I wrote this for the RCS Newsletter in August, 2013, and it was published as The Missing Ingredient in State-Mandated General Plans in the ICMA Public Management magazine in March 2014. Timeline for Good Government Planning 1927 - State creates authority for (O.K. creates = requires) cities/counties to prepare a General Plan. 1955 - Circulation and Land Use Elements required. 1967 - Housing Element required. 1970 - Conservation/Open Space Element required. 1971 - Safety,

California newspapers ran articles in January 2026 about the abysmal performance of the State’s recycling program. The legislature adopted fixes to the program and we are now seeing a struggle between the packaging industry, CalRecycle, the Governor and the State Legislature over whose vision is going to win. Given the expectation for new laws, new lawsuits and rapidly-filling trash sites, there are a few basic facts that I would like to put on the table. Fact 1: Although the

Earlier this month we were pleased to present a session on the Nuts and Bolts of Fees at the California Municipal Revenue & Tax Association Conference. It was a great conference, and if you are not yet a member of CMRTA, we suggest that you check them out at www.cmrta.org . The session provided an overview of User Fees and Development Impact Fees, including: Constitutional Background Methodology Recent Court Cases and Legislation Accounting and Reporting Even if you were not

This is a “shout out” to someone that I greatly admired. I first met Ronny Coleman while doing a study for the City of San Clemente,...

What many readers think of as a “Fee Study” was created by RCS (née Management Services Institute) back in 1980. We called the “Study” a...

So, I can crunch numbers all night…and make it all right. Yeah, video conferencing has become a part of my workplace, and in my opinion,...

How a review of basic economics and psychology can help us solve the "water crisis."

“Yes, Virginia, It Does Matter Whose Ox is Gored.” I’m sincerely interested in promoting civil society. As a preface to this article, I...

I remember enjoying the early Tom Clancy novels. In 1994, I heard that his latest novel, Debt of Honor, involved a commercial airliner...

I am certainly happy that we’re in 2021, and there’s a vaccine for the virus which has affected all our lives and killed over 2 Million...