best practices

Twice as many cyberattacks on local governments were recorded last year over the previous year.  Several causes, including the increased sophistication of hackers, the widespread adoption of cloud computing by governments, and a dearth of investment, resources, and knowledge in cybersecurity on the part of many local governments, certainly account for the uptick in incidents.

 There are many forms and vectors of Cyber Attacks.

What is Planning?

It may surprise you to know that land use planning topics can come up in the dentist chair, when talking with a neighbor, reading the paper, or in whispers by your hairdresser. How is that true? Simple, people talk about change, growth, and preservation of the land, water, and even air. Whether it is a new brewery coming to town, a small subdivision down the street, or when a building had been vacant – now a new furniture repair and antique store is moving in: people talk about land use changes all the time.

I.  Advanced Preparation is Critical!

Experienced moderators know that they are but one person, and that the cooperation and assistance of many other persons is needed to plan, prepare, and conduct the deliberative session or business meeting of a municipality. Consider the roles that others perform:

A. Creating the Municipal Budget and Related Warrant Articles

What Day of the Week to Hold the Deliberative Session?

For those towns that have adopted RSA 39:2-a, and therefore employ the official ballot to elect officers and vote on other specified matters to be addressed by official ballot, the select board must choose another day for the second or business session of the town meeting.

Some call it the Law of More, or Taj Mahal syndrome.

It’s the perception that proposed municipal projects—like a new public safety complex or town hall—are inordinately lavish or contain features above and beyond what’s necessary to service a community. New city halls and public safety complexes sometimes draw criticism from residents and officials worried about cost. Many existing municipal buildings in New Hampshire aren’t designed to accommodate 21^st century needs, and as time passes these needs only grow.

Closed landfills are a long-term liability for municipalities because they can create environmental and other problems that negatively impact residents and others. Landfill owners, including municipalities, are responsible for the costs to cleanup environmental contamination. Therefore, it is important that municipal officials are aware of the location and condition of all closed landfills in their community.

Introduction

Accessibility is well known as a requirement for parking, pathways, bathrooms, buildings, and programs. What is lesser known is the benefit accessible design provides to all citizens. The following addresses going beyond the minimum requirements for accessibility to create an inclusive and welcoming community that provides for the current and future needs of its citizens.

The Immigration Reform and Control Act (IRCA) of 1986 was established to control the employment of unauthorized aliens in the United States and to protect authorized workers from unfair immigration-related employment practices.  Among other things, the Act requires employers to timely and properly complete I-9 forms for covered individuals.  On August 1^st, 2023, the government issued an updated version of the form.  All employers must begin using this form by November 1, 2023.  As of November 1, 2023, this new version will be the only acceptab