#local-government

#local-government

Mayors and councillors in England face suspensions of up to six months for serious misconduct and repeated rule breaches as the government seeks to overhaul standards in local government. Under plans unveiled on Tuesday, local authorities will be handed powers to suspend rule-breaking councillors and mayors, including those found guilty of bullying and assault, and to withhold their allowances. Ministers said the changes, which will be introduced via parliamentary legislation, would help improve public confidence in local government.

Dumped fridges, a felled tree left to rot, and household waste floating in the breeze perhaps not what a tourist would expect to see when they arrive in London, after leaving its most famous airport. But that's exactly what greets people as they drive past Heathrow's northern perimeter on their way towards Central London. Last week I headed out to Harlington near Hayes to interview residents, after hearing things were getting out of hand with fly-tipping in their cul-de-sac.

In an email newsletter last week, Portland City Councilor Dan Ryan came out against the ballot measure that would create a new, increased levy to help fund the city's parks system. In the newsletter, Ryan-who oversaw Portland's parks bureau for a period of time prior to the city's government transition-said he supports the city's parks. Still, he made the "hard decision" to vote "no" on the levy.

Almost half of the 3,690 town and village councils in France that have the authority to raise the rate of taxe d'habitation bills on second homes have done so, according to official figures. Taxe d'habitation bills will start dropping into the letter boxes of second home owners in the next few days - and some may well be in for an unpleasant surprise.

This is not what America's about. We have a president that is proclaiming executive orders trying to erase trans people from existence, and you say that the American flag includes everyone. For over 100 years, the American flag stood for slavery, and we had a war to fix that. For 90 years after that, it stood for segregation, and people took to the streets to get rid of that.

Outside his career, Robert's main passion was oral history, which he believed was a way of giving voice to ordinary people who would otherwise have left behind just birth and death certificates. In 1983 he co-founded the Waltham Forest Oral History workshop, whose members interviewed hundreds of local people; it also published books and pamphlets on subjects such as school strikes, childhood health and local pubs.

"The federal administration, of course, has escalated its rhetoric and its enforcement posture in the Bay Area," Lee said. "We know that Border Patrol agents are being stationed on Coast Guard Island. But let me be clear, our city, as I said, we are fully prepared. We're monitoring developments closely and will keep our residents informed if there are any confirmed changes."

Milpitas Interim City Manager Deanna Santana announced she would be resigning at the end of this month, following a clash with Councilmember Evelyn Chua over an alleged attempt at holding a secret meeting in violation of the Brown Act, according to newly released documents by the city. I came to Milpitas to help fix the organization, not to fight or be disrespected, wrote Santana in an August email announcing her resignation. Unfortunately, over the last two weeks, both have happened with Councilmember Chua.

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

Opponents of a plan to convert downtown parking lots into affordable housing say they've collected enough signatures to put the issue before voters, potentially halting an effort to build 345 affordable units on lots that currently provide more than 500 parking spaces. Save Downtown Menlo Park, a coalition of local businesses and downtown patrons, submitted 3,440 signatures to City Hall last Friday well above the 10% threshold of registered voters needed to qualify the measure for the ballot.

A final decision on whether two unpopular Low Traffic Neighbourhoods (LTNs) in Greenwich will become permanent will be made next month. Greenwich Council launched the West and East Neighbourhood Management Trial Scheme last November, aiming to reduce traffic and improve air quality in two areas of Greenwich by issuing fines to motorists who drive through certain areas at peak times.

If you go up the Grand Staircase to the second floor of San Francisco City Hall and then make a right, you will find a graveyard outside the office of District 1 Supervisor Connie Chan. Each tombstone is marked with a Halloweeny riff on the name of a former district supervisor. Is it an homage? Is it a threat? "There's a lot of stuff going on, so it's nice to have a little levity," said Robyn Burke, one of Chan's legislative aides.

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

Mayor Lueb was the 2nd Leftist to resign from office in Tigard since 2022. I still miss Singh on the city council. What started out looking diverse in 2022 when Portland felt the need to go conservative and got screwed, now is more conservative looking. I feel so unrepresented and wish I were. Our current city council are primarily the fiscally conservatives who could achieve gentrification and more inequity.

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

Sanford used extensive public records of ChatGPT and Microsoft Copilot logs from city employees to show, among other things, the city of Bellingham's draft AI policy was written with the help of ChatGPT. I get excited when I see an intriguing use of FOIA to demystify local government. And leading Poynter's AI work, you can imagine how I geeked out when I saw Sanford's investigations. Here is how they start:

"Ryan's subsequent termination by the Select Board was purposeful retaliation for refusing to simply go along with the dictates of Chief Minnich." A former West Boylston town administrator who was fired after a spat with the longtime police chief over a Trump flag filed a lawsuit against the town, alleging he was wrongfully terminated.

Rosemary Duckett, 80, a retired magistrate and former chair of her local YMCA, and her husband, Anthony, 88, have been providing accommodation in a room above their garage to Ukrainian refugees since 2022. The couple were dismayed when the council recently told them they could no longer use the room, which has a small bathroom attached, to provide somewhere for Ukrainians to live without applying for a change of use for the room, at a cost of 600-800.

"an enterprising initiative"

"careful consideration"