top of page
B&G REPORT.
The B&G Report features newsy items relating to a wide variety of state and local government management topics, including state and local performance audit, state and local performance management, government budgeting, state and local human resource issues, and a variety of other public sector issues.
Search
greenebarrett
2 min read
The state employee engagement problem
Here’s a fascinating bit of information we just learned from Bob Lavigna, the director of the Institute for Public Sector Employee...
greenebarrett
1 min read
Water lost and found: Policy solutions
A couple of days ago, our “audit watch” blog post brought up the common problem of water loss — both actual water that leaks from pipes...
greenebarrett
2 min read
Are all late financial reports accidental?
When a city, county or state releases its Comprehensive Annual Financial Report later than usual, the delay is usually for understandable...
greenebarrett
2 min read
Lost water: Leaky pipes and leaky accounting systems
We’ve been seeing quite a lot of attention lately going to the topic of water loss – either from actual leaks in aging pipes or...
greenebarrett
1 min read
The TEN BIG LIES of State and Local Government
Over the course of the years, we’ve repeatedly heard a series of mantras about the reality of state and local government. We’ve heard...
greenebarrett
1 min read
Two more city benchmarking reports
A couple of days ago we posted some details of the city benchmarking report that San Francisco’s Controller’s office put out (through its...
greenebarrett
1 min read
Quote of the Day
“In great cities, spaces as well as places are designed and built: walking, witnessing, being in public, are as much part of the design...
greenebarrett
2 min read
Benchmarking data for 17 large cities
We have always been fans of benchmark reports. They put performance measures into context, allowing cities, counties or states to see how...
greenebarrett
2 min read
Transportation stats: The good news and the bad
In early February, the U.S. Department of Transportation released its annual compilation of transportation stats, a document we always...
greenebarrett
2 min read
Executive orders: Not just in the White House
We’ve wondered lately about whether the intense focus on Presidential executive orders, in both the current and previous administrations,...
greenebarrett
1 min read
Eek! The mushrooming cost of water infrastructure
Massachusetts auditor Suzanne Bump has often spoken out about the problem of underfunded maintenance, which may conserve government...
greenebarrett
2 min read
Why counties don’t get no respect
We clearly remember a comment made to us years ago by the budget director of Cuyahoga County in Ohio. We were talking about the general...
greenebarrett
1 min read
Quote of the Day
“There are not enough jails, not enough police, not enough courts to enforce a law not supported by the people.” — Hubert H. Humphrey
greenebarrett
3 min read
DO YOU KNOW WHOSE ROAD YOU'RE ON?
Picture this: You’ve gotten off the interstate highway, and are trying to get to your destination of choice. Your car runs into a big...
greenebarrett
2 min read
Lagging Government Inspections: Are You Safe?
There’s been a great deal written about the legalization of marijuana in the states, much of it about potential tax revenues. But here’s...
greenebarrett
2 min read
Auditors tackle police-community relations
We’ve recently seen a spate of local government audits that look at ways to stop negative police-community events before they happen. A...
greenebarrett
1 min read
Succession Planning: The Challenges
A little while ago, we wrote a column for Governing magazine about succession planning. The thrust of our work was that only a small...
greenebarrett
2 min read
“Just a citizen?” Arggggh.
We’ve got credentials coming out of our ears. And we don’t hesitate to use them in order to get through to officials in state and local...
greenebarrett
2 min read
Evidence-based practices: How does your state stack up?
There’s been an explosion of public sector enthusiasm over evidence-based practices in the last five years. But actually understanding...
bottom of page