Local Government 101

The Institute promotes good decision-making at the local level with resources explaining the nuts and bolts of local government structures and processes for newly-elected officials, newly-hired staff, the media and members of the public. 

These include resources on:

• How local agencies make decisions (and who's responsible for what)
• Where county and city revenues come from, and questions for local officials to ask in making sure an agency's financial practices are up to snuff.
• Land use decision-making, including plain-language"one-pagers" local agencies can use as attachments to public hearing notices
• Public service ethics laws and principles.
• The role counties play in delivering health services.
• An overview of key provisions in the federal health reform law related to children.

The Institute welcomes links to these resources from local agencies who use their websites to explain key processes and issues to the media and public. Many materials are available in English and Spanish.

Other resources include:

• A Powerpoint local officials can use to explain how local governement is organized in California
• School curriculum materials.

The Institute is working on additional resources.