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We’ve been watching the Ken Burns documentary series about the history of the Vietnam War. It’s a difficult series to watch, but fascinating, nonetheless.   One point that the documentary makes is that, unlike other wars in which success was measured by the land overtaken, in Vietnam that didn’t apply as neither side ever really made any physical progress until after the end of the war, when North Vietnam prevailed and one nation emerged.   As a result, during the war, the measurement used was the number of dead bodies that could be counted (notwithstanding that it wasn’t always clear which side the bodies came from). The point Burns makes is that this was the easiest thing to measure and so was the metric upon which important decisions were made.   This struck a resilient chord for the two of us, thinking not of wars, but of the way states and localities often measure their success. They often focus on data that’s easier to collect but may be less helpful in achieving a desired result.   Take for example, crime rates, which are the measures upon which many police departments determine the degree to which they’re accomplishing their work. We won’t question that everyone wants less crime, but that measure leaves a great deal to be desired. For one thing, people can be fearful of reporting crimes (perhaps because of concern over retaliation or even when they don’t want to be identified by the authorities themselves). This can easily mean that there’s somewhat less crime than that which is being reported. The opposite problem also occurs when an apparent increase in crime comes from a shift in procedure or a change in reporting, leading to greater fears although the actual crime incidence hasn’t changed.   In our view, there may be somewhat better ways to measure crime-fighting success – and that’s the safety felt by the residents of a community.  Regular surveys can uncover this kind of data, but in many communities, surveys can be difficult to administer and unless great care is taken may not even reach the portion of the population that is most vulnerable to crime.   Then there are measures of success of tax incentives. Typically, cities or states turn to the number of new jobs created. But sometimes, these jobs are temporary, leaving a false impression. This is particularly true when it comes to incentives for data centers. Many new jobs are created when the centers are being constructed, but once they’re up and running, the jobs rapidly decline; it really doesn’t take too many people to keep a data center running.   It’s easy to proclaim victory when the first wave of jobs comes in, with few entities publicizing the reduction of jobs that follows, even though these are numbers that are available.   Homelessness provides another good example. Many places measure their success at dealing with this onerous problem by counting the number of shelter beds filled or the number of people who are processed into the system. But it would be more useful to consider the time-to-transition from temporary housing to more permanent abodes. Of course, this is much harder to measure, because fragmented state, local and non-profit systems often don’t share data, making it difficult to determine the results of a policy or how it’s implemented.   The purchase of new large IT systems can also be problematically measured. An entity may take credit for completing the installation of a new hardware or software system. But timeliness, while very important, doesn’t consider whether or not the new technology functions as intended. We can’t begin to count the number of times in which we’ve interviewed people at all levels of government who are woefully disappointed that new technology promises haven’t been kept. In that case, it matters less whether the IT was installed on schedule. It’s like having a train arrive at your station on time but then get stuck on the tracks.   In all these instances, there are no magic wands that leaders can wave to produce results measurements that can be put to good use. Our warning is simple: Be aware that the measurements you’re using are flawed and be careful about the ways they are used to make decisions.   #StateandLocalManagement #StateandLocalPerformanceManagement #StateandLocalGovernmentPerformance #StateandLocalGovernmentPerformanceMeasurement #StateandLocalGovernmentData #CityGovernmentPerformance #CityGovernmentManagement #CityGovernmentPerformanceMeasurement #CountyGovernmentManagement #CountyGovernmentPerformanceMeasurement #CityPerformanceManagement #CountyPerformanceManagement #StateandLocalCrimeMeasurement #StateandLocalCrimeData #StateandLocalTaxIncentiveResults #MeasuringResults #StateandLocalHomelessnessMeasurement #StateandLocalHomelessnessData #MeasuringStateLocalTaxIncentiveSuccess #BandGReport #BarrettandGreeneInc

We don’t get it. Over the years, many cities and states have handed out tax incentives with the notion that they are supposed to have a good return on investment. They’re supposed to bring in jobs and have a ripple effect in neighborhoods in which the incentivized project is located. But that often seems to be an illusion. Elected officials nearly always play up the potential benefits and downplay costs. Fortunately, the Governmental Accounting Standards Board has a standard that entities report lost revenue. But residents aren’t inclined to read government annual reports.   If they were more aware of the tradeoffs between education or health care and the money spent on tax exemptions, it’s our guess that they’d be less than thrilled when a governor or a mayor announced the exciting news about the next big tax-incentive-based economic deal. We’ve written about this in the past, but are moved to bring it up again, as the huge desire for rapidly expanding data centers has led some states – including Virginia, Illinois and Georgia to use tax incentives to attract these sexy new installations.   “Data centers are Exhibit A for what states should not be subsidizing in 2026,” Greg LeRoy, executive director of Good Jobs First, an organization that gathers much of the best data pertaining to tax incentives, told us.  “States themselves report losing 52 to 91 cents on the dollar on their sales and use tax exemptions. Data centers are causing stress on electric grids, driving up electricity prices, taxing water supplies, and creating very few permanent jobs.”   Consider some numbers from Georgia. Currently the state is expected to forgo some $2.5 billion to data center tax exemptions according to the state’s own data . “That’s 664 percent higher than the state’s previous estimate of $327 million,” according to Good Jobs First , “a reflection of the speed at which the industry is extracting public money from communities across the country.” Policy makers often use the so-called ‘but-for’ argument to make the case that if they weren’t forgoing millions, or billions of dollars in exemptions, they’d lose the potential for new economic development to other cities or states. But as we’ve studied this topic over the years, that’s never seemed to hold up in the real world. Far more important than tax incentives is the presence of a skilled workforce. This is particularly true in high-tech sectors, in which proximity to research universities is a major benefit.  Beyond that the costs of labor are a major factor. Then there’s the speed with which a company can move forward. High on the list of disincentives to businesses are lengthy periods – months or even years – to turn a plan into reality. Additionally, the quality of life of a city or state carries a lot of weight. Housing  affordability is a major factor for businesses. If workers must make a long commute to get to the office, that will mean that a company may have troubles in attracting sufficient talent – even in parts of the country in which there are ample talented potential workers.   There’s some powerful evidence that these other factors carry more weight to potential corporate employers. Georgia had a lot going for it in terms of existing infrastructure and low energy costs, and according to the Carl Vinson Institute at the University of Georgia . “in the absence of the exemption, 70% of data center construction activity in the state would have occurred anyway and . . . the remaining 30% could be attributed to the tax exemption.” David Brunori, Senior Director at RSM US LLP , has written extensively about this topic. We asked him to see if he could add anything. Here’s what he wrote; “A more philosophical reason for opposing incentives is that the government is literally picking winners and losers in the marketplace. The government has a hard enough time doing traditional governmental stuff. Government economic planning has never worked very well.  Data centers are a great example.  Many states have encouraged investment in data centers without regard to markets. Now in many states there is a glut of data centers. Moreover, most governments did not consider issues such as energy consumption and land use when providing incentives”   Finally, promises made by companies to deliver thousands of new jobs may not ever come to pass. In some instances, the jobs never materialize, in others the jobs aren’t genuinely new to the region but are simply a factor of shifting an employee from one employer to another.    At least entities that carefully measure the benefits of tax incentives are less likely to throw dollars out the door. But more often that doesn’t come to pass. According to Good Jobs First in 2025, only about 7 percent of U.S. cities disclose both the jobs promised and the jobs actually created. Without this transparency, the public never knows when a project has failed to deliver.   In a column  written by Ellen Harpel, Founder of Smart Incentives and Randall Bauer, Director, PFM Group Consulting, explained, entities should take the following into account:   “Consider both requirements (such as contractual obligations that the company must meet) and requests (information that would be helpful to have but may not be contractually required).” “Data should allow tracking of milestones to show outcomes achieved and incentive payments made. Data insights can also be used to address projects that are not in compliance.”   “Compliance data is valuable for both internal and external use. Internally, managers can see how well programs are performing and which programs are most effective at generating the outcomes the government cares about.”   #StateandLocalManagement #StateandLocalPerformanceManagement  #StateandLocalTaxIncentives #StateandLocalTaxIncentiveCosts #StateandLocalTaxIncentiveTransparency #StateTaxIncentives #LocalGovernmentTaxIncentives #CityGovernmentManagement #CityTaxIncentives #CountyGovernmentManagement#CountyTaxIncentives #TaxIncentivesAndDataCenters  #StateandLocalTaxIncentiveTransparency #CityTaxIncentiveTransparency #CountyTaxIncentiveTransparency #StateandLocalFinancialManagement #CityFinancialManagement #CountyFinancialManagement #StateandLocalEconomicDevelopment #CityEconomicDevelopment #CountyEconomicDevelopment #TaxIncentiveCost #TaxIncentiveCostAndOutcome #StateLocalDataAndTaxIncentives #TrackingTaxIncentiveOutcomesWithData #TaxIncentivesAndPerformanceMeasurement #GovernmentalAccountingStandardsBoard #StateandLocalJobCreation #StateandLocalGovernmentWorkforce #StateandLocalDataCenterCosts #DavidBrunori # RSMUSLLP  #EllenHarpel #SmartIncentives #RandallBauer #PFMGroupConsulting #GovernmentalAccountingStandardsBoard #GASBTaxAbatementStatement

We know that most people who run for office in states and localities do so because they have a passion for doing good for the people they will represent. After all, there’s not a lot of money to be made, the hours are long and they’ve got the pressure of quickly handling unpredictable natural disasters. But we’re concerned to hear that perhaps the gratification of doing good for people may not be enough anymore. In fact, according to an article in The Conversation  by Charles Hunt, Associate Professor of Political Science at Boise State University, “In dozens of states, an increasing number of state legislative seats are going completely uncontested by one of the two major parties.” Hunt attributes this phenomenon largely to the uphill battle confronted by a representative of a party that isn’t backed by sufficient voters to mount a vigorous challenge. We’re confident that he’s right. But we believe there’s something else afoot – particularly for top-level elected executive branch positions. We used to think idly about putting the knowledge we’d acquired in writing about states and localities to practical use by running for a position of some sort. But now, we couldn’t imagine even considering that (notwithstanding that we kind of like what we do already). The world out there has simply gotten way too tough, with the nation’s political polarization generating an arduous battle for getting things done. In fact, it’s gotten so bad that we find ourselves filled with joy whenever we see an initiative for which there’s been bi-partisan support. What’s more, the political attacks that were always part of any campaign have become fiercer and more filled with attacks on individuals, with less attention to the policies for which they stand. As Elaine Cariati, chairwomen of the Meriden (Connecticut) Republican Town Committee told the Ct. Examiner  recently, “Social media has become a ruthless business. They post whatever they want about any candidate and that goes for either party. They go after the candidates and they will say whatever they want and there’s no consequence.” That’s not the only problem with social media. As we wrote  not long ago, “ Our greatest concern is that the amount of incorrect information that is out on the internet can make civic leaders want to tear their hair out, as misinformation builds up from one resident to another until the sheer mass of falsehoods makes it appear to be the truth. Ultimately, this has the potential of diminishing the already low level of trust in government, and that doesn’t do a community any good.” A great deal has been written about state preemption of local decision-making. And then, there’s the federal government’s increasing encroachment on the ability of mayors, other local leaders and state officials to run their own shows. It’s been dubbed a “war over federalism.” Beyond the incursions of ICE, in which federal employees have effectively invaded a number of cities in search of illegal immigrants, another troublesome example has taken place in at least ten  cities, including Charlotte, North Carolina and Washington D.C. where national guard troops have been called in from elsewhere  “despite local crime data showing reductions in violent crime, including homicides, in several of those cities,” according to an article in Capitol B , a non-profit news service. Though the Trump administration appears to have backed off from this effort, it still leaves a chilling effect. The problems just start there. Notwithstanding the sentiments – or even the party affiliations -- of elected officials there’s a sense that the federal government can punish states or cities that don’t go along with its policies. Depriving mayors and governors to make those kinds of decisions themselves neuters their capacity to fulfill the agendas for which they were elected. Even were the federal government is not a part of the picture, this is a particularly tough time to be in elected office in a city or a state. High on the list is the fiscal cliff that many are now confronting as pandemic-based federal aid runs out, even while expenditures on things like health care are rising. These days, no matter how politically astute a city or state leader is, many are faced with an impossible choice: raise taxes or cut services. As Farhad Omeyr, Program Director of Research and Data Analysis for the National League of Cities. explained, “since last December, which was the ARPA cliff, cities’ 2025 budgets have actually started to tap into their fund balances. . .Cities are still feeling downward pressures because of the impacts of tariffs, inflation, infrastructure needs and so on.”’ Further, a great many elected officials are about to face one of their least pleasant tasks: negotiating new labor contracts or coming up with the cash to pay for old ones that were negotiated in the aftermath of the pandemic. We’re optimists by nature, and think that there are still plenty of competent, capable industrious people who will choose to run for office.  And we don’t want to overstate the case and argue that we’re on the edge of a crisis. But we fear that as the life of an elected official is less and less attractive, we may run short of the kind of people that we all need running the show.   #StateandLocalGovernmentManagement #StateandLocalGovernmentPerformance #StateandLocalLeadership #StateLeadership #CityLeadership #LeadershipChillFactor #ElectedOfficialChillFactor #StateandLocalPoliticalCandidateShortage #StateandLocalPublicAdministration #PoliticalCandidateChillFactor #IntergovernmentalRelations #StateandLocalUncontestedElections #UncontestedCityElections #StateandLocalSocialMediaUse #CityGovernmentSocialMediaUse #SocialMediaMisinformation #StateandLocalTrustInGovernment #TrustInGovernment #StateEncroachmentOnLocalGovernment #FederalEncroachmentOnLocalGovernment #StateandLocalFiscalCliff #PoliticalPartisanshipAndStateLocalElections #CityCrimeExaggeration #NationalLeagueOfCities #TheConversation #BandGReport #BarrettandGreeneInc

For some years now, when driving on busy highways there are inevitable moments when we need to merge to a right-hand lane to easily get off at our exit. Maybe there’s a touch of paranoia here, but it feels to us that as soon as we signal to move from our lane to the right, the car on the other lane seems to speed up and not slow down. Our trick – and this works much of the time – is to have the one of us in the passenger seat open the window and put out a hand to signal our intentions.   Suddenly we’ve become human beings not just slabs of metal, and more often than not, we’re able to merge without effort.   This little bit of life experience came to mind when we were listening to George Saunders, the writer best known for his novel “Lincoln in the Bardo” when he was interviewed by David Marchese on the New York Times’ podcast, “The Daily.”   Saunders was, he said, dismayed by “The rate at which we're being encouraged to forgo human-to-human activity.” He went on to remark on the number of daily interactions he experiences that are impersonal. “It’s skyrocketed and I think it’s corrosive,” he said.   In the old days when we did interviews for magazines, frequently we’d make arrangements to meet the interviewee in person in their office and sometimes their homes (we were particularly delighted when then Connecticut Governor Lowell Weicker served us tea in the governor’s mansion). Relationships with people we’ve met in person, we can attest, tend to last longer, be stronger, and engender more mutual trust than those that are developed on the telephone, or even worse through e-mails and worst of all through texts.   There are a great many advantages when people can conduct transactions with their state or local government through websites or online forms. But increasing technological interactions can also risk creating de-personalized government. And when technology isn’t perfectly attuned to a person’s needs – and nobody can be reached in person – that doesn’t help the public servants to gain the appreciation they deserve.    A similar phenomenon can be clearly seen in the workplace. While we understand the need and the benefits of remote work (we’ve been working out of our home for decades), there’s something missing when co-workers aren’t able to communicate in person. In our experience, people are more inclined to cooperate with one another when they actually have a sense that they know one another. Even small talk, which seems like a waste of time, can bring out commonalties that forge relationships and nurture collaboration.   For some years, we were contractors for the Pew Charitable Trusts, working on a long series of projects. Though most of our communications took place through e-mails or phone calls, we made a point of visiting the office in Washington D.C. (or earlier on, in Philadelphia.) for a couple of days every month. Naturally, most of our time was taken up in formal meetings, but in between scheduled interactions, we’d wander down the halls, finding colleagues who were in their offices and weren’t too busy to chat.   We enjoyed these conversations, but we also knew that when it came time to collaborate on a project, these face-to-face interactions led to the kind of relationships that made decisions easier to reach. They engendered mutual trust.   That was an unusual kind of situation, but we’re confident that face-to-face conversations that are entirely about work are often rather productive. For one thing, body language can help to diminish misunderstandings. Even virtual meetings limit the value that can be gained when watching someone else’s hands turn into fists, a sure sign that something may be going awry.   Based on a great many off-the-record conversations that we’ve had with people in state or local government, we’ve heard that the lack of human interaction can easily lead to stressful communication with a supervisor, and unhappiness at the job. Getting negative feedback, in written form or even on the phone, can easily make it difficult to understand how serious a problem is.   One way in which people in the public sector can help fend off the impact of a faceless society is by attending conferences. When more than one person from an organization attends, there’s an easy opportunity to engage with one another in a way that will pay off when everyone returns home. Additionally, the chance to spend time with people from other jurisdictions opens the door to learning practices, programs, policies and management techniques that are working elsewhere.   We have to admit that, with the exception of conferences, given the nature of our work, we tend to fall into the category of people who don’t have much chance to have real in-person contacts. Even some of the organizations with which we work lack an office to visit – the work is all done online.   Certainly, there’s an efficiency that can be gained by the current state of affairs. Joni Mitchell wrote a beautiful song called Both Sides Now, in which one lyric is “Well somethings lost but something’s gained in living every day.”   In this case, we’d like to flip around those words and, suggest that in this case, the lyric could be changed to “Somethings gained but something’s lost in living every day.”   #StateandLocalGovernmentManagement #StateandLocalGovernmentPerformance #StateandLocalGovernmentAndHumanInteraction #OdeToHumanInteraction #StateandLocalHumanResources #StateandLocalHR #StateandLocalWorkforce #EmployeeResidentContact #HumanResourcesMinusHumans #StateGovernmentAndPublicInteraction #CityEmployeesAndHumanInteractionn #StateEmployeesAndResidentInteraction #StateandLocalPublicAdministration #StateandLocalResidentInteraction #PublicSectorDepersonalization #LocalGovernmentAndHumanInteraction #StateGovernmentAndHumanInteraction #CityGovernmentandHumanInteraction #AuthorGeorgeSaunders #LincolnAtTheBardo #DavidMarcheseInterview #BandGReport #BarrettandGreeneInc.

It’s long been known that exposure to bad news can be genuinely unsettling. As long ago as 1997, a study originally published in the British Journal of Psychology found that just 14 minutes of exposure to negative news can significantly increase anxiety and sad moods. Nearly three decades after that study, its conclusion leads to greater concern than ever. The future is wildly uncertain. The media is full of alarming stories, from the growing number of natural disasters to a political climate in which candidates threaten that if their opponent wins, it will mean that the nation will head straight into the pits of hell. With all this in mind, we’ve had a couple of interesting conversations with people who are encouraging public servants (and for that matter the rest of us) to make an effort, more now than ever, to look on the positive side of things, and acknowledge that with careful thought and planning good things can get done. A couple of weeks ago, we had a conversation with Rita Reynolds, formerly CIO of the National Association of Counties and she had this to say: “Is the glass half full? Is it half empty? I prefer to look at a problem in terms of ‘Okay, that didn't work. What else can we do that will meet the need or meet the deliverables on the time frame we established?’ And if it can't, then let's be honest and upfront about what we're going to do to get us close. That's a positive attitude, that's finding solutions. That's the type of skills that are needed in today's world.” More recently, we chatted with Erica Broome, revenue planning manager for Rock Hill, South Carolina who is also an advocate of positivity in the workplace. As she told us, “Negative people like company, and if my team starts to drift negative then performance drops and collaboration collapses. I don’t want to spend my whole week managing people’s moods instead of what I’m here to do which is to manage the city’s finances.” There’s been a great deal of talk for the last several years about burnout among public sector employees. Assuming that work overload that leads to burnout isn’t going away, one source of relief from burnout is keeping an upbeat attitude. Consider these two options, when a public servant is faced with a difficult problem. They can have an internal conversation in which they tell themselves one of two things or something in between. The negative person thinks: “I’m confronting a task that is going to make me want to cry. The positive person thinks: “Well this is really difficult, but I can find a way to manage it.” Which one do you think will make a staffer stay productive and avoid burnout? Fortunately for people at the local level the results of their work can be felt by the residents they serve. The local press may be tilted toward the negative at the federal level, but at least there’s a chance that it will give credit to the completion of a new bridge, a youth opportunity initiative, or a community garden. Since public employees aren’t usually attracted to their jobs because of high pay, a sense of accomplishment – and the positive feelings that inspires -- can be a major motivator toward working still harder.  In the little Connecticut town in which we live, the community got credit for quickly clearing the snow and providing guidance for residents who may have lost their power and heat -- lists of warming centers, for example. Kind words from  neighbors and constituents are key to maintaining a positive outlook. Norman Vincent Peal had powerful advice for keeping up that kind of proactive attitude in his famous 1952 book, “The Power of Positive Thinking.” Most of the people reading this weren’t born when that best-seller came out, but his guidance continues to be worthwhile, we think. A few quotes: “Believe in yourself. Have faith in your abilities. “If you have zest and enthusiasm, you attract zest and enthusiasm.” Become a possibilitarian. No matter how dark things  seem to be, or actually are, raise your sight and see possibilities” “Stand up to your obstacles and do something about them. You will find that they haven’t half the strength you think they have.” “Every problem has in it the seeds of its own solution.” Not only can a brighter outlook help public employees stay the course in choppy seas, it can also be beneficial for people who are applying for public sector jobs. Interviewers aren’t inclined to be attracted to people who have a sour attitude toward the world. Rather, they’re looking for employees who take pleasure in solving problems, rather than dwelling on them. Richard Rogers and Oscar Hammerstein offered good advice to this point, in their musical the King and I, when they wrote, “W henever I feel afraid. I hold my head erect. And whistle a happy tune. So no one will suspect, I'm afraid.” #PositiveAttitudesAndGovernmentSolutions  #StateandLocalPerformanceManagement #StateandLocalGovernmentManagement #StateAndLocalGovernmentWorkforce #StateandLocalHumanResources #StateandLocalHR #StateandLocalHiring #StateandLocalProblemSolving #CityProblemSolving #CountyProblemSolving #StateandLocalEmployeeEngagement #PublicSectorProblemSolving #StateandLocalEmployeeBurnout #AntidoteToEmployeeBurnout #PositiveThinkingAndPublicSectorProgress #PositiveThinkingAndStateandLocalGovernment #PositiveThinkingAndResidentOutreach  #PositiveThinkingAndEmployeeBurnout #StateandLocalGovernmentCulture #PositiveThinkingAndGovernmentResults #CityManagementAndPositiveThinking #CityPerformanceAndPositiveThinking #CountyManagementAndPositiveThinking #CountyPerformanceAndPositiveThinking #PositivityAndResidentOutreach #StateandLocalHiring #RitaReynolds #RockHillSouthCarolina #NormanVincentPeale #BandGReport #BarrettandGreene

Back in 1871, Lewis Carroll began to use the term “portmanteau” as a description of words (which he made up) that blended two meanings into one. One of those that has lasted over the years includes  “chortle,’ which  was originally coined, in the poem Jabberwocky by Carroll, as a combination of “chuckle” and “snort.” Others that followed included “brunch” for breakfast and lunch; “motel” for a motor hotel; “smog for smoke and fog,” and “infomercial” for the combo of “information and a commercial.” It struck us that there are ample opportunities for us to come up with our own portmanteau words to apply to state and local government. We don’t expect them to become part of the English language, but it was sure a pleasant game coming up with them. And we invite our readers to try to think of more and send them our way. Try it. It’s fun. Procurementality – For the careful thought that should go through the minds of agency heads when they consider the kind of goods and services that they’re going to need in order to carry out the missions of a program. Artificial-Intelligentsia  – This is the group of people, who believe that they really understand a great deal about the future of AI (whether they’re right or wrong) Medicadence  – The hoped for future in which the Medicaid program ceases to be a hugely contentious area, but settles down into something that’s far more predictable. Appropriateation – The state in which in which dollars spent by a government (appropriations) are used for the programs and efforts that are proven to be essential or have the chance of providing a reasonable return on investment, as opposed to the cash that goes out, for example, to benefit political donors. Referendummy  – When something comes up for voter approval, and is passed, despite the fact that it really doesn’t have the remotest chance of helping the people who supported it or even those who didn’t. Jurisdictionary – A guide to all the jargon and acronyms that are commonly used in cities, counties and states, but which nobody outside the field really understands. Having come up with these first seven of our own, we decided to see the results we’d get if we asked an artificial intelligence program to help come up with more.  Following is a list of more public sector portmanteau words, courtesy of AI (and sadly, for us, we like some of these better than the ones we came up with ourselves): Bureaucra-chat : The lengthy, circular conversation that occurs during a public hearing where nothing is actually decided.   Zonarchy : A local government system where the zoning board holds more power than the actual mayor.   Potholery : The specific brand of wizardry or "creative accounting" used to explain why a road hasn’t been paved in a decade.   Taxasperation : The feeling of looking at your local property tax assessment and realizing your "shed" is being taxed as a luxury villa.   Munici-pals : The unique brand of midnight pizzas, and talk about the latest football game, that accompanies the kind of "pal-ship" shared between city council members during a late-night budget session.   Legis-late : The act of waiting until 11:59 PM on the final day of the session to pass a 400-page bill.   Ordin-ancestry : The ancient, outdated local laws that no one follows but everyone is too afraid to repeal (e.g., "no horses on Main Street after 8 PM").   Quorum-rumor : The frantic whispering in the hallway when it’s unclear if enough board members will show up for a meeting to be legal.   Votivation : The sudden, intense surge of energy a local official gets to fix your sidewalk exactly two weeks before an election.   Gover-natter : The polite, non-committal small talk a governor engages in while touring a county fair.   Permit-igation : The grueling, multi-month process of trying to mitigate the headache caused by a simple building permit application. #StateandocalGovernmentWordPlay #PortmanteauWordsForStateandLocalGovernment #PortmanteauWordsForCityGovernment #PortmanteauWordsForCountyGovernment #PortmanteauWordsForBudgeting #PortmanteauWordsForStateandLocalTaxation #PortmanteauWordsForStateGovernment #StateandLocalGovernmentAndLewisCarroll #StateandLocalGovernmentAndJabberwocky #PortmanteauWordsForPublicSectorManagement #PortmanteauWordsForPublicSectorPerformance #DedicatedToStateandLocalGovernment #BandGReport #BarrettandGreeneInc

For a while our Facebook account was out of order. It required the intervention of our son (a native in the world of social media) to figure out how to get it running again. And now we’re not so certain that we’re better off than we were before. In truth, we’re not huge social media users. We have an Instagram account but rarely use it. Every couple of months we fool around with Tik-Tok. We don’t quite count LinkedIn in this group, as it’s far more professionally oriented in nature, and we’re heavy users of that service. Since we tend to view most cultural phenomena through the lens of cities, counties and states, we’ve set about thinking about whether social media has been a force for good or for evil. And as is typical with these kinds of binary questions, our conclusion is that it’s some of both. On the positive side, for example, we’ve been grateful for information about public emergencies, which can be communicated in real time. A couple of weeks ago, we found the following information on Facebook from the nearby city of Danbury, which indicated that “The State Cold Weather Protocol will be in effect tomorrow January 15, 2026 at 5;00 pm through Friday January 16, 26 at 12:00PM due to dangerously low temperatures and strong winds.” The post went on to list the City of Danbury Warming Centers for people who had no way to get out of the cold. Pretty amazing, we think, for officials to be able to communicate to citizens the information they can use just when they need to use it. Beyond that, social media can offer up live-streaming town halls. And even though these meetings can be tedious and sometimes antagonistic, this gives the residents of a community the opportunity to hear directly from their communities’ leaders, without having their comments filtered through the lens of the local television, newspaper or radio station. We also see the use of social media outlets to recruit talent and boost tourism and small businesses. Finally, social media offers residents the opportunity to make their feelings heard and to complain about potholes, slow service at city hall or argue against changes in zoning that may affect their lives. For communities that pay attention, this can allow a way to find out what some residents are thinking and tap a broader crowd than show up at town meetings. Lest you think that we’re huge advocates of social media, you missed the idea that any article which has a section that begins with “on the positive” side is likely to lead to another series of paragraphs that begin with. “But on the negative side. . .” And here we go. Our greatest concern is that the amount of incorrect information that is out on the internet can make civic leaders want to tear their hair out, as misinformation builds up from one resident to another until the sheer mass of falsehoods makes it appear to be the truth. Ultimately, this has the potential of diminishing the already low level of trust in government, and that doesn’t do a community any good. Then too, functioning as an echo chamber, social media can encourage quick responses and distorted information, “undermining the potential for informed discourse and contributing to societal polarization,” as the California Resource Learning Network  aptly put it. We’d be surprised, in fact, if public sector staffers who are regularly exposed to uninformed comment, outright lies and online vitriol, don’t find it increasingly difficult to go to work each day. It’s only human nature to want to be appreciated, and to be unfairly attacked by the online voices is counterproductive for everyone concerned. Even in times when natural disasters hit, and governments use social media to get out good information, this useful material can easily be buried beneath rumors and falsehoods about the nature of the calamity that can jam up social media sites in a way that is counterproductive. Meanwhile, working in social media makes a government a great target for hackers, which means that there’s an ever-growing burden on an entity’s budget just to fend off the daily efforts to compromise city, county and state accounts. Then there’s the digital divide that crops up for people who are uncomfortable with social media for privacy purposes, individuals who have not yet acclimated to the world of online communications and people with disabilities who are unable to navigate online material that frequently doesn’t comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act.   Finally, there can be some confusion between the social media posts that are put out by governments themselves and elected officials who may be simply stating a strong opinion and are not actually reporting official government information. While many consultants to states and localities advise that they get out their messages through social media – particularly as the old-fashioned conduits like newspapers have faded, it’s critical that governments think their social media use through clearly, and not simply as an adjunct to other means of reaching the populace, that can be easily utilized because it's cheap. #StateandLocalGovernmentManagement #StateandLocalGovernmentPerformance #StateandLocalGovernmentCommunications #StateandLocalSocialMediaUse #StateandLocalSocialMediaAdvantages #StateandLocalSocialMediaDangers #StateandLocalPublicOutreach #CityGovernmentManagement #CityGovernmentPerformance #CityGovernmentCommunications #CityGovernmentSocialMediaUse #CityGovernmentPublicOutreach #CountyGovernmentManagement #CountyGovernmentCommunications #CountyGovernmentSocialMediaUse #CountyGovernmentPublicOutreach #SocialMediaMisinformation #SocialMediaAndPoliticalPolarization #PositiveStateLocalUseOfSocialMedia #NegativeStateLocalUseOfSocialMedia #PublicSectorDigitalDivide #SocialMediaEchoChambers #StateandLocalPolarization #BandGReport #BarrettandGreeneInc

Late last year, Bill Eggers, executive director of Deloitte's Center for Government Insights, wrote on LinkedIn that "Over my decades working on government reform, my one major complaint has always been that think tanks have focused so much time and resources on policy and too little on policy execution and the nitty-gritty of government operations He was playing our song, and we’d like to add that we find the same unfortunate phenomenon doesn’t just exist in think tanks but also among many elected officials who are entirely concentrated on developing new policies but give too little thought to how they are going to be implemented.   As for us, though we’ve spent a great deal of time and effort researching and writing about policy (especially during the period of time we spent working as  consultants to the Pew Charitable Trusts), our true love has always been exploring management issues in a whole host of fields including information technology, human resources, budgeting and so on. However good a policy is, we’ve found, when the management and implementation is bungled, the great new idea can turn out to be a failure.   We reached out to a few smart people to see what they had to say about this, and Mike Pagano, Dean Emeritus, of the University of Illinois Chicago, College of Urban Planning and Public Affairs, thoroughly agreed, telling us that “Although policy issues/concerns seem to dominate the airwaves, it's the implementation and management that make a difference in our lives.”  Added Don Kettl, the well-known professor emeritus at the University of Maryland (and co-author with us of The Little Guide to Writing for Impact ),   “ there's a strong case that one of the big drivers of distress in government is the worry among citizens that government programs either don't work, don't work well, or don't benefit them, and it's hard for people to trust things when promises are made and promises aren't kept. Typically, that’s because of a failure to either think through implementation problems from the beginning or fumbling the ball once implementation starts.”   John Bartle, president of the American Society for Public Administration, agreed and added that “While policy is initially made in developing the proposal and on the floor of the legislature, most of the key decisions are made in its implementation. Appointed officials have dozens, maybe hundreds, of decisions to interpret a policy and how it applies in unexpected or borderline cases. “Most citizens care less about the ideology of a policy than making it work and getting value for their tax dollar. Clean water, good schools, safe streets, and thriving neighborhoods are not partisan or ideological issues, they are part of a prosperous and progressive community. Politics is flashy and grabs our attention. While determining who is in power is important, it is a prelude to governance. Street-level bureaucrats make it happen.” We didn’t want to stop our outreach with academics, and so we contacted a few practitioners including Brooks Williams, who is the city manager of Ferris, Texas, and he explained that “ The longer I do this work, the more convinced I am that the most important debates in public life are not won in the policy arena. They are won, or lost, in the machinery that has to carry the decision into a Tuesday morning when nobody is watching. A council can adopt a new priority in one night. A governor can sign a bill in one afternoon. A think tank can publish a report and move on to the next one. “But those are not the moments the public experiences government. People experience government at the permitting counter, the dispatch console, the utility crew schedule, the court docket, the procurement rules, the legacy software that still runs half the organization, and the employee who is trying to do the right thing with six interruptions and a phone that will not stop ringing. If you want to understand why trust frays, start there. It is not because people are reading policies and rejecting them. It is because they are running into a system that cannot consistently do what it promised, and over time they learn that the words were easier than the work.” We can’t deny that bad policies, well implemented may be the worst variation of all, But assuming that the policies have potential, why has the emphasis on them over management and implementation prevailed?   The answer isn’t difficult to see from the elected officials’ point of view. After all, people get elected to office when they pass new laws and announce new programs. There’s nothing like a good old-fashioned ribbon-cutting to get attention from the media. Public announcements of the opening of a new infrastructure or economic development project provide the kinds of sound bites that attract attention from the media (and the official hopes, praise from the general public).   But when was the last time you heard a city councilmember, mayor, state legislator or governor even mention the procurement office that made a new infrastructure development possible or bring up the careful thought in the human resources office that allowed an entity to bring in the kind of staff that made it a better place to live.   Yet the connections are abundantly clear if you just look behind the scenes of governmental progress. Last year we wrote and contributed to UKG research (along with Polco), a study  that provided credible evidence that supported the hypothesis that effective workforce practices have a positive impact on resident satisfaction with both the quality of the services and the customer service they receive from their local government;  their overall confidence in their municipal government and the quality of life in their community.   So, even though these so-called bureaucrats (a term that we’re frustrated  has turned into a pejorative) may not get accolades, they most certainly deserve them. And we’ll continue to give appropriate credit to them in the future and hope that people notice.   #StateandLocalGovernmentManagement #StateandLocalGovermentPerformance #StateandLocalGovernmentHumanResources #StateandLocalGovernmentHR #StateandLocalPerformanceManagement #StateandLocalPerformance #StateandLocalBudgeting #StateandLocalGovernmentDataManagement #StateMedicaidManagement #StateandLocalPolicyImplementation #CityGovernmentManagement #CountyGovernmentManagement #CityPerformanceManagement #CityGovernmentPerformance #CountyGovernmentPerformanceManagement #CountyGovernmentPerformance #WhyPublicPoliciesFail #GovernmentBureaucrats #StateandLocalProcurement #CityProcurement #StateandLocalFinancialManagement #StateandLocalInfrastructuremanagement #PolcoHRStudy #Polco #PolcoStudyAndResidentSatisfaction #NittyGrittyGovernmentManagement #StateandLocalPublicAdministration #PewCharitableTrusts #DeloitteCenterForGovernmentInsights #StateandLocalTechnologyManagement #BillEggers #MikePagano #DonKettl #JohnBartle #BrooksWilliams #BandGReport #BarrettandGreeneInc

When people talk about the high cost of state and local government, they often miss an important distinction: between costs and investments. People understand in their own lives that when they put money into bonds or the stock market, these aren’t really costs but money put aside in hopes that they will get a return on this cash in years to come. Yet they miss that same phenomenon when it’s in place for their tax dollars. There are lots of examples of this phenomenon, Training, for example, is often the first thing that states and localities cut to balance their budgets. But the reality is that when workers aren’t trained well, they’re going to be less effective and efficient in their efforts, and that’s a cost for the entities – and thus the taxpayers – over the long term. As Benjamin Franklin said, “ An investment in knowledge pays the best interest." One obvious example is when new technologies are put into place, often costing millions of dollars. The IT folks who are in charge are often sufficiently trained, but many employees who are interacting with the newest innovations aren’t even aware of the bells and whistles in the first place.   As Wiliam Brantley, President of Brantley Advanced Social Sciences Applications, wrote in late 2024 : “A training department dedicated to upskilling and reskilling can improve the efficiency and effectiveness of state and local governments. Investing in human resources is a crucial aspect of governance” Training is just the beginning, and it’s difficult to quantify exactly what its returns are. In other areas there’s strong data to demonstrate our point. Consider the cost of disasters. In just the first half of last year they cost about $100 billion in the United States. With the appropriate advance steps taken, huge sums of dollars can be saved – in addition to reducing the turmoil for residents who experience hurricanes, tornados, wildfires, and floods. As the Pew Charitable Trusts wrote  in a July 2025 article,  “local emergency management agencies lead disaster response and recovery, but many lack the resources, staffing and long-term planning capacity to get ahead of increasingly complex and costly events.”   In fact, an analysis conducted jointly by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and Allstate revealed that “investments in resilience and preparedness can substantially reduce the economic costs associated with disasters.” The study found that each $1 of investments “reduces a communities’ economic costs after an event by $7.”   Similarly, though cities, counties and states frequently lack the cash necessary to keep up with maintaining their infrastructure, including roads, bridges and buildings, this too is a fiscally shortsighted choice.   As Noah Winn-Ritzenberg, Senior Director, Public Finance, Volcker Alliance, wrote in a Guest Column  for this website, “Deferring infrastructure maintenance may be a tempting relief valve as budgets become strained. Ignoring the mounting maintenance backlog, however, could imperil economic activity and future revenue as well as incur higher replacement costs down the road, only serving to deepen fiscal woes.”   It's really just common sense at work here. The option to spending the necessary dollars to keep infrastructure in shape is to eventually allow it to decay to the point where it becomes hazardous and ultimately useless. At that point, full replacement becomes necessary, which is far more expensive than keeping up with maintenance costs as they arise.   According to FacilitiesNet , an online resource for facilities management professionals,  “Studies of organizations show that on average, for every dollar "saved" by deferring maintenance, there comes a four dollar increase in future capital renewal costs. Those are the direct costs for that specific asset. There are additional indirect costs that may have an even larger impact. Over the life of that asset, those additional costs may total more than 15 times what would have been spent on the maintenance had it not been deferred.”   These estimates apply to all organizations, not just to states and localities, but there’s every reason to believe that the same multiplier effect applies at least as much to governments in which assets are often particularly large in scale.   One last thought here. Though it may be the case that nobody likes it when the taxman comes calling, money spent on tax audits is one of the best investments (not costs!) around.   Although most of the data about this pertains to the IRS, we have no reason to believe that the numbers are any less dramatic in cities, counties and states. And as for the feds, “we find an additional $1 spent auditing taxpayers above the 90th income percentile yields more than $12 in revenue, while audits of below-median income taxpayers yield $5,” according to research done by the National Bureau of Economic Research .” There’s no question that for many taxpayers, a combination of a lack of trust in government, coupled with a desire to keep this year’s taxes as low as possible, can lead their states and cities to avoid spending money regardless of the long-term benefits. That’s understandable, of course, but in many cases it’s not wise. #StateandLocalGovernmenManagement #StateandLocalGovernmentPerformance #StateandLocalInfrastructureManagement #CityCostsVsInvestments #CountyCostsVsInvestments #StateCostsVsInvestments #StateandLocalHR #StateandLocalGovernmentBudgeting #UnderstandingCostsAndInvestments #StateandLocalEmployeeTraining #StateandLocalTaxManagement #StateandLocalEmergencyManagement   #StateandLocalEmergencyPrevention #StateandLocalTaxAuditInvestment #StateandLocalTrainingInvestment #StateandLocalInfrastructureInvestment #StateandLocalDeferredMaintenanceInvestment #StateandLocalEmergencyPreventionInvestment #BrantleyAdvancedSocialSciencesApplications #WilliamBrantley #VolckerAlliance #NoahWinnRitzenberg #FacilitiesNet #TaxAuditInvestment #BandGReport #BarrettandGreeneInc

“This is the last B&G Report we’ll be publishing in 2025 (the next new column will appear in this space on January 12, 2026 )  And so, we thought it only appropriate for us to look back at the columns we’ve done over the last year to pick out ten of our favorites – and provide them to our readers who may have missed them the first time around. Take a look, and as NBC used to say  in a campaign to get people to watch its reruns, “If you haven’t seen it, it's new to you.”   Uncertainty Is The Only Certainty : “Much of the coverage about the concerns that beset states and localities tends to focus on specific areas like budgetary shortfalls, the need for better technology and a shortage of people to fill many vital positions (where have all the accountants gone?)   But, increasingly, in conversations we’re having about all these topics and more, the problem that seem to keep our sources awake at night can be expressed in a single word: “Uncertainty.”   Dataphobia:  (We) “ worry about what we see as a growing inclination to distrust or dismiss data when it potentially disrupts policy or political plans.  If data doesn’t conform with expectations, further analysis is always welcome to determine why. But to ignore the message, bury it out of public view or reject it out of hand only undermines the effort to see what’s really working in government and what’s not.”   Ten Tips for Better Performance Management : “ During the last three (plus) decades, we’ve seen a number of flaws crop up in the performance management functions of cities, counties and states. Some of these are obvious -- like the problems caused by low quality data -- others are not. Following, are ten tips that we believe can be useful for entities that covet success in this discipline.”   Untangling Fraud, Waste and Abuse : “ Many states, counties and city leaders are regularly raging against “fraud, waste and abuse.” This is hardly a new issue but inspired by the efforts in Washington D.C. – whatever you think of the administration’s approach – there’s been refreshed action at other levels of government to tackle this triad of governmental ills.   “Here’s the problem. These three words are generally comingled as if they were one thing. But they’re not. And mixing them together as a single phenomenon can easily cause governments to lose a clear vision as to exactly what they’re trying to fix.”   AI and Energy Use: A Growing Concern : “ AI has the potential to use incredible amounts of electricity, and at a time when global warming is no longer a matter of debate in the serious scientific community, this feels to us like the kind of emerging problem which soon enough will be in the headlines everywhere.”   Survey Exhaustion : We really want to have our voices heard when it comes to matters of concern to us, and we suspect that most people feel much the same way. But over the last few years, as the flow of surveys that come our way has turned into a deluge, our inclination to reply to many of them has decreased.     And we’re far from alone. So-called “survey fatigue”, like the kind we’re experiencing, isn’t a new phenomenon, and there were articles being written about it several years ago. But we’d argue that it has now entered a new phase: Let’s call it survey exhaustion.   Are Best Practices Really the Best : “We do an awful lot of reading of press releases in which various states or localities (or frequently an outside public relations firm) refers to some initiative as a ‘best practice.’   “Typically, if we write about the topic, we substitute in other phrasing, like a ‘practice that works,’ or an ‘evidence-based approach,’ (if it is). Of course, when we’re quoting from a study or a report we’re stuck with the phrase ‘best practice,’ as we don’t change direct quotes to suit ourselves.”   Bureaucracy Is Not a Dirty Word : “When was the last time you heard anyone say, ‘Gee what an excellent bureaucracy we have in the Department of Motor Vehicles. It only took me five minutes to get a new driver’s license’?   “In fact, the word bureaucracy is most frequently used as a pejorative. . . But this kind of context for bureaucracy is a sad and frustrating fallacy. Without the bureaucrats, we’d be left with a bunch of policies and programs that would have no one left to implement them.” Eight Gripes about Government Websites : “ Nearly every town, city, county and all the states have websites. We turn to them with regular frequency for a variety of purposes, which we’ll delve into right now. But there are any number of downsides to many websites and that’s what we really want to write about today. . .   “Since barely a day passes when we’re not visiting a government website, we’ve accumulated a bunch of grievances. Here are eight that are on the top of our list.”   Information Can Be A Buried Treasure : “What AI can find for you is information that has been digitized. But there’s tons of valuable material that’s never been put in digital form. That includes information about groups and cultures, with histories that have been written about less and never picked up by the digitizers of the world.”   #DedicatedtoStateandLocalGovernment #StateandLocalManagement #StateandLocalPerformanceAudit #StateandLocalPerformance #StateandLocalPerformanceManagement #StateandLocalData #StateandLocalDataGovernance #BadData #MissingData #GovernmentWebsiteFlaws #StateandLocalAI #StateandLocalBureaucracy #SurveyExhaustion #CityData #CityManagement #CityPerformance #CityPerformanceAudit #CountyManagement #CountyPerformanceAudit #AIandEnergyUse #WasteFraudandAbuse #StateandLocalUncertainty #InDefenseOfBureaucracy #BandGReport #BarrettandGreene #BarrettandGreeneCommentary

When the federal government announced that it intended to create a new Department of Government Efficiency, we had our doubts – which were fulfilled when the news emerged that the vast majority of DOGE’s efforts were to cut back on government employees to the extent that some agencies have been hobbled by the lack of trained workers. Soon enough we began to hear that a number of states, which were led by Republicans, were also starting programs with the phrase DOGE, or a variation like COGE (Committee on Government Efficiency) attached, including Florida, Oklahoma, Iowa, Louisiana, Missouri and others. But the power of rhyme aside, in many instances these have been a different exercise than that which was once led by Elon Musk at the federal level. For one thing, while many of the state efforts were created by legislation or executive order, the federal version was essentially an advisory body, free-wheeling in its approach, but with no internal mechanism for making sure its recommendations turned into actions – even though a number accomplished just that, reflected by the number of federal workers who lost their jobs. In fact, it turns out that many of these state-level DOGE efforts are more similar to old-fashioned streamlining initiatives – the best of which save dollars while ensuring that the level of service is maintained or improved. Take Kansas, for example. The heart of its COGE effort is a government efficiency portal , which allows residents of the state to submit ideas for making their government more effective and efficient. Back in February, Oklahoma’s effort labeled DOGE-OK was established to demonstrate “that Oklahoma is committed to smarter government,” Governor Kevin Stitt was quoted as saying. “We’re focused on reducing waste, investing in efficiency and delivering better services to Oklahomans without raising costs.” For example, the state’s Department of Transportation, has combined, “district facilities and crews, instead of undertaking the cost to potentially replace each individual building,” according to a release . “Depending on the number of crews combined, these enhanced facilities will save ODOT approximately $2.9-$5 million per facility and allow district personnel to efficiently collaborate, cross-train, and maintain heavy field equipment. Efforts are underway in District Four, District Seven and District One, for a combined savings of about $12.9 million.” It seems to us that it’s a pity that these states, which are launching efforts to save money and deliver services more efficiently felt impelled to use DOGE-like wording in their creation. This, we think, politicized initiatives, many of which were just good old-fashioned management. For example, in March, according to an AP article,  Wisconsin, avoided that trap when it created a GOAT committee, which stands for Government Operations, Accountability and Transparency. Three of its nine members are Democrats. What’s more, unlike the federal government, “the committee can’t unilaterally fire state workers or slash government spending. Broad actions like that require action by the full legislature which is controlled by Republicans in addition to Democratic Governor Tony Evers.” Even though we make every effort to avoid raising political issues in this space, it seems to us that the politicization of good management by copying the Trump Administration’s labeling, is an unfortunate trend – particularly when many Republican efforts have not taken a page out of the federal DOGE’s book. Over the course of years, we’ve tried to point to streamlining efforts as much as possible, regardless of the party affiliation of the state leaders involved. But picking up on the DOGE name does a disservice, we believe to this good work. While there may be some states that genuinely want to follow in the footsteps of the federal DOGE efforts, we haven’t come across any that are genuinely inclined to following the federal model, such as it is. As our friends and colleagues Don Kettl and Phil Joyce recently pointed out,  “ At first, Musk  promised  to find $2 trillion in savings. Then the pledge dropped to $1 trillion. Then he struggled to document any savings at all.” The states can be – and are – doing much better than that.    #StateandLocalGovernmentManagement #StateGovernmentEfficiency #StateandLocalGovernmentPerformanceManagement #DOGEinStateGovernment #StateDOGEvsFederalDOGE #StateStreamliningInitiatives #WisconsinGOAT #KansasCOGE #DOGEOklahoma #DifferenceBetweenStateandFederalDOGE #StreamliningAndPolitics #StateGovernmentAccountability #TransportationStreamliningIdeas #StateResidentOutreach #KansasStreamliningOutreach #StateandLocalHr #StateandLocalGovernmentPerformance #StateandLocalHumanResourcesManagement #StateandLocalGovernmentWorkforce #StateStreamliningIdeas #BandGReport #BarrettandGreeneInc

Several years ago, when the nation was in the depths of the pandemic, there was hardly an article we could write that didn’t bring the impact of Covid-19 into play. Even though the public sector was still delivering tons of services, collecting taxes and trying to create affordable housing, everybody we talked to about these topics would bring in questions of how they were being impacted by the pandemic. We were disheartened by the terrible toll the pandemic was taking, but, frankly, tired of being drawn to its ramifications in most of what we wrote – whether in the realms of human resources, budgeting or technology. More recently, we’re experiencing much the same phenomenon with the fast-growing advent of artificial intelligence. Surely AI is changing the world around us at a rapid clip, but it’s not the only thing that’s going on in the public sector. Just yesterday, we were interviewing someone about leadership academies for an article we’re working on now – and before we knew it, the conversation had somehow morphed into one about AI. Then there’s the relentless news that flows from the federal government. It’s so hard to escape that increasingly people are writing about a phenomenon called "news fatigue”. So how can states and local governments get a word in edgewise, when the big story of the year tends to crowd them out of the public eye? Here’s a list of recommendations for those of you who speak to reporters or researchers who want to write about your government:      1)   Speak directly and honestly. Government officials who are trained to deal with the press (actually just about anyone who is trained to deal with the press) have learned to skirt questions asked so they can answer entirely different questions of their choosing. At various times we’ve had media training, and this is exactly what we’ve been told: “Don’t worry about the question you’re asked. Just answer the question you wanted to be asked.” There may be some logic to this, but it’s a really good way to avoid being quoted at all. When reporters are putting together an article about a particular topic, they’re disinclined to let you bring them down another road entirely.   2)   Don’t allow your public information officers to take over the show. It’s stopped being a surprise to us when we seek a conversation with an elected or appointed official to write about something positive that they’ve accomplished, we find ourselves blockaded by gatekeepers who make us jump through a series of hoops. This is particularly unsettling when we’ve talked to that source in the past, with no problems, but now they’re being protected so effectively that we struggle to get to them again (even when there’s a deadline involved for us).   3)   If your press liaison sits in on the interview, try to do the talking yourself. You’re the one who the reporter will want to quote, not your press person   4)   It’s fine to say “I don’t know.” That’s way better than making something up. But if it’s possible to follow up with written answers to the questions you couldn’t answer, that’s a terrific approach. (And by the way, if you promise to send more information after the conversation, don’t forget to do it!)   5)   Don’t rely on press releases to get your story across. Our own e-mail boxes are full of so many releases every day that it’s impossible to ferret out all the stories that we would want to tell. And in hopes that this doesn’t sound boastful, we suspect that we review story ideas more carefully than most other journalists do.   6)   For years, we’ve talked about “adopting a reporter,” a device that we’ve seen work for some very smart public officials.  By this we mean that a personal relationship with the people at the news outlets you would like to report your story, goes a long way to getting attention to it.   7)   Tell stories that provide concrete examples. Speaking in broad generalities can sometimes be helpful, but actual real-life stories are inclined to make the message you want to get across come to life. It’s always been a source of frustration to us, when we seek a clear example from the real world, and our source can’t seem to provide one.   8)   Speak in plain English. Jargon is bad enough and acronyms can be impenetrable. It’s easy when you’re living in a world in which acronyms are understood by everyone in your immediate circle, to think that everyone knows what they mean. But that’s not true. (In fact, it’s relatively common for a source to be unable to even tell us what the mysterious letters in the acronym stand for).   9)   If you’re late for an interview, that’s fine and happens every day. But if you’ve limited the time a reporter has access to you, don’t show up late and then tell the reporter about the hard stop you have in ten minutes.   10)               It’s OK to ask for questions in advance, but it’s better to ask about general topics to be covered. Good interviews flow from the information you’re providing, and a prescribed list of queries just inhibits that.   #StateandLocalGovernmentCommunications #GovernmentReporterRelations #StateandLocalGovernmentMediaRelations #CityGovernmentCommunications #PublicSectorPressRelationship #CityGovernmentMediaRelations #CountyGovernmentCommunications #CountyGovernmentMediaRelations #HowToGetStateandLocalStoriesTold #AvoidingPublicSectorJargon  #StateandLocalGovernmentStoryTelling #RecommendationsForMediaRelations #DedicatedToStateandLocalGovernmentManagement #CommunicatingStateandLocalPerformance #GovernmentPressRelations #StateandLocalManagementNews #StateandLocalPerformanceNews #BandGReport #BarrettandGreeneInc