When 2020 began, we could not have imagined what would have transpired in just a few short months. From health and economic crisis to resounding calls to address systemic racism, the state of our nation’s cities has changed dramatically. It has become abundantly clear that this year is unlike any other. It has also become
We are living in trying times. First Covid-19, now the righteous upswell of the Black Lives Matter movement in response to police brutality and generations of institutional and structural racism. Our cities will be in crisis for the foreseeable future. As mayors, your residents are looking to you to lead, to listen, and chart a
In honor of today’s “Our Power, Our Census” national day of action, led by the Leadership Conference for Civil and Human Rights/Census Counts, the National League of Cities’ census partner, we lay out the broad implications for municipalities of the 2020 Census, COVID-19, and civic empowerment. While the decennial census is always important for its
Racism is destroying the infrastructure of America. But let’s be clear– this issue is not new. It has been heightened and soon thereafter forgotten countless times in our nation’s history by people in positions of power. This time needs to be different; we have a unique opportunity to re-examine our institutions and systems, and the chance to rebuild them from the ground
Today is the most important holiday of the decade. We only get to celebrate it for about 10 minutes once every 10 years and, for many of your residents, this will be their first time celebrating! It’s Census Day! NLC is excited to support municipal leaders with information and tools to best implement Get–Out–The Count (GOTC) plans. We never anticipated, however, that our communities would be celebrating Census Day in such isolated and challenging conditions. Getting a full and accurate count for the 2020 Census was
From major national elections and the Census, to controversies around whether we’ve actually even started a new decade (NPR seems to think we have another year until we start the “roaring twenties”), 2020 promises to be an exciting year. Here at NLC, we’ve been feeling the pulse on the ground in cities, towns and villages
Erica Spell Wolf is a councilmember for Ward 5 in Hyattsville, Maryland “I always knew I would run for elected office. I just didn’t know it would be this soon.” I was first elected to the Hyattsville City Council in 2017. And while I was involved in my community, I recalled while canvassing during my
This off-year election day, citizens of Kentucky and Mississippi will choose governors, while in big cities, including Philadelphia, Houston and San Francisco, they’ll select mayors and other local representatives. But as voters head to the polls in a slew of important local races, municipalities must consider the impact of voter roll purges, voter I.D. requirements, and poll shutdowns on residents of color. Voting in
By Cory Poris Plasch, Dr. Michael Adams, and Carroll G. Robinson How can we encourage young adults – particularly those of color, an often underrepresented demographic – to engage in the election process? That was the question researchers from Texas Southern University (TSU) and Polco sought to answer. TSU, a Historically Black College or University
By Bill Eller, vice president of Business Development at HomeServe. Americans 65 and older will make up 19 percent of the population by 2030 and approximately 10,000 baby boomers are eligible to retire daily. Many older adults would like to stay in their own homes, aging in place and in familiar surroundings. This is a
