Outdoor showers only? Unlabeled coffee that is too hot may have lawsuit precedent but…
Michael Baskin
@michaelbaskin.bsky.social
Collector of outdoor public benches. Worker for local government. Facilitation, coaching + stories. VT/DC, BOS home.
But stay on corporate devices with subscriptions to other corporates? The times they are a changing. (Gentle snark, glad to see a student artist expressing themselves)
The office fridge…or sometimes you want to know and sometimes you don’t. The internet loves cats…and curiosity in this situation may be death knell
Nerd alert
The People Lab@thepeoplelab.bsky.social · last yr.Who works for the government and why does their work matter? Tune in to @c-span.bsky.social on 3/21 at 8 PM ET to catch @elizabethlinos.bsky.social talk with Michael Lewis about his new book! 📖 More airing times here -> www.c-span.org/event/book-t...
If @amtrak.com disappears, what happens to cities like @boston.gov, NYC, and DC and all the places linked together that people call community?
Indiana University student Daniel Jenkins has spent years helping students register to vote & navigate the state’s already-strict election laws. He warns banning student IDs at the polls would create even more barriers, especially for out-of-state students.boltsmag.org/indiana...
Indiana Republicans Move to Ban Student IDs for Voting
The new restriction, paired with Indiana’s stringent voter ID rules, would make it much harder for many young people to vote in a state that already ranks near-last in turnout.
boltsmag.org
Building codes finally make the news! When was the last time most folks thought about them? Miami building collapse? Vermont floods? LA wildfires? If only there was a way to prepare for a stronger America… FEMA backtracks on stronger building codes for disasters www.npr.org/2025/02/20/n...
Exclusive: Trump administration drops work on stronger building codes for disasters
To help homes survive more intense disasters, FEMA has been developing recommendations for stronger building codes. The Trump Administration has pulled them back.
npr.org
@harvardkennedy.bsky.social asked a few of us to comment on the first weeks of DOGE. Read the perspectives of a wide range of faculty: www.hks.harvard.edu/faculty-rese...
Analyzing DOGE actions one month into Trump’s second administration
Faculty analysts at Harvard Kennedy School reflect on President Trump and Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency one month into the new administration.
hks.harvard.edu
Push me down. Words for public trash cans, not public servants. Lift us up.
Public servants do amazing work in government every day to make things better for those we serve. Today we lift up and celebrate those Bright Spots so we can scale and expand.
“The cost of one modern heavy bomber is this: a modern brick school in more than 30 cities. It is two electric power plants, each serving a town of 60,000 population. It is two fine, fully equipped hospitals.“ -Pres Eisenhower We’re seeing a lot of cutting right now - seems to me there are options
💡 This week's AI News that Caught Our Eye includes discussions of AI as a disaster planning tool and economic simulation planning partner. Featuring @michaelbaskin.bsky.social, @mitchweiss.bsky.social, @stephaniekelton.bsky.social, @ezrakleinbot.bsky.social rebootdemocracy.ai/blog/news-th...
rebootdemocracy.ai
There is power and joy in imagining vibrant futures.
A shake up in govt shakes up people's lives - a pause means rent checks don't get paid and people get evicted, small businesses can't meet their obligations. We're all about to learn a lot about what our government does for us. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
Trump's Federal Funding Pause Threatens State Financials
President Donald Trump’s federal funding pause threatens more than $1 trillion that flows to states, cities and other local governments, putting everything from transit infrastructure to housing proje...
bloomberg.com
A good way to resist making govt worse for people? Make govt better with people.
So many folks have spent so long working to build trust in government through intentional, user tested government websites. And then....Woof. h/t to hardworking colleagues in the #PlainLanguage #UX #CX communities of practice.
Reusing old office supplies is great …but apparently “insert this end in typewriter” is a sign these may have reached the end of their sticky life
A good sign for transportation policy? @buttigiegdem.bsky.social ‘a final message? Mild understatement with solid directions
Fukuyama: “The truth of the matter is that implementation is part of policymaking; if a policy can’t be properly implemented, it shouldn’t be rolled out in the first place since it will simply contribute to the narrative of ineffective and incompetent government.” open.substack.com/pub/persuasi...
We Need Policy Implementers, Not Policy Makers
Why the United States can’t buy technology.
open.substack.com
How did you use transit this year? Its #spotifywrapped for DMV #transit users metrorewind.com
Metro Rewind
metrorewind.com
Thank you David Graham for inviting @stephanieawade.bsky.social to present at the Generative AI and the Future City Executive Summit at @harvard.edu alongside @michaelbaskin.bsky.social where they empowered city leaders to harness the potential of AI within government operations. #generativeai #ai
Big shift 2️⃣ for behavioural science: make it more social @mhallsworth.bsky.social shares how examining social connections, values, and identities can lead to surprising insights and push the field forward. Read the second in our 4-part series👇 bit.ly/4jlRsR8
Big shifts for behavioural science: focusing on the social drivers of behaviour - BIT
This is the second piece in our series explaining the four big shifts in behavioural science that BIT is aiming to achieve. In 2023, BIT published a manifesto setting out ten proposals for the future ...
bit.ly
To improve 911 emergency response times, shift human behavior around non-emergency response calls. Wondering about impact of years of “see something, say something” …this one will be a tricky balance. Kudos to #WashingtonDC for trying.
Asking the crowd, what are the most critical topics for govt managers to learn emerging from the last year? Our new mandatory trainings for managers: "Leave Without Pay" "Family and Medical Leave Act," and "Progressive Discipline." Each choice sends signals to our organization - what is important?
