Local Government

A California Environmental Protection Agency tool gives certain areas an "economically disadvantaged" label for funding. But stakeholders in San Francisco argue the tool is keeping money from communities that need it.

Wapello County, Iowa, has taken strides in ensuring that its employees are training on cybersecurity, but the county still has work to do, as it falls below an 80 percent compliance rate.

Officials in Lake County, Ohio, have investigated a data breach attempt during primaries in May. Although the hackers didn't steal any useful information, the incident caught the attention of state and federal eyes.

The department is looking for an increase in its budget for 2022 to include more money for technology for its newly created real-time data center and to add three more officers to bring the department's total to 310.

The ERP technology provider says its new product integrates with other tools and can reduce budget management and development time by half. The company launches the platform as it settles in from its latest acquisition.

The Coalition of City CISOs aims to fill a professional networking gap by helping CISOs of cities and counties share advice and threat intelligence, and presents the local perspective to federal partners and policymakers.

Former Boston Innovation and Technology Department chief of staff Alex Lawrence returns to city government — and to the department — as interim CIO on the heels of David Elges’ departure.

A report finds that only 71% of residents in Joplin, Mo., have a broadband connection, a number well below the national average of 87%. Joplin knows it can't become a smart city with this kind of gap.

Motivated by public interest in zero-emission vehicles and potential long-term cost savings, a small but growing number of Connecticut towns and cities are incorporating electric vehicles into their municipal fleets.

In Nevada, Elko County commissioners have asked the county clerk to consider alternatives to Dominion voting machines, the election technology that the county has been using since 2004.

In the near future, residents of Mercedes, Texas, may be able to pay their utility bills using a form of cryptocurrency. The Mercedes City Commission voted for city staff to research the issue further.

Hollywood, Fla., doesn’t outfit officers with body cameras, an accountability issue raised again this week when a teen carjacking suspect died in custody after a police chase to Miami-Dade County.

How virtual will courts be after COVID-19? In Oregon, Multnomah County Circuit Court is the only court with a fully virtual jury selection process. Stakeholders continue to examine the merit of other virtual court ideas.

This week, the city of Philadelphia released its Open Data Dashboard, a platform that displays recently published data sets to increase transparency and to serve as a resource for other organizations.

To combat false narratives and foster trust in reliable information, governments can invest in local news, support empathy-building initiatives, and ensure election processes are traceable, a new report says.

Benton County, Wash., residents can now go to a new $14 million, 23-acre building for a variety of services, including marriage license applications and property tax payments. The building opened yesterday.

Several rural towns in Massachusetts have taken on millions in broadband-related debt. State lawmakers may allow the towns to use American Rescue Plan Act dollars to lighten the debt for taxpayers.

Lawyers from the U.S. Department of Justice mailed a letter to Portland's city attorney and police chief recommending that all uniformed officers wear body cameras. Questions remain about how the cameras would be used.