One of an elected official’s most important responsibilities is oversight of agency finances. In an effort to assist local officials with this important duty, The Institute for Local Government (ILG) recently updated the resource “Understanding the Basics of County and City Revenues.” CSAC is one of ILG’s parent organizations.

In San Mateo and Santa Clara counties more than one third of the 2.5 million residents are immigrants with nearly 50 percent of the workforce being foreign born and over 240,000 “lawful permanent residents” eligible to become U.S. citizens. Though a large, vital part of the community, immigrant groups are often underrepresented in public processes. To help address this, San Mateo and Santa Clara counties are partnering with the community to support immigrant integration and have recently created offices of immigrant affairs.

Counties across California are increasingly facing tough challenges and are asking residents to weigh in in a variety of ways. However, many still find that only a relatively small number of community members actually take part in public conversations and forums. Not involving a cross-section of residents limits the effectiveness of public engagement efforts, negatively impacts the breadth and quality of ideas contributed and can reduce community support for the decisions reached by the governing body.

More than 225,000 Californians were injured in traffic collisions in 2012, according to the state Office of Traffic Safety. Local officials who want to help prevent such accidents in their communities are looking at road diets as a useful tool.

The recent officer-related shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, and the subsequent unrest in the city reminds us of how difficult it can be to respond when tragedy strikes our communities. Although we hope that our communities never have to face such a crisis, it is important for leadership to be prepared to respond to unforeseen and unfortunate tragedies.