help cities and towns implement climate solutions

Cities, towns and regions are creating jobs, improving health and making communities more livable. Many of them are doing so as part of their strategy to address climate change. This is an approach called “multisolving,” and examples of it are becoming more common. Case in point: Home weatherization programs reduce greenhouse gas emissions and provide […]

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Commentaries

Commentaries are contributed, non-commercial and educational articles that subject matter experts write for American City & County. If you would like to submit an exclusive commentary, click here to view our guidelines.

Highlights

Looking to increase civic engagement? Support the local press

Setting the (government) records straight

Adaptive reuse and municipal facilities: Strengthening mutual trust

Commentary

Looking to increase civic engagement? Support the local press

Article

How to accelerate SLG cloud modernization through emerging technology solutions

Article

Setting the (government) records straight

Article

How local governments can overcome federal grant roadblocks

Commentary

Adaptive reuse and municipal facilities: Strengthening mutual trust

Commentary

Municipal broadband: Using today’s technology to support your community’s future

Article

ARPA opens doors to modernizing the infrastructure of government itself

Article

Deming’s 14 points of management for procurement professionals

Commentary

Building trust: Moving away from self-administration

Article

Six ways states could help cities and towns implement climate solutions

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