While we didn’t conduct a formal readers’ poll, we did take a look at which ICMA news items received the most attention in 2014. Topping the list are results from ICMA’s public safety survey indicating that the number of both police and fire positions per capita declined. News from ICMA surveys on economic development and CAO compensation also ranked at the top of the list as did crisis management in the face of the ebola outbreak, the benefits of transparency, and employee engagement.

Here is a reprieve in case you missed these news stories the first time around:

1. Survey Shows Decrease in Average Number of Police and Fire per capita
2. City of College Park, GA, Benefits from Business Incentives
3. The Top Ten Benefits of Transparency
4. ICMA, SAS to Revitalize Performance Management for Local Government
5. ICMA’s CAO Salary and Compensation Survey Results Show Stability
6. New Report: Understand what effects employee engagement so you can do something about it
7. Google Selects Metro Areas for Possible Google Fiber
8. More Governments Moving to Integrated Time Off
9. What to Say and Do in a Crisis which was connected to Ebola Preparedness and Response
10. The Critical Ingredients of Community Resiliency