CONFLICTS OF INTEREST
Russell Application for Appointment to the Planning Commission
Initial June, 2013, Council Discussion of Small Winery Ordinance
Small Winery Ordinance Timeline
SHWindow.org Newsletter: Conflict of Interest, December 1, 2014
NEW CITY MANAGER
New City Manager: Jennifer Phillips:
RESOURCES
Map of St. Helena -- Open and zoom in to see St. Helena more clearly!
Local Gifts Fact Sheet from the Fair Political Practices Commission. In a small town, by necessity many must wear more than one hat. This fact sheet helps office holders and candidates decide when they are entering conflict of interest dilemmas.
A Guide to a Sense of Place -- great plan for focusing community identity around its place and natural assets. It's a zip file so double click to open it.
Free Market Myth -- why just letting the "market" take care of development; deals with the market rules and who benefits.
Napa Valley Travel Behavior --This is currently an ongoing study to be concluded and disseminated in Feb. 2014 to learn all the details of traffic in Napa County. It shows heat maps, line maps, desire line maps, information that can influence planning and business decisions throughout the Valley.
BEST PRACTICES
Governing well is an occupation for which one is educated, formally or not, continues to learn and seeks to improve performance with practice and experience. Those new to the game usually begin by serving on boards or commissions so they can learn the laws and protocols of public meetings, not to mention the diplomatic and intellectual approaches that work best and are the most fair to the most people. Please help this list grow and be useful by sending in your suggestions for it.
1. Good Government is: Communicating clearly and directly with citizens.
Citizens are usually unacquainted with the jargon of government operations and need to read about issues and plans in everyday language, preferably more than one - with graphics. If officials want to be technically legal and yet limit citizens input for any reason, then supporting documents and agendas may be phrased in overly general language to obscure the actual action taken or they may be published in undecipherable format with symbols, acronyms, colors, strikethroughs, etc. that only having meaning for government workers.
2. Good Government is: Representing all those living in the entire jurisdiction; not just one neighborhood.
As jurisdictions grow and elect more officials from increasingly disparate sections within the area, district representation often becomes the next step. Prior to that plateau, there is a stage in which a single district dominates the process, seeing governance of the whole through the narrow lens of personal neighborhoods.
3. Good Government is facing climate change directly and actively on a local level.
For extra motivation in this are see the recent San Francisco Chronicle article on the dangers coming within this century.
4. Good Government is transparent and accessible.
Generally, except for personnel, lawsuits and some real estate negotiations, all government records and transactions are public record and can be accessed by the public by request. Governments that inspire the most trust and therefore the most cooperation from its citizens are those which are the most transparent and empower their citizens to help government, especially local government, to succeed. This documentsare from Granicus, an organization that provides supporting services to local and state governments. Transparency 2.0 -- Fundamentals of Open Government
Elizabeth Warren & Thomas Piketty in conversation, a video. This is great and goes to the core of what needs to happen to make the US work.
CLIMATE CHANGE
Public Policy Institute of California panel discussion on impact of Cap and Trade, the law in January:
UN Working Group on Climate Change for Rural Areas
UN Report on Climate Change for North America
- Here is the PowerPoint PDF document from Napa County on the Brown Act (California's secret meeting law) that is shown at each training for new County board and office holders. Notice particularly the section on Serial Meetings.
- Here are the details about using the Brown Act legally from the Institute of Local Government, THE source for politicians in training. Note the paragraph in the upper right corner of the PDF on serial meetings.
ELECTIONS
Dillon/Chilton Responses to the St. Helena Chamber of Commerce Questionnaire
CITY COUNCIL
Council Members' Budget Items, 2014-15
Restoring Client Trust - 2014 Report from the Financial Times