Buying fleet vehicles: Options are standard

Buying a car is not as simple as it used to be. The Internet, price guides, rebates, incentives and a proliferation of late model, “off-lease” vehicles are among the wild cards that can complicate vehicle acquisition. With a diversity of makes, models and specifications, the purchasing job is not getting any easier.

By Tom Black • March 1, 1999

PARKS & RECREATION/Cooperation results in community-built playground

When Webb Bridge Park opened in Alpharetta, Ga., in 1998, it had no playground facilities, a fact that did not distinguish it from other area parks. “We got so many calls from people asking where the playgrounds were,” says Mike Perry, director of the city’s Parks and Recreation Department. “But we really had nothing.”

By Christina Couret • Feb. 1, 1999

Business Man: Dennis Gorski is the County Leader of the Year

Dennis Gorski has spent his political career raising eyebrows. A lifelong Democrat, he has become, as county executive of Erie County, N.Y., closely identified with issues like welfare reform and tax freezes, issues often considered “Republican.”

By Janet Ward • July 1, 1998

New Mexico forms corporation to help purchasing officials

New Mexico has formed an association to provide professional development, training, communication and networking for public purchasing personnel from federal, state and local government agencies.

June 1, 1998

Roadside memorials: Public policy vs. private expression

“It seems good to mark and to remember for a little while the place where a man died.” John Steinbeck wrote those words in “The Log from the Sea of Cortez,” and, as evidenced by roadsides across the United States, people have taken them to heart.

By Chris Ross • May 1, 1998

America’s covered bridges: Spanning the years

As the 20th century draws to a close, fewer and fewer quaint remnants of America's past exist to remind us of a simpler, slower time.

By Tom Black • March 1, 1998

Mixed Signals: How the Telecommunications Act affects you

Human interests spoil Utopia - a familiar scenario, and anyone with a 10-year-old child knows this version: a remote island is populated with dinosaurs.

By Harold McCombs • Aug. 1, 1997

Low bid alternatives

Historically, cities and counties have awarded construction contracts for public works projects to the lowest responsible bidder. The successful contractor.

By Edward Markus • Aug. 1, 1997

Mayor Paul Helmke: Unconventional wisdom

Mayor Paul Helmke has a history of reaching out to minorities. He recently appointed an openly lesbian woman to a city human relations commission.

By Tom Black • June 1, 1997

Performance zoning helps key city’s comeback

Havana, Fla., was once a thriving tobacco town. Twelve miles north of Tallahassee, the town sat at the junction of the Georgia, Florida and Alabama Railroads and was a center for the production of shade tobacco, which is used to wrap cigars.

June 1, 1997

Products and services-2

Accounting(*) AMERICAN FUNDWARE Flagship Co., 1385 S. Colorado Blvd., Ste. 400, Denver, CO 80222. (800) 551-4458; (303) 756-3030; FAX: (303) 756-3514.

April 30, 1997

Products and services-3

Water Meters, ResidentialABB KENT METERS, INC., 953 NE Osceola Ave. (34470), P.O. Box 1852, Ocala, FL 34478. (352) 732-4670; Outside FL (800) 8740890;

April 30, 1997

USPS decertifies mechanical meters

Washington, D.C. — Tampering that was costing the U.S. Postal Service — and ultimately U.S. taxpayers — more than $100 million a year has prompted the USPS to decertify all mechanical postage meters. A recall is underway.

March 31, 1997

The handwriting’s on the wall: Cities can win the graffiti war

Community involvement, a broad base of support and dogged persistence are among the ingredients that make for a successful graffiti-fighting program.

By Tom Black • March 1, 1997

Building your fleet To buy or not to buy? That is the question

Many municipalities are taking a hard look at leasing as a way to replace aging fleet vehicles without breaking the bank. But while that practice is on the rise, buying is still the rule.

By Tom Black • Jan. 1, 1997

URBAN REVITALIZATION/Livable City Initiative succeeds in New Haven

Like many old cities in the industrial Northeast, New Haven, Conn., has suffered considerable population loss during the 1990s. An estimated 7,600 people left the city between 1990 and 1995, leaving it with a current population of about 122,000.

Jan. 1, 1997

Houston neighborhoods program gets top honors

In just four years, the neighborhoods to Standards program has galvanized Houston's inner-city neighborhoods, improving the quality of life by concentrating

Dec. 1, 1996

Fungi help reduce transplant failures at the roots

It is estimated that transplant failures of trees and other plantings in grounds and roadside projects cost city and county governments millions of dollars

By Marx Donald • Oct. 1, 1996

City calls Mother Nature’s bluff with landslide project

After a landslide destroyed several homes and closed a vital highway, the seaside town of Dana Point, Calif., led the two-year effort to rebuild and strengthen the collapsed bluff, reopen the road and safeguard the area’s coastal beauty.

By Shapard Rob • Aug. 1, 1996

Eddy Tanaka: 1996 county leader of the year

Eddy Tanaka needed a job in 1958. The Walnut Grove, Calif., native had a college degree and a two-year Army stint under his belt when he came to Los Angeles, looking to find work with a local business.

By Shapard Rob • July 1, 1996

Vigilance and sound advice help spell relief from landfill gas

Whether immediate problems, emissions regulations or a desire to plan ahead are the motivation for installing a landfill gas system, clearly defining

By Shepard Rob • May 1, 1996

Products and services

Accounting(*) AMERICAN FUNDWARE Flagship Co., 1385 S. Colorado Blvd., Ste. 400, Denver, CO 80222. (800) 551-4458; (303) 756-3030; FAX: (303) 756-3514.

April 30, 1996

Taxpayers save with ambulance billing scheme

Through an innovative method of filing claims directly with insurance carriers for ambulance service fees, the city of Plano (Texas) Fire Department has recouped approximately $850,000 for fiscal 1994-95 and projects to generate more than $1 million in revenue for FY 1995-96.

Jan. 31, 1996

Sludge baggers work for small treatment plant

Not many wastewater plants have to deal with too little sludge. But, when attempting to justify the purchase of sludge dewatering equipment, the Granville Township Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP), Pa., faced exactly that problem.

By Larry E. Craig • July 1, 1995

Aggressive policy helps turn Scranton around

For years, Scranton, Pa.’s, Central Business District, always the city’s historical, commercial and retail hub, was riddled with vacant properties and a deteriorated infrastructure.

June 1, 1995