Public Trust and Ethics

City leaders worked hard to ensure that local government remained accessible and residents were able to participate in council meetings and obtain essential services.

An innovative public-private-nonprofit partnership transformed a former car dealership site into housing for veterans, comprising 66 units that are 100 percent affordable.

With “safer at home” orders in effect in an attempt to flatten the curve of COVID-19 spread, cities were on the front lines maintaining essential services and working to protect residents who were out of work or lost their job because of the crisis.

Collectively, California cities are creating hundreds, if not thousands, of projects each year that improve the lives of residents. While many people often lament that other levels of government do not always seem to work, California cities can show powerfully through #LocalWorks that local government works.

Since October 2019, the Pacific Gas and Electric Company has cut power to Californians more than half a dozen times, with the smallest power shutoff affecting about 30,000 people and the largest affecting nearly 2.5 million. But cities have made it clear that this cannot be the new normal, and power shutoffs are in fact putting residents at real risk.

San Rafael asked city employees, “How would you design your department if you could create it today, rather than as it was created decades ago?”

Communication and collaboration are cornerstones of the ability to lead, and the League’s positive relationships with legislators are key to cities’ successes in the Capitol. Cultivating open two-way communication with our state leaders is essential to protecting the interests of cities and our residents.

Local government leaders are adopting codes of conduct to set the rules and expectations for how they govern their cities. Such codes help foster a civil and respectful governing culture consistent with best practices.

When utility-initiated power shutoffs began, city officials stepped up in new and creative ways to provide practical help to residents and communities left in the dark.