Skills That Matter

Problem

With rising tuition costs and high levels of unemployment amongst graduates, college is no longer a guaranteed pathway for everyone to secure a job. Technological advancements and the overwhelming number of unfilled high-skill jobs calls for a revision in how we train future employees to meet the needs of the the 21st century workforce. 

Solution

County Commissioner Bridget Gainer has proposed innovative ways to encourage the development of apprenticeship programs that more accurately meet the needs of the 21st century workforce. In Cook County, she has created the first earned credit for employers who create and run a Department of Labor registered apprenticeship program. Having local government collaborate with business leaders, Commissioner Gainer also hopes to help create a pathway for employers to build apprenticeships in non-traditional areas (services and tech industries) where there is projected growth over the next 50 years.

City Spurs Innovation Economy

Problem

Many entrepreneurs lack the resources and access to funding they need in order to develop and grow successful businesses. This need is critical now more than ever, as technological advances and globalization continue to transform the economy. 

Solution

Mayor Setti Warren is helping Newton connect entrepreneurs to the resources they need to start and grow their business by partnering the city with a well-recognized non-profit incubator accelerator, MassChallenge, that has programs in Boston, Israel, and the U.K. The City of Newton has licensed a municipal building to them as a two-year pilot to assess the portability of their programs to a smaller city. This partnership will help spur economic revitalization in the community and connect business leaders to the tools they need to succeed in the innovation economy.

Oregon Pioneer Prize

Problem

As a state and a society, there are numerous challenges we face. Government can’t solve all these problems, and could be immensely helped by attracting the attention and efforts of talented people willing to work at tackling society’s toughest challenges.

Solution

Oregon State Representative Tobias Read is proposing to harness the talent of innovators everywhere by offering prize(s) to individuals and teams who solve large identified challenges. Like the U.K.’s Longitude Prize or the private sector’s X Prize, Rep. Read believes that state government can convene expertise from academia, business, non profits and more to identify our biggest challenges, develop quantifiable measures on which to evaluate potential solutions, and award prizes to those solutions that best solve the identified problems.

SJ Youth Works

Problem

Youth unemployment remains as high as 20% in some San Jose neighborhoods while a troublesome trend shows an increase in the number of younger youth (14 – 16 year old’s) committing burglaries and other crimes. The City’s gang- and crime-impacted neighborhoods fall short in opportunities for youth to be safe, engaged and productive over the summer months and gainful employment is a seemingly unreachable concept. A program that has long-targeted at-risk youth in these neighborhoods—The Mayor’s Gang Prevention Task Force—has long addressed the social, health and safety aspects confronted by at-risk youth and traditional youth employment programs have focused on the 18 and older group. An age-appropriate youth employment program for younger youth had not been attempted. 

Solution

This summer, Mayor Liccardo helped launch SJ Youth Works, a five-week summer youth employment program for younger, at-risk youth recruited through the public and nonprofit agencies already supporting them. SJ Youth Works improves on an already-existing youth employment program with the priority of addressing the reality faced by, and the needs of younger, at-risk youth. The methodology is one that coordinates with the support services already available through public and private continuum-of-care agencies like the County government’s social services programs and probation department or non-profits like TeenForce and Unity Care. By exposing younger youth to well-supported employment experiences that are supplemented with case management, life-skills and financial literacy training, SJ Youth Works is creating pathways for these youth to envision a career while making some money. Youth employment programs, even for younger at-risk youth, have been shown to decrease the likelihood that the youth will become an offender and decrease recidivism rates for those that have. 

Made in San Jose

Problem

Manufacturers consistently report a shortage of skilled workers as a key challenge to their operations in the U.S. As manufacturing today involves complex tools requiring technologically skilled operators, managers, and technicians, there is a strong need for increased access to the training and skills needed to fill these jobs and boost local economic activity. 

Solution

Mayor Sam Liccardo launched an initiative this summer to preserve and strengthen manufacturing activity in San Jose. By leveraging partnerships with industry leaders, energy providers, and educational institutions, he hopes to help San Jose boost its manufacturing base and provide a pathway to the middle class for residents in the wave of next-shoring taking place. These kinds of partnerships can provide students with a clear path to employment, and help boost flagging public college budgets. By focusing upon sites, space, and skills, this initiative will help revive dozens of underutilized warehouses and industrial sites and restore the wages and dignity of thousands of our unemployed neighbors. 

Citizen Data Scientist Challenge

Problem

Government departments collect information on their services but rarely have enough time to analyze their data to ask meaningful questions that could lead to delivering services more effectively.

Solution

Mayor Andy Berke has proposed the “Citizen Data Scientist Challenge,” as a way to provide departments with meaningful information on how to improve their services by crowdsourcing the analysis of their data from everyday citizens and students. The challenge will help increase trust in government, by providing an opportunity for citizens to engage directly with local government and propose their own solutions for how government can be made more effective.

Summer Jobs 253

Problem

In Tacoma, there are few options to help address the challenges of high youth unemployment, low on-time graduation rates, and poor financial literacy skills among students ages 14-18. With these obstacles, students do not have adequate access to the skills and experiences they need to graduate on time and succeed in the 21st century workforce. 

Solution

Marilyn Strickland has helped lead the development of Summer Jobs 253 (SJ253), a program that allows incoming high school juniors and seniors the opportunity to earn credit toward graduation while working as an intern for a local business. Students in the program work up to 96 hours for an employer as well as attending an additional 24 hours of classroom time to learn resume writing, interviewing, and financial literacy skills. The City coordinates the robust partnerships that make the program work because of growing support in the business community and amongst private and corporate donors. The Summer Jobs 253 program has helped connect high-risk students to the skills they need to graduate on time, enter the workforce prepared, and establish bank accounts to help save for their future.

Tax Abatement Accountability

Problem

It is often challenging for local government to balance the need to repurpose blighted or abandoned lots into taxable property, while ensuring an open and transparent process for their approval and scrutiny. 

Solution

Assemblymember Troy Singleton has advocated for a transparent process for tax abatements that ensures that those finite resources are used judiciously and in the best interests of taxpayers. Singleton proposed legislation requiring municipalities to file copies of tax abatement and exemption agreements with the county chief financial officer and county counsel within 30 days of execution. This will provide a heightened level of public scrutiny over the awarding of these financial incentives. Singleton also proposed legislation requiring municipalities to share certain payments received in lieu of taxes with counties and school districts; informing counties and school district of applications for tax exemptions.

PILOT Plan

Problem

Over the last two decades, Jersey City’s physical, cultural, and economic characteristics have changed significantly. Some neighborhoods have experienced a significant renaissance. Others still struggle to overcome issues that have plagued former industrial centers since the second half of the twentieth century. These issues are social, economic, and infrastructural, and all influence the availability of affordable and safe housing available to the city’s residents.

Solution

Mayor Steve Fulop has proposed a new plan to bring more affordable housing to Jersey City by using tiered tax incentives to drive development into areas where it is needed most. The updated PILOT plan aims to preserve community in these neighborhoods while also promoting development. The plan divides the city into four zones with their own set of tax incentives and affordability requirements in order to achieve a mix of market rate and affordable housing in each of them.

Taxpayer Advocate Program

Problem

Filing taxes can be a challenging, complicated process. It is even more frustrating for individuals, who, through no fault of their own, fall victim to administrative errors and delays from the tax collection agency. 

Solution

Senator Bob Hertzberg helped pass legislation this year to expand the taxpayer advocate program in California, helping provide financial relief to those who have been overcharged on their taxes because of administrative errors. Hertzberg’s plan will help restore trust in government by making sure that citizens are appropriately compensated if errors occur and by flagging occurrences of mistakes to help prevent them in the future.

Subscribe

Recent News

‘We Are the Party of Freedom’: DNC Chair Jaime Harrison Marks 200th Episode of An Honorable Profession Podcast

DNC Chair Jaime Harrison joins hosts Ryan Coonerty and Debbie Cox Bultan on An Honorable...
LEARN MORE

NewDEAL Celebrates Voter Registration Month with 3-part Podcast Series

,
September is National Voter Registration Month, meaning there’s no better time to help people register...
LEARN MORE

It’s Not All About Trump. Republican Attacks on Democracy Are Local, Too

NewDEAL Leaders Ron Nirenberg and Elizabeth Walters pen an op-ed for Newsweek.
LEARN MORE