When Glendale began to de-emphasize new development and focus on other community priorities, City Manager Scott Ochoa seized the opportunity to convert one of the city council's regular afternoon meetings into once-a-month Work Boot Tuesday. During these meetings, which were previously reserved for development discussions, council members have the opportunity to put \"boots on the ground” and see Glendale's high-performing departments in action.

Through the development of two new web apps, the City of Oakland, CA has streamlined internal processes and made local government more transparent to residents.

If you were to create a new city from scratch, where would you begin? The city of Rancho Cordova, CA, was founded in 2003 and started by hiring one of the most innovative city managers in the country, making the town better for everyone.

Santa Monica, California<br />Keeping Santa Monica on the cutting edge was a priority for Former City Manager Rod Gould. Called “Silicon Beach”, Santa Monica has become Southern California’s technology hub with its concentration of startups, accelerators, incubators, coworking spaces and venture capitalists. Since March 2010, one of the key attractions that the City is able to…

The corruption scandal that engulfed Bell's municipal government in July 2010 illustrates the worst in human nature. The city rebuilt to become today's best in the local government management profession.

San Pablo Avenue, the main commercial corridor in El Cerrito, was an unattractive, auto-dominated roadway that was dangerous for pedestrians. Through some creative partnerships between the city the State of California, the non-profit community, and several funding agencies, El Cerrito was able to revitalize its section of the street.

In 2009, the city of Beverly Hills embarked on a strategic effort to strengthen its economic base by developing a five-year Economic Sustainability Plan.

Anticipating a severe water shortage in late summer 2009, the city of Sonoma urged residents to cut their water use by 30 percent. The city's plan replaced more than 91,800 square feet of grass during 2009 and 2010, saving the city nearly 58,000 gallons of water.

An outstanding example of this kind of commitment became a reality recently in Fort Smith, Arkansas (pop. 87,500), the second-largest city in the state, where residents celebrated the completion of a six-year plan to bring a municipal-owned aquatics center/waterpark to the city.