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Full-Text Articles in Public Administration
The Development Of County Hr Policies: The Perspectives Of Counties In Two States, Willow S. Jacobson, Kristina T. Lambright
The Development Of County Hr Policies: The Perspectives Of Counties In Two States, Willow S. Jacobson, Kristina T. Lambright
Public Administration Faculty Scholarship
We conducted 40 semi-structured interviews with county HR directors (20 in New York, 20 in North Carolina) to learn more about the development of internal HR policies. Key resources used by directors in both states include other jurisdictions, colleagues in other county departments, state and federal agencies, laws and statutes, professional associations, and information gathered from general internet searches. More than half of the HR directors reported using internal working groups, and almost two-thirds indicated that they systematically reviewed the implications of policies for specific departments. Yet, only a handful of HR directors reported utilizing other promising practices such as …
Capacity, Sustainability, And The Community Benefits Of Municipal Utility Ownership In The United States, George C. Homsy
Capacity, Sustainability, And The Community Benefits Of Municipal Utility Ownership In The United States, George C. Homsy
Public Administration Faculty Scholarship
Most literature on utility sustainability focuses on internal operations; this misses the role that utilities cold play within a community. This study measures the impact of municipal ownership of water and electric utilities on the sustainability policymaking of local governments. I find that municipalities with government-owned water utilities adopt more sustainability measures than those with investor-owned service. Similarly, municipally-owned electric utilities have higher levels of energy sustainability in the community, but not in government operations. The utilities provide fiscal and technical capacity to municipalities. This study brings potential community benefits to the discussion of private investment in public service delivery.
Expanding The Classroom: Investigating Local Government Practitioners’ Use Of Academic Resources, Willow S. Jacobson, Kristina T. Lambright
Expanding The Classroom: Investigating Local Government Practitioners’ Use Of Academic Resources, Willow S. Jacobson, Kristina T. Lambright
Public Administration Faculty Scholarship
Drawing on Boyer’s scholarship of teaching, we propose that public affairs education could be conceptualized as not just including the education of current students but also the education of public affairs practitioners throughout their careers. To explore knowledge diffusion from academics to public affairs practitioners, we conducted 40 phone interviews with county human resources (HR) directors in New York and North Carolina and examined the extent to which this population directly used academic resources. There was moderate use of academic resources from higher education institutions across the sample, with many North Carolina HR directors consulting publications and personnel from one …
Unlikely Pioneers: Creative Climate Policymaking In Smaller U.S. Cities, George C. Homsy
Unlikely Pioneers: Creative Climate Policymaking In Smaller U.S. Cities, George C. Homsy
Public Administration Faculty Scholarship
With the U.S. federal government stepping away from climate change, a number of cities have indicated that they will continue efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Broad statistical analysis and case studies of larger and often progressive cities have provided some insight into what drives local governments to act on climate change mitigation. However, the vast majority of U.S. municipalities, most of them small, do nothing. Understanding what might drive smaller, poorer, and less progressive places is important if local governments are expected to take the lead on this global commons issue. In this exploratory study, I examine a group …