CommonWealth magazine staff writer Gabrielle Gurley has won a Capitolbeat Best of Statehouse Reporting award in the magazine category for "Municipal Meltdown," her comprehensive look at the fiscal woes bedeviling […]
Municipal Government
Posted inPolitics, The Download
US mayors ask for a jump-start from Congress
The US Conference of Mayors is asking for $24.4 billion from Congress to fund "ready-to-go" infrastructure projects — meaning projects that, theoretically, can be started and completed within calendar year […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
The latest scoop on road salt
Monday, November 17, 2008 The Brockton Enterprise has the South Shore angle on the rising cost of road salt. One town has apparently seen the wisdom of buying in bulk: […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
When it rains bad news for cities and towns, it pours bad news…
Stateline.org reports that the salt used to cover snow-covered roads is much more expensive this year, adding to the woes of state and local governments already trying to do more […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Municipal mind meld?
We’ve already heard about the undoubtedly doomed idea to merge the state’s Attleboros. Now the Globe’s Brian MacQuarrie reports that the North Shore towns of Hamilton and Wenham are considering […]
Posted inEducation, Politics, The Download
Will Worcester put the squeeze on its universities?
The city of Worcester may pressure tax-exempt colleges, including Clark University and the College of the Holy Cross, to cough up some money for municipal services, according to today's Telegram. […]
Posted inEconomy, Politics, The Download
Community Preservation Act reined in
The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court has ruled that the Community Preservation Act is not a state-supported slush fund that municipalities can tap to spruce up their existing parks and ballfields. […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
City Council bans bait-and-switch muffins
What if the legislative process were always this speedy? All muffins baked in a certain unnamed city must now have at least 18 percent "non-dough content," ensuring that each customer’s […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Time to unite the Attleboros?
Sun Chronicle editor Mike Kirby suggested a merger earlier this week:In this era of regionalized government, isn’t a combined Attleboro-North Attleboro the way to go? Wouldn’t taxpayers save through economies […]
Posted inPolitics
Divided loyalties
“So, what do you do?” My friend visiting from San Francisco stifled a laugh when she heard this familiar line at a cocktail party. She has a theory that Bostonians […]
Posted inPolitics
Correspondence
Fall 2008 Historical Commission also has secret side In “Preserving Power” (CW, Summer ’08), you raise questions about the lack of transparency in Secretary of State William Galvin’s awarding of […]
Posted inEconomy, Politics, The Download
Zoning laws: Wasilla is no Wayland
Sarah Palin has sought to connect with voters in the "lower 48" by telling them Alaska is just a microcosm of the United States. It seems doubtful that the GOP […]
Posted inPolitics
What works
INTRO TEXT COMING TOGETHER IN WESTERN MASS. To municipal administrators these days, the word “regionalization” is what “plastics” was to The Graduate’s Benjamin Braddock: an easy, but just a little […]
Posted inArts and Culture, Politics
Play money
During tough fiscal times, arts and sports programs are often the first to get cut from municipal budgets. So it’s not a big surprise that the “culture and recreation” category, […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
In all fairness, Weymouth didn’t burn down during those five days
After retiring as mayor of Weymouth this January, David Madden returned to his old job as fire chief and served all of five days before retiring again. (The town replaced […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Shhh… don’t tell anyone how much our school cost
The Cape Cod Times reports on the town of Falmouth’s own "Big Dig," a high school renovation project that is only two-thirds complete and has already cost $67 million. According […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
The battle is on over police details
Blue Mass. Group’s Charley on the MTA calls for a grass-roots effort to abolish the singular Massachusetts sensation of mandating that police officers (instead of mere civilians) stand guard at […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Milford cracks down on flashers
Danielle Ameden at the Milford Daily News reports that the Massachusetts town of 28,000 is cracking down on "flashy" signs such as the one at Dunkin’ Donuts on South Main […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Happy Town Eating Day!
Norwich, Vermont, is trying to increase attendence at its daylong series of public meetings this Saturday by providing snacks and lunch: "We only ask that you sit with someone you […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Arlington bets on casino revenue
Gov. Deval Patrick’s proposed budget for fiscal 2009 includes revenue from casino licensing fees, even though casino gambling has not yet been approved by the Legislature (see Boston Globe story […]
Posted inHealth Care, Politics
Correspondence
IT’S NOT FAIR TO PUNISH MUNICIPAL EMPLOYEES In reference to your article “Municipal Meltdown” (CW, Fall ’07), I would like to set the record straight. You stated that the Professional […]
Posted inEnvironment, Politics
Dispatches
HISTORIC HANGAR AS THE NEW WALDEN POND? Ah, the civilized village of Concord. Home of Ralph Waldo Emerson, Louisa May Alcott, and historic landmarks like the Old North Bridge, Walden […]
Posted inPolitics
Welcome to Gomorrah
ever meet a guy from Blubber Hollow? What about a chick from Podunk? If someone told you they were from Honey Pot or Fiddler’s Green, would you know what they […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
An election rumble in Milford?
There’s plenty of election action outside of the presidential primaries this spring. The Milford Daily News reports on the battle for the highway surveyor’s position in that Worcester County town […]