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MRSC FOCUS › Focus - November 2002
 

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Focus - November 2002

E-Gov bill Offers State and Local Buying (November 26)
A provision in the federal electronic government bill that passed Congress last week will allow state and local governments for the first time to buy information technology supplies and services off the Federal Supply Schedules. More from Federal Computer Week.
Smart Growth - Current Trends and Future Challenges (November 26)
A recent essay, "Smart Growth: The Future of the American Metropolis?" by Bruce Katz, Director of the Brookings Institution's Center on Urban and Metropolitan Policy, reviews the current state of smart-growth and metropolitan thinking in the United States. The review concludes by identifying the key challenges the smart-growth movement needs to address if it is going to succeed in shaping sustainable metropolitan communities.
Smart Growth and Affordable Housing (November 26)
A recent report by the Smart Growth Network and the National Neighborhood Coalition, Affordable Housing and Smart Growth: Making the Connection (Adobe Acrobat Document2.2 MB), identifies a range of policies and approaches that help achieve both smart growth and affordable housing objectives. It includes case studies of towns, cities, and states that have benefited from linking these two interrelated goals.
Sprawl Guide (November 26)
The Sprawl Guide offers a comprehensive annotated guide to Web resources compiled by the Planners Web for planners and other local officials concerned about the impacts of sprawl.
Web Sightings - Low Impact Development (November 26)
Low impact development (LID) is an integrated, environmentally-friendly approach to land development and stormwater management designed to reduce impacts on watershed hydrology. It emphasizes development techniques that conserve natural vegetation and soils, such as reducing impervious surfaces, using natural landscape features for stormwater treatment, and clustering. For more information see these useful Web resources:

Congestion Clears a Path for Commuter Programs (November 26)
As bottlenecks reach an all-time high, cities and counties are using a broad range of incentives to steer drivers down a different road. More from American City & County.
Congress Passes Pipeline Safety Act (November 20)
Congress passed the Pipeline Safety Improvement Act of 2002 (HR 3609) on November 15. The bill, which received strong support from Washington's congressional delegation, mandates periodic pipeline inspections, stiffens penalties, and requires anti-terrorism measures. President Bush is expected to sign the measure into law.
New County Officials' Orientation (November 20)
The Washington Association of County Officials (WACO) and the Washington State Association of Counties (WSAC) will be holding a New Officials' Orientation, December 10-12, at the WestCoast Olympia Hotel, in Olympia. All county officials are urged to attend and to bring new county officials with them. A block of rooms is available at the WestCoast Olympia Hotel at (360) 943-4000. Please identify yourself as being with WACO and WSAC.
New Web Page - Hazardous Materials (November 20)
Our new Hazardous Materials Emergency Preparedness and Planning Web page includes information on rules and regulations, local emergency planning committees, citizen preparedness, and links to related sites.
New Web Pages - Forest Lands and Timber Revenues (November 20)
We've also added two new Web pages relating to forest lands management: Forest Lands in Washington Counties and County Timber Revenues - Payments and Taxes.
State Coalition Approves Plan to Tax Internet Sales (November 20)
In a recent meeting in Chicago, lawmakers and tax officials representing 30 states approved model legislation designed to create a national framework for taxing items sold over the Internet. The federal Internet tax moratorium, set to expire on Nov. 1, 2003, bans multiple and discriminatory taxation on Internet-based transactions and prevents states and localities from imposing taxes on Internet access services. More from washingtonpost.com.
APWA Resource on ROW Management (November 20)
The American Public Works Association has developed a helpful resource page on Right of Way (ROW) Management, including information on compensation for ROW use.
Hometown Security Guidebooks (November 20)
Two new guidebooks on strengthening hometown security are now available from the National League of Cities - Hometown Security: Federal Resources for Local Governments (Adobe Acrobat Document174 KB) and Hometown Security: Practical Tools for Local Governments (Adobe Acrobat Document182 KB).
Local Governments Must Disclose the Full Names of Police Officers they Employ (November 14)
The state court of appeals ruled on November 12 in King County v. Sheehan that a list of the full names - not merely the last names - of police officers is not exempt from public disclosure and must be disclosed upon request. The court also concluded "that a penalty of at least $5 per day is now mandatory where an agency erroneously withholds a public record, whether or not the agency acted in good faith reliance upon a statutory exemption that is not in fact applicable."
Kirkland Adopts Innovative Housing Ordinance (November 6)
Cottage housing may soon be a part of Kirkland's residential neighborhoods. As part of its vision to encourage affordability and various housing choices for residents, the city recently passed an interim ordinance (Adobe Acrobat Document1.1 MB) allowing new innovative housing demonstration projects (Adobe Acrobat Document95 KB).
Bothell is Counting Seconds for Safer Pedestrian Crossings (November 6)
The city of Bothell is among a few cities in Washington testing a new "pedestrian crossing count down signal." The crossing signal displays and counts down the remaining time (in seconds) that pedestrians have to safely cross an intersection.
Grants - Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (November 6)
The online Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance gives you access to a database of all federal programs available to state and local governments. You can browse the catalog by beneficiary type, including a category just for local government grants/programs.
Washington State and County QuickFacts (November 6)
The U.S. Census Bureau's QuickFacts tables provide an overview of people, business and geographic data for Washington State (compared to the nation) and each county (compared to the state).
Web Sightings: Intergovernmental Cooperation (November 6)
As counties and cities face continuing budget shortfalls, there is renewed interest in regional, intergovernmental cooperation to improve services and reduce costs. Here are a few interesting examples and resources.
Deliberative Dialogue to Expand Civic Engagement (November 6)
A recent article in National Civic Review, "Deliberative Dialogue to Expand Civic Engagement: What Kind of Talk Does Democracy Need?" (Adobe Acrobat Document125 KB) focuses on face-to-face democratic deliberation and describes how community-wide deliberation for action and change is being used as a process for widespread, meaningful civic engagement.
Cities Catch the Wave, Build Skateparks for Teens (November 6)
Municipal officials, industry representatives and skateboard advocates say that skatepark facilities reduce damage to downtown fixtures, provide safe places for skaters and help decrease teen crime. More from the National League of Cities' site.
MRSC Web Site User Sessions Near 200,000 in October (November 4)
MRSC's Web site logged nearly 200,000 user sessions during the month of October, 2002 (users returning within half an hour are counted only once). View our complete usage history. See you at 300,000!