Community Development Districts: The entrepreneurial side of government

In an effort to reduce the cost and size of government public service delivery has become more decentralized, flexible and responsive. Public entrepreneurship entailed, among other things, the establishment of special-purpose governments to finance public services and carry out development projects. Community Development Districts (CDDs) are a type of special-purpose governments whose purpose is to manage and finance infrastructure improvements in the State of Florida. They have important implications for the way both growth management and service delivery occur in the United States. This study examined the role of CDDs for growth management policy and service delivery by analyzing the CDD profile and activity, the contribution of CDDs to the growth management and infrastructure development as well as the way CDD perceived pluses and minuses impact service delivery. The study used a mixed methods research approach, drawing on secondary data pertaining to CDD features and activity, semi-structured interviews with CDD representatives and public officials as well as on a survey of public officials within the counties and cities that have established CDDs. Findings indicated that the CDD institutional model is both a policy and a service delivery tool for infrastructure provision that can be adopted by states across the United States. Results showed that CDDs inhibit rather than foster growth management through their location choices, type and pattern of development. CDDs contributed to the infrastructure development in Florida by providing basic infrastructure services for the development they supported and by building and dedicating facilities to general-purpose governments. Districts were found to be both funding mechanisms and management tools for infrastructure services. The study also pointed to the fact that specialized governance is more responsive and more flexible but less effective than general-purpose governance when delivering services. CDDs were perceived as being favorable for developers and residents and not as favorable for general-purpose governments. Overall results indicated that the CDD is a flexible institutional mechanism for infrastructure delivery which has both advantages and disadvantages. Decision-makers should balance districts’ institutional flexibility with their unintended consequences for growth management when considering urban public policies.

Recruitment, Socialization, and Accountability of School Administrators in Two Urban School Districts

Due to the impending shortage of qualified candidates for administrator positions, school districts are faced with the challenge of attracting and preparing candidates for the administrator role. This empirical study focused on leadership succession planning and leadership development in response to meeting the demands of the social preoccupation of accountability.

Irrigation regime affected SOC content rather than plow layer thickness of rice paddies : A county level survey from a river basin in lower Yangtze valley, China

Acknowledgements This work was funded by Natural Science Foundation of China under grant numbers of 41071337 and 40830528 and jointly by the Priority Academic Program Development of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions, China.

Use of farmer-prioritized vertisol management options for enhanced green gram and tomato production in central Kenya

Green grams (Phaseolus aures L.) and tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L) are widely grown in the vertisols of the Mwea Irrigation Scheme alongside the rice fields. Green grams can fix nitrogen (biological nitrogen fixation) and are grown for its highly nutritious and curative seeds while tomatoes are grown for its fruit rich in fibres, minerals and vitamins. The two can be prepared separately or together in a variety of ways including raw salads and/or cooked/fried. They together form significant delicacies consumed with rice which is the major cash crop grown in the black cotton soils. The crops can grow well in warm conditions but tomato is fairly adaptable except under excessive humidity and temperatures that reduce yields. Socio-economic prioritization by the farming community and on-farm demonstrations of soil management options were instituted to demonstrate enhanced green gram and tomato production in vertisol soils of lower parts of Kirinyaga County (Mwea East and Mwea West districts). Drainage management was recognized by the farming community as the best option although a reduced number of farmers used drainage and furrows/ridges, manure, fertilizer and shifting options with reducing order of importance. Unavailability of labour and/or financial cost for instituting these management options were indicated as major hindrances to adopt the yield enhancing options. Labour force was contributed to mainly by the family alongside hiring (64.2%) although 28% and 5.2% respectively used hired or family labour alone. The female role in farming activities dominated while the male role was minimal especially at weeding. The youth role remained excessively insignificant and altogether absent at marketing. Despite the need for labour at earlier activities (especially when management options needed to be instituted) it was at the marketing stage that this force was directed. Soils were considered infertile by 60% but 40% indicated that their farms had adequate fertility. Analysis showed that ridging and application of farm yard manure and fertilizer improved fertility, crop growth and income considerably. Phosphate and zinc enhancement reduced alkalinity and sodicity. Green gram and tomato yields increased under ridges and farm yard manure application by 17-25% which significantly enhanced household income.

Increased water charges improve efficiency and equity in an irrigation system

Conventional wisdom in many agricultural systems across the world is that farmers cannot, will not, or should not pay the full costs associated with surface water delivery. Across Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries, only a handful can claim complete recovery of operation, maintenance, and capital costs; across Central and South Asia, fees are lower still, with farmers in Nepal, India, and Kazakhstan paying fractions of a U.S. penny for a cubic meter of water. In Pakistan, fees amount to roughly USD 1-2 per acre per season. However, farmers in Pakistan spend orders of magnitude more for diesel fuel to pump groundwater each season, suggesting a latent willingness to spend for water that, under the right conditions, could potentially be directed toward water-use fees for surface water supply. Although overall performance could be expected to improve with greater cost recovery, asymmetric access to water in canal irrigation systems leaves the question open as to whether those benefits would be equitably shared among all farmers in the system. We develop an agent-based model (ABM) of a small irrigation command to examine efficiency and equity outcomes across a range of different cost structures for the maintenance of the system, levels of market development, and assessed water charges. We find that, robust to a range of different cost and structural conditions, increased water charges lead to gains in both efficiency and concomitant improvements in equity as investments in canal infrastructure and system maintenance improve the conveyance of water resources further down watercourses. This suggests that, under conditions in which (1) farmers are currently spending money to pump groundwater to compensate for a failing surface water system, and (2) there is the possibility that through initial investment to provide perceptibly better water supply, genuine win-win solutions can be attained through higher water-use fees to beneficiary farmers.

Business Signage Control in Seattle's Chinatown International District, Pursuing Healthy Balance of Preservation and Commercial Vitalization in a Historic Commercial Districts

Thesis (Master's)--University of Washington, 2016-06

Preservation in a growing city: a consideration of conservation districts for Washington, D.C. neighborhoods

Master final project submitted to the faculty of the Historic Preservation Program of the School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation of the University of Maryland, College Park, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Historic Preservation, 2013.

BIORETENTION/CISTERN/IRRIGATION TO ELIMINATE STORMWATER RUNOFF AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND

Water quality of parking lot (~1,858 m2) stormwater runoff and its treated effluent flow were analyzed for total phosphorus (TP), total nitrogen (TN), total suspended solids (TSS), electrical conductivity (EC), copper, lead and zinc. The novel system under investigation, located at the University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, includes a standard bioretention facility, underdrained to a cistern to store treated stormwater, and pumped to a vegetable garden for irrigation. The site abstraction, the average bioretention abstraction, and bowl volumes were estimated to be 8500, 4378, and 895 L, respectively; this indicates that rain events of more than 0.45 cm are necessary to produce runoff and more than 0.75 cm will produce system overflow. The cistern water quality indicates good-to-excellent treatment by the system. Compared to local tap water, cistern water has lower concentrations of TP, TN, EC (non-winter), copper, and zinc, indicating a good water source for irrigation.

Ledroit Park, A Portrait In Black And White: A Study Of Historic Districts, Social Change, And The Process Of Neighborhood Placemaking

This research examines the process of placemaking in LeDroit Park, a residential Washington, DC, neighborhood with a historic district at its core. Unpacking the entwined physical and social evolution of the small community within the context of the Nation’s Capital, this analysis provides insight into the role of urban design and development as well as historic designation on shaping collective identity. Initially planned and designed in 1873 as a gated suburb just beyond the formal L’Enfant-designed city boundary, LeDroit Park was intended as a retreat for middle and upper-class European Americans from the growing density and social diversity of the city. With a mixture of large romantic revival mansions and smaller frame cottages set on grassy plots evocative of an idealized rural village, the physical design was intentionally inwardly-focused. This feeling of refuge was underscored with a physical fence that surrounded the development, intended to prevent African Americans from nearby Howard University and the surrounding neighborhood, from using the community’s private streets to access the City of Washington. Within two decades of its founding, LeDroit Park was incorporated into the District of Columbia, the surrounding fence was demolished, and the neighborhood was racially integrated. Due to increasingly stringent segregation laws and customs in the city, this period of integration lasted less than twenty years, and LeDroit Park developed into an elite African American enclave, using the urban design as a bulwark against the indignities of a segregated city. Throughout the 20th century housing infill and construction increased density, yet the neighborhood never lost the feeling of security derived from the neighborhood plan. Highlighting the architecture and street design, neighbors successfully received historic district designation in 1974 in order to halt campus expansion. After a stalemate that lasted two decades, the neighborhood began another period of transformation, both racial and socio-economic, catalyzed by a multi-pronged investment program led by Howard University. Through interviews with long-term and new community members, this investigation asserts that the 140-year development history, including recent physical interventions, is integral to placemaking, shaping the material character as well as the social identity of residents.

SCHOOL DISTRICT GOVERNANCE AND KNOWLEDGE-FIT IN DECISION RIGHTS: HOW DISTRICTS RECRUIT AND HIRE SCHOOL LIBRARIANS

This study examines the organizational structures and decision-making processes used by school districts to recruit and hire school librarians. For students to acquire the information and technology literacy education they need, school libraries must be staffed with qualified individuals who can fulfill the librarian’s role as leader, teacher, instructional partner, information specialist, and program administrator. Principals are typically given decision rights for hiring staff, including school librarians. Research shows that principals have limited knowledge of the skills and abilities of the school librarian or the specific needs and functions of the library program. Research also indicates that those with specific knowledge of school library programs, namely school district library supervisors, are only consulted on recruiting and hiring about half the time. School districts entrust library supervisors with responsibilities such as professional development of school librarians only after they are hired. This study uses a theoretical lens from research on IT governance, which focuses on the use of knowledge-fit in applying decision rights in an organization. This framework is appropriate because of its incorporation of a specialist with a specific knowledge set in determining the placement of input and decision rights in the decision-making processes. The method used in this research was a multiple-case study design using five school districts as cases, varying by the involvement of the supervisors and other individuals in the hiring process. The data collected from each school district were interviews about the district’s recruiting and hiring practices with principals, an individual in HR, library supervisors, and recently hired school librarians. Data analysis was conducted through iterative coding from themes in the research questions, with continuous adjustments as new themes developed. Results from the study indicate that governance framework is applicable to evaluating the decision-making processes used in recruiting and hiring school librarians. However, a district’s use of governance did not consistently use knowledge-fit in the determination of input and decision rights. In the hiring process, governance was more likely to be based on placing decision rights at a certain level of the district hierarchy rather than the location of specific knowledge, most often resulting in site-based governance for decision rights at the school-building level. The governance of the recruiting process was most affected by the shortage or surplus of candidates available to the district to fill positions. Districts struggling with a shortage of candidates typically placed governance for the decision-making process on recruiting at the district level, giving the library supervisor more opportunity for input and collaboration with human resources. In districts that use site-based governance and that place all input and decision rights at the building level, some principals use their autonomy to eliminate the school library position in the allotment phase or hire librarians that, while certified through testing, do not have the same level of expertise as those who achieve certification through LIS programs. The principals in districts who use site-based governance for decision rights but call on the library supervisor for advisement stated how valuable they found the supervisor’s expertise in evaluating candidates for hire. In no district was a principal or school required to involve the library supervisor in the hiring of school librarians. With a better understanding of the tasks involved, the effect of district governance on decision-making, and the use of knowledge to assign input and decision rights, it is possible to look at how all of these factors affect the outcome in the quality of the hire. A next step is to look at the hiring process that school librarians went through and connect those with the measurable outcomes of hiring: school librarian success, retention, and attrition; the quality of school library program services, outreach, and involvement in a school; and the perceptions of the success of the school librarian and the library program as seen from students, teachers, administrators, parents, and other community stakeholders.

2015-2016 ACCOUNTABILITY MANUAL : The Annual School and District Report Card System for South Carolina Public Schools and School Districts

State law requires that for school years 2014-15 and 2015-16 the EOC will not rate schools or districts but will instead report on student academic performance. The Education Oversight Committee must use the results of these assessments in school years 2014-2015 and 2015-2016 to report on student academic performance in each school and district pursuant to Section 59-18-900. The state report card for school year 2015-16 will include assessment information and measurements that address the Profile of the South Carolina Graduate.

[Rapid transit map of Manhattan and adjacent districts of New York City].

Covers Manhattan, South Bronx, and small adjacent parts of Queens, Brooklyn, and Jersey City.

Papaya seedlings irrigation with saline water in soil with bovine biofertilizer

Water used for irrigation in semiarid regions of the world is not always of good quality, and may contain salts levels that inhibit plants growth. This study was conducted to evaluate the growth of papaya ( Carica papaya L.) ‘Golden’ seedlings irrigated with saline water in soil with and without bovine biofertilizer produced by anaerobic fermentation of a mixture of fresh bovine manure and water. The experiment was carried out in Areia County, Paraiba State, Brazil. Treatments were distributed in randomized blocks using a factorial design 5 × 2 relative to five salinity levels in irrigation water of 0.5, 1.0, 2.0, 3.0 and 4.0 dS m-1 in soil with and without bovine biofertilizer, corresponding to 10% of the substrate volume. At 90 d after emergence (DAE), both the electrical conductivity (EC) in soil saturation extract, biometric growth and DM production of papaya seedlings were evaluated. Increased salinity from 0.5 to 4.0 dS m-1 raised, within 90 DAE, soil EC of saturation extract (ECse) from 1.19 to 3.95 dS m-1 and from 1.23 to 3.63 dS m-1 in treatments with and without bovine biofertilizer, respectively. Also, the increase in water salinity from 0.5 dS m-1 to the estimated maximum values ranging from 1.46 to 2.13 dS m-1 stimulated seedling height to 11.42 and 18.72 cm in soil with and without bovine biofertilizer, respectively. Higher salinity levels in irrigation water increased soil salinity levels to values that inhibited both growth and quality of papaya seedlings, but with less severity when treated with bovine biofertilizer.

Legislative Accountability: should Brazil break up its big Electoral Districts? = Accountability legislativa: o Brasil deveria fragmentar suas circunscrições eleitorais maiores?

This paper proposes that Brazil could improve the political accountability by breaking up many of the statewide districts it uses to elect its deputies into smaller districts, each electing fewer deputies. The central argument is that districts that elect low-to-moderate numbers of legislators make it possible to optimize the well-known trade-off between inclusive representation and accountable government.

Knowledge and perceptions of quality of obstetric and newborn care of local health providers: a cross-sectional study in three districts in Malawi

Aim Quality of service delivery for maternal and newborn health in Malawi is influenced by human resource shortages and knowledge and care practices of the existing service providers. We assessed Malawian healthcare providers’ knowledge of management of routine labour, emergency obstetric care and emergency newborn care; correlated knowledge with reported confidence and previous study or training; and measured perception of the care they provided. Methods his study formed part of a large-scale quality of care assessment in three districts (Kasungu, Lilongwe and Salima) of Malawi. Subjects were selected purposively by their role as providers of obstetric and newborn care during routine visits to health facilities by a research assistant. Research assistants introduced and supervised the self-completed questionnaire by the service providers. Respondents included 42 nurse midwives, 1 clinical officer, 4 medical assistants and 5 other staff. Of these, 37 were staff working in facilities providing Basic Emergency Obstetric Care (BEMoC) and 15 were from staff working in facilities providing Comprehensive Emergency Obstetric Care (CEMoC). Results Knowledge regarding management of routine labour was good (80% correct responses), but knowledge of correct monitoring during routine labour (35% correct) was not in keeping with internationally recognized good practice. Questions regarding emergency obstetric care were answered correctly by 70% of respondents with significant variation depending on clinicians’ place of work. Knowledge of emergency newborn care was poor across all groups surveyed with 58% correct responses and high rates of potentially life-threatening responses from BEmOC facilities. Reported confidence and training had little impact on levels of knowledge. Staff in general reported perception of poor quality of care. Conclusion Serious deficiencies in providers’ knowledge regarding monitoring during routine labour and management of emergency newborn care were documented. These may contribute to maternal and neonatal deaths in Malawi. The knowledge gap cannot be overcome by simply providing more training.