The new American Rescue Plan allocates over $350 billion dollars to states and local governments. These funds can be leveraged for a variety of COVID-response related projects, such as implementing new, virtual tools to ensure that crucial services are delivered quickly and efficiently. But to take advantage of these funds as they make their way to states and to local governments, you must be able to advocate internally for your virtual govern...

COVID-19 has disproportionately affected marginalized groups, such as communities of color, the homeless population, low-income households, and individuals with disabilities; which has only deepened the justified mistrust these at-risk groups may feel toward government organizations. With the COVID-19 vaccine rollout underway, governments are struggling to communicate with these underserved communities. The reality is, no government entity has...

Short-term vacation rentals, like the ones found on Airbnb, VRBO, and dozens of other platforms are a contentious issue within communities. On one side, short-term vacation rentals are upsetting to neighbors who must contend with a party house next door, for example. And many hotel owners are facing an uneven playing field due to lenient or inconsistent short-term vacation regulations. On the other side, many depend on short-term rental income...

Heroic events often capture the community’s imagination of their police and sheriff’s departments. But it’s the mundane work – issuing permits, renewing licenses, and fulfilling routine community requests – that take up your time. For departments, these task are demanding, tedious, and costly; for residents, navigating a tangle of PDFs and basic online forms is frustrating and time consuming. Join us for a 30-minu...

2020 was a year for the books. Clerks were suddenly tasked with keeping governments running effectively, all while adapting to working remotely from their homes or alone at City Hall. It was up to them to maintain government transparency and continue meeting residents’ needs in the middle of a global public health crisis. In many ways, early 2021 won’t be noticeably different, except you now may have a formalized remote public meet...

Heroic events often capture the community’s imagination of their fire departments. But it’s the mundane work – issuing permits, renewing licenses, and fulfilling routine community requests – that take up your time. For departments, these task are demanding, tedious, and costly; for residents, navigating a tangle of PDFs and basic online forms is frustrating and time consuming. Join us for a 30-minute webinar on Thursday...

2020 was a year for the books. Clerks were suddenly tasked with keeping governments running effectively, all while adapting to working remotely from their homes or alone at City Hall. It was up to them to maintain government transparency and continue meeting residents’ needs in the middle of a global public health crisis. In many ways, early 2021 won’t be noticeably different, except you now may have a formalized remote public meet...

Keeping government running is difficult – especially remotely and/or with social distancing guidelines. Hear from clerks across the country as they open up about the challenges they were facing and the secure, cloud-based solutions they were able to implement to ease their workload and help empower a transparent and agile digital government. Join us on Tuesday, January 19th, from 2 – 2:20 p.m. ET / 11 – 11:20 a.m. PT for Janu...

The $900 billion Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act is just the latest in a line of COVID-related stimulus funding that will enable both public and private sector agencies to address the coronavirus crisis. While these funds can be used to address gaps and budget shortfalls, they also provide unprecedented resources to help agencies take proactive steps to move operations online and improve communication and coordi...

Widespread budget shortfalls, public safety concerns, and the continued growth of the short-term rental market have made effective STR management more important than ever for local and state governments. While crafting the right regulation and enforcement strategy can be a complicated undertaking, an effective compliance program can generate significant amounts of tax and permit revenue and benefit the entire community. This Ask Me Anything se...