Archived Items from WWC’s COVID-19 Local Government Response and Resource Bank
5 min readApr 7, 2020
Below are archived items that have been removed from What Works Cities’ daily-updated COVID-19: Local Government Response and Resource Bank.
Links are archived under the same sections from which they were removed: (1) Resources for Local Government; (2) Data Tools & Resources Developed by Cities; (3) Local Actions (organized by policy decision); (4) Op-Eds & Commentary Specific to Local Government; and (5) COVID-19 Guidelines & Updates. Each link includes the date it was removed from the Resource Bank.
This archive has been updated as of June 4, 2020.
Resources for Local Government
- From What Works Cities: Strategies for communicating with data, a Q&A with WWC expert partners Results for America, BIT, and the Sunlight Foundation. (4/6)
- From National League of Cities: In this post, view a video recording of the recent NLC crisis communications webinar as well as five tips for how cities can strengthen their own communication efforts. (4/6)
- From the Centers for Civic Impact at Johns Hopkins: Video recording of Dr. Joshua Sharfstein’s March 23 webinar, where he spoke to local government practitioners about the novel coronavirus pandemic and how local governments can respond. (4/6)
- From Data-Smart City Solutions: Resources for City Leaders, a roundup of how local and state governments, as well as private companies, are taking action to respond to COVID-19 in the areas of health care, organizational and community support, food insecurity, and childcare resources for first responders and medical professionals. (4/6)
- From the International City Managers’ Association (ICMA): Coronavirus resources — includes considerations for local governments, including Chain of Command, Crisis Communications, Potential Gaps, and Workforce (4/6)
- From CityGrows: 5 Tools Local Governments Can Use To Help Staff Work From Home During The Coronavirus Crisis (4/6)
- From the National League of Cities: A roundup of resources, including links to federal agency guidance and state municipal leagues, plus three action steps for local leaders (4/6)
- From The Behavioral Insights Team (BIT): Full report from BIT’s online experiment to test the effectiveness of seven public health information posters, including the study’s takeaways and replicable examples of the top performers. Plus, a concrete example of the work that BIT did with the National Health Service (NHS) in the UK to develop and roll out text services for those most threatened by COVID-19. (4/6)
- From the International City Managers’ Association (ICMA): Summary of FEMA’s clarified rules for local governments to recover costs for eligible coronavirus-related emergency protective measures. (4/16)
- From U.S. Conference of Mayors & Bloomberg Philanthropies: A webinar with FEMA’s Traci Basher, about how to access FEMA’s Public Assistance funds, on Monday, May 4 at 3 p.m. EDT. Register here. (5/5)
- *From Cities of Service: A webinar about local approaches to meet the food access needs of vulnerable populations during COVID-19 response. Panelists (city leaders & staff) will share strategies and examples on how they are identifying the most vulnerable groups, developing successful partnerships, expanding reach, and integrating food access into their recovery plans. Tuesday, May 12 from 12:00–1:30 PM ET. Register here. (5/14)
- From the National League of Cities (NLC): A summary of the CARES Act (third federal stimulus bill), with a breakdown of provisions relevant to local governments. (5/14)
- From Engaging Local Government Leaders (ELGL): COVID-19/Coronavirus Roundup of Resources, Crowdsourced From Local Governments (5/14)
- From Government Technology: Find downloadable city and county telecommuting policy examples a third of the way down the page in this roundup of resources and tools for government leaders (5/14)
- From Bloomberg Philanthropies: A three-part web series that presents challenges, strategies and opportunities in addressing homelessness during the COVID-19 pandemic. The webinars will feature city and operational leaders in the field from cities across the country. May 20, May 27, and June 3, at 1PM ET. Register here. (6/4)
- From Bloomberg Philanthropies, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and the Bloomberg Harvard City Leadership Initiative: The Coronavirus Local Response Initiative is a network of support for mayors responding to the coronavirus pandemic. If interested in participating in the mayoral video sessions but have not signed up yet, email coronavirusresponse@bloomberg.org. (6/4)
- Slides from most recent public health update and topic (protecting high-risk senior communities) are here (session #6). (6/4)
Local Actions
State of Emergency Declarations (all archived 4/6)
- Boulder, CO: Disaster emergency is in response to the global COVID-19 pandemic and the effects it is having on the city
- Louisville, KY: Louisville Executive Order Extends State of Emergency
- Somerville, MA: Mayor Curtatone declares a local state of emergency
- Tulsa, OK: Declaration of Civic Emergency
Restrictions around Public Gatherings & School Closures (all archived 4/6)
- Boston, MA: Mayor announces shutdown of playgrounds amid coronavirus outbreak
- Los Angeles, CA: L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti orders closure of movie theaters to help prevent spread of coronavirus
- Tulsa, OK: Executive Order that regulates the use of public spaces
- Six counties in the Bay Area institute “shelter in place” policies
- From Ed Week: Daily updated list of school district closures organized by state
- From the Council of the Great City Schools: Full list of school closure decisions and dates for the Council’s 76 district members (plus a page with alerts, links, and information about coronavirus as it relates to K-12 public education and urban school districts)
Moratorium around Evictions (all archived 4/13)
- Atlanta, GA: Atlanta mayor imposes moratorium on residential evictions, filings amid COVID-19 threat
- Baltimore, MA: Baltimore Mayor Young: Evictions halted while schools are closed because of coronavirus
- Detroit, MI: Detroit 36th District Court issues moratorium on evictions due to coronavirus
- Los Angeles, CA: LA to ban evictions, add homeowner protections
- San Francisco & San Jose, CA: SF and San Jose move to ban coronavirus-related evictions
- Seattle, WA: Seattle issues emergency moratorium on evictions due to COVID-19
- State actions: California, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Oregon*
- From Route Fifty: Cities, States Halt Evictions During Coronavirus Pandemic
- From the Eviction Lab at Princeton University, a more comprehensive table of COVID eviction policies and actions taken by municipalities, states, and the federal government.
Freezing of Utility Shut Offs and Waived Related Late Fees (all archived 4/14)
- Austin, TX: City of Austin halting evictions, utility cutoffs amid coronavirus concerns
- Cincinnati, OH: Don’t worry about utilities: Duke Energy, Cincinnati Water suspending disconnection during coronavirus pandemic
- Denton, TX: Mayor issues declaration of local disaster for COVID-19
- Minneapolis, MN: Minneapolis will be suspending water shutoffs for a month
- Philadelphia, PA: Coronavirus prompts PECO and other utility providers to suspend shut-offs
- State actions: New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Ohio
Suspension of Other Fees & Debt Collection (all archived 4/14)
- Chicago, IL: Mayor suspends debt Collection, ticketing and towing as Chicago battles coronavirus
- Oakland, CA: Oakland caps rent hikes during COVID-19 outbreak
Op-Eds & Commentary Specific to Local Government
- From Governing: How Courageous Leadership Can Help a Community Through a Pandemic — historical perspectives of effective local leadership practices during emergencies, by Stephen Goldsmith from the Ash Center at the Harvard Kennedy School (4/6)
- From The New York Times: What New York Can Do Now — an exploration by the Times’ Editorial Board about the vulnerable communities that need its city and state leaders to take action now more than ever — and the role that non-profits need local leaders to play so that they can continue their work in supporting these communities (4/6)
Op-Eds & Commentary Specific to Local Government
- The accompanying data FAQ for Johns Hopkins University’s global tracker of COVID-19 cases (4/15)
