Good Gov Monthly

Found on the blog at yorkcounts.org
March 2009

In this issue:

• Community summit draws record crowd
• A snapshot from the Indicators Report: Obesity
• Speaking of a healthy York
• Group assembles for public safety study

Community summit draws record crowd

YorkCounts is involved in a lot of different community activities, but at its core, we’re trying to do two things: build a wider audience for the Indicators Report and generate more discussion about solutions to problems identified in the report. If attendance at the most recent YorkCounts summit is any indication, the audience is growing. Nearly 300 people squeezed into the Yorktowne Hotel’s Continental Ballroom March 20 to hear an update on the work of YorkCounts. They heard Bob Woods give a brief overview of the information in the 2009 Indicators Report, which is now beginning to offer trend-over-time context to some of the benchmarks. They also met some of the folks who have done a lot of great work on behalf of YorkCounts in the past 10 years. We thanked Don Gogniat and Austin Hunt for outstanding board service, and gave Bob Woods a special volunteer award for his contributions to an array of YorkCounts efforts. We also recognized officials from Spring Garden and Springettsbury townships for the work they did in merging their respective paid fire departments in 2008. It’s the kind of visionary regional thinking that YorkCounts advocates.

A snapshot from the Indicators Report: Obesity

What it says: The York County number has stayed flat, around 25 percent since 2001, which is good. But the fact one out of every four county residents is obese is alarming. And, according to data from the Healthy York County Coalition, if you include the number of overweight residents, the number of York County residents with a weight problem goes up to 67.5 percent. Those raw numbers, combined with the fact that obesity contributes to chronic health problems such as diabetes and hypertension, reinforce the need to find ways to get residents healthier: giving them new tools for exercise, proper diet and health literacy.

Speaking of a healthy York

The Healthy York County Coalition held its annual Health Assessment Community Forum April 3. Robin Rohrbaugh’s group presented lots of great data from David Polk and the Lancaster County consulting firm Holleran on how York County stacks up across a variety of health indicators. Attendees representing several county health stakeholders also heard updates from the coalition's various task forces, including the exciting stuff from Aligning Forces for Quality. That group is almost a year into work intended to improve the delivery of health care services in York County. The four-year, $1.6 million project is funded by a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The York-Adams county area was one of only 14 communities nationwide to receive the grant. We applaud the effort.

Group assembles for public safety study

Representatives from nine York County municipalities participated in the first meeting of a public safety study workgroup. The April 1 meeting was the first step toward a study that will hopefully produce a wealth of information about the pros and cons of regionalizing police services in York and surrounding suburban townships. York County is already home to several regional police departments, each providing services to a half-dozen or so municipalities. The study will try to find out if there are other ways to consolidate services across York and its surrounding suburban townships and what the costs and cost savings might be.

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The YorkCounts E-Newsletter is written by Dan Fink. Reach YorkCounts by mail at 105 Leader Heights Road, Suite 2, York, PA 17403; by telephone at 717/650-1460; or by e-mail at yorkcounts@gmail.com. Visit YorkCounts online at yorkcounts.org.

A healthy update

The Healthy York County Coalition held its annual community forum today. It was a full morning: lots of great data from David Polk and Lisa Lehman on how York County compares to the state, the nation and to comparable counties; updates from the coalition's various task forces; and a group exercise to see what participants thought should be the community's top priorties for improving public health.

- Dan Fink

'Home' in York

Towson University film professor Brian Plow teaches in Maryland, but he lives in York. He followed the city's quest for a baseball stadium with more han casual interest. He became intrigued by a process that brought a major piece of urban redevelopment to the downtown, but with a price that 15 property owners were displaced using eminent domain. His curiousity eventually led to "Home," a documentary about the residents who lived in the neighborhood that was replaced by the stadium. Plow finished the film last year and had a screening in York in the fall. On Friday, the Capitol Theatre will host another screening, and Plow will be on hand to answer questions and participate in a panel discussion with Blanda Nace, Kim Bracey and Cameron Texter. The movie starts at 7:30 p.m. Admission is by donation; bring a canned good for the York County Food Bank.

The movie highlights several issues related to the work of YorkCounts, including the concentration of poverty and having a strong urban core. What do you think about how economic development happens in York?

- Dan Fink

A York mention in the Wall Street Journal

Here's the headline from an article today's Wall Street Journal:
Many Smaller Cities Dodge Crunch in Consumer Lending

The story looks at data from Equifax and Moody's related to mortgages and home-equity, credit-card, auto and student loans. York shows up at No. 8 in the accompanying chart of the cities where consumer loan balances have grown the most. The numbers suggest that big cities and rural areas have been hurt the most by tighter consumer lending, but mid-sized cities like York have done OK because of "more disciplined economic-development strategies in those cities, more diverse employment and lower costs." Those are all things that show up in the YorkCounts Indicators Report.

For the full story, click here:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123837422461168013.html#mod=rss_Page_One

- Dan Fink

YDR takes closer look at Indicators

York Daily Record editor Jim McClure will take a look at some of the new YorkCounts indicators in a series of posts on his Town Square blog. His first post went up Saturday and deals with York County's tobacco use, tying it back to York County's history as a major cigar manufacturing area throughout the 19th century and into the early part of the 20th century.

Relaunching the YorkCounts blog

Hello, fans of YorkCounts.

The blog has been quiet since Beau Boughamer left in the fall, so there's lots of stuff going on that you might not have heard much about. I'll try to post once or twice a day with different things, usually with an eye on updates about YorkCounts' various projects or to talk up good government issues.

I'll use Twitter and Facebook to spread the word about YorkCounts, so keep an eye out for that.

Thanks for tuning in.
Dan

YorkCounts E-Newsletter - September 2008

The YorkCounts E-Newsletter
found on the blog at yorkcounts.org
September 2008

In this issue:

• Police study presentations continue
• Diversity countywide: a snapshot from the schools
• Foundation of the Year (and they’re blogging too!)

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Police study presentations continue

YorkCounts teams visited Jackson Township and Dover Township in September as the YorkCounts Public Safety Committee continued to make the case for a regional public safety feasibility study.

Jackson Township’s Board of Supervisors and the commission that oversees the Northern York County Regional Police Department were the latest to hear from Committee co-chair Carl Anderson. Anderson and Meckley are seeking local government participation in a study – conducted by an independent consultant – to evaluate the merits of a multi-municipal, regional police department.

Ten presentations have been made so far by Meckley, Anderson or both, accompanied by YorkCounts staffers James DeBord and Beau Boughamer. Because the Northern York County Regional Police Department’s oversight body includes representatives from each of the NYCRPD’s eight participating municipalities, the number of communities reached by the study pitch has risen to 18.

West York Borough, the City of York and the three member municipalities of the Northeastern Regional police – Mount Wolf and Manchester boroughs and East Manchester Township – have agreed to take part in the study. Decisions are expected soon from Springettsbury Township and Spring Garden Township among other communities.

Each municipality is appointing someone to serve on the panel that will oversee the study.

Municipal elected officials or administrators with questions about the Public Safety Committee can reach YorkCounts Director James DeBord at 717/815-6436 or jdebord@ycp.edu.

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Diversity countywide: a snapshot from the schools

YorkCounts expects to release its latest Indicators report next spring. Between now and then, an occasional series in the E-Newsletter will spotlight community data relating to York County.

From its beginnings nearly ten years ago, YorkCounts has been interested in diversity in York County – not only in fostering an environment in which diversity is respected and celebrated… but also in keeping tabs on just how diverse we are and how the community is changing.

Because information on diversity that is released between decennial Census reports is limited in scope, the best real-time way to see increasing diversity is in year-to-year population counts released by York County’s public school districts.

The chart below is reflective of how more diverse communities now can be found in virtually all corners of York County. (If you can’t see the chart in the e-mail E-Newsletter, try accessing the copy that’s on the web at http://yorkcounts.blogspot.com/2008/08/yorkcounts-e-newsletter-september-2008.html).

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Foundation of the Year (and they’re blogging too!)

We congratulate the York County Community Foundation – a YorkCounts Partner – as it has been named the 2008 Foundation of the Year by the Association of Fundraising Professionals, Central PA chapter. The award was announced earlier this month and will be given at a ceremony in Harrisburg on National Philanthropy Day, November 17.

YorkCounts Director James DeBord was pleased to be among those who nominated the York County Community Foundation. “With the guidance of a thoughtful and committed board and under Susan Barry’s able and innovative leadership, the York County Community Foundation has grown tremendously,” DeBord said.

“Of particular interest to YorkCounts is the YCCF’s role as a catalyst for regional improvement. Since YorkCounts’ inception, YCCF has been not only a financial supporter of the organization, but also an active, engaged partner in planning for a better York County.”

Also this month, the York County Community Foundation launched its first blog. In Barry’s first contribution to the blogosphere, she shares her thoughts on what fishing and philanthropy have in common. The “President’s Point of View” blog can be found at http://www.yccf.org/presidents_blog.asp.

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The YorkCounts E-Newsletter is written by Beau Boughamer. Reach YorkCounts by mail c/o the Center for Community Engagement at York College of Pennsylvania, 605 South George Street, Suite 160, York, PA 17401, by telephone at 717/815-6430 or by e-mail at yorkcounts@gmail.com. Visit YorkCounts online at yorkcounts.org.