#county-administration

#county-administration

John Kaehny has written and successfully lobbied for the passage of state and New York City laws related to government transparency and accountability, including the first open data law in the world in 2012.

Campaigner Aysha Hawcutt stated that residents were 'not anti-homes', but believed the Adlington plan was 'the wrong proposal in the wrong place'. She expressed pride in the community's resilience against the development threats.

City Hall reporters Eli Wolfe and Natalie Orenstein tracked every Oakland City Council vote in 2025 - all 138 of them at full council meetings, plus 519 more at committee meetings - to find out how your representative is doing the most basic part of the job.

"She wants to regain stable health so she can thoughtfully and responsibly consider her options," her office told ABC7 Eyewitness News in a statement announcing her leave of absence and addressing the condition of her mental health.

The last three months have been tumultuous in the district. The community was divided by a surprise move in January to add ethnic studies to the high school curriculum, a class that Chinese and Jewish families felt was discriminatory. When new board member Rowena Chiu said publicly she felt bullied by other "woke" school board members for questioning the class, all hell broke loose.

When you have people sleepwalking into an authoritarian regime, it's up to us to sound the alarm. People feel isolated, helpless and hopeless. And when you hear about other people who are just like you taking a stand and representing something that you believe, that gives you not only hope, but it gives you power.

The current system 'locks in bureaucracy, diffuses accountability, and protects the status quo.' Lurie and Mandelman wrote that voters find it 'difficult' to know 'who is accountable when services fall short.' Giving more power to the mayor, they continued, would create more 'accountability.'

Portland's transition to a new form of government last January brought new practices and procedures for the City Council. Among the largest changes, impacting both the Council and members of the public, was the introduction of eight policy committees. The committees, which considered topics including transportation, climate, finance, homelessness, and public safety, were intended to provide a focused venue for councilors to introduce legislation and hold conversations on specific topics, as well as to hear public testimony.

Tower Hamlets Council said in September 2023 it wanted to take down the LTNs and was challenged by Save our Safer Streets (Soss). The court said a failure to reconsult was among the reasons for its decision. Soss said that "thousands of local residents will be extremely pleased and relieved". Tower Hamlets Council, led by mayor Lutfur Rahman, said it was "disappointed" while London's mayor called it "good news for Londoners".

"If we don't get what we need [in terms of extra government help] then a Section 114 Notice will come in, which is effective bankruptcy. We'd then get administrators come in, in effect - they'd then make a plan for where the money gets spent in Worcestershire. It would be a catastrophe. We're going to have to halt projects that were put into the budget by the previous administration, things that maybe were 'nice to have', but we can't afford them."

It's been a pleasure working with you for the past three years you've shown compassion, you've shown an effort to make our community a little bit better, said Sunnyvale Mayor Larry Klein to Mehlinger at Tuesday's meeting. I look forward to the partnership.

These powers could cover "governance, financial management and recruitment" at the Aspirerun authority but should be used "only where necessary".