I write all this to say that in any given city and region, transportation departments are embarking on countless such initiatives to increase efficiencies and enhance user experience of transit.  And while these systemic efforts to coordinate and collaborate on a large scale is critical (we’ve discussed the importance of partnerships many a time), I think that perhaps the devil is in the design details.

According to Smart Growth America, nearly 130 communities adopted complete streets policies in 2012.  As part of complete streets, cities are encouraged to think about integrated, holistic roadway design that not only accommodates all modes of travel, but also serves residents with varied needs.  From aging populations to those with physical disabilities, residents have different demands of a street and of transit.  And regardless of whether or not a city decides to implement a complete streets policy, it is critical that these groups and their interests are represented in roadway planning and implementation processes to ensure that the “small” details (think: sidewalk and curb design; crosswalk timings) actually work for everyone. [Design (and plan) with everyone in mind]

Apart from the nuts and bolts of roadway design, cities are also looking into technology as a means to enhance user experience.  As part of the “Move DC” efforts, the city has tagged intelligent transportation systems (ITS) in their list of options to explore further.  ITS applications use ‘smart’ technologies to improve the efficiency, coordination and delivery of services, including roadway and traffic management.  Applications such as transit signal priority in Tacoma, Wash. and Chicago, Ill.; emergency vehicle preemption in Plano, Texas and St. Paul, Minn.; and red light enforcement cameras in Scottsdale, Ariz. and Raleigh, N.C. are some examples of the ways that ITS technologies can not only contribute to more effective, efficient, and safe transit and roadway systems, but also save cities money, time, and resources (this report gives more details on the examples listed). While ITS is a large umbrella under which a range of technology applications fall, cities have an opportunity here to identify those specific technologies that would be most useful to not only meet current transit demands, but actually account for and enhance future ridership.  [Design intelligently]

ITS or no ITS, cities can (and do) plan transportation better when the end user experience is thought about early in the planning stages.  Complete streets and intelligent transportation systems are only two umbrella concepts in a whole menu of strategies that transportation departments can turn to when attempting to create an integrated, effective system that is actually based on user demand and user experience.  These are meant to serve as inspiration, and perhaps examples of a larger idea that is best captured by the title of one of my favorite books on the power of design to improve lives: [“Design like you give a damn”]

Here at NLC’s Sustainable Cities Institute, we’ve spent the last several months curating and adding to the wealth of transportation resources already on our site, www.sustainablecitiesinstitute.org.  We’ve included more reports, guides and model policies on complete streets, bike share, and carshare, to name a few. Check out our new resources and, as always, email us at sustainability@nlc.org with any questions, comments or suggestions!

This is the fourth and final part of the series on the Public Employee Pension Transparency Act of 2013, also known as PEPTA.  

Why does the National League of Cities oppose a bill that ostensibly would bring greater transparency to public employee pensions, and ensure that they are fiscally sound and sustainable?

Simply put, the Public Employee Pension Transparency Act of 2013 (PEPTA), which was introduced in April by Rep. Nunes in the House, and Sen. Burr in the Senate, would represent an unwarranted and unjustified intrusion by the federal government in the activities and responsibilities of the states and local governments.

Since the Great Depression, when the Social Security Act explicitly exempted employees of the federal, state and local governments from participation in the nation’s Social Security system, state and local governments have provided their employees with public pension plans designed to provide their employees with some level of income support during retirement.

Each of the states and many of the localities developed these pensions in response to the specific needs of their employees.  For example, most local governments have one type of retirement for their public safety employees – who generally retire at a younger age than their civil service counterparts – and another type of pension for their regular employees.

These retirement plans were either incorporated into state constitutions or state laws that established strict contribution and pay out requirements, including the number of years such contributions must be made as well as the percentage that employers and employees will contribute.  And most importantly, these retirement systems were placed in public trusts that could not be used for any other purpose than to support and sustain the retirement benefits of former employees.

Every state and local retirement plan has been subject to the oversight of a board of trustees and the review of state and local elected officials, auditors and the public.  In addition, each retirement plan must report its financial status using general accepted accounting procedures that are prescribed by the Government Accounting Standards Board (GASB) which was established in 1984 to establish and improve standards of state and local governmental accounting and financial reporting that will result in useful information for users of financial reports and guide and educate the public, including issuers, auditors, and users of those financial reports.  Since then, most if not all, state and local governments have followed GASB’s reporting rules for public pensions.

In spite of this, or perhaps because of it, PEPTA would mandate a costly and complex layer of federal reporting on top of existing state and local accounting and reporting requirements; give federal regulators sweeping powers to impose duplicative reporting requirements on state and local governments; jeopardize state and local financing of infrastructure and other critical needs by stripping the tax exempt status of bonds issued by states and localities if they do not comply with regulators’ rules (even though historically state and local pensions are subject to state constitutions and state and local laws and regulations); and threatens far-reaching and unintended consequences for the municipal bond market and the economy as a whole.

If the bill became law it would falsely depict the true condition of state and local governments and their retirement systems. For example, it would require that state and local governments report their pension returns as if they invested only in low yield U.S. Treasury bonds, not the diversified portfolios actually in use, thereby implying a significantly larger unfunded liability than is actually the case.  Moreover, it would do nothing to increase transparency.  Public pensions are among the most transparent and open financial systems in the nation given their auditing and public review requirements.  Nor would it improve accountability.  Rather it would pre-empt a multi-year, multi-level effort by GASB that is now being implemented to ensure public pension transparency.

The claim by Rep. Nunes and Sen. Burr and their colleagues that public pension funds are “Often hidden by opaque accounting practices, the costs [for which] are driving an increasing number of states and municipalities toward insolvency, and therefore in need of federal intervention, “is wrong.  This bill is unnecessary, unwarranted and should not be adopted into law.

To “protect” the federal government from any responsibility for state or local fiscal problems, Reps. Nunes, Ryan and Issa, in the House, and Sens. Burr, Coburn and Thune, in the Senate, have introduced PEPTA, which if it became law, would prohibit the federal government from bailing out states or localities, and would force states and localities to meet certain federally established pension reporting requirements in order to maintain their right to issue tax free municipal bonds.  Failure to comply with the requirements of the Act would mean that states and localities would have to go to the taxable bond market to raise funds for infrastructure and other legitimate state and local activities.

So, if you thought that efforts to tax municipal bonds were the only legislative threat to the future of tax exempt municipal bonds, think again.

PEPTA would direct the U.S. Department of the Treasury to issue new public pension plan reporting requirements that public pension plan sponsors and administrators would have to follow when reporting their assets and liabilities.

Rep. Nunes, in a statement outlining the reasons for this bill, said that it was necessary for states and local pension plans to disclose their liabilities in a “uniform and transparent manner based on widely accepted accounting principles.”  Without these new and transparent reporting requirements, he added, state and local pension plans would continue to hide significant fiscal problems behind various and misleading state and local pension plan reports.

What Rep. Nunes did not state is that all public pension plans are subject to stringent state and local reporting requirements that are set in state statutes and local ordinances and regulations; that all reporting  must meet generally accepted accounting principles established by the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB), which just this year issued new reporting requirements designed to highlight the unfunded liabilities associated with public pension plans; and that these reports are subject to review by elected officials, trustees, auditors, and the general public.

He also did not state that since 2008, 45 states have adopted legislation to reform their state and local pension systems.  These reforms were adopted to ensure the long term viability and sustainability of their pension systems and were done without any prodding or initiative by the federal government.

What he also did not say is that Wall Street bankers and investors, who until now have had little control over the nearly $3 trillion in public pension assets, are eyeing those assets as yet another pool of funds from which to draw substantial income.

This is the second in a four part series on the Public Employee Pension Transparency Act of 2013, also known as PEPTA.  

Many members of Congress have expressed the belief that many state and local pension plans are about to fail, and that cities and towns across the nation are about to default on their municipal bonds.

House members and senators have introduced legislation designed to address this.  Known as PEPTA, the House and Senate versions of the bill would seek to insulate the federal government and the American taxpayers from any responsibility for public pension failures or municipal bond defaults.

Despite the fact that there is no evidence that either public pension plans are about to collapse or that states, cities or towns are about to default on their municipal bonds, these same members of Congress have decided that some type of federal action must be taken to prevent public pension plans from collapsing and municipal bonds from failing, and if it does, from impacting the federal government and the American taxpayer.  What they have proposed is to add a new and significant public pension plan reporting burden that is linked to the ability of a state, city or town to issue tax exempt bonds.

However, as has been the case before, the opinions of members of Congress and the facts do not agree.

Here are the facts:

First, states cannot file for bankruptcy.  They are sovereign entities, established under the Constitution of the United States, and as such have independent taxing and spending powers that they may use to balance their budgets and avoid insolvency.  Moreover, no federal law exists that gives states the power to declare bankruptcy or seek bankruptcy protection.

Second, while municipalities as corporations may file for bankruptcy under Chapter IX of the bankruptcy code, the rules of bankruptcy for cities and towns are highly circumscribed and may include limitations such as the requirement that the state legislature must approve any and all municipal bankruptcy filings.

Third, while states and localities have faced growing budget deficits due to the Great Recession, most have addressed these challenges by making tough spending cuts, raising taxes, and reducing overall employment.  In fact, Fitch, one of the three municipal bonds rating agencies, has said that states, cities and towns have done a significantly better job of addressing their fiscal challenges than the federal government.

Fourth, during this time unfunded pension and health care liabilities have grown because of the lower rate of return on investments and deferred annual contributions. However, since 2008, 45 states have modified their pension plans to help mitigate and ultimately eliminate unfunded liabilities, and numerous cities and towns have done the same.  Increasingly, data document that while still facing difficulties, state and local pensions are becoming increasingly viable and sustainable.

Finally, governors and other state leaders have declared their opposition to any congressional action that would permit states to file for bankruptcy protections.

Ignore the pre-Revolutionary founding (1762) and the advantages of geography (77 miles from the center of the Washington, D.C. metro area and 10 miles from two National Parks made famous by the Civil War). Shepherdstown has thrived because of the commitments by average citizens, the constant effort to offer events and activities that showcase local resources, the relationship with a local liberal arts college, and a capacity for entrepreneurship.

On a single weekend, a resident or visitor in Shepherdstown can listen to live Blue Grass music at the restored Opera House, spend all day outdoors in a town park celebrating Earth Day, visit renovated historic homes as part of a countywide Garden Club program, buy fresh ramps (seasonal onions) at a farmers market or stroll the shops and restaurants of German Street, the main street.

While there is one significant vacant storefront along German Street, what you notice are the wide well-maintained sidewalks and the excellent condition of the older buildings – each having significant architectural qualities. These conditions of course don’t happen by accident. They are the work of average citizens, anchor institutions, and the local government taking action in support of an entire community’s prosperity. The outcomes are the tangible result of entrepreneurship and civic pride.

The historic Reynolds House for example, is a circa 1869 property on a lot laid out by town founder Thomas Shepherd and lovingly restored to its original condition by the current occupants. Shepherd University has two properties in the heart of downtown. The Greek Revival building now known as McMurran Hall, formerly the town hall, was the school’s first building and remains in use today. A smaller building just up the street houses a center for Civil War studies. 

The Entler Hotel, at the east end of the main street, thrived for most of the 19th and part of the 20th century as a commercial inn but deteriorated to a state of near collapse by the 1970’s. Saved by the municipal leaders and a special act of the West Virginia legislature, the Entler is now managed as the Historic Shepherdstown Museum. The Visitor Center for Shepherdstown is also housed in this building.

Ultimately, it is the people one encounters that makes a beautiful place truly inviting. The volunteers in the visitor center are gracious and knowledgeable. A growing crop of well-managed and reasonably priced restaurants and niche shops have owners and staff (often college students) who seem truly delighted to see you in their establishments. Even a casual brush with the locals, as visitors seek directions or point with a quizzical look at the old stone carriage steps, makes for an experience in hospitality and enjoyment.

Shepherdstown is a place people want to visit and a place to which they want to return. There will always be challenges but the people and the institutions seem well suited to meeting those challenges and keeping one step ahead of changing conditions.

This is the first in a four part series on Public Employee Pension Transparency Act of 2013, also known as PEPTA.

More and more, Congress appears to be considering legislation that is based on anecdotal and inaccurate information and not on good public policy or the facts.

That certainly was the case when the House last month approved a bill to reauthorize the Workforce Investment Act (WIA).  Even though House leadership might tell you otherwise, the decision to move programmatic authority from local elected officials and local business leaders to governors had nothing to do with improving the governance structure of the workforce development system, nor did the decision to consolidate nearly 50 funding streams into one have anything to do with improving the delivery of services.  The proposed changes were made on ideological grounds, and information to support making those changes — a study of the Workforce Investment Act by the General Accountability Office – was taken out of context.

Now it appears to be happening again around public pensions and municipal bonds.  Numerous press reports, most notably in the New York Times, have suggested that public pensions are on the verge of collapse, and that their collapse will set off a wave of local bankruptcies that will seriously jeopardize the economic health of the United States.  Other reports have suggested that cities and towns are too heavily leveraged and are about to default in massive numbers on their tax exempt municipal bonds.  While the evidence is clearly otherwise – in 2011 only 13 municipalities filed for bankruptcy protection – members of Congress have latched onto these reports as an excuse to go after state and local public pensions and to link their sustainability to the issuance of municipal bonds.

Last week Reps. Devin Nunes (R-CA), Paul Ryan (R-WI) and Darrell Issa (R-CA) introduced H.R. 1628, the Public Employee Transparency Act of 2013 or PEPTA in the House and Sens. Richard Burr (R-NC), Tom Coburn (R-OK) and John Thune (R-SD) introduced S. 779, the Public Employee Transparency Act of 2013 or PEPTA in the Senate.

Like so many other bills introduced in Congress, this bill is based on fictitious notions that states and localities are about to declare bankruptcy, or come to the federal government for bailouts to prevent them from defaulting on their obligations.

Many exciting pieces come together to support young people at the Boyle Heights center, none so innovative as the placement of an LAUSD counselor at this and twelve other centers around the city. At the close of the first school year of this partnership-in-action, outplaced counselors have met with 3,800 young people, 600 of those fully out of school, many of the rest well off track in credit accumulation for their age.

The City of LA’s Community Development Department (CDD), the local manager of federal workforce and community development funds, administers the thirteen YouthSource centers – running three directly, contracting for the rest.  The centers have routed 2,300 of the 3,800 out of school and off track youth into programs funded through the Workforce Investment Act.

CDD won a US Department of Labor Workforce Innovation Grant for the 13-site reengagement network. The grant permits the city to pay half the salaries of the LAUSD counselors, and also to expand services to many more dropouts.

The employee status of the LAUSD counselors ensures a critical link. Counselors, even those seated at the YouthSource centers, have on-line access to the LAUSD student information system.  Counselors can work with dropouts to assess their educational status, for instance, in terms of credits obtained.  With this information in hand, counselors can make far more informed referrals to a high school completion option.

Overall, with early reports are so promising, the LA approach to dropout reengagement bears close attention for results and operational tips. Already, other cities could adapt the LA partnership model to scale up reengagement services and supports.

This is the sixth and final post in a blog series highlighting communities profiled in “Bright Spots in Community Engagement,” a joint report of  Knight Foundation and National League of Cities.  It showcases 14 U.S. communities that are building greater civic participation and engagement from the bottom up. Previous blog posts included an in-depth look at Philadelphia, Detroit, Chicago, Austin, Texas, St. Paul, Minn., Akron, Ohio and San Jose. Calif. This post originally appeared in the Knight Blog.

New research finds that collaborative civic revitalization efforts go a long way towards enabling residents to help improve their communities.

“Bright Spots in Community Engagement” – a new report released earlier this week – demonstrates that successful collaborations including multiple networks and representatives from all facets of the community led to significant improvements in both Macon, Ga. and Charlotte, N.C.

In Macon, Ga., the launch of the College Hill Corridor in 2007 offered new opportunities for residents to be involved in the physical, economic and civic revitalization of the neighborhoods surrounding Mercer University. It truly sprung from the ground up – a group of students first proposed the idea as part of their capstone project. The university’s president also took a leadership role in helping bring the idea to light. With financial support from the Knight Foundation, the multi-sector redevelopment planning process was really a collaborative effort: in addition to the university and private philanthropy, it involved the city, local business and neighborhood residents. It ultimately led to new and rehabilitated housing through a partnership with Historic Macon and helped create everyday leaders in the community.

Simultaneously, “Knight Neighborhood Challenge” grants (which ranged from $450 to $10,000) supported “bottom up” ideas from the community. Projects that received funding to improve the community ranged from social events like an annual soapbox derby and movies in the park, to physical upgrades, like park improvements and the Historic Macon Facade Loan Program.

Involving multiple sectors in citywide visioning processes was a successful tactic used in Charlotte, N.C. “Crossroads Charlotte” – a civic project – encouraged corporate and civic leaders to examine four possible scenarios of the city’s future and steps to steer the community towards better collective outcomes. As a result of the project (and combined with other community initiatives), some 30 organizations – representing the corporate, service, nonprofit and government sectors – have undertaken projects to address issues related to access, inclusion and equity in the community.

Other factors also help contribute to successful community engagement efforts, like a strong community relations committee that serves as an integral part of the human relations support system for the city of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County. Additionally, a citizens’ academy has successfully used technology to engage young people to blog about school board meetings.

NLC celebrated Earth Day and Earth Month this year by hosting a four-part “Spotlight on Sustainability” webinar series that profiled the sustainability programs of large and small cities across the country. The series started in the coastal community of Miami Beach, Fla., then hit the Midwest with a stop in Falcon Heights, Minn. The third presentation came from the southwest via Flagstaff, Ariz. Finally, the series was capped by a timely presentation from Seattle, Wash. on their green building program.

Seattle has a robust Green Building program that facilitates green building policies and programs in both municipal operations and the private market.  The city is a national leader in the development of standard practices for green buildings, and has chosen to lead by example by ensuring that, to the extent possible, new construction and retrofits/redevelopment of public buildings are green.

Over the last decade, almost 30 of Seattle’s public buildings have been certified LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) silver or gold. These LEED gold buildings are 15% beyond code in energy reduction, 30% beyond code in water reduction and have a 90% waste diversion rate.

Seattle doesn’t just talk the green talk, they walk the green walk and in doing so have shown the private market that the benefits of green buildings, such as increasing a project’s market value, lowering operating costs over the life of a building and providing businesses with a healthier and more productive work environment, outweigh the initial higher costs that these buildings can entail.

In addition to being a leader in green building, Seattle has numerous city-led sustainability initiatives, ranging from green infrastructure, energy efficiency, urban agriculture and urban forest restoration. The city is also home to countless groups and organizations focused on sustainability and environmental protection, the Bullitt Foundation being a prime example.

We’re excited to be holding our annual conference, the Congress of Cities, in Seattle this November.  The Congress of Cities brings together over 2,000 local leaders from cities across the U.S. Model sustainability practices from Seattle as well as other cities will be a key component of the program. Join us in the Emerald City from November 13-16 for learning and networking opportunities highlighting successful city programs and initiatives from communities across the country!

 The following is part of blog series highlighting communities profiled in “Bright Spots in Community Engagement,” a report by the National League of Cities and funded by Knight Foundation. It showcases 14 U.S. communities that are building greater civic participation and engagement from the bottom up. Previous blog posts included an in-depth look at Philadelphia, Detroit, Chicago, and Austin, Texas. This post originally appeared in the Knight Blog.

Having strong neighborhood associations and getting input from residents is key when it comes to successful community engagement.

That’s one of the major lessons in “Bright Spots,” a new report released this week. A series of case studies reveals that creating greater civic participation in communities like San Jose, Calif., Akron, Ohio and St. Paul, Minn. is easier when residents are involved in meaningful ways around issues that impact them, like area and neighborhood redevelopment.

For example, in 2003 Akron residents decided they wanted to help revitalize their schools and neighborhoods. As a result, citizens approved a 0.25 percent income tax increase to partially fund remodeling or rebuilding efforts at all area public schools. The schools were designed to serve as Community Learning Centers, which offer in school, after-school and summer programs for students. Additionally, the Akron Neighborhood Trust helped identify a vision for the Buchtel neighborhood. A call for volunteers led to community engagement dialogues with nearly 40 people being trained as facilitators – including representatives from the mayor and city council’s offices. Community meetings in these centers have resulted in 30 to 60 participants per meeting. They’ve also helped identify neighborhood issues and priority areas, like public safety, job readiness and service delivery from local government and literacy programs.

In San Jose, Calif. the Strong Neighborhoods initiative (a 19-neighborhood initiative) is often cited as a strong example of city-led democratic governance. The initiative brought community members and leaders together with the city to launch a comprehensive revitalization program – focused on building clean, safe and prosperous neighborhoods. But because much of its identity and purpose was tied to an $80 million redevelopment fund, it struggled with how to survive when the money ran out and the state legislature dissolved it. Some of the contacts and activities from the initiative are being maintained by the city manager’s office, with reduced staffing. The community is now building on successful examples of online engagement initiatives; for example, the NeighborGoods platform that was designed to build local networking and sharing opportunities online.

Ensuring meaningful community engagement was at the heart of the redevelopment strategy in St. Paul, Minn.’s central corridor. The central corridor light rail line (which will connect downtown Minneapolis to St. Paul by 2014) involved a major planning and decision-making authority. The strategy involved a city-led, civic-minded planning initiative launched by Mayor Chris Coleman to address potential land use and the economic and social development impact of the construction. The report reveals how a series of task forces, which consisted of 18 to 20 representatives of residents, businesses and communities of color, were key to helping guide decisions in the corridor. In meetings held over a series of nine months, community and neighborhood representatives were able to conduct focus group discussions, open houses and presentations. They also connected with city’s system of district council to gather diverse community input.