Portland Oregon has been an odd duck when it comes to governance structure, but that may change soon. Portland’s third Charter Commission has just released its first progress report on reform and is recommending a change from a commission form of government to one that separates legislative and executive roles.

Political polarization has been on the rise, and it’s limiting our ability to address some of the vexing problems of our time. Differences of opinion on policy issues are not new, but more troubling is the trend of seeing political rivals as antithetical to American values. Organizations like Civic Genius have turned to deliberative democracy. Read more.

The pandemic has laid bare the factors that contribute to health disparities. While much of the focus has been on increasing access to affordable health care, Healthy People 2030 offers a useful framework for addressing poor health outcomes that implicates the city manager as much as the physician.

Local government leaders have been attacking the equity and inclusion crisis on many fronts—for example, through policing reform, through modernization of election and voting practices, and through ordinances, policies, rules, and offices to advance equity. One overlooked tool that offers an opportunity for real change through structural reform is the local government’s charter. As we step further into this new decade, a revised and updated edition of the Model City Charter institutionalizes equity and civic engagement. Read more in this joint article by Marc Ott and Doug Linkhart.

The 2022 Robert Wood Johnson Foundation-National Civic League Award for Health Equity recognizes and honors individuals who have successfully sought to address health inequity and to improve health outcomes for disproportionately impacted populations. The RWJF-NCL Health Equity Award acknowledges the disparate systems that affect individual and community health and welcomes applications from individuals doing work around access to quality care, education, employment, income, community environment, housing, and public safety. Learn more and apply by April 15, 2022.

The National Civic League has worked on the Solsmart program, led by the International City/County Managers Association (ICMA), to support local governments with no-cost technical assistance to make solar energy access easier and more affordable to their communities. Since 2016, over 400 local governments in 41 states have become SolSmart designated - and every community is invited to still join. Four weeks are left to participate in the recent initiative from the U.S. Department of Energy, to achieve 60 new SolSmart designees by the end of March 2022. Read more.