Issue

November 2006

Related Content

Article Executive Director's Message Chris McKenzie

Declarations of Independence Should Be Made Every Day

Article City Forum Michael Coleman

Is Your City in Good Financial Shape?

A safe and secure community depends on fiscally healthy local governments that can provide public services for the community, with a balance of revenues and costs over time – even as the…

Article News from the Institute for the Local Government

Symposium Explores Better Communication Strategies for Promoting Local Government

Have you ever had this experience? You are at a gathering chatting with people you don’t know. You ask them what they do; they reciprocate. You explain that you are involved in local government. They grimace or make a disparaging remark or joke about government.

Article Features Michael G. Colantuono

Metered Utility Rates Are Subject to Proposition 218

The state Supreme Court has determined that metered rates for water, sewer service and government-provided waste collection are “property-related fees” under Proposition 218.

Article Features Robert Locke

How GASB 45 Will Affect Your City or Agency: What You Need to Know

Many cities that have begun implementing the new accounting requirements of GASB 45 have discovered that the results can be shocking. What are your agency’s options?

Article Legal Notes Terence R. Boga

Controlling Disruptive Public Speakers At Open Meetings

Terence R. Boga is a shareholder of Richards, Watson & Gershon in the firm’s Los Angeles office. He serves as city attorney of the City of Westlake Village, and is the immediate past chair of the Executive Committee of the Public Law Section of the State Bar of California. He can be reached at tboga@rwglaw.com.

The nature of a council meeting means that a speaker can become “disruptive” in ways that would not meet the test of actual breach of the peace or of “fighting words” likely to provoke immediate combat.

Article Special Series Bonnie Lowenthal

How Long Beach Weathered the Storm and Restored Its Fiscal Health

In 2002, the city discovered that its $368 million general fund had a structural deficit of $43 million, a figure that would exceed $102 million in just three years if nothing were done.