Regional Community Development News - April 22, 2009 [regions_work]

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 A compilation of news links about and for regional communities pursuing local and regional development.

Published on line since November 11, 2003.

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Contents

Top Regional Community stories … 1. - 9.

U.S. Regional Communities - sub-State, State or multi-State – news articles10.01 - .39

Other Regional Community News for Our Local Planet11.01 - .22

Blogging about Regional Communities … 12.01 - .10

Announcements and Regional Links13.01 - .06

Financial Crisis …14.03

Custom search: region, regions, regional communities … 15.

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Top Regional Community stories

  1.  Spain's Bullet Train Changes Nation -- and Fast - The Wall Street Journal – USA

To sell his vision of a high-speed train network to the American public, President Barack Obama this week cited Spain, a country most people don't associate with futuristic bullet trains.

Yet the country is on track to bypass France and Japan to have the world's biggest network of ultrafast trains by the end of next year, figures from the International Union of Railways and the Spanish government show.

The growth of the Alta Velocidad Española, or AVE, high-speed rail network is having a profound effect on life in Spain. Many Spaniards are fiercely attached to their home regions and studies show they are unusually reluctant to live or even travel elsewhere.

But those centuries-old habits are starting to change as Spain stitches its disparate regions together with a €100 billion ($130 billion) system of bullet trains designed to traverse the countryside at up to 218 miles an hour.

"We Spaniards didn't used to move around much," says José María Menéndez, who heads the civil engineering department at the University of Castilla-La Mancha. "Now I can't make my students sit still for one second. The AVE has radically changed this generation's attitude to travel."

Critics say the AVE will never stop losing money. Even its backers say high-speed rail can only be economical if the state bears much of the construction costs. But they say the train's benefits-lower greenhouse-gas emissions, less road congestion and, in Spain's case, greater social cohesion and economic mobility-make it an investment worth making.

"The country is becoming far more intertwined," says José María Ureña, a professor of city and regional planning at the University of Castilla-La Mancha. "In a country that tends to separate out somewhat, that can only be a good thing."

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124018395386633143.html

  2. SunRail Promoted as Key to Regional Economy - The Ledger - Lakeland, FL, USA

Completion of the SunRail commuter rail project is key to making the region economically competitive, Shelley Lauten told the Polk County Commission Wednesday.

"We're the 15th largest economy in the world, but we don't act that way," said Lauten, president of myregion.org, an Orlando-based regional visioning effort, explaining that the region that extends from Daytona Beach to Tampa is deficient in a regional transportation network that includes various forms of transit.

"We can't compete without transit,'' she said.

SunRail is a 61-mile, $1.2 billion proposed commuter rail route stretching through Volusia, Seminole, Orange and Osceola counties intended to become an alternate to Interstate 4 for daily commuters.

But commissioners Jean Reed and Randy Wilkinson said questions have been raised about the SunRail project's effect on regional transportation because the rerouting of freight trains through parts of Polk County may make some commuter links impractical.

Lauten said those issues can be worked out and shouldn't delay the SunRail project, which is under consideration in the Florida Legislature.

She said delaying the project because of those concerns may be short-sighted.

"If we wait to solve every issue on every front, the $400 million (in federal transit funds) will be invested in another community,'' she said, explaining that a recent trip by an Orlando delegation to Charlotte, N.C., reinforced that point.

Charlotte received money that would have gone to Orlando if its transit project had been ready to go forward and built a light-rail system that has generated $1.9 billion in economic development, she said.

She said Charlotte and other communities are watching how the SunRail project goes in Florida and are ready to go after the federal transit money if legislators kill the SunRail project.

"Other communities are watching us, hoping we make the wrong choice,'' she said.

...

RC: East Central Florida Regional Planning Council http://www.ecfrpc.org/

 

http://www.theledger.com/article/20090408/NEWS/904085045/1338?Title=SunRail-Promoted-as-Key-to-Regional-Economy

 3. Littlefield Calls For Regional Water And Sewer Authority; Unified City/County Services - The Chattanoogan - Chattanooga, TN, USA

Mayor Ron Littlefield, launching his second four-year term, on Monday called for the creation of a new water and sewer authority similar to the Electric Power Board. ... Here is his speech:

I've just returned from Germany - just last night. I was there with County Mayor Claude Ramsey and Trevor Hamilton of the Chamber of Commerce. …

It was a gathering of potential suppliers and others seeking opportunities related to Volkswagen and more. The subject was economic development in the Southeast U.S. and - without being boastful - Chattanooga is in the spotlight. Currently, we are the stars.

I mention this now because in this time of financial turmoil and economic distress, we are seen as a special place with much to look forward to....

I mention this because we are seen as a community entering an age of opportunity; and age of change - but change for the better; an age of unselfish cooperation and teamwork.

It's not just about Volkswagen or Alstom Power or other recent successes; it's about a community that stands to gain an entirely new family of enterprises - entirely new avenues of investment.

…This is a unique time in our history - our greater community. Consider these points:

1. Political restructuring is inevitable. In fact, it is legally required and the task will involve the city, county and state legislative offices.

2. We have the "pull" of economic opportunity during a time of rather sever economic distress - providing a "push" toward focused effort to promote positive change

..

People will say, "Oh my goodness. He's talking about Metro Government." Not necessarily, but I am talking about refinements in our local government to be more efficient, effective and economical. I'm talking about more representative, modern and responsive government.

RC: Southeast Tennessee Development District http://www.sedev.org/www

http://www.chattanoogan.com/articles/article_149344.asp

  4. Saving our region: Nice plans, but... - Crosscut.com - Seattle, WA, USA

A candid look at the efforts to preserve Puget Sound and surrounding lands discovers inconvenient truths. Population growth is not going where planned. Studies replace courageous action on Puget Sound. And land use loopholes invite blockbuster developments in rural areas.

Looking past transient economic tremors, the big questions for our region’s appeal and prosperity two and three decades in the future haven’t gone away: Can the region grow without despoiling both our intimate and grander landscapes? Can we protect Puget Sound’s rich flora and fauna — native plants and wildlife on land and in the water — against decline and disappearance in the face of the rapid, profound changes we are working across the region?

Start with the important actors in this play. Our four-county regional planning organization, the Puget Sound Regional Council (PSRC) [http://www.psrc.org/index.htm], tries to fashion strategies that achieve the goals of Vision 2040, adopted about a year ago. Vision 2040 believes the best pattern for growth is to locate new populations and jobs in regional centers. That puts transportation systems to efficient use and preserves rural areas for agriculture, recreation, and preservation of the natural environment.

Next, enter the Puget Sound Partnership, which issued its Action Agenda for saving Puget Sound last December. It found the top two immediate threats to Puget Sound are the alteration and loss of natural habitat and on-going pollution.

However, at these high levels of oversight and generality, gears engage slowly on specific problems. Caution constrains bold speaking. Our instincts seem to be to hide in a morass of process rather than take dramatic action for fear of making a mistake, or worse, a foe. ...

In this spirit of bold speaking, what is the news on growth in recent years? Simply put, it’s not cooperating with the plan.

http://crosscut.com/2009/04/16/real-estate/18957/

  5. Georgia biz leaders upset with state lawmakers - Atlanta Unsheltered

...

To ensure continued economic growth, business leaders say the state needs to reduce congestion around Georgia, a move that would require a new source of revenue.

The need to devote more money to solve transportation woes is so acute that leaders from Walton, Barrow and other counties far outside of central Atlanta said they would support more funding for MARTA, the city’s mass transit system, according to Sam Olens, chairman of the Atlanta Regional Commission [http://www.atlantaregional.com/arc/html/]. After the Legislature declined to provide more funding to MARTA, the ARC offered money to help the transit system close a funding gap created by falling sales tax revenue.

“The single biggest impediment to economic development is transportation,” said Hertz, whose distribution company employs 1,200 people at sites in Atlanta, Savannah, Albany and other cities in Georgia.

It’s unclear what the business community’s next step will be; most of the issues will have to wait for the next legislative session, which begins in January. Hertz said Get Georgia Moving may have made a mistake by not endorsing one plan over the other, and he thinks that next year the key to winning the bill’s passage may be support for a plan that authorizes regional taxes for regional projects, rather than a statewide tax.

In the meantime, some economic leaders already have plans to engage in some much-needed “damage control.”

“We are going to have to explain it to prospects,” said Blumenthal, with the Metro Atlanta Chamber. “A lot of prospects know we have traffic, and many cities have traffic. The difference is in Atlanta we are perceived as [not] doing anything about it. We don’t even have a plan.”

http://atlantaunsheltered.com/2009/04/14/georgia-biz-leaders-upset-with-state-lawmakers/

  6. Yearwood defends recent ARC vote - Barrow Journal - Winder, GA, USA

The staff of the Atlanta Regional Commission came to the defense of embattled county chairman Danny Yearwood this week, who has taken it on the chin politically for his vote last week to divert $25 million in federal stimulus dollars to the regional transit system instead of preserving the money for local communities, including Barrow.

In an April 13 letter read at Tuesday’s meeting of the Barrow County Board of Commissioners, the chief of the agency’s transportation planning division clarified that Yearwood’s vote did not affect the $1 million in funding designated since 2004 for a county project. …

Yearwood said that his April 9 vote as a member of the ARC did not give away any funds earmarked for Barrow County and that none of the initial $119 million in federal stimulus funds for transportation in Georgia had been headed this way.

The dispute erupted after Yearwood attended a meeting of the Atlanta Regional Commission’s Transportation and Air Quality Committee, which is comprised of representatives of local governments from around the region.

He voiced his concerns about being put in the awkward position of having to give up potential federal funding for Barrow in order to salvage MARTA’s operating budget, but he went along with the committee’s unanimous vote, saying he understood the importance of the transit system to the region’s economy.

He said Tuesday night that Barrow “cannot cut our nose off to spite our face,” because the ARC controls transportation planning in the metro region that includes the county.

“If we are going to get anything, we have got to be a part of that process and a member of that (committee),” the chairman said. “It would suit me if we could come out of it. But we can’t.”

http://www.barrowjournal.com/archives/1368-Yearwood-defends-recent-ARC-vote.html

  7. Transportation board would aid regionalism - Gary Post Tribune - Gary, IN, USA

A four-county transportation board is a significant step to advance regionalism in Northwest Indiana.

The proposed board, which has been approved by the Senate Transportation Committee and faces further scrutiny in the full Senate and the House, would oversee public mass transit in four counties: Lake, Porter, LaPorte and St. Joseph.

The board would have the ability to levy an income tax of up to 0.25 percent and bond for major projects. If passed, it would raise $52 million a year in a relatively painless way. Importantly, it would take the votes of three of the four counties to proceed on any project.

Of course, the proposal -- patterned after the mass transit system in the greater Chicago area -- has some local politicians up in arms. "No more taxes!" they shout. "We don't need progress!" they argue. "Not in my back yard!" they scream.

It is for these very reasons the Senate proposal is a positive step forward for the region.

The failure of our local politicians at every turn to take measures to improve the region is why this bill exists.

The key strength of the proposal is …

RC: NWI Regional Planning Commission http://www.nirpc.org/

http://www.post-trib.com/news/opinion/1510166,edit.article

  9. Leaders across region decry Porter County vote - Munster Times - Munster, IN, USA

Community and political leaders across Northwest Indiana say the Porter County Council's Wednesday vote to exit the RDA has the potential to undo four years of progress and set back economic development in the region.

"I am abjectly disappointed in the council’s decision since their vote ensures that Northwest Indiana will fall further behind in our efforts to create jobs and a vibrant economic future for our children," stated U.S. Rep. Pete Visclosky via e-mail immediately after the vote.

The chief executive officer of the region's lead private economic development group said perceptions of the region will be shaped by the vote in Porter County.

"This meeting actually had nothing to do with the RDA," said Northwest Indiana Forum CEO Vince Galbiati immediately after the vote. "What it had to do with is whether communities are ready for economic development."

Galbiati said his organization was "not surprised, but was certainly deeply disappointed" by the council's 4-3 vote.

Krieg DeVault partner and former Bank Calumet CEO Calvin Bellamy said the region still appears to lack consensus on major issues, and that Wednesday night's Porter County Council vote was emblematic of that.

"When we don't go down to Indianapolis with a unified vision, things will continue to be done to us and not for us," Bellamy said.

The Northwest Indiana Regional Development Authority was formed in 2005 under legislation passed by the Indiana General Assembly as a way to boost the region's fortunes. The legislation was pushed at various times by political heavyweights such as Visclosky, Gov. Mitch Daniels and even Chicago Mayor Richard Daley.

...

http://www.thetimesonline.com/articles/2009/04/09/news/top/doc18df90565f603b9a86257593000e5fe8.txt

  9. Report Assesses Regional Possibilities in Recovery Act - Nation's Cities Weekly - Washington, DC, USA

A new paper from the Brookings Metropolitan Policy Program finds that the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) is limited in its support for creative regional implementation, but that it delivers critical investments and holds out significant opportunity for regional and metropolitan empowerment and problem-solving.

To produce real prosperity, the paper argues, local leaders require ways to enhance the fundamental “drivers” of productive growth — innovation, infrastructure, human capital, and quality places. But metropolitan actors also need the discretion and power to aggregate, link, and coordinate those drivers to maximize their impact.

The paper finds that ARRA usefully directs billions of dollars towards significant investments in the four key drivers of prosperity. At the same time, the paper concludes that ARRA does very little to actively support efforts to bundle and align ARRA resources to foster local, regional and national recovery.

The report finds that:

The need for fast action created a bias towards “business-as-usual” delivery systems in the crafting of ARRA. That orientation limits the extent to which the Recovery Act actively supports metropolitan-area implementation. 

And yet, despite its flaws, ARRA delivers critical investments in what matters.  In this respect, Brookings estimates that nearly 43 percent — roughly $335 billion — of the total stimulus appropriation supports the main drivers of prosperity: innovation, human capital, infrastructure and quality places.

In addition, the report says that ARRA holds out significant opportunities for creative leaders to engage in coordinated, regional problem solving. The Recovery Act provides some important chances for linking resources and even for transformative governance. ARRA provides a number of avenues for coordinating its various funding streams at a metropolitan level, particularly in new competitive grant programs.

A few of the relevant provisions include: ...

http://www.nlc.org/articles/articleItems/NCW41309/recoveryBrookings.aspx

10. U.S. Regional Communities - sub-State, State or multi-State - in news articles.

Bold font words are Google search terms. Bold italic words considered worth noting.  In this and section 11, links to websites of organizations are added to the news excerpt when this is the first time an organization has been found. A goal of this newsletter is to find every regional council in the U.S. in a news story as well as recognizing other regional organizations. In most cases, where a full name is present, a Google search will quickly get one to that organization. News reports do not always get the organization name correct.   Contents

    .01  Metro: More affordable housing needed

Portland Business Journal, Portland, OR, USA

The Metro Council has released a report that shows that town centers and transportation corridors are among the most affordable places to live in the region, and that additional investments in affordable housing will be needed as the region grows. The Housing Needs Analysis is available at http://www.oregonmetro.gov/index.cfm/go/by.web/id=29959

http://www.bizjournals.com/portland/stories/2009/04/20/daily35.html

    .02  Atlanta Region head takes issue with Ga. DOT

WALB News - GA, USA

The Chairman of the Atlanta Regional Commission says the metro area and South Georgia must work together to improve transportation to improve economic development in Georgia. Sam Olens says the Georgia Department of Transportation has perfected bureaucratic paralysis, and is much too slow and expensive to solve the state's transportation needs. Olens said all Georgians need to work together, and not see metro Atlanta as the enemy in order to improve Georgia's roads and transportation. ...

http://www.walb.com/global/story.asp?s=10198547

    .03  Organizers call regional emissions plan a success

The Associated Press

Jeanne Fox, the head of New Jersey's Board of Public Utilities, said she hopes the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative will soon fall victim to its own success. The original idea was to serve as a national model for reducing the greenhouse gas emissions many scientists blame for global warming, she said, noting that the U.S. House now is considering legislation to create a similar national program. "It's working," said Fox, a member of the initiative's board of directors. "We've succeeded in creating a program that shows cap-and-trade can work nationwide. It's a model for what they can do in Washington." The 10-state initiative is preparing to hold its fourth auction of carbon credits June 17 for more than 200 power plants that rely on fossil fuels, such as coal, oil and natural gas. ...

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5i_AnuSsBScdP-6e1hjBiKTey2y9gD97J4BR05

    .04  Don’t let regionalism die with Cobo deal

Detroit Free Press - United States

Wayne County Circuit Judge Isidore Torres probably dealt a death blow to the regional plan to upgrade Cobo Hall Thursday when he ruled that Detroit Mayor Ken Cockrel Jr. had no authority to veto the City Council’s disapproval of the agreement. As a practical matter, there isn’t time — or much will — to renegotiate before the April 20 deadline lapses for the transfer of the property to the regional authority created by state legislation. ... But more significant trouble is lurking. If the Cobo deal’s death also sinks the nearly unprecedented spirit of regional cooperation that produced it, there could be more casualties down the line. ...

http://www.freep.com/article/20090409/BLOG25/90409110/1069/opinion/Don+t+let+regionalism+die+with+Cobo+deal

    .05  Put people at heart of regionalism

Detroit Free Press - United States

When dealing with regionalism, we say, "They don't have a clue" if citizens don't support the opinion of suburban and outstate interests. Here's another view: If a city's greatest asset is its people, shouldn't that be the first place we start with regionalism? We should work on a regional effort for Cobo Hall, just after we start regional efforts on improving Detroit schools. Our current focus on selected regionalism makes a poor statement of our values. Does anyone else question the hypocrisy of cutting funding for the arts and schools and then wondering why Michigan and Detroit have a brain drain? ...

http://www.freep.com/article/20090415/OPINION05/904150411/1231/OPINION/Put+people+at+heart+of+regionalism

    .06  Plenty of proof regionalism works

Detroit Free Press - United States

... Here at the Huron-Clinton Metroparks, we have been providing a regional model of cooperation for nearly 70 years. Our regional park system offers 13 Metroparks, or 24,000 acres of scenic parklands in Macomb, Oakland, Wayne, Washtenaw and Livingston Counties. ... Our forefathers came together to deal with a regional problem. So can we. Regionalism can work.

http://www.freep.com/article/20090414/OPINION04/904140325

    .07  Kennedy: Competition is good, but thinking regionally is always worthwhile

Star-Telegram.com - Fort Worth, TX, USA

I didn’t move to Dallas when I got married. But it wasn’t because of some ancient feud. And that shouldn’t keep Fort Worth and Arlington from cooperating with Dallas — when we can serve our own cities better. ... Fort Worth and Arlington must continue to promote the Tarrant County region, now home to 2 million people. (We’re bigger than greater San Antonio or Austin.) But does it really help Fort Worth, Arlington and Dallas to have two or three separate organ banks? Or arts companies? Or public hospitals? Sometimes, it makes sense to team up with Dallas. ...

http://www.star-telegram.com/state_news/story/1272039.html

    .08 Logan: BRAG should be first stop for homeless

Logan Herald Journal - UT, USA

Logan would like the Bear River Association of Governments  [http://www.brag.utah.gov/]

to be the first go-to point for homeless individuals. ... Franke said BRAG completed its homelessness count for Cache County on Jan. 29. The purpose of the counts, held across the state, is to get an idea of each area’s homeless populations on one of the coldest days of the year. Franke said they identified four individuals in jail who said they had nowhere to go, one person who was living out of a car, eight people who were couch hopping and one person who had been evicted ...

http://hjnews.townnews.com/articles/2009/04/12/news/news04-04-12-09.txt

    .09  Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission names new executive director

C-Ville Weekly - Charlottesville, VA

The Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission (TJPDC) announced yesterday the appointment of Steven Williams as the new executive director. ... Williams hails from New Hampshire, where, for the past five years, he was executive director of the Nashua (New Hampshire) Regional Planning Commission. Williams spent 10 years with the Association of Monterey Bay Area Governments in California. ...

http://www.c-ville.com/index.php?cat=1991704080566501&act=post&pid=12032104090671470

    .10  Committee to make city recommendations

Tallahassee.com - Tallahassee, FL, USA

Tallahassee's charter-review committee will convene Monday for possibly its last meeting before making recommendations on proposals ranging from whether to have a "strong" mayor government to whether an airport authority should be created. ... Committee members also voted unanimously to give more authority to the mayor in economic development and intergovernmental regional projects, Streit said. ...

http://www.tallahassee.com/article/20090412/NEWS01/904120312

    .11  Obama is urged to take the wheel on infrastructure

Los Angeles Times - CA, USA

Two prominent governors, California's Arnold Schwarzenegger and Pennsylvania's Edward G. Rendell, sent a memo to President Obama saying he needed to assert more political leadership instead of leaving it to Congress to draft a plan for improving the nation's aging highways, bridges and ports. In particular, Rendell said he was concerned that Congress -- left to its own devices -- would load up a future infrastructure plan with "earmarks" and other narrowly focused spending priorities that undermined its credibility and effectiveness. ... "It is very important that the administration be proactive rather than left reacting to congressional proposals." ...

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-obama-governors13-2009apr13,0,5314265.story

    .12  SANDAG eyes help for transit agencies

San Diego Union Tribune - San Diego, CA, USA

San Diego-area elected officials yesterday wrestled over whether to bail out local public transit agencies, perhaps by digging deeper into the money that the TransNet sales tax provides. But at a special San Diego Association of Governments meeting yesterday, county Supervisor Dianne Jacob and others said using a larger share of the money to pay for workaday operations would anger voters. ... San Diego Councilman Todd Gloria said he's not wedded to one particular solution but said it's critical that SANDAG help the public transit agencies regain their financial footing. ...

http://www3.signonsandiego.com/stories/2009/apr/11/1m11transnet00325-sandag-eyes-help-transit-agencie/

    .13  Alliance launches high-tech property search tool

Daily Journal - Seneca, SC, USA

The Upstate SC Alliance has launched a new navigation tool on its Web site, boasting interactive maps and dynamic data to market the Upstate of South Carolina to site consultants and businesses considering locations in the area. The new technology, which cost more than $290,000 to bring online, involves geographic information system navigation. Two-thirds of the funding came from a grant from AdvanceSC; the remainder of the development funding was obtained through the Appalachian Council of Governments and the Upstate SC Alliance. ...

http://www.upstatetoday.com/news/2009/apr/11/alliance-launches-high-tech-property-search-tool/

    .14  Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments launches stimulus information site

Washington Business Journal - Washington, DC, USA

... “This is a defining time in our history and the actions we take now will determine the region’s ability to emerge stronger and more competitive,” said David Robertson, COG’s executive director. “COG intends to be a partner in that process.”

http://www.bizjournals.com/washington/stories/2009/04/06/daily92.html

    .15  Collin, Denton officials debate path of future Dallas North Tollway extension

Dallas Morning News - Dallas, TX, USA

Denton County officials accuse Collin commissioners of reneging on a written resolution in 2005 to share the extension right of way. "I was very disappointed," Denton County Commissioner Andy Eads said. "Everyone represents their own jurisdiction, but we also have to wear the hat of regionalism." The North Texas Tollway Authority alone will decide the path ...

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/stories/DN-dntcollin_23met.ART0.State.Edition1.4a64ac6.html

    .16  Texas Groundwater Management: Change urgently needed

Blanco County News - Blanco, TX

Surface water in Texas belongs to the state. It can only be used with the state’s permission. The management of groundwater is another rather complicated, even strange story, considering how critical and urgent groundwater conservation is for Texas. ... The management of groundwater can be improved by moving toward more unified regions and a policy framework that manages in harmony with natural systems. Until the legislature can act to achieve this objective both politically and scientifically, local control exercised through the existing framework of groundwater management can work to manage, protect and conserve groundwater. ...

http://www.blancocountynews.com/news/article/14873

    .17  Latest Plan for MTA Is Foundering in Albany

New York Times

The latest version of a rescue plan for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority appeared on Tuesday to be just as difficult to pass as earlier ones, as a group of suburban Democratic state senators said they still opposed the regional payroll tax that is its centerpiece. ...

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/22/nyregion/22mta.html

    .18  County board votes to continue Dial-A-Ride services as is

Stillwater Courier - Stillwater, MN

The Washington County Board of Commissioners … chose not to endorse an option Metro Transit offered to the county which would have placed the county in a position to directly operate or manage Dial-A-Ride services within the county. The county's comprehensive plan states that the county does not operate transit systems, said Washington County Public Works director Don Theisen. ...

http://www.stillwatercourier.com/articles/index.cfm?id=12921&section=news

    .19  Mid-America Regional Council Web site tracks area effects of stimulus

Kansas City Business Journal - Kansas City, MO

MARC intends for the new section of its Web site to help local governments understand the recovery package, identify where to apply for money and coordinate economic recovery efforts in the Kansas City area. MARC is a nonprofit association of city and county governments and the metropolitan planning organization for the bistate Kansas City region, which includes nine counties, 120 cities and more than 1.8 million people.

http://www.bizjournals.com/kansascity/stories/2009/04/20/daily34.html

    .20  Carlsbad desalination plant virtually approved by regional board

San Diego Union Tribune - San Diego, CA, USA

The San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board on Wednesday all but approved an ocean-water desalination plant ... decision brings Poseidon Resources to the brink of financing and building its $300 million plant on the south shore of Agua Hedionda Lagoon, six years after it began working its way through a labyrinthine permitting process. The decision also essentially ended a debate over whether Poseidon had under-calculated the number of fish that would be killed by the desalination process. ... Poseidon plans to begin delivering water in 2011. ...

http://www3.signonsandiego.com/stories/2009/apr/08/bn08desal-plant-approve/?zIndex=79578

    .21  First BCC finalist outlines his goals

Press & Sun-Bulletin - Binghamton, NY

Pushing Broome Community College as a regional community institution, strengthening its branch campuses and developing new programs in "green technology" are three things Gary Porter would focus on if he becomes the new president at BCC. ...

http://www.pressconnects.com/article/20090421/NEWS01/904210377/1116

    .22  Resource for seniors

Hickory Daily Record - Hickory, NC, USA

Miller is an aging specialist with the Western Piedmont Council of Governments' Area Agency on Aging, which serves older adults in Alexander, Burke, Caldwell and Catawba counties. Among her duties is counseling people applying for reverse mortgages. Counseling is required for reverse mortgage seekers throughout the United States, although North Carolina and Massachusetts are the only states that require face-to-face counseling. The counselor must be approved by the Department of Housing and Urban Development. ...

http://www2.hickoryrecord.com/content/2009/apr/19/resource-seniors/

    .23  Affordable rents tough to find in region

Times Herald-Record - Middletown, NY, USA

"We're not developing enough affordable housing in this county to meet the need," said Tony Figueroa of the Regional Economic Community Action Program, a local anti-poverty agency based in Orange County. "Nobody's actually building for that population," Figueroa said. "There's too much resistance in the municipalities." While home prices have fallen dramatically in the mid-Hudson and across the country, rents continue to climb. ...   

http://www.recordonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090415/NEWS/904150355/-1/BIZ

    .24  A library link-up

The Plain Dealer - cleveland.com - Cleveland, OH, USA

East Cleveland isn't the only library facing a rough financial future, but it's one of the first in the last few years to take a tentative step toward regionalism to solve its financial problems. It should not be the last library to do so. 

http://blog.cleveland.com/pdopinion/2009/03/a_library_linkup.html

    .25  HELP, a good example of how regionalism can be put into action

The Morning Journal - Lorain, OH, USA

... proposed non-profit agency would have the self-descriptive name — HELP — or Huron-Erie-Lorain Partnership. The proposed merger of the Lorain County Community Action Agency and the Erie and Huron Counties Community Action Commission could also serve as an example of effective regional cooperation. ...

http://www.morningjournal.com/articles/2009/04/13/opinion/mj880093.txt

    .26  Candidates tackle wide range of issues 

Daily Journal - Seneca, SC, USA

When asked whether Clemson should be involved in the planning process outside the city, Wright said regionalism “is what it’s all about in Clemson” — especially when it comes to creating new jobs that benefit the quality of life. ...

http://www.upstatetoday.com/news/2009/mar/24/candidates-tackle-wide-range-issues/

    .27  Texas group to sue feds for putting biolab in Kan.

The Associated Press

A group of Texas research facilities announced Wednesday that it plans to sue the Department of Homeland Security over its selection of a Kansas site for a planned $450 million biodefense laboratory, claiming political connections led federal officials to overlook the site's tornado risk. The Texas Biological and Agro-Defense Consortium, a group of regional research institutions that tried to win the facility for San Antonio, filed a notice of its intent to sue in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, the venue for lawsuits against the U.S. government.  ...

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jUrg-BCi7tG1PyY3Oe9TXl__WT1wD97NNS1O4

    .28  Montana Biodiesel Company Fails to Pay Farmers

Flathead Beacon - Kalispell, MT

A Montana biodiesel company, which has received more than $1.6 million in grants and loans from the state and a regional economic development corporation, owes farmers in Montana and North Dakota $1.2 million for crops grown last year. Sustainable Systems LLC and a parent company agreed Wednesday to sign a consent agreement allowing the Montana Department of Agriculture to sell crops, seed and processed cooking oil held at several Montana locations and distribute a $113,000 surety bond to pay part of what is owed to Montana producers. ...

http://www.flatheadbeacon.com/articles/article/montana_biodiesel_company_fails_to_pay_farmers/9845/

    .29  Looking for office space? You're in luck

Philadelphia Inquirer - Philadelphia, PA, USA

Though office vacancies are expected to continue to grow, a period of slashed rental rates is not anticipated. That's because the region was not overbuilt when the recession started. "While many regional office markets are bloated with robust development pipelines which will add millions of additional supply into a softening market, our pipeline continues to decrease and is currently at its lowest level of the past four years," Wright said. Grubb & Ellis identified just seven projects with near-term delivery dates - five in Bucks County and one each in Montgomery County and Wilmington. They would add 631,000 square feet to the region's office supply within the next 12 months. By comparison, the Washington regional office market has 11.8 million square feet under development; New York City, 6.1 million, and Seattle, 5.5 million. ...

http://www.philly.com/philly/business/20090412_Looking_for_office_space__You_re_in_luck.html

    .30  Rideshare Offers New Park-and-ride Lot Mapping Tool for Commuters

infoZine - Kansas City, MO, USA

The Mid-America Regional Council’s RideShare Program now offers a comprehensive online tool, based on Google Maps, that displays approximately 35 park-and-ride lots in the Kansas City region available for commuter use. ...

http://www.infozine.com/news/stories/op/storiesView/sid/35346/

    .31  One man leads effort to illuminate Twin Bridges

WFIE-TV - Evansville, IN, USA

Unlike many recognizable bridges around the country, the Twin Bridges do not light up at night. ...  reason to make them a regional icon, and he's spearheading this effort in conjunction with the chambers of commerce in Evansville and Henderson. ... Deig thinks illuminating the bridges would help enhance regionalism and possibly bring in more businesses to the area, ...

http://www.14wfie.com/Global/story.asp?S=10159036&nav=menu54_3

    .32 Smaller cities feeling left out on amount of federal stimulus money

azcentral.com - AZ, USA

MAG approved the road formula in its Regional Council meeting March 25. Schoaf, vice chairman of the Regional Council, voted against the proposal. MAG had anticipated getting a lot more money for the local projects, a spokeswoman said. But it only got $104.6 million, which is why it used $500,000 as its baseline number.

http://www.azcentral.com/community/swvalley/articles/2009/04/08/20090408swv-roadmoney0408.html

    .33  HAZMAT RESPONSE

BPDNews.com

On Wednesday, April 8, 2009, three area hospitals called Boston Police to report the receipt of suspicious looking letters. Officers were dispatched ... Boston Police Hazmat Team is working cooperatively with the Boston Fire Department and the Boston Regional Intelligence Center to investigate. ...

http://www.bpdnews.com/2009/04/hazmat_response.html

    .34  Alabama makes plans in case of quake

Birmingham News - Birmingham, AL, USA

In one scenario, an eight-state region including Alabama would sustain major damage from a 7.7 magnitude quake in the New Madrid seismic zone near Memphis. The quake would injure 150000 people and leave a half-million homeless. ..

http://blog.al.com/spotnews/2009/04/alabama_makes_plans_in_case_of.html

    .35  Across the US, Stress Varies by Region

Forbes - NY, USA

Life in America is getting more stressful, especially if you live in the Appalachian or Mississippi Valley regions. Almost 10 percent of some 1.2 million people surveyed annually by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from 2003 to 2006 reported having frequent mental distress, defined as 14 or more days a month of feeling depressed, stressed or having emotional problems. ... Despite brutal weather, one region that seems to be weathering the stress storm is the upper Midwest region, including North and South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Minnesota, Iowa, Montana, Wisconsin and Illinois, where fewer than 8 percent of residents reported frequent mental distress. ...

http://www.forbes.com/feeds/hscout/2009/04/14/hscout626061.html

    .36  What’s future for Stafford?

Portland Tribune - Portland, OR

As regional government Metro plots the next phase of growth for the tri-county region, the Stafford Basin may soon be designated as a rural or urban reserve, charting a path to the area’s future development. Metro is required to provide land for 20 years of population growth around Portland at the end of the year. Through new state laws, representatives from Clackamas, Multnomah and Washington counties must help make decisions about what areas of the region are next in line for development. ...

http://www.portlandtribune.com/news/story.php?story_id=123983143209729400

    .37  Wall Street's Future: Smaller, Better, Faster

The Business Insider - New York, NY, USA

Despite the attempts by the Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve to prop up Wall Street's existing firms and structures, the market is moving in another direction: toward smaller partnerships and away from large publicly held mega-corporations. Bloomberg treats this as a back to the future story: ... Regionalism. Partnerships. The future is being made on the margins. We need to tread carefully with any new regulations to make sure we don't stomp these innovations while they are still in their cribs. ...

http://www.businessinsider.com/wall-streets-future-smaller-better-faster-2009-3

    .38  College cooperation counts

Charleston Post Courier - Charleston, SC, USA

We'll probably never see a Citadel-College of Charleston basketball or baseball game where cadets and Cougars see eye-to-eye. But there are significant ways that those colleges, and others in the region, regularly cooperate with each other. A two-year study of South Carolina's colleges listed collaboration among colleges as one way to improve higher education opportunities for students and reduce expenses. ...

http://www.postandcourier.com/news/2009/apr/16/college_cooperation_counts78707/

    .39  Obama & Kumar Go to the White House

Just Jared - New York, NY, USA

Kal Penn (aka Kumar) from Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle fame, has decided to leave his TV show, House, and head to the White House to serve in President Obama’s administration. The 31-year old actor will be the associate director in the White House’s Office of Public Liaison & Intergovernmental Affairs. ...

http://justjared.buzznet.com/2009/04/08/obama-kumar-go-to-the-white-house/

11. Other Regional Community News for Our Local Planet   Contents

    .01  C&R Stifle Public Debate on Supercouncil

Scoop Independent News - NZ

At Auckland City Council’s Regional Governance Committee meeting yesterday, Citizens and Ratepayers (C&R) councillors decided not to hold public meetings about Council’s position on Auckland’s regional governance. They also voted to restrict membership of this key committee to the Mayor, Deputy Mayor and three male councillors. In addition, the Committee refused to recognise concerns expressed by elected members across the region. Councillor Richard Northey said he was shocked ...

http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO0904/S00140.htm

    .02  Auckland Regional Governance Review

Waitakere News - Auckland, NZ

How do the Government’s proposals measure up? Very poorly in my humble opinion.  The limited number of Regional Councillors will not be able to provide accountability.  Those that have the misfortune of representing wards will have twice as many constituents as a Member of Parliament and be expected to service them on a part time basis. ... 

http://www.waitakerenews.co.nz/savage15.html

    .03  New co-op targets Easter with regional poultry brand – Farmers Weekly - UK

A new producer co-op is looking to develop a regional poultry brand in Northumbria. ... All the birds are being housed in polytunnels that have been custom-built to take free-range poultry. They can accommodate 200 and 400-bird groups. The structures, which have not required planning permission, have been purchased by "Made In Northumberland," an initiative which is part of Northumberland Tourism. The organisation, which has been established to encourage the production of regionally-branded food in the county, leases the buildings back to the producers.

http://www.fwi.co.uk/Articles/2009/04/07/114832/new-co-op-targets-easter-with-regional-poultry-brand.html

    .04  Composite Park: birth of a cluster dedicated to composite materials at the heart of Europe

JEC Composites - France

This project will stimulate a region with a long industrial tradition – the Eastern Moselle “Pays Naborien” in France. Composite Park will have at its disposal design, simulation and prototyping tools dedicated to composites. All these tools should be installed on site during this summer. The Composite Park should create 250 jobs. ... The “Pays Naborien” region, situated on the intersection of major European communication roads, offers high competences which represent a precious resource in the Eastern Moselle industrial fabric. ...

http://www.jeccomposites.com/composites-news/5893/composites-cluster.html

    .05  Council ponders expanding rural transit program

TheChronicleHerald.ca - Halifax, NS, CA

Halifax city hall is considering expanding its rural transit program but municipal staff said Tuesday the city first needs a game plan. Such a program, if approved by regional council, would go beyond rural express buses that are to bring rural and suburban commuters to downtown and back home again, staff told council’s meeting of committee of the whole. Funding expanded rural transit is a question mark, the politicians heard, as the city does not have the money or the buses to develop a system that would tie into Metro Transit’s bus and ferry network.  Proposed expansion won’t come cheap, says a staff report. It says in addition to annual operating costs, $7.8 million in capital funds would be needed to buy buses, expand radio coverage and install about 435 bus stops in Halifax Regional Municipality. ...

http://thechronicleherald.ca/Metro/1117899.html

    .06  Urban guru ranks Guelph among top 10 in Canada

Guelph Mercury - Guelph, Ontario, Canada

In Who's Your City?, a new book on his findings, Florida puts Guelph in the top 10 Canadian cities in four of the five categories. ... Compared with other cities "it punches above its weight," Florida said. Guelph, nevertheless, benefits from its proximity to a major urban hub, Toronto. "It's part of this incredible megaregion," Florida said. ...

http://news.guelphmercury.com/News/article/468212

    .07  India for regional approach to meltdown at ASEAN meet

Hindu - Chennai, India

"There is a financial crisis of unprecedented dimensions, which is calling into question the economic processes unleashed by globalisation," the external affairs ministry said in a statement. "In the context of the current global economic slowdown, developing regional synergies is imperative for dealing with the recessionary trends," the ministry said. India, a dialogue partner with the ASEAN, will focus on further boosting its economic and commercial engagement with Southeast Asian countries. ... 

http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/000200904100327.htm

    .08  Shift towards regional trade deals as WTO predicts big slump

Radio Australia - Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

BALDWIN: Global trade is experiencing a synchronised sudden and severe collapse but it is especially regional. It is focussed to a good extent on the supply networks which are regional. And I think that regionalism will be reinforced by this because in fact we've had more effective regional responses to this than we have so far at the global level and I think there will be a bit of a turning in, in East Asia, in Europe and in the Western hemisphere, in the sense that protection may be biased to favour regional trading partners. ...

http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/asiapac/stories/200903/s2525178.htm

    .09  Asia may see more conflicts over water

Reuters.com

Water problems in Asia are already severe, with one in five people, or 700 million, not having access to safe drinking water and half the region's population lacking access to basic sanitation, according to the report produced by the Asia Society, a New York-based think tank.

Population growth, rapid urbanization and climate change are expected to worsen the situation, according to the report, "Asia's Next Challenge: Securing the Region's Water Future."

http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSN1733355820090417

    .10  New limits to Antarctic tourism

AFP

US proposals for binding restrictions on Antarctic tourism have been adopted by countries with ties to the region, in a bid to protect the continent's fragile ecosystem, officials said Friday. Signatories of the Antarctic Treaty, launched in Washington 50 years ago, capped 11 days of talks in Baltimore, Maryland by agreeing to impose mandatory limits on the size of cruise ships landing in Antarctica and how many passengers they can bring ashore. ...

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5j5wYfUJzAAq7E_BGxYsh4RnRuMXg

    .11  Turkey: A Rising Regional Star?

RealClearWorld.com

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton ... praised Turkey as a leader in the Middle East and for playing a constructive role in the region. ... Turkey's star has been on the rise, at least in the international arena, due to numerous peacemaking efforts Turkey has been engaged in since the Justice and Development Party (AKP) came to power in 2002 and again in 2007. For example, in 2003 the Turkish government mediated between Shi'a and Sunni Iraqis, which helped in the formation of a broad-based government in Iraq. ...

http://www.realclearworld.com/articles/2009/03/turkey_a_rising_regional_star.html

    .12  African conference held in Zambia on north-south corridor development

Coastweek - Mombasa, Kenya

... the Southern African Development Community (SADC), the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) and the East African Community (EAC). The three regional economic communities (RECs) have pledged to work together towards the creation of a free trade area across their 26 member states. The corridor is the first major project under the newly formed Tripartite Task Force.  ...

http://www.coastweek.com/xin100409-04.htm

    .13  Comesa chairman blasts Africa telecom infrastructure efforts

Computerworld Kenya - Boston, MA, USA

Eastern and Southern African countries have failed to develop their ICT infrastructure to enhance communication in the region, according to Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki, also the chairman of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa). This week at the North-South Corridor infrastructure development conference in Lusaka, Kibaki said that more achievements have been realized in telecom policy and regulatory harmonization than in physical telecom infrastructure development in the region. ...

http://www.computerworld.co.ke/articles/2009/04/10/comesa-chairman-blasts-africa-telecom-infrastructure-efforts

    .14  Grand Theft Economics

Signs of the Times - SOTT.net

... EPAs will give Europe power over economic policies to govern the ACP region and turn its governments into mere local managers of European corporate interests and profits. ''It will kill off any ambitions for regional integration within and across Africa and South-South relations with other developing regions,'' Deve added. ''Already, they have split all of Africa's regions. In West Africa, for example, Ghana and Cote d'Ivoire have broken ranks and endangered regional unity by going ahead to agree to interim EPAs with Europe.  ...

http://www.sott.net/articles/show/181578-Economic-Partnership-Agreements-will-push-African-nations-deeper-into-poverty

    .15  Food crisis not over, US aid is key-WFP official

Reuters - USA

The United States comes under frequent criticism because it is the only major donor that provides most of its food aid in the form of commodities rather than cash, a policy that benefits U.S. farmers. The food aid can be more beneficial if it is purchased locally or regionally in the area of the need, rather than in the United States and then shipped overseas, critics charge. ...

http://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSN07484027

    .16  Rohee says not ready to speak on weapons tracing pact

Stabroek News - Georgetown, Guyana

... US had hoped to sign the agreement with as many regional countries as possible. He noted that that the agreement is an ongoing effort to combat firearm trafficking that grew out of a joint US-Caribbean initiative in 2005 during a summit in Washington. Regional governments that signed onto the US-Caribbean eTrace initiative are expected to benefit from an electronic, paperless system that gauges crime guns seized in their respective countries. The memorandum of understanding which was signed between the US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and ten regional governments provides for the electronic tracing of illicit firearms. ...

http://www.stabroeknews.com/2009/news/local/04/02/rohee-says-not-ready-to-speak-on-weapons-tracing-pact/

    .17  Court hears dispute over Sudan's Abyei region

AFP

The Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague started hearing a dispute Saturday between north and south Sudan over the contested oil-rich Abyei region at the heart of a fragile peace pact. "Everybody in Sudan has a vested interest in the outcome of this arbitration," Riek Machar Teny, deputy chairman of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) told the court on the first of six days of hearings. The southern SPLM and the government in the north asked the court last year for "final and binding arbitration" on the issue. ...

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5i7Z2923UDywymFVuiD6-zBPjZL8w

    .18  France, Spain top global index of open source activity

Ars Technica

Red Hat has published the results of a research project that was conducted in collaboration with Georgia Tech with the aim of determining the level of open source activity in various regions. European countries took the top three spots on the list and the United States ranked ninth. …

http://arstechnica.com/open-source/news/2009/04/red-hat-study-generates-global-index-of-open-source-activity.ars

    .19  Province cuts Halton's WNV funding: Oakville's West Nile Virus program largely unaffected

Oakville Today - Oakville, Ontario, CA

Another modification to the West Nile Virus Plan announced last fall stated that the Region will not be collect dead birds for testing any more. The Region no longer needs to the birds to confirm West Nile Virus in the area. “It’s not an early indicator like it used to be,” said Fortuna. “Now we get positive mosquito pools instead of the dead birds. ...

http://www.oakvilletoday.ca/news/article/248389

    .20  The North West is Ready!

BNP News - UK

Tuesday night’s North West British National Party Regional Council meeting in Wigan was the best attended, and the most positive and productive gathering of regional officials to date, new North West regional organiser Clive Jefferson old BNP News. ...

http://bnp.org.uk/2009/04/the-north-west-is-ready/

    .21  Microsoft and Biscay Government Host i2010 Conference on e-Government

SYS-CON Media

More than 300 local and regional government elites, IT professionals and executives gathered in Bilbao, Spain, this week for Microsoft Corp's third annual Local and Regional Government Solutions Forum. ... Full details of the Microsoft-Biscay partnership will be unveiled at the forum alongside the Biscay government's vision for modernising government services and the creation of an e-GOV Innovation Center in Bilbao, the "Bizkaia European Microsoft Citizenship Services & e-Government Center". ...

http://dotnet.sys-con.com/node/930544

    .22  SLIDESHOW: HuffPosters Share Stories Of Their Local Currencies

Huffington Post - New York, NY, USA

"Each was given one bill to create eg the $5, $10, $20 or $50 bill, and a theme for each one eg community, our bio-region, honoring women and diversity, honoring women and diversity, respectively." ...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/04/09/slideshow-huffposters-sha_n_185297.html

12. Blogging about Regional Communities   Contents

    .01  Getting Memphis On The Competitive Grid

Smart City Memphis

We continue to sell our region for its cheapness. Unfortunately, we aren’t aware of a city that is succeeding or positioning itself for the future on the basis of cheapness. The currency of success is quality, and most often, it’s the high-cost cities that have expanding economies. ...

http://smartcitymemphis.blogspot.com/2009/04/getting-memphis-on-competitive-grid.html

    .02  Make a Plan

By Bruce Fisher

A regional planning board is no guarantee of good regional planning. But these days, especially because there’s a new president whose policy team explicitly endorses coordinated planning within metro areas, there’s no good reason for Erie County to go without a planning board any longer—especially after bipartisan work under Joel Giambra and a Democratic legislature completed the Erie-Niagara Framework for Regional Growth and laid the basis for a new regional planning effort.  ...

http://artvoice.com/issues/v8n15/make_a_plan

    .03  Candidate Interview: Pittsburgh City District 8

View from the BurghChair

1. What program or service should be cut or scaled back in these tough times, with this bad economy and with our city facing a deficit starting next year? Would you forgo a pay raise?

We can’t address our structural budget deficit with cuts and taxes. We need a third way of rethinking what local government means in the 21st century. We need real regional governance, not what is being proposed. We need to move services like municipal pensions and municipal benefits to statewide programs. And we need to be given the right to collect taxes from regional non-profit institutions. As far as cutting my own salary, I did it (self imposed) from 2003 – 2006 as the city struggled with Act 47. I would support creating a new system of job categories for employees, as long as it was done with regional and similar sized cities as the criteria.

http://burghchair.blogspot.com/2009/04/candidate-interview-pittsburgh-city.html

    .04  World’s Largest Urban Farm Planned for Detroit

Growing Edge

A Detroit businessman unveiled his vision for the world’s largest urban farm. Phase 1 of of the proposal would cultivate crops on 70 acres. Preliminary plans for the newly developed urban farm within the City of Detroit will utilize vacant land and abandoned property ... Hantz Farms is working directly with Michigan State University to add its expertise on agricultural and soil sciences and consulting with the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, a national leader in community-based food systems. ...

http://www.growingedge.com/worlds-largest-urban-farm-planned-for-detroit

    .05  Auckland’s Economy Hollowing Out

Reflections on Auckland Planning

… led to the Auckland Metro Project investigating how to develop Auckland’s long term economy and a call for strengthened regional governance. Government responded with a Royal Commission. Two weeks ago the Royal Commission duly recommended an Auckland Supercity. It also recommended without good reason the abolition of Community Boards, and for many good reasons the retention of existing City Council structures. Scale was one of those reasons exemplified by major urban regeneration projects delivered by city councils. ... Last week we have been advised that Government intends the opposite by abolishing City Council structures and retaining Community Boards. A week is a long time in politics. Now Auckland stares into the abyss of hollowed out local government, and an establishment phase that could drag on for years if Toronto’s experience of council reform is any guide. ...

http://joelcayford.blogspot.com/2009/04/aucklands-economy-hollowing-out.html

    .06  Bioregional "Biocurriculum"!

Continental Bioregional Congress Blog

At the last Continental Bioregional Congress at Earthaven Ecovillege in 2005, the CBC Coordinating Council was charged by the congress to begin working on a bioregional curriculum, which could be piloted (at least in part) at the next congress. ... WE SEEK YOUR INPUT: ...

http://bioregional-congress.blogspot.com/2009/04/bioregional-biocurriculum.html

    .07  Regional research ecologies as key to innovation and competitiveness

iBlog.blogactive.eu

... outlines state of the art thinking, discussion and regional good practice within ERRIN , the European Regional Research and Innovation Network, for which I have the pleasure to work, and some of the debate stimulated by the European Year of Creativity and Innovation: ...

http://iblog.blogactiv.eu/2009/04/08/regional-research-ecologies-as-key-to-innovation/

    .08  CNAB Sharply Condemns Changes to Bosnian Cities’ Historic Names in RS

Congress of North American Bosniaks

The Congress of North American Bosniaks (CNAB), an umbrella organization representing Canadian and US Bosniaks, sharply condemns the newly adopted law about the Territorial Organization of Republika Srpska (RS), smaller of the two entities in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), approved by RS legislators. The law provides that Bosanski Brod and Bosanska Kostajnica will have their city names changed into just Brod and just Kostajnica. ... Negation of the Bosnian prefix in city names equals negation of Bosnia,  ...

http://www.bosniak.org/cnab-sharply-condemns-changes-to-bosnian-cities%E2%80%99-historic-names-in-rs/

     .09  Three Competencies of Leading Organizations

Small Planet Partners

Collaborate across boundaries with ease. They know how to get the whole system in the room and respect the different interests and perspectives of all stakeholders, making it possible to build their social networks and realize breakthrough innovations. ...

http://www.smallplanetpartners.com/three-competencies-of-leading-organizations

    .10  Community Guru Colin McKay's top 18 resources for community builders

The Moderator Community

Having just finished reading Colin's McKay's insightful and entertaining 'The Secret Underground Guide to Social Media for Organizations' I was compelled to share his resource list for those looking to read the best of the best:

1. Community Guy by Jake McKee – http://communityguy.com

2. ...

http://www.themoderatorcommunity.com/blog/community-guru-colin-mckays-top-18-resources-community-builders

 

13. Announcements and Regional Links.   Contents

    .01  Call for Tenders for International Conference: Regional Studies Association

The Association invites tenders for the 2011 Annual International Conference. For more than two decades the RSA has had an ongoing programme of international events, attracting participants from all around the world. The next major event is the 2010 Annual International Conference in Pécs, Hungary. The closing date for proposals is 31st August 2009.

More information: http://www.regional-studies-assoc.ac.uk/events/future.asp

    .02  Megaregions: Literature Review of the Implications for U.S. Infrastructure Investment and Transportation Planning - U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration – September, 2008

In the twenty-first century, the United States faces increasing challenges in terms of economic competitiveness, quality of life, traffic congestion, aging transportation infrastructure, and scarcity of natural resources. These challenges are particularly difficult because they are not confined to traditional geographic or political borders, but arise from the interactions between cities and regions. In order to address these challenges, local, state, regional, and federal actors may be well served by planning for critical infrastructure on a scale larger than has been common in transportation and regional planning history and practice. One potential approach to address these challenges, and take advantages of the opportunities that arise from growing urban agglomerations, is the idea of the "megaregion."

 

Megaregions: … was prepared for the U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration by the Georgia Institute of Technology's Center for Quality Growth and Regional Development. The report summarizes recent literature and places current megaregion research within the context of both previous regional planning efforts and selected regional planning initiatives, related to transportation infrastructure investment, both inside and outside the United States.

http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/planning/megaregions1.htm

    .03  Federal, State, & Local Governments - U.S. Census Bureau

Government Employment & Payroll, Government Finance Statistics, Federal Spending, Tax Statistics, Government List & Structure, Special Topics

http://www.census.gov/govs/

    .04  Regionalism - From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia  (Redirected from Regionalist)

Regionalism may refer to:

    * Regionalism (politics)

    * Regionalism (art)

    * Regionalism (international relations)

    * Regionalism (literature)

    * Critical regionalism (architecture)

    * A word that is limited to a certain dialect

See also

    * Bioregionalism, regions defined by physical or environmental features

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regionalist

    .05  Regional Stability & Cooperation - Australian Government

    * Strenthening cooperation on transboundary threats

    * Publications

Regional stability is essential for growth and poverty reduction.

However new challenges to stability are emerging in the form of transboundary threats like pandemics, disasters, and climate change.

Transnational crimes such as people trafficking, drug trafficking, money laundering and terrorism also threaten regional stability.

http://www.ausaid.gov.au/keyaid/stability.cfm

    .06  Shai Agassi: A bold plan for mass adoption of electric cars - TEDTalks

Shai Agassi wants to put you behind the wheel of an electric car -- but he doesn't want you to sacrifice convenience (or cash) to do it.

Why you should listen to him: When horrific climate-change scenarios elicit little but endless chatter from governments and entrenched special interests, the difference between talk and action represent an embarrassing gulf. Meet Shai Agassi, who has stepped fearlessly into that gap. His approach to solving the puzzle of electric automobiles could spark nothing short of an automotive revolution. Agassi stunned the software industry in 2007 by resigning from SAP to focus on his vision for breaking the world's fossil-fuel habit, a cause he had championed since his fuse was lit at a Young Global Leaders conference in 2005. Through his enthusiastic persistence, Agassi's startup Better Place has signed up some impressive partners -- including Nissan-Renault and the countries of Israel and Denmark.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FcoJt2KLC9k&feature=channel_page  Video – 19 minutes

14. Financial Crisis.   Contents

    .01  The Quiet Coup - The Atlantic

ONE THING YOU learn rather quickly when working at the International Monetary Fund is that no one is ever very happy to see you. Typically, your “clients” come in only after private capital has abandoned them, …

The reason, of course, is that the IMF specializes in telling its clients what they don’t want to hear. ... concern of the fund’s senior staff, and the biggest obstacle to recovery, is almost invariably the politics of countries in crisis.

Typically, these countries are in a desperate economic situation for one simple reason—the powerful elites within them overreached in good times and took too many risks. Emerging-market governments and their private-sector allies commonly form a tight-knit—and, most of the time, genteel—oligarchy, running the country rather like a profit-seeking company in which they are the controlling shareholders.

...

In its depth and suddenness, the U.S. economic and financial crisis is shockingly reminiscent of moments we have recently seen in emerging markets (and only in emerging markets): South Korea (1997), Malaysia (1998), Russia and Argentina (time and again). In each of those cases, global investors, afraid that the country or its financial sector wouldn’t be able to pay off mountainous debt, suddenly stopped lending. And in each case, that fear became self-fulfilling, as banks that couldn’t roll over their debt did, in fact, become unable to pay. …

But there’s a deeper and more disturbing similarity: elite business interests—financiers, in the case of the U.S.—played a central role in creating the crisis, making ever-larger gambles, with the implicit backing of the government, until the inevitable collapse. More alarming, they are now using their influence to prevent precisely the sorts of reforms that are needed, and fast, to pull the economy out of its nosedive. The government seems helpless, …

 

http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200905/imf-advice

    .02  Ten principles for a Black Swan-proof world - Financial Times, UK

1. What is fragile should break early while it is still small. Nothing should ever become too big to fail. Evolution in economic life helps those with the maximum amount of hidden risks – and hence the most fragile – become the biggest.

2. No socialisation of losses and privatisation of gains. Whatever may need to be bailed out should be nationalised; whatever does not need a bail-out should be free, small and risk-bearing. We have managed to combine the worst of capitalism and socialism. In France in the 1980s, the socialists took over the banks. In the US in the 2000s, the banks took over the government. This is surreal.

3. People who were driving a school bus blindfolded (and crashed it) should never be given a new bus. ...

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/5d5aa24e-23a4-11de-996a-00144feabdc0.html?nclick_check=1

    .03  William K. Black interview – Bill Moyers Journal

BILL MOYERS: …

For months now, revelations of the wholesale greed and blatant transgressions of Wall Street have reminded us that "The Best Way to Rob a Bank Is to Own One." In fact, the man you're about to meet wrote a book with just that title. It was based upon his experience as a tough regulator during one of the darkest chapters in our financial history: the savings and loan scandal in the late 1980s.

WILLIAM K. BLACK: Fraud is deceit. And the essence of fraud is, "I create trust in you, and then I betray that trust, and get you to give me something of value." And as a result, there's no more effective acid against trust than fraud, especially fraud by top elites, and that's what we have.

BILL MOYERS: In your book, you make it clear that calculated dishonesty by people in charge is at the heart of most large corporate failures and scandals, including, of course, the S&L, but is that true? Is that what you're saying here, that it was in the boardrooms and the CEO offices where this fraud began?

WILLIAM K. BLACK: Absolutely.

BILL MOYERS: How did they do it? What do you mean?

WILLIAM K. BLACK: Well, the way that you do it is to make really bad loans, because they pay better. Then you grow extremely rapidly, in other words, you're a Ponzi-like scheme. And the third thing you do is we call it leverage. That just means borrowing a lot of money, and the combination creates a situation where you have guaranteed record profits in the early years. That makes you rich, through the bonuses that modern executive compensation has produced. It also makes it inevitable that there's going to be a disaster down the road.

http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/04032009/watch.html

15. Custom search: region, regions, regional communities    Contents

To search on topics like those in Regional Community Development News use this custom search engine which utilizes 1,211  regional related sites as of April 22, 2009. Entering the term water planning  returned  897  items;  "regional water planning"  returned  124  items.

Search engine link: http://www.google.com/coop/cse?cx=000551187207053117963:m1gvkhigkeo&hl=en

 

My name is Tom Christoffel. I've worked in the field of intergovernmental and regional cooperation since 1973. As a consequence, "I see regions work.” Regional Community Development News is published bi-monthly based on news reports as of Wednesday of the publication week

     Making visible such cross-boundary planning, collaboration and cooperative action at multi-jurisdictional networked regional scales, public, private and NGO is my purpose. "Think globally, act locally" was innovative in its time. Today the local scale is often too small to address today's needs and opportunities. "Think local planet, act regionally,” is my candidate paradigm. No one said we're only allowed one paradigm.

     We can see that “regional communities of communities” are organized locally and now act both to avoid tragedy in the commons and gain benefits. An effective multi-jurisdictional regional community has DNA. It is geographically Defined; has a common Name and its Alignment is inclusive of smaller communities and participatory in larger communities. So, by scanning this compilation, reading articles and checking organizations - you too will be able to see the regional communities that already exist.

     News references are found using the Google News search service. Media article excerpts and links are “fair use” to transform globally scattered reports to make regional approaches visible. Links go to the publisher and do not compete with it. Such publishers are likely to have related stories and thus be seen by new customers. “Regional” is an emerging news category. There is no charge for this service and no profit is made from its use, though any user can become more aware of the topic itself.

     To search previous issues since 2003 go to: http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/regions_work/

To join Regional Community Networkers and get a free subscription use this email link – no additional information required:  regions_work-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

For the Google Groups version go to:

http://groups.google.com/group/regional-community-development-news

For the Blog and RSS feed go to: http://regional-communities.blogspot.com/

Questions, comments or items to feature in Regional Community Development News?

Please email the editor: Tom.Christoffel@gmail.com

Thomas J. (Tom) Christoffel, AICP - http://regional-communities.com/

 

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