达勒姆市首席信息官克里·古德(组中左二)因与达勒姆县合作开发开放数据门户而接受市创新者奖. Photo credit: Ben Brown
Five North Carolina municipalities won statewide recognition this week for publicly minded use of technology. Government Technology (GovTech) magazine in collaboration with the N.C. Department of Information Technology and the League of Municipalities presented Benson, Raleigh, Charlotte, 阿什维尔和达勒姆被授予“市政创新者”奖，因为他们在智能系统和基于数据的方法方面做出了努力，帮助改善了市政服务.
"I think there's a lot of innovation happening in North Carolina," Eric Ellis, Chief Technology and Innovation Officer for the state, told a crowd of hundreds gathered for GovTech's two-day North Carolina Digital Government Summit on Wednesday in Raleigh. It was the annual event's first time presenting awards to local government.
The City of Asheville, for one, received honors for its open data portal that connects the public to an array of downloadable datasets about the city's functions, traits and patterns -- useful information to builders, reporters, researchers and homebuyers, for instance. 本森镇因将电表和水表转换为双向智能电网系统而获得认可，该系统可以快速发现问题并节省纳税人的钱. Raleigh, for another, 把重点放在“智慧城市”技术上，比如收集数据的传感器——从交通出行到人行道上的垃圾桶何时被填满——并提高资源的优先级, like manpower and money. Click here for a video of the awards ceremony and here for a press release from the state.
These are not isolated examples. 这五名获奖者是北卡罗来纳州数十个利用技术进步为公共利益服务的城市之一. 365足彩下载承认并赞扬在创新和新的交付手段方面表现出或表示出好奇心的所有成员.
美国联邦通信委员会(FCC)将不会对最近限制市政当局扩展自己的超高速互联网服务的能力的法院行动进行改变. Spokesman for the agency Mark Wigfield said challenging the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals' Aug. 10 decision, which upended a FCC ruling in favor of municipalities' authority to grow broadband access, "would not be the best use of Commission resources," publications including GovTech reported this week.
The case centered on municipal broadband services offered in Wilson and in Chattanooga, Tenn., which have been credited for business growth and residents' essential access to online resources. 这是因为北卡罗来纳州和田纳西州的法律限制了城市如何在领土上提供或扩大这些服务, for instance. The appellate court struck down a prior FCC ruling that had favored municipalities by pre-empting portions of state laws seen as hindrances to broadband access and competition.
National media including the New York Times brought focus and background to the case this week. "In Wilson, officials said cable and telecom companies rejected requests to team up with them and upgrade aging networks, which led the city to start its own broadband network called Greenlight in 2008," the Times reported. "The service provides speeds of one gigabit per second, 它可以让人们在几秒钟或几分钟内下载大视频文件，而不是用DSL或基本有线宽带下载几个小时."
That type of service has helped to fill the digital divide, though the prevailing state laws favored by the appellate court have analysts wondering where it's going. A group of U.S. mayors writing in support of Wilson and Chattanooga 表示他们“担心推翻(FCC) 2015年的裁决将对社区成员快速接入的能力产生不利影响”, affordable broadband internet access, 以及它将如何阻止你们城市的宽带网络扩展到邻近服务不足的社区, as well as what it could mean in communities nationwide." High-speed Internet is increasingly seen as essential to economic development, 北卡罗来纳州等法律的批评者警告称，这些法律可能会损害小城镇的商业前景. According to Ars Technica, 美国联邦通信委员会主席汤姆·惠勒建议继续推动市政宽带，并“将考虑法律和政策选择，以回应法院的裁决。."
Census Director John W. Thompson, third from left. Photo credit: Sarah Collins
U.S. Census Bureau Director John H. 汤普森周三与北卡罗来纳州和当地政府代表以及其他合作伙伴就该计划进行了交谈 2020 Census. Among other initiatives, 汤普森和他的工作人员谈到了与地方政府合作，以确保人口普查尽可能准确, noting their local "complete count" committees and the Local Update of Census Addresses (LUCA) program. LUCA项目将为地方和州政府的指定代表提供机会，审查人口普查局数据库中包含的地址. Information will be sent to local officials in July 2017. The League will continue to inform its members of opportunities to help in ensuring an accurate census.
The latest episode of Municipal Equation, the League's growing podcast on the issues orbiting municipalities, 一场以公共安全为主题的对话，是不是要从审视警察如何努力恢复他们所服务社区的信任开始. Click here to listen. Taking inspiration from the recent, newsmaking forum that the League arranged with the N.C. Legislative Black Caucus to begin a new discussion about police-public interaction, this episode highlights frank and head-on remarks from North Carolina law enforcement officials about trust, training, recruitment efforts and what agencies are able to do with existing resources.
Then, 在与365足彩下载公共安全风险管理顾问汤姆·安德森讨论活跃枪手情况下的人类行为之前，我们继续讨论关于随身摄像机和寻找最佳实践的问题. We also check in with the Burlington Police Department, 为陌生人之间更安全的商品或金钱交易，最新建立“交易区”的是哪一家. Haven't listened to Municipal Equation yet? Start today. Get in on the conversation. It's all about the challenges, solutions, new concepts and celebrations at hand in municipalities. Click here for all past episodes and here for a free iTunes subscription.
Rep. John Bell
House Republicans have picked Goldsboro Rep. John Bell to serve as the chamber's majority leader following this month's departure of Mike Hager of Rutherfordton, who filled the role in the last biennium. 据“内部州政府新闻服务”报道，贝尔的投票于周二在该党位于罗利的州总部举行，众议院议长蒂姆·摩尔(Tim Moore)表示，“党团会议非常团结。." Bell's new place as majority leader is valid until the caucus names 2017-18 leaders in December. Bell could maintain the role. He works in business development for North Carolina Community Federal Credit Union, according to the Insider. His District 10 includes parts of Craven, Greene, Lenoir and Wayne counties. The caucus on Tuesday also elected Rep. Dean Arp of Monroe as majority whip (Bell's former role) and Rep. Pat McElraft of Emerald Isle as deputy whip. Click here for more news coverage.
Don't wait! Registration is underway for the CityVision 2016 Annual Conference in Raleigh, Oct. 23-25. As you might have heard, the League is doing things a bit differently this year -- the Advocacy Goals Conference 将于23日星期日与各城镇一起决定2017-2018年NCGA两年期的立法和监管优先事项. 参加倡导目标会议是帮助我们在2017年及以后更好地定位城镇倡导工作的最佳方式. Make sure your voice is heard and your vote is cast at the Advocacy Goals Conference!
Moving into the CityVision 2016 Annual Conference, you will learn ways to connect success stories to your citizens, community and beyond, adapt to demographic and cultural changes, and grow a strong economic foundation in your hometown. Make one trip, and check off two important conferences on your calendar! Click here to register for both the Advocacy Goals Conference and the CityVision 2016 Annual Conference.
Registration is open 下一次365足彩下载成员和杜克能源的联合会议讨论市政现代化的相关问题 street lighting. The meeting will take place on Sept. 26, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., at Duke Energy in the O.J. Miller Auditorium (526 S. Church St., Charlotte). This meeting will serve as a continuation of discussions that began after the League, in 2013, intervened in the Duke Energy Carolinas rate case before the N.C. Utilities Commission. It's an opportunity for Duke to check in with municipal customers to discuss outdoor lighting strategies, updates and sustainability efforts. The discussion will include updates on LED modernization, new products, industry news, and more. Contact: Sarah Collins
Federal "e-fairness" legislation could receive attention in Congress this month, according to the National League of Cities. NLC has pushed for the passage of a law that would close the online sales tax loophole, 为竞争的实体企业恢复市场公平，为州和地方政府创造新的收入. In response, 众议院司法委员会本周公布了一项法案草案，指出了一种混合来源的方法来征收销售税, 在这种情况下，卖方所在的州将决定对哪些商品征税，而买方所在的州将决定税率. 卖方将收款汇给票据交换所，票据交换所将把收入分配给目的地州, according to a NLC analysis. 该草案还将限制对卖方远程销售的审计，将远程销售的目的州税率限制为单一的全州税率, NLC explained.
这一提议创造了一个复杂的税收征收和汇款系统，并不能确保地方政府获得当地征收的销售税. In contrast, lawmakers introduced a separate, NLC-supported e-fairness bill last year, HR2775 Remote Transactions Parity Act, 在该法案中，州和地方政府可以强制零售商在买家所在地的基础上对远程销售征税. NLC is working with congressional leaders including House Speaker Paul Ryan’s office in the effort. 国会9月份的窗口期预计将很短暂，因为议员们要在11月选举前完成有意义的工作.
