Academy of Local Politics

I wouldn't think you would need to "buy an election" in a one party race...but I guess sometimes you do.

According to StraitsTimes.Com...

ABOUT 2,100 Chinese local government officials were punished for misconduct including election bribery between January 2007 and January 2008, state media reported on Wednesday.

The officials were involved in 1,885 cases of malpractice, such as election bribery or buying posts, Mr Zhang said, during reshuffles of local government.

This sounded like serious stuff to me until I read...

Of those ...163 had received punishment including suspension, demotion or removal from their posts, the China Daily paper said, citing senior anti-corruption official Zhang Jinan.

So, we have 1,885 cases of election bribery or buying posts and only 163 received punishment beyond a reprimand?

With those odds of punishment it is no wonder that ...corruption remains endemic in China, both in government ranks and throughout society.

Kind of reminds you of Chicago, doesn't it?

A couple of months ago I wrote about the joy of following the political soap opera called Maplewood, MN.

Well, the saga continues. According to the St. Paul Pioneer Press...

Warning: Shameless Self Promotion Ahead!

A review of Moving Mountains and Molehills Local Politics 101,  the official textbook of the Academy of Local Politics, was posted yesterday. Jesse Seymour of The Northwoods View liked the book. In part he writes...

The book is very easy to read, and very easy to absorb. Yet each time I read it (I've read it about five times now) I find a new nugget of information that I didn't catch the first time around.

Al Arnold is a master of local politics. He takes information that is considered by many to be very complex and presents it in such a manner that anyone can understand it as well as have a few laughs in the process.

Most political books that I have read have been full of theory but have very little guidance on the practical side. This book is just the opposite - it contains very little theory and a lot of practical advice.

The complete review can be seen here.

Thanks Jesse!

An extraordinary amount of money is spent at the State and County level on prisoners. In fact, it was recently reported that 1 out of every 99.1 of us, is in prison or jail.

One out of a Hundred! That is an amazing statistic.

What do you feed all these people? I never really thought about that until read a post by Zach Patton on Governing.Com. It made my stomach turn.

If you're a prisoner in the Vermont corrections system and you  misbehave, you're likely to find something unappetizing at the next mealtime -- "nutraloaf," a mixture of cubed whole wheat bread, nondairy cheese, raw carrots, spinach, seedless raisins, beans, vegetable oil, tomato paste, powdered milk and dehydrated potato flakes.

So, this "food" is used as punishment?

The state says it's a meal, but prisoners disagree. They say it's a punishment, and therefore it should be subject to the prison disciplinary process. They're suing the state to make sure that the next time they're served nutraloaf, it's only after due process and a disciplinary hearing.

What a prisoner can be fed...can be determined only after due process and a disciplinary hearing? He's gotta be kidding...or not?

A federal judge ruled in 1988 that the use of nutraloaf by the Michigan Department of Corrections was punishment. Now, Michigan inmates are only given nutraloaf after going through the disciplinary process that lands them in segregation.

I am very, very naive about prison life. I hope to keep it that way.

But, I sure wish we could figure out how to reduce that one out of a hundred.

My only idea is to publish the recipe of nutraloaf in hopes that may act as a deterrent.

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What happens after you flush the toilet? Most people never think about it. As long as the water still swirls and you don't have to grab the plunger, you just don't care.

However, what happens to the waste water should be of great concern to the elected officials. This is not a problem that can be ignored. Unless...you are Peabody, MA.

The Boston Globe reports...

Peabody officials agree that the 25 foot-high pile of sludge in a lagoon next to the Coolidge Avenue water treatment plant must be removed. When the sludge will be taken away and how to pay for its removal is still an issue, however.

Twenty five feet high, no mention of length. But, I think it must be fairly long. Because...

Last week, the City Council rejected Mayor Michael Bonfanti's proposal to borrow $950,000 to remove the sludge and prevent it from piling up again.

$950,000 in local government language for a project like this, means $1.6 before it is all over. That is a pretty long pile of whatever.

The sludge saga dates to 1997, when a squabble between the South Essex Sewerage District, the Department of Environmental Protection, and the Environmental Protection Agency prevented the city from discharging sediment...

A decade of toilet waste, just piling up? How could this happen?

Richard Carnevale, director of the city's Department of Public Services  said he took responsibility for the creation of the sludge areas, and said it would have been "cost-prohibitive" for the city to have removed the sludge on a regular basis during the nine-year period it had been piling up. He estimated that it would have cost the city at least $2 million a year to remove the sludge. "There was no money," said Carnevale.

NO MONEY?  What happened to the sewer charge I am sure the citizens have been paying for all those years?

Mayor Michael Bonfanti said he first learned of the problem a couple of years ago, and stood behind Carnevale's temporary remedy for the sediment. "We're not trying to point fingers and see who is at fault. What we're trying to do is fix a problem and do it as cost-effectively as possible," said Bonfanti.

Not trying to point fingers? I think someone's head should roll.