Posted on January 25, 2010 by Dr. John Luthy
2010 will not be a bad year. But it is a year in which we must begin to pose workable remedies to deficit spending and pay more attention to rebuilding the fundamental elements of American enterprise, innovation, and infrastructure. So far, there has been no demonstrable or collective political will to undertake the necessary actions. Governors, mayors, councils and commissioners are against the wall. Each state and local community must balance tight budgets while operating lean agencies that can still provide decent and adequate services. It will not get any easier in 2010.
Filed under: Predictions, Preparing for the Future | Leave a Comment »
Posted on January 18, 2010 by Dr. John Luthy
I am concerned for our communities as they continue moving through a very difficult transition. Mayors, Councils and Commissions will be petitioned to provide ‘normal’ service levels when that has become impossible. How will they respond? What will they say? How can they prepare the community? Are they moving fast enough and in the right direction?
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Posted on January 4, 2010 by Dr. John Luthy
For those elected officials and professional public managers who have not read the new book by Patrick Carr and Maria Kefalas, it is a must-read. Hollowing Out the Middle: The Rural Brain Drain and What It Means for America is a marvelous book about the motivations and heartache that accompanies hard decisions related to abandoning a nurturing rural community. Journalist Nick Reding has captured similar sentiments and causative factors in his equally powerful book, Methland, which documents the new economy, changing social structures and the corrosive polarity that exists between the communities celebrated by Richard Florida and those he, Carr and Kefalas describe.
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