Municipal governments are typically constituted of an elected mayor, an elected city council, and several departments. Unlike many other levels of government, the mayor is typically not responsible for executive oversight of city departments. Instead, cities appoint city managers to manage their departments. Because of the breadth of implementation and regulatory responsibilities that fall to city governments, they have a significant impact on the success of many programs including those aimed at addressing social welfare through their work with community-based organizations, sustainable development through their planning departments, public safety through their police departments, and mobility through their streets and transportation departments.
This is the second in a series of three articles to help you understand and interpret local budgets. ESAL sits down with Open Budget Oakland’s Felicia Betancourt and Jess Sand to discuss their efforts towards making municipal budgets accessible. Read about how Open Budget Oakland advances local government engagement by combining community and coding.
This is the first in a series of three articles to help you understand and interpret local budgets. Learn more about the fundamentals of the municipal budget such as how city governments spend funds to what goes into a typical budget development process.
On April 28, 2021, ESAL discussed with professionals in the field about plastic waste and science-informed efforts to mitigate the harmful effects of it.
ESAL had the opportunity to speak with Queens Deputy Borough President Rhonda Binda, a native of Queens, who has been spearheading the endeavor to ensure the borough becomes a model smart city and remains prosperous.
This is the fourth installment of ESAL Founder & Chair Arti Garg's diary of her participation in a policy innovation workshop on community safety. Garg discusses the role of empathy in local policy-making, and how engineers and scientists can get comfortable with subjective evidence.
This is the third installment of ESAL Founder & Chair Arti Garg's diary of her participation in a policy innovation workshop on community safety. This post discusses how stating assumptions can enable progress in policy-making when there is uncertainty about the causes of a problem.
This is the second installment of ESAL Founder & Chair Arti Garg's diary of her participation in a policy innovation workshop on community safety. This post discusses how even when evidence is inclusive, scientific approaches can provide value in policy-making.
This is the first installment of ESAL Founder & Chair Arti Garg's diary of her participation in a policy innovation workshop on community safety. This post discusses why she believes a community-driven process can provide innovative new solutions.
On January 26th, ESAL hosted an event to discuss with city officials and lab manager the responsibility of explaining the science of COVID-19 and the local interactions that come with it. The discussion includes interactions between science and politics, ways to make connections with the community, and informed engagement in local government.
