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Forecast

Q: What will be the most imporant issues, technologies and changes that will occur in your jurisdiction or field in 1999?

There is still a long mile ahead before the odometer rolls over to 2000 -- or "00" for those still struggling with Y2K conversion. To remedy that oversight, and to recognize the efforts of those engaged in bringing the benefits of technology to government, we selected educators, mayors, CIOs, judges, professors, city managers and others from federal, state and local government agencies, nonprofit organizations and industry, and asked them to share with us their best estimates of what will occupy their time and their attention during the coming year.

Interviews were conducted by Maria Fusilero, Bryan M. Gold, Justine Kavanaugh-Brown, Bill McGarigle, Tod Newcombe, Christopher Nicholson, Andrew Noel and Victor Rivero.

Clarence E. Anthony
Clarence E. Anthony, mayor of South Bay, Fla., (population 4,056) since 1984, is the first vice president of the National League of Cities and is in line to become NLC president this year. He has served on the league's board of directors, the NLC Election '96 Task Force, Policy and Legislative Committee, Community and Economic Development Policy Steering Committee, and the NLC Committee on Localism. A member of the National Black Caucus of Local Elected Officials, he serves on the board of directors of the National Conference of Black Mayors. Anthony also served as president of the Florida League of Cities in 1995, and he serves on many state committees and commissions. He received the Florida Jaycees Mayor of the Year Award for 1989-90.

For my hometown of South Bay, much like small cities throughout the United States, our most important challenge is finding ways to stretch our available resources to meet an ever-growing array of needs. The extraordinary growth of technology systems and applications that fit both the budget and the needs of smaller communities has been a real asset in improving efficiency and controlling costs.
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