#local-government

#local-government

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.

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.

The Orange city council member comes from O.C. Republican royalty. Her grandfather, Cruz, was a Mexican immigrant and civil rights pioneer who registered with the GOP in the late 1940s after Democratic leaders wouldn't help him and other activists fight school segregation against Mexican American students in Orange County. Her second cousin, Steve Ambriz, was a rising GOP star serving on the Orange City Council when he was killed by wrong-way driver in 2006.

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"

Angela Rayner is poised to introduce tougher sanctions on councils in England that block local housing developments. Councils could be forced to approve new housing developments overturning locally agreed plans under stricter rules or risk handing over control of their planning departments to Whitehall officials. Rayner, who has come under pressure this week for adding to her constituency residence and grace-and-favour home in London with the purchase of an 800,000 apartment near Brighton, already has considerable powers to overrule councils that block housing developments.

We don't want to see thousands of flags on every lamp-post. I am doing a piece of work over the next few weeks to address that situation to see if we can help that situation. I would like people to relax a little bit for a few weeks and then I will come out with an option that will please everybody. If you look at the law, defacing a piece of council property could carry a FPN [fixed penalty notice]. I'm not saying we're going to do that, but let's just be sensible and speak to us before doing anything.

"The two hour limit... is merely a guideline... to encourage citizens," Toyoake Mayor Masafumi Koki said in a statement.

We're a new administration, in place for around three months, and finding the right people for the job is very important. I'd like to thank Joseph for his efforts and helping to establish our new team. Adult social care deserves its own focus and I'm delighted to welcome Carl to the cabinet. Kevin brings a lot of experience and I'm pleased he's joining our leadership team.

Drivers in south London have been refunded £485,000 in bus lane fines due to an administrative error found by Southwark Council.

John Lewis has provided bottled water to Longstock residents after high nitrate levels made local supplies unsafe. This issue stems from fertilizer pollution affecting drinking water.

The Conservative Party branded the move a kick in the teeth to drivers, criticizing Labour's approach to heavy-handed policies against car owners, especially in London.