GMA Headlines
August 10, 2020
Measure of America
The youth disconnection rate had steadily fallen for eight years in a row, from a recession-fueled high of 14.7 percent in 2010 to 11.2 percent in 2018. The COVID-19 pandemic will likely erase those gains completely and the disconnected youth rate will spike even higher than it did during the Great Recession.
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The cities of Sandy Springs, Savannah and Valdosta, along with Clayton County, are the third class of recipients to receive a Georgia Smart Communities Challenge grant.
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August 4, 2020
U.S. Census Bureau
The U.S. Census Bureau has shortened the 2020 Census Self-Response Phase to end by September 30. Other important operational adjustments are summarized on this website.
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August 3, 2020
Georgia Department of Natural Resources (DNR)
The Georgia Outdoor Stewardship Program is a grant and loan program administered by the Georgia Department of Natural Resources for the purpose of providing stewardship to state parks, state lands and wildlife management areas, to support local parks and trails, and to protect critical conservation lands.
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On July 31, Governor Kemp issued an extensive and detailed Executive Order. This is a summary prepared by GMA’s Legal Department explaining that order and its impact on local governments.
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Real and sustainable change for the better in our nation will not come through any of us putting our trust blindly in the hands of any political party. It will come from us putting our trust in ourselves and each other.
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August 3, 2020
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
This notice announces the availability of funds and solicits proposals from eligible entities, including nonprofit organizations, to deliver Environmental Workforce Development and Job Training (EWDJT) programs that recruit, train, and place local, unemployed and under-employed residents with the skills needed to secure full-time employment in the environmental field.
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July 31, 2020
Georgia Department of Natural Resources
The Regional Water Plan Seed Grants are being provided to support and incentivize local governments and other water users as they undertake their Regional Water Plan implementation responsibilities.
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July 28, 2020
National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH)
The Public Humanities Projects program supports projects that bring the ideas and insights of the humanities to life for general audiences through in-person programming. Projects must engage humanities scholarship to analyze significant themes in disciplines such as history, literature, ethics, and art history.
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July 28, 2020
U.S. Census Bureau
The U.S. Census Bureau announced that it will begin emailing households in low-responding areas to encourage them to respond to the 2020 Census. These emails supplement a final campaign reminding people to respond to the 2020 Census as census takers begin follow-up visits.
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Bloody Sunday is often noted as a pinnacle of John Lewis’ life. This defining moment encapsulates five things he taught us about getting in good trouble.
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July 24, 2020
Georgia Power Company
Georgia Power Company's charitable giving management coordinates efforts to give back to communities. Strong preference is given to Georgia-based organizations and programs that seek to improve the quality of life for the state's residents.
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July 24, 2020
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)
The Choice Neighborhoods program leverages significant public and private dollars to support locally driven strategies that address struggling neighborhoods with distressed public and/or HUD-assisted housing through a comprehensive approach to neighborhood transformation.
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July 24, 2020
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)
The purpose of the Lead-Based Paint Hazard Reduction (LHR) grant program is to maximize the number of children under the age of six years protected from lead poisoning by assisting states, cities, counties/parishes, Native American Tribes or other units of local government in undertaking comprehensive programs to identify and control lead-based paint hazards in eligible privately-owned rental or owner-occupied housing populations.
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Public Square
July 24, 2020
Robert Steuteville, Congress for the New Urbanism
A new report makes the case that walkable suburbs are the next big development trend.
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GMA exists to serve our 538 cities and protecting Home Rule is one of the bedrock principles we support and defend. This is why our legal brief filed on July 21 guards your right to establish policies for your buildings and your employees and customers, and to protect Home Rule, a right we believe is grounded in Georgia law and one afforded to every city. Follow the link to watch GMA Executive Director Larry Hanson’s statement and to read the GMA Amicus Brief: Governor Kemp v. the Mayor and City Council of the city of Atlanta.
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July 22, 2020
Union City Mayor Vince Williams, GMA President
John Lewis was more than a congressman and Civil Rights leader; he was an American hero and a moral compass for leaders of all walks of life. The effect he had on the state of Georgia, the South and the nation itself cannot be overstated.
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The Georgia Statewide Afterschool Network encourages city officials to partner with local afterschool programs as they and local school systems develop plans to engage students, either in person or virtually.
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GMA Executive Director Larry Hanson provides an overview of tools, services and leadership the organization has taken in the past year to help and assist city governments throughout the state and ensure the municipalities of Georgia are and remain Cities United.
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On July 15, Governor Kemp issued an extensive and detailed Executive Order. This is a summary prepared by GMA’s Legal Department explaining that order and its impact on local governments.
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July 14, 2020
U.S. Census Bureau
Shape the future of your congregation, neighborhood, and community by supporting the 2020 Census. No matter who you are, what you do, or how you worship — we all count!
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July 14, 2020
U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ)
The Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant (JAG) Program is the primary provider of federal criminal justice funding to states and units of local government. The Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) will award JAG Program funds to eligible units of local government under this FY 2020 JAG Program Local Solicitation.
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Through the FM Global Fire Prevention Grant Program, fire departments and brigades, as well as national, state, regional, local and community organizations can apply for funding to support a wide array of fire prevention, preparedness and control efforts, including pre-incident planning, fire prevention education/training and arson prevention/fire investigation.
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July 13, 2020
National League of Cities
As national protests and uprisings continue over the racial injustice in law enforcement that has long plagued our country, there is an opportunity for local leaders to boldly tackle systemic racism in their housing systems and repair the harms that have resulted in racial segregation, displacement, and inequitable communities.
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July 13, 2020
City of Dublin
The city of Dublin’s youth council serves as an example that young people are engaged, they have new ideas and they want a seat at the table. This dedicated youth council also showed Georgia’s cities how to effectively engage with their communities and promote the 2020 Census during a pandemic.
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I honestly believe that local elected officials can, and should, have a major impact on uniting the citizens we serve from all walks of life around the common cause of making our communities models for embracing diversity, inclusion and tolerance.
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July 10, 2020
U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI)
The principal objective of this Recovery Implementation funding opportunity is to promote and support the implementation of recovery plans for federally endangered and threatened species.
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July 10, 2020
U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)
This program provides affordable funding to develop essential community facilities in rural areas. An essential community facility is defined as a facility that provides an essential service to the local community for the orderly development of the community in a primarily rural area, and does not include private, commercial or business undertakings.
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July 8, 2020
Bloomberg CityLab
As economic disruption threatens to trigger a spike in housing instability, here is an essential primer on the causes and consequences of a thorny urban problem - homelessness.
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July 8, 2020
Georgia Department of Community Affairs
The Georgia Broadband Deployment Initiative (GBDI) has made three new Georgia Broadband Maps available to provide more transparency about the internet marketplace and clarify which Georgia households do not have access to high-speed internet.
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July 7, 2020
Georgia Department of Community Affairs
The Georgia Department of Community Affairs has assembled two new research products for Georgia's cities based on 2019 American Community Survey data.
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July 7, 2020
U.S. Census Bureau
The Census Bureau released Community Resilience Estimates, a new experimental data product which shows risk levels by state, county, and census tract.
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July 7, 2020
National League of Cities
When 2020 began, we could not have imagined what would have transpired in just a few short months. From health and economic crisis to resounding calls to address systemic racism, the state of our nation’s cities has changed dramatically.
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Union City Mayor Vince Williams was elected president of GMA during the association’s annual convention on Thursday, July 2.
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Viewpoints
July 2, 2020
Vince Williams, GMA President
It is a time for each of us to invest ourselves, our integrity and our resolve to confront the ugly legacy of systemic racism and inequity in our communities.
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July 1, 2020
Georgia Council for the Arts
The mission of Georgia Council for the Arts (GCA) is to cultivate the growth of vibrant, thriving Georgia communities through the arts. Vibrant Communities Grants support single art projects such as an art exhibit, a theatre production, a series of workshops for children, or an artist residency.
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The U.S. Treasury provided Georgia with approximately $4.1 billion for coronavirus-related expenses from the CARES Act, of which an estimated 1.8 billion could be transferred to local governments for coronavirus-related expenses. On July 29, Governor Brian Kemp released a statement providing additional details about the allocation of funds. That statement, as well as a breakdown of how Phase I of the funds will be distributed, can be found by clicking the link.
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The U.S. Treasury provided Georgia with approximately $4.1 billion for coronavirus-related expenses from the CARES Act, of which an estimated 1.8 billion could be transferred to local governments for coronavirus-related expenses.
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Public Square
June 29, 2020
Robert Steuteville, Congress for the New Urbanism
Urban planning has important contributions to a wide range of climate change responses, from mitigation to adaptation, notes Congress for the New Urbanism cofounder Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk.
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June 24, 2020
U.S. Census Bureau
This Mini Guide includes an overview for creating a Response Rate Challenge and ideas and inspiration for virtual challenges while communities are still social distancing.
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The Georgia Municipal Association breaks down the requirements municipal courts need to know for reopening as updated to reflect important changes in the Fourth Judicial Emergency Order effective July 12.
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June 22, 2020
Firehouse Subs Public Safety Foundation
The mission of the Firehouse Subs Public Safety Foundation is to impact the lifesaving capabilities and the lives of local heroes and their communities. This is accomplished by providing lifesaving equipment and prevention education tools to first responders and public safety organizations.
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June 17, 2020
U.S. Conference of Mayors (USCM)
Wells Fargo Bank and the Wells Fargo Foundation, along with the U.S. Conference of Mayors, aim to award $1 million this year to support local nonprofits with the CommunityWINS (Working/Investing in Neighborhood Stabilization) grant program.
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June 17, 2020
National League of Cities
Civic empowerment starts with civic participation. As our national conversation and movement to break down institutional and systemic racism continues, the results of the 2020 Census are critical to lifting up the representation and voices of these communities.
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June 17, 2020
The Pew Charitable Trusts
Public health studies over several decades conclude that being black is bad for your health, and pervasive racism is the cause. Black women are up to four times more likely to die of pregnancy-related complications than white women. Black men are more than twice as likely to be killed by police as white men. And the average life expectancy of African Americans is four years lower than the rest of the U.S. population.
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June 16, 2020
International City/County Management Association
This special supplement of Public Management magazine includes observations and commentary from local government leaders, along with resources for addressing the needs of your community and ways to take action.
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June 16, 2020
City Observatory
The movement of talented young adults to dense urban neighborhoods is not waning; it is widespread and accelerating, and it is powering urban revival. This new report shows that the growth of close-in urban neighborhoods in the US since 2010 has been propelled by the accelerating movement of well-educated young adults back to the city.
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June 15, 2020
Engaging Local Government Leaders
Implicit bias can interfere with how we do our jobs and other situations. In this webinar, participants will gain an awareness around the concept of implicit biases, the role they play in our interactions with others, and tools to help us address and minimize them.
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On June 11, 2020, Governor Kemp issued an extensive and detailed Executive Order. This is a summary prepared by GMA’s Legal Department explaining that order and its impact on local governments.
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Mayors and governors are under pressure to respond urgently to endemic racism. Here is what they must do now to create sustained racial equity.
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