L.B. Schmidt & Associates, LLC - Consulting Services

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Luke Schmidt

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International Bottled Water Association Recycling Manual Project

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Introduction 

The International Bottled Water Association (IBWA) is a not for profit organization which represents the manufacturers of bottled water in the United States.  IBWA is an active organization which addresses such issues as hydration, water sourcing, environmental best practices, recycling, etc.

With the rapid growth of bottled water in the marketplace, concern had been growing about what to do with empty plastic water bottles.  IBWA decided that its members (located throughout the U.S.) needed a guide that they could use in establishing local plastic bottle recycling programs in their respective communities.

IBWA retained Luke Schmidt and L.B. Schmidt & Associates, LLC to develop the Resource Recycling Guide for IBWA Members.  Luke Schmidt conducted the research needed in order to develop and draft the Guide.  Luke Schmidt also drafted the Guide, working with IBWA’s internal communications staff.

The Guide is a comprehensive look at plastic bottle recycling and also focuses on the 50 largest cities in the U.S.  Various recycling strategies are presented along with an extensive list of resources.

Summary

Since the completion of this project, the Guide has been posted to the IBWA Web site for use by its members.  Hard copies have also been distributed to IBWA members.  The Guide has provided IBWA with an asset that it can share with members of the environmental community and demonstrate its leadership on recycling issues in communities throughout the U.S.

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Consultant bullish on Carson’s consolidation with Ormsby Co. (Carson City) Nevada Appeal

 

Article was originally posted to the (Carson City) Nevada Appeal Web site http://www.nevadaappeal.com/news/opinion/7263758-113/carson-schmidt-board-consolidation

John Barrette: Consultant bullish on Carson’s consolidation with Ormsby Co.

It was on April Fool’s Day more than four decades ago, in 1969, that Ormsby County disappeared and a consolidated Carson City government took the helm here.

Nobody was foolin’ around, and we live with the results to this day.

Not exactly news. But what if you could get a look through fresh eyes, so to speak? Well, here are some views from Luke Schmidt of L.B. Schmidt & Associates, a consultant first mentioned a week ago in this space as having visited Carson City to study the historic change.

Schmidt likes consolidation generally and Carson City’s in particular. However, he still studies carefully each place where he checks it for unconsolidated government units considering the change. He scours history and the results objectively for pluses and minuses, checking currently for clients in his home state of Kentucky.

One thing that stuck out for him after his trip was his time with former Mayor Jim Robertson, elected to lead the city in 1963. Schmidt said Robertson, as well as others, told him the outcome of consolidation was everything they’d expected. Schmidt also asked Robertson if there was anything that could or should have been done differently.

“‘At the time,’ Schmidt quoted Robertson as saying, ‘we thought it was the right way to go, and that’s the way I would look at it now.’”

Another thing that stood out for Schmidt was the number of members on the governing board in Carson City. He referred to the five-member Board of Supervisors as a council.

“It’s a relatively small council, in comparison to some others,” he said, giving as an example Athens in Georgia. He said Athens has more than 10 seats on its consolidated governing board. But, he added, Athens has a population of 115,000, and the board doesn’t oversee the considerable open-space area that Carson City’s does.

“You could probably argue that a couple of bears don’t need a council member,” joked the consultant from suburban Louisville.

By the way, though the merger plan in the 1960s garnered widespread support — it was initially approved statewide with a vote of 73,913 to 42,541 on Nov. 5, 1968 — there was opposition.

Former Carson City Mayor Al Autrand, who served in 1961-63, was reported by the Nevada Appeal in the 1960s to have attacked the plan and the many public officials supporting it for “trying to push this thing down people’s throats.”

Because they succeeded, you can watch the five-member governing board in action Thursday beginning at 8:30 a.m. in the Sierra Room at the city’s Community Center. Among items up for discussion is a proposal to begin a waste, fraud and abuse government whistle-blower hotline program.

John Barrette covers Carson City government and business. He can be reached at jbarrette@nevadaappeal.com.

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Study for new unified government is underway (Somerset) Commonwealth Journal

Article originally posted to Commonwealth Journal Web site http://somerset-kentucky.com/local/x1374700982/Study-for-unified-government-is-now-underway

By CHRIS HARRIS, CJ Staff Writer The Commonwealth Journal       Fri May 24, 2013, 06:38 PM EDT

Somerset —

The next step toward a potential merged city-county government is now in progress, as work has begun on the key feasibility study that will determine whether or not citizens could benefit from such a development.
The organization responsible for the move to look at a unified government, Somerset-Pulaski County United (SPCU), announced Friday that efforts to conduct the study have started and are ongoing.
“We’re glad to get this study underway as we believe that we will learn a lot about how our local government jurisdictions function today,” said Brook Ping, SPCU chairman. “At the same time, we want to learn more about unified government – how it operates – and see if there are any benefits to introducing this concept to Pulaski County.”
The study is being funded by a grant from Pulaski County Fiscal Court and by the members of SPCU. It’s expected to take about four months to complete.
In April, SPCU introduced its plan to conduct a study that would attempt to measure the possible benefits of combing Pulaski County Government with the individual city governments: Somerset, Burnside, or any such municipality that would opt in.
If the study turned up positive results, the county’s citizens would have the chance to vote on whether or not to go through with the unified government proposal.
Under the plan, Pulaski Fiscal Court would appoint half the members of a Unified Government Commission, and the remaining members would be appointed by participating cities prorated on population.
Under state law, a unified government would not affect school districts, existing taxing districts in the county, or local option areas. It would not alter boundaries of precincts and legislative districts. Unified government, if approved by voters, would vacate current political positions and establish a new governing structure.
A new Somerset-Pulaski County unified government would create Kentucky’s third largest city with a population of 63,700. It would be the first unified government of its kind in Kentucky. Metro governments in Louisville and Lexington were created under different statutes, although in principle the way they operate would be similar to a merged government here.
“The members of SPCU want to make it very clear: we are not endorsing unified government at this time,” said Ping. “We need to learn more about it first so that we will feel comfortable in the end with whatever recommendations that we might bring to the community.”
The plan met with different reactions from some of the key figures involved. When SPCU approached the Somerset City Council to ask for assistance funding the study — expected to cost about $35,000 — they were rebuffed by Mayor Eddie Girdler.
The Pulaski County Fiscal Court, however — headed up by Judge-Executive Barty Bullock — agreed to chip in the requested $11,667 during a late April meeting and proved more receptive to SPCU’s message.
“This study will provide invaluable information and data to the entire community,” said Bullock. “We want to learn more about this to see if unified government makes sense for the community.”
 The study will include detailed interviews with elected officials and key staff in each of the county’s incorporated cities, along with those in county government.
“This study will not merge local governments.  The study is merely one of many steps that the community may elect to take towards unified government,” said Luke Schmidt, consultant to SPCU from the firm L.B. Schmidt & Associates, LLC. “In the end, only the voters can decide if the local government jurisdictions should merge, and they will do so only if a formal plan (charter) of unified government is developed by an officially sanctioned Unified Government Commission and presents its plan to the voters.
“The study simply provides all parties with the information that will be needed to make informed decisions,” he added.
SPCU’s members represent all segments of the community: agriculture, business and industry, education, elected officials, health care, industry, law enforcement and public safety, professionals, religion and transportation.
Schmidt will be contacting local officials soon in order to start the examination of the local government jurisdictions, according to a statement released Friday by SPCU.
“We look forward to sharing all of the findings with the community as soon as the study has been completed,” said Ping.

– See more at: http://somerset-kentucky.com/local/x1374700982/Study-for-unified-government-is-now-underway#sthash.v3tlne6a.dpuf