Quality Jobs Tax Grant: Program Design Capstone
The Capstone Project has been a hallmark of the Fels Institute’s practical approach to public administration for many years. I was fortunate to have a mentor who had also gone through the program, and was able to guide me to an excellent candidate for a project. After a successful design process, the COVID-19 pandemic (appropriately)…
Effective Change Management in Equity Implementation
This white paper was a collaboration between myself and Matt Stitt, as primary writers and researchers, and Mike Nadol as editor. It was created as part of PFM’s work in the Bloomberg Results for America City Budgeting for Equity and Recovery program in 2021. Due to formatting limitations, footnotes have been excluded from this text-based…
Equity in Capital Improvement Planning Processes
This white paper was a collaboration between myself, as primary writer and researcher, and Matt Stitt and Mike Nadol as editors and contributors. It was created as part of PFM’s work in the Bloomberg Results for America City Budgeting for Equity and Recovery program in 2021. The fully designed PDF can be viewed here. Why…
Strategies for Engaging Governments
This post was inspired by Mr. Timothy Richards, who I had the pleasure of studying under while attending the University of Pennsylvania. His graduate-level course, “Strategic Engagement with Governments,” was among my favorite I’ve taken at any academic level. Government is good I don’t think Gordon Gecko would ever say it, but even he would…
Smarter Government: Why the best strategy for governing fails
What is Smarter Government? Governor Martin O’Malley wrote Smarter Government in collaboration with ESRI in November 2019 as a capstone on his political experience. In it, Mr. O’Malley outlines his career-long pursuit of more effective government through “Stat” programs. He was initially inspired by Jack Maple and his CompStat program in New York City’s Police…
Mobilizing the Private Sector for Public Good
This post was originally written in September 2019 for the Urban Land Institute Philadelphia blog as part of my responsibilities as an Etkin Johnson Memorial Scholar. As a student of public administration, I was excited to see many sessions at ULI’s Fall Meeting in Washington, D.C. related to policy and how it impacts land use…
Restructuring business taxes in Philadelphia
This memo was drafted in April 2019 for informational purposes for the City of Philadelphia Department of Commerce. It does not in any way represent the Department of Commerce’s opinion or policy on this matter. Introduction Philadelphia is the only one of the thirty largest cities in America to collect both a net income and…
Regulating Philadelphia’s Gig Economy
This memo was drafted in June 2019 for informational purposes for the City of Philadelphia Department of Commerce. It does not in any way represent the Department of Commerce’s opinion or policy on this matter. Executive Summary Despite huge growth over the last eight years, the gig economy is a controversial subject with supporters and…
An approach to marijuana legalization policy in Philadelphia
This memo was drafted in March 2019 for informational purposes for the City of Philadelphia Department of Commerce. It does not in any way represent the Department of Commerce’s opinion or policy on this matter. Executive Summary Medical marijuana is legal in thirty-three streets and the District of Columbia. Ten states and the District of…
The best time to invest in education was 50 years ago, second best time is now
This memo was drafted in March 2019 for informational purposes for the City of Philadelphia Department of Commerce. It does not in any way represent the Department of Commerce’s opinion or policy on this matter. Executive Summary Relatively modest gains in educational quality lead to significant economic multiplier effects in the long-run – a modest…
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Joe Buckshon 