Category: Government
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How To Tell Where A Politician, Past and Present, Has Placed Their Money.
One of the little known, if not completely misunderstood, parts of political life is the idea of conflict of interest. Other politicians, in other countries, are normally touted as being evil because they own a part of some business, which receives a relegation benefit from the politician. This happens her two and not just with…
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Happy New Year – One Year Old!
This blog is a year old, this month, I trust that your New Year’s day went well.
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The Budget Process – Do Not Panic
Now that he budget process is over, for most governments in the United States of America, there is a little something we need to mention. Budgets are a mixture of a wish list and a road map of where public funds will be spent in the coming year or biennium. Some places use a biannual…
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Repairing Ailing Infrastructure
Most of the elected people that I know, and I do know a few, have no idea of how to incorporate an upgrade of their utility infrastructure by using a street repair program. Street repair is normally just the street, as opposed to street, curb, gutter, sidewalk, water main, sewer main, telecommunications and the electrical…
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Contracts, Avoiding Being Taken To The Cleaners
After you have been in office for a few months, make some inquiries about contracts are handled by the entity that you serve. Contracts are all about doing the best with as little cash as possible, without the public’s money being squandered. The city of Portland Oregon is a good example of how not to…
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What Not To Outsource
When talking about the economy (as it applies to government spending) there needs to be a discussion about keeping the water, road, sewer, and the solid waste departments in house. The advantage is not so much in money and not spending, as it is about control. Once the government that you serve gets rid of…
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Accounting For The Publics Money.
Of all the things that government does spending money wisely, is the single thing it does the least well of all. Contracts that grow mysteriously larger after they have been signed, costing thousands of tax dollars to be spent, is all to common. As an elected official you should drive to be accountable for every…
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Unions And The Public Work Force
One of the many areas that cities and towns all across America have lost control is the public workforce. Unions in the United States of America, originally, were designed to curb the abuses of the owners of industry, and of businesses. These days, unions also control a vast about of the public sector. The blame…
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Hidden Agendas
The numbers of public officials, elected and otherwise, that have portrayed themselves as middle of the road or conservative, are many. The greater numbers of these people have hidden agendas. That is to say they will tell you one thing while really wanting to do another Presidents are not immune to this sort of thing,…
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Why It Takes So Long To Build A Building
There arises, now and again, the question of “why does it take so long to build a building? The answer is both oddly vague and vaguely odd. Inspections must be done to insure that processes and codes are followed. Several different disciplines are followed, plumbing, carpentry, electrical, and communications. Each needs several inspections over the…
Down The Sewer Pipe - Politically Speaking 