It's been awhile since I've followed writings on municipal governance issues. Having taken a hiatus from much of my neighborhood activism to focus on building a personal and family life of a less erratic and transient nature, the governance press didn't seem to be too high a priority on my reading list.
Over the past few days I've decided to hit the books (and newspapers, and websites). After all, one never knows when one will be asked what newspapers one reads, and I can't afford to subscribe to The Economist.
So the first thing I did was a web search on Otis White, who wrote a marvelous column for Governing magazine called Otis White's Urban Notebook. It included many articles of interest to people who want to know how municipal government functions and how it should function.
On doing this search I discovered that he's ended the column, and ended with a great little article named Seven Big Lessons for Local Governments. It includes quite a few links to past articles in the Urban Notebook series, and his columns are a must read for anyone serious about municipal governance issues.
He stopped writing the column "to work on a project to learn how communities make important decisions". His column was an excellent resource, and I hope his project does well.
