“Fear is among the biggest barriers to inter-municipal cooperation and collaboration. But it is not the biggest. The number one spot, in my opinion, goes to “ego.”
Making a Plan for Succession
Volunteer departments tend to have a higher proportion of firefighters over the age of 50, and in some rural areas it is not uncommon to find volunteers in their 60s or 70s. About one-third of small-town firefighters are 50 or older.
The Four-day Work Week: An Experiment Worth Trying?
This summer, the community of South Portland, Maine, is embarking on an experiment that rethinks the notion of the work week. For six months, civic employees in the city of 26,000 will work four days a week.
“We’re having a hard time filling certain positions in the city and some employees have mentioned, ‘Gee, it would be great if we had a little bit more flexibility in our schedule,’” the city’s manager Scott Morelli told a local CBS news outlet. “A three-day weekend, right? Everyone has more time to spend with friends and family, get errands done on Friday, make appointments.”
Renewable Energy Projects For Small Communities: Think Aggregation, Not Aggravation
Americans rarely give a second thought to Canada but that changed in June of 2023 – for all the wrong reasons. Canada’s record-breaking wildfires – that have forced more than 155,000 people from...
Have An Opinion ? Maybe Keep It To Yourself
In early 2015, a group of unvaccinated children visiting Disneyland in California triggered an outbreak of measles that spread to about 150 cases across eight states, as well as into Canada and...
Clichés and Courage: Ditch the One, Embrace the Other
At an event in Kansas a short time ago, I witnessed one of the most courageous moments of my life. Not from a police officer or paramedic or firefighter – but from a random audience member in a...
Lean and Mean: Municipalities Need a Little Fat
Once upon a time, back when I had more time and fewer responsibilities, I loved going out into the woods of Canada each fall on my own. Armed with the most basic of equipment, I would build my own...
The “Tradition Trap”: It’s Time to Toss Out Old Ways That Aren’t Working
I have a friend who once shared a story about family traditions that I found humorous and endearing but realized it came with an inadvertent cautionary tale. She said that one Christmas she was...
Keys to Municipal Economic Development Success: Five ways not to kill your community
Municipal Economic Development: In my extensive travels across North America the past year, I made an interesting discovery that might surprise or even shock you. It was a discovery that supported...
Covid, Crises and Catalysts: How the pandemic hasn’t really upended our world
Once upon a time, when I was a know-it-all university student rolling my eyes at my father’s insistence computers were a fad, my grandfather delivered a shock to my smug world view. He phoned me...