Opinion research is a powerful tool often overlooked outside of elections. Learn how opinion research can help form policy decisions in this short podcast featuring Adam Probolsky, an opinion researcher who has worked with local governments across the nation.
This discussion with Ronald Olson was taken from our show Local Government Insights: Modernizing Government Leadership. If you want to hear more episodes like this one, check us out on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
The Hayward Area Recreation and Park District provides recreation services for over 300,000 residents across six jurisdictions near San Francisco, CA. It encompasses a 104 square-mile area, includes over 20 miles of hiking, and even the state’s oldest Japanese garden. Recently, it realized its IT system was woefully inadequate.
After an extensive search, The Park District chose Avenu to help solve its IT challenges. The decision was driven by Avenu’s tremendous amount of experience with municipal clients, and the need for a partner that could take a comprehensive view of the IT environment.
The initial wave of the partnership included updating all the employee’s computers and software. Through a collaborative approach, the relationship has grown to include replacing the entire network across twenty-two different buildings.
The Park District’s James Wheeler summarizes his experience with Avenu in this way: “I think the beauty of working with Avenu is that if I have a concern, I can express it. Avenu is very professional and very responsive. Our board is very happy with what they’ve been doing, and our employees appreciate that they have up-to-date equipment. It makes them feel valued. The Avenu employees we’ve had onsite are really great people to work with who are very smart and passionate about what they do. They care about our agency. They seem to genuinely care about protecting us, making sure we are getting the best deals on computer equipment, and doing everything the right way.”
Learn how a partnership with Avenu can modernize your IT infrastructure and help protect your jurisdiction from cybercrime.
Hayward Area Recreation & Park District, CA
Managing a city is filled with complexities regardless of its size…unless you get tips from an expert. This episode features Ronald Olson who shares some of his key takeaways that have helped him successfully be a City Manager for 35 years in over 7 cities of varying sizes, including Corpus Christi, Texas.
This discussion with Ronald Olson was taken from our show Local Government Insights: Modernizing Government Leadership. If you want to hear more episodes like this one, check us out on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.
FRESNO, Calif., April 19, 2022 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — Avenu Insights & Analytics (Avenu) recently announced the addition of Rachelle Arizmendi as one of the company’s Government Industry Advisors. Rachelle joins Avenu as a native Californian with a life-long career in serving the public sector and numerous leadership positions.
“Keeping pace with the rapid changes in technology, increased citizen expectations, and budget shortfalls are challenges that all state and local governments are facing,” shared Avenu CEO, Paul Colangelo. “The addition of Rachelle Arizmendi helps bring direct industry experience to our client services team that strengthens how we deliver mission critical solutions to the governments we serve.
“Rachelle brings a wealth of public sector knowledge and success that will make a noticeable impact in how we solve challenges and offer creative solutions to our clients. Our key talent additions ensure that Avenu customers can continuously improve on, or in some cases completely reimagine their goals and capabilities in serving their communities.”
Rachelle was first elected to California’s Sierra Madre City Council in 2014 and re-elected in 2018. Her commitment and drive to improve the community led to being selected by her colleagues to serve as Mayor in 2017 and again in 2020. Currently, she is a California Governor appointee for the Department of Food & Agriculture Board and serves as the Board President of the Asian American Pacific Island Equity Alliance, Board Co-Chair of the National Coalition of Asian Pacific Association of Community Development, Board Secretary for Child360, and First Vice-President of the League of California’s Cities Women’s Caucus Board.
Additionally, Rachelle has dedicated herself to PACE (Pacific Asian Consortium in Employment) for the last 22 years, with the last six as Vice President and COO. PACE is a non-profit community development organization that serves over 40,000 people every year in areas of job training and employment, business development, environment & energy, affordable housing, and early childhood education.
When asked about her transition to Avenu, Rachelle responded, “Avenu is dedicated to helping state and local governments maximize revenue and optimize the way they operate. My life has been built around serving others and joining the team is truly an extension of that. I am fortunate to continue providing value to communities through our work here at Avenu.”
About Avenu Insights & Analytics:
Over 3,000 state and local governments have partnered with Avenu to drive positive results for their communities through software administration and compliance auditing solutions. Avenu’s comprehensive software solutions digitally transform government by modernizing processes, providing online access to records, and reducing costs. State and local governments also work closely with Avenu to increase revenue without raising taxes, streamline internal operations, and improve services by enhancing connectivity for constituents. Avenu is a portfolio company of Mill Point Capital.
To learn more, visit https://www.avenuinsights.com/
We are pleased to provide our March 2022 California Policy Update. This issue includes updates on Governor Newsom’s State of the State Address, the Taxpayer Protection and Government Accountability Act (currently being circulated for signatures for potential inclusion on the November 2022 Statewide ballot), and legislation by topic area that is currently going through the legislative process.
On March 8, Governor Gavin Newsom delivered his annual State of the State Address, going through a rundown of California’s successes and touting additional plans in furtherance of those accomplishments. Although distinct from his 2022-23 budget presentation, there was not much new information shared, and the speech felt akin to a pep talk or comparative analysis of California versus the nation with California coming out on top.
This update covers highlights from the Governor’s State of the State Address by topic.
Governor Gavin Newsom submitted his 2022-23 State Budget proposal to the Legislature on January 10, 2022 – a $286 billion spending plan that estimates a $45.7 billion surplus, of which $20.6 billion is discretionary, $16.1 billion is mandated by Proposition 98 for K-14 education, and $9 billion is set aside for reserve and supplemental pension payments. The State Appropriations Limit (Gann Limit) is likely to be exceeded in both 2020-21 and 202122 by a total of $2.6 billion, which will require additional funding to be directed to schools and taxpayer rebates. The administration will update the State Appropriations Limit numbers as part of the May Revision.
The January budget update contains a detailed review of the budget proposals for nearly a dozen items that are important to jurisdictions across California.
We are anticipating another busy legislative and budget year in 2022, with the Legislature reconvening to begin their work for 2022 on January 3rd. As the second year in a two-year session, legislation introduced in 2021 that has not yet moved to the second house must move forward in January or will die, with exceptions for measures requiring a ⅔ vote. This means that in January there will be a rush of policy and fiscal committee hearings in addition to the release of the governor’s 2022-23 budget proposal on or by January 10.
Read the full report for key January deadlines, budget updates, and key legislative proposals.
On September 10, 2021 at 9:00PM, the Senate and Assembly adjourned session for the year and are not scheduled to return to the Capitol until January 3, 2022. This end of session was far less exciting than in prior years, partially because of the 72-hour in print rule, and partially because some issues were punted to next year, including highspeed rail.
A high-profile proposal from Assemblywoman Buffy Wicks (D-Oakland) mandating employee vaccinations and requiring proof of vaccination in indoor public places such as restaurants and movie theaters was quickly introduced and shelved, and several controversial public safety measures were put off until 2022.
Below is a summary of key legislation moving through the California State Legislature
In recent weeks, the state legislature has been working actively on their state budget proposals and to meet the statutory deadlines to move bills from their house of origin to the other house by the June 4th deadline. On May 19th, the Speaker Pro Tempore Toni Atkins announced that each legislator would be limited to sending 12 bills to the opposite house. Some bills may be excluded from this requirement if they are being proposed to be implemented immediately. Below is a summary of key legislation moving through the California State Legislature
Avenu in partnership with the UCLA Anderson Forecast collaborates to provide both micro and macro level views of the economic health of California at the state and local levels. The following economic information has been provided by our colleagues at UCLA Anderson Forecast. We’ve also attached our recent sales tax forecast assumptions.