Municipal Government Officials Research Articles

Perspectives of successes and challenges in collaborations between non-governmental organization and local government on urban forest management

Governments increasingly collaborate with residents and nongovernment organizations (NGOs) in urban forest management because of the underlying belief that these groups improve the delivery of local forest services. However, in practice, the successes, challenges, and outcomes vary drastically by collaborative arrangement; solely documenting positive outcomes in NGO-government collaborations may hinder the ability to mitigate their associated downsides rather than biasing collaborative behaviours towards success. This study draws on the experiences of urban forest professionals across nine Canadian cities who have participated in or observed NGOs and local governments engage in collaborative urban forest management. We employed semi-structured interviews with 32 participants from three groups: leaders of NGOs, municipal government officials, and urban forest experts who have observed the two parties interact. Our results demonstrate that the addition of NGOs in municipal forest management is associated with positive outcomes and the characteristics of relationships, individual personnel, and community support contribute to their success. We also characterize the barriers that collaborators are tasked with navigating in order to achieve positive outcomes, including high employee turnover, siloed departments, competing priorities, shifting politics, and precarious funding and contracts. Our recommendations for successful NGO-government collaborations include arming stakeholders with a thorough knowledge of civic processes, diversifying political relationships, fostering “champions” among a greater number of involved parties, and participating in longer-term contracts and funding agreements. Further, involved parties should ensure they work towards the equitable distribution of the benefits and outputs of urban forest collaborations. Moving forward, because of the insular nature of NGO-government collaborations and a low capacity among NGOs to share the outputs of these collaborations, we recommend researchers continue to study the successes and shortcomings under varying governance arrangements so that groups may benchmark their collaborative activities against others and determine the most effective means of participating in co-management.

Воспроизводство городского сообщества в условиях цифровой трансформации урбанизированной среды

The article analyzes the changes in the conditions of urban community reproduction that occur as a result of digitalization of the urbanized environment. The empirical basis of the work are the results of the author’s so-ciological research conducted in 2022 by methods of mass questionnaire survey of city dwellers (Kursk, Belgo-rod, Voronezh regions, n = 1,518), expert survey (50 experts), focus group interviewing among youth repre-sentatives, public sector employees, municipal government officials, retirees, entrepreneurs, and the unem-ployed (6 groups). The authors identify several key areas of changes in the conditions of the reproduction pro-cess of urban communities that occur under the influence of digitization and digitalization: the inclusion of “technosubjects” in the urban space, the formation of hybrid urban communities, the expansion of communica-tion opportunities, changes in the mechanisms of socialization and personal identification, the emergence of new technologies for influencing the consciousness of members of urban communities, the transformation of forms social control.

Characterizing Non-governmental Organizations And Local Government Collaborations In Urban Forest Management Across Canada.

Urban forests are being threatened by rapid urbanization, biodiversity crises, and climate variability. In response, governments are increasingly collaborating with the public for solutions to these mounting challenges. Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are dominant players in these collaborations because of their ability to supplement governments' expertize and resources and bring social and ecological issues to the forefront of civic agendas. Despite their growing visibility in urban forest management, there is a lack of attention directed to the forms and range of NGO relationships. This study focuses on addressing this gap and examining collaborations between local governments and NGOs in urban forest programming by characterizing their components including mandates, relationship ties, accountability, resource exchange, and power dynamics. We collected data using semi-structured interviews with three groups: leaders of NGOs, municipal government officials in an urban forest or public works departments, and urban-forest experts who have observed their interactions. The participants represent 32 individuals in nine Canadian cities. Our results indicate that NGO-government collaborations have relational ties and accountability processes that are both formal and informal in nature. Formality in collaborations is often associated with the amount of funding, proximity to government, or size of the NGO. In addition, our findings suggest that NGOs present an opportunity for local governments to supplement their resources and capacity. While the strength and formality of collaborations may be a product of NGO size and budgets, public servants should not hesitate to engage smaller, grassroots NGOs to realize their public service mandates. Characterizing the components of these governance processes provides a benchmark for practitioners participating in similar public-civic interactions and arms them with the knowledge to navigate collaborative decision-making.

Decentralization and Corruption in Public Service Delivery: Local Institutional Arrangements That Can Help Reduce Governance Risks

Abstract Decentralization reform has both advantages and risks. Bringing service delivery “closer to the people” can improve information flows and strengthen accountability, but it may also leave systems vulnerable to elite capture and corruption by municipal government officials. While past research has acknowledged the possibility of corruption under decentralization, relatively little work has connected those risks to features of these reforms or specific local institutional arrangements. To explore the conditions that can help mitigate the risks of corruption under decentralization, we study the case of health sector reform in Honduras where municipal governments, associations, and NGOs each serve as intermediary-managing organizations under a common decentralized health service delivery model. We argue that three types of institutional arrangements reflecting local accountability practices serve as checks on the authority granted through decentralization and can help guard against corruption: external supervision, civil society engagement, and public participation. Empirically, we draw on data from more than 600 street-level bureaucrats, valuable but under-utilized informants about municipal corruption, across a matched sample of 65 municipalities with contrasting forms of administration. We find that reported corruption is highest under decentralization led by municipal governments, as compared to association- or NGO-led varieties. Both external supervision and civil society engagement help attenuate the positive association between decentralization and corruption, but public participation does not. Overall, this research highlights the importance of considering reform features and local conditions when designing policies to help manage risks and support effective social sector decentralization.

Leadership vacuum and urban economic development: Evidence from a transition country

This study focuses on the impact of municipal government officials’ vacancies on the economic development of their cities. Using manually collected data on unfilled senior governmental positions measured by the absence of municipal party secretaries in China from 2003 to 2019, we find that these absences limit city economic development. We identify two possible channels through which this happens: government efficiency and economic policy uncertainty. Finally, we show that the impact of these vacancies on city economic development is stronger in cities in which there is greater pressure to promote government officials and in less developed cities. Thus, this study offers new evidence that vacancies in city government undermine that city's economic development, particularly in a country undergoing an economic transition.

Análise da implementação do programa federal "Corredores Artesanais" em Teotihuacán, México, 2016 – 2020

This document analyzes the results of the implementation of the "Artisanal Corridors" program, derived from a tourism policy oriented to the sector in the municipality of Teotihuacán, Mexico; the study underlines the intervention in the public servers and beneficiary artisans. The theoretical base was the analysis of public policies, with emphasis on implementation. The qualitative methodology included semi-structured interviews with artisans as well as federal, state, and municipal government officials. The results showed that even when there were intergovernmental actions in favor of the program, the objective of the policy was not achieved, due to various errors during its implementation phase in the absence of a joint action plan, lack of interest from the authorities and different party ideologies. Consequently, the lack of coordination between the participating actors was decisive in failing to fulfill the objective of the program, which was focused on meeting the needs of artisans through the direct commercialization of their pieces for tourism.

Transportation policymaking in Beijing and Shanghai: Contributors, obstacles, and process

With continued motorization and urbanization in Chinese cities, there is a growing demand for innovative transportation policies at the city level to address the challenges of congestion, local air pollution, and greenhouse gas emissions. Using Beijing and Shanghai as case studies, this paper draws on 32 in-depth semi-structured interviews with municipal government officials, academics, and transportation professionals to explore the city-level transportation policymaking process in Chinese megacities. Across the two cities, we identify three common contributors – policy learning, data informatization, and public opinion—and four obstacles—public complaint, unilateral decision-making, inadequate coordination among relevant departments, and lack of adaptiveness in policy implementation practice—to adopting timely and appropriate transportation policies. We then introduce a processual model that connects the contributors and obstacles identified within the flow of transportation policy among key actors in city-level government. This process shows how transportation policymaking in Chinese megacities is often reactive to public outcry over a transportation problem. This problem is investigated by a technical government research center that reports to the municipal transport committee. This committee then assesses public opinion and submits a policy recommendation to city government leadership, who make the final policy decision. Based on both case studies, we discuss potential recommendations for how to better enable transportation policymaking at the city level in China through more formalized processes of policy experimentation and public participation. We conclude with a discussion of limitations and areas of future research.

A Study on the Development Plan of Inter-Korean Border Areas in Preparation for Unification

In this study, the purpose of the research was to study the development strategies of the border areas, which will serve as the outpost for the development of the inter-Korean economy, and to provide important research materials to prepare for future reunification of Korea. Specific methods of this study were analyzed through the review of literature studies at home and abroad, including related laws and plans, and the support projects for development in the border areas and the plan for cities and counties were reviewed. The in-depth interview of relevant experts and local government officials for the analysis of AHP consisted of a total of 56 people, including related universities, researchers and municipal government officials. This study differs from the previous one as follows. First, the AHP analysis method is applied to prepare for reunification and present future-oriented development plans for vitalization of the region. Second, the research on utilization measures of the border area is carried out to present alternatives for activation through practical use of space in terms of the maximum effective use of real estate. Third, the priority awareness of local government officials and related experts on development of border areas was studied by dividing the typical development areas (Kanghwa, Goyang, Gimpo, Paju) and the underdeveloped areas (Yoncheon, Pocheon, Cheorwon).

Tax Increment Financing: History, Basics, Issues, and Evolution

As municipal governments seek to maintain an urban center, many tools and incentives are used. One of these is tax increment financing. This development tool has the potential to provide tax-base neutral funding for areas in blight, potentially blighted, or with the potential to be economically and socially active. As municipal government officials, business leaders, and active citizens engage in civic discussion regarding economic development tools, it is important to understand the history, terminology, pitfalls, and current legislative trends. This paper provides an overview of the institutional history, basic functioning, debates, and current evolution of tax increment financing.

Eating to Learn, Learning to Eat: The Origins of School Lunch in the United States by A. R. Ruis

Reviewed by: Eating to Learn, Learning to Eat: The Origins of School Lunch in the United States by A. R. Ruis Amy L. Best Eating to Learn, Learning to Eat: The Origins of School Lunch in the United States. By A. R. Ruis. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 2017. ix + 201 pp. Cloth $95.00, paper $29.95. Eating to Learn, Learning to Eat: The Origins of School Lunch in the United States by A. R. Ruis is a carefully crafted account of some of our nation's earliest school food programs. The book is part of the important Rutgers University Press book series Critical Issues in Health and Medicine and is composed of six substantive chapters, an introduction, and an epilogue. Built upon extensive archival investigation, Eating to Learn, Learning to Eat offers much insight into how the National School Lunch Program took early shape at the turn of the twentieth century, a period of rapid urbanization, industrialization, and demographic change. Taken together, the chapters help us to understand the historical context and changing social tides that left a lasting imprint on a program that has been the subject of substantial debate for more than a century. Changing ideas about health, the ascendance of scientific expertise, growing recognition of poor nutritional health among children, increasing opposition to child labor, and the changing value of the child serve as a backdrop. Of particular relevance to understanding the early iterations of school food programs in the United States was the shifting understanding of school itself. Whether school was fundamentally an institution of the state or a community institution, [End Page 470] a social welfare institution committed to the betterment of children or exclusively an educational institution was a subject of widespread disagreement. This is a point Ruis revisits on several occasions, revealing tensions about the relationship of the state to individuals and the collective body informing public and policy discussion. Most early school lunch programs were organized by private charity. The view that a state-sponsored subsidized lunch program would cultivate national dependency, pauperization, and moral degeneracy was widely held by state and municipal government officials and middle-class charity organizations. Yet there was also considerable variation, with some city school boards adopting broad, school-based health initiatives. The majority of school boards relied on community partnerships with women's clubs, churches, and settlement houses to skirt rules against use of public money for school lunch. A few school boards sued states and municipalities to secure legal funds to cover the cost of school lunch. To understand these municipal differences and their sociopolitical contexts, Ruis spotlights two contrasting cases of school food programs. In Chicago, the subject of chapter 2, public obligation for children's nutritional health was taken as a given. But widespread indifference characterized New York City (chapter 3), whose school board saw feeding children as an activity belonging to the private realm of home. Both chapters offer rich detail of the complexity in administering school lunch programs and provide interesting contrast between the two cities in their willingness to address religious and ethnic differences among immigrant student populations. From the two cases, we also learn some things haven't changed all that much. Early school lunch programs had to compete against the pull of commercial food vendors. In the early 1900s, the concessionaires and street food tempted many children, much in the way McDonald's does today. Chapter 4 examines school lunch programs in rural schools, detailing an altogether different set of obstacles. Despite rural children's proximity to farm food, malnutrition was common. The high cost of rural education and few resources made the task of feeding rural children difficult. At the turn of the twentieth century most rural schools were single-room schools, with little more than a wood-burning stove to heat the room, let alone an appropriately equipped kitchen. Yet rural food programs, unlike their urban counterparts, did attempt more comprehensive nutritional programming. The final two substantive chapters offer a lead-up to the National School Lunch Program and the changing role of the federal government in the 1930s, a period marked by soaring relief registers, high demand for food aid, and the...

Information Needs and Modalities among People Affected by the Fukushima Nuclear Disaster

Timely communication of accurate and practical information is indispensable for nuclear disaster management. This study aimed to collect lessons from the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster by analyzing people’s information needs, as well as their sources and channels of information since the disaster. This study also explored common challenges they faced in information seeking, and information disparities among them. One-to-one interviews and focus group discussions were conducted in June–September 2015 with key stakeholders, involving affected residents, civil society organizations, municipal government officials and social workers in Fukushima Prefecture. This study revealed that information needs immediately after the disaster directly related to their survival and the safety assurance of families and others. But information needs became diverse, reflecting a wide range of impacts of the nuclear disaster. The communication modalities on which participants relied for obtaining information varied by individual. But people experienced various difficulties in gaining information due to the chaotic circumstances during and after the disaster, the long-lasting and complicated disaster recovery process, different perceptions of radiation risks and public distrust of government bodies and Tokyo Electric Power Company. There were information disparities between affected people living in temporary housing units for evacuees and those living elsewhere. The findings indicate that risk factors for poor information access and utilization also included living in an elderly-only household, having limited social interactions, and living outside Fukushima prefecture. Study participants raised concerns that the information disparities would likely increase under the current Japanese government policy of accelerating disaster-recovery operations.

CONSTRUCTION PROCESS AND USE CHARACTERISTICS OF DAY CARE FACILITIES FOR THE ELDERLY BY SOCIAL WELFARE CORPORATION “<i>SYAKAIFUKUSHI JIGYOUDAN</i>”

This paper aims to verify the establishment effects of day care facilities for the elderly by social welfare organization “Syakaifukushi Jigyoudan” in Hagi city, where 1 old city merged with 6 old towns and villages during the mass mergers of the Heisei period. It' based on the construction process and use characteristics of day care facilities. The result are as follows. 1) The social welfare organization “syakaifukushi jigyoudan” is a corporation that prefectural and municipal government officials establish by 46 notification. And the social welfare organization is positioned as a professional organization that manages the facilities established by local government. The social welfare organization can carry out the business of social welfare freely by 2002 revision. 117 social welfare organizations are established now, and the many reason of establishment is that there is no corporation to entrust facility management. The number of disabled person welfare works is the most, because it is put as an important point from the beginning. 2) The social welfare organization “syakaifukushi jigyoudan” was established in Hagi city, because there was no private sector corporation in this area and a social welfare council isn't for only the aged person welfare work. The day care facilities are established in whole area by cooperating with local government. 3) The users can select the day care facility by keeping the characteristics in the facilities. 4) The use sphere of the social welfare organization “Syakaifukushi Jigyoudan” is small, because the social welfare organization covers the demand of city centers and the social welfare corporations cover the demand of old Sanmi and Oi villages. 5) The fulfillmentrate of facility demand increases over 3 times from 2000 to 2010 by establishment of the social welfare organization “Syakaifukushi Jigyoudan”, and the effect was confirmed. In addition, facility development is progressing by corporations for profit and medical corporation. It is thought that potential demand gave the opportunity of the entries of corporations for profit and medical corporation, because the fulfillmentrate of facility demand was low before these corporations entered. Therefore, it is thought that it is possible to progress facility development equally in whole area by the social welfare organization “Syakaifukushi Jigyoudan”. The social welfare organization has the advantage that it is easy to reflect the policy of the local government, so the social welfare organization can progress facility development with a social welfare corporation and a social welfare council. In particular, it is thought that cooperating with these corporations is easy in rural areas, because the number of entries of private sector corporations is small and the number of entries of social welfare corporations is large. About this point, I will verify and report in the next paper. In addition, managing a day care facility is difficult by nursing-care insurance revision in 2015. However, it is possible to continue stable management facility by developing multiple facilities centered on a nucleus facility. Moreover, it is possible to continue managing the facility that facility management is difficult by handing on to the social welfare organization. So, it is thought that the supply of day care facility can be stable.

Climate change adaptation planning for Global South megacities: the case of Dhaka

ABSTRACTMegacities in low- and middle-income countries face unique threats from climate change as vulnerable populations and infrastructure are concentrated in high-risk areas. This paper develops a theoretical framework to characterize adaptation readiness in Global South cities and applies the framework to Dhaka, Bangladesh, a city with acute exposure and projected impacts from flooding and extreme heat. To gather case evidence from Dhaka we draw upon interviews with national and municipal government officials and a review of planning documents and peer-reviewed literature. We find: (1) national-level plans propose a number of adaptation strategies, but urban concerns compete with priorities such as protection of coastal assets and agricultural production; (2) municipal plans focus on identifying vulnerability and impacts rather than adaptation strategies; (3) interviewees suggest that lack of coordination among local government (LG) organizations and lack of transparency act as barriers for municipal adaptation planning, with national plans driving policy where LGs have limited human and financial resources; and (4) we found limited evidence that national urban adaptation directives trickle down to municipal government. The framework developed offers a systematic and standardized means to assess and monitor the status of adaptation planning in Global South cities, and identify adaptation constraints and opportunities.

The development of community-based service for older people in urban China: A case study in Guangzhou city

In recent years, the Chinese government has been transforming from a direct service provider into a regulatory role in the provision of community services. This article aims to understand the recent development of community service provision for older people in urban China by using Guangzhou City as a case example. Through analysing documents, conducting fieldwork and interviewing municipal government officials and service agencies in Guangzhou, the author identifies several changes in the community service provision system in urban China and discusses implications of these changes.

Environmentally-Directed Organizational Citizenship Behavior of the Municipal Government Officials in Cebu

The greening of organizations is not only confined to the creation of formal management systems, activities or technologies. Over the years, environmentalists have learned that various stakeholders of an organization utilize discretionary approaches to understand the interaction between humans and the environment (Lehman et al., 2004). The discretionary approach is known as environmentally-directed organizational citizenship behavior (OCBE) which focuses on the voluntary green initiatives done by employees within the organizational setting (Daily, Bishop, & Govindarajulu,2009). This study aimed to identify the environmentally directed organizational citizenship deeds observed and practiced by fifteen selected municipalities in Cebu, Philippines. The results revealed that OCBE deeds relative to environmental concerns, organizational commitment, supervisory support for environmental efforts and perceived social performance of the local government units were the most common behaviors exhibited by the local officials and their staff. Another objective of the paper was to determine the extent of demonstration of the identified OCBE deeds among the department heads and staff of the fifteen (15) municipalities involved in the study. The findings showed that the identified OCBE deeds were demonstrated by the municipal government officials and staff to a very great extent. Quantitative data were taken from the survey conducted among one hundred forty respondents comprising of local government officials and their staff from fifteen municipalities in Cebu, Philippines. The purposive sampling method was employed in choosing the sample respondents. The municipalities involved in the study were the top fifteen (15) performing local government units who participated in the E – GWEN program of the province. The list of the municipalities was provided by the Office of the Vice Governor of Cebu in conjunction with a non – government organization who is a partner of the province in the concretization of the E-GWEN undertaking. This study serves to contribute to the scarce extant literature on the pertinence of OCBE in improving the efficiency and efficacy of environmental management from the perspective of the public sector. Keywords - Environmentally-directed citizenship behavior, pro-environmental behavior, organizational citizenship behavior, environmental conservation efforts, organizational commitment

Adoption of Internal Web Technologies by OECD Turkish Government Officials

Use of communication and information channels for the OECD have been increasingly encouraged by new channels such as the OECD’s Committee Information Service (OLIS) and Clearspace (CS) web portals. A logit regression model was used to estimate the influence of the government’s supply side policy tools and organisational factors on the decision to open OLIS and Clearspace accounts. Additionally, probability analysis conducted to give insights on the usage frequency of information channels. Study used a dataset that includes 126 Turkish top-level country and municipal government officials working on different OECD study topics in 2010. Findings imply that the influence of the explanatory variables tested differ between the two web-portal models. Satisfaction with the timing of information provided by the OECD Permenant Delegation (timing issues in reaching reports) among officials is the only variable that consistently has a positive influence on the adoption of both web-portal applications. The probability analysis show that while duration of employment and degree of expertise increase the probability of use of online information channels, work duration on OECD topics and meeting participation are the variables that decrease the probability of use of face to face communication channels.

Decision-Making, Policy Choices and Community Rebuilding after the Tohoku Disaster

The long-term reconstruction following the 2011 tsunami disaster has required extensive deliberation at all levels of government that is now redefining and redrawing the future of the region. Based on semi-structured interviews conducted with municipal government officials and community leaders in the cities of Miyako and Kesennuma in January 2013, this study identifies the ways in which local communities have defined, prioritized and adopted a set of objectives and measures for long-term reconstruction, and how these will likely to affect the disaster risk and community rebuilding in the coming years. Particular attention is paid to the debate surrounding tsunami defense measures, including the rebuilding of sea walls, the relocation of communities, and other land-use adjustments, and how multi-layered governance plays out in balancing the need for swift recovery, optimal resource allocation, and future disaster risk reduction. Since the 2011 Great Tohoku Earthquake, the national recovery policy has stressed the need to build ‘tsunami-resilient’ communities, envisioning the construction of multi-buffer tsunami defense systems characterized by coastal land-use restrictions based on nationally determined guidelines of relatively frequent to extreme rare tsunamis. While this hands-on approach by the national government has contributed to streamlining the reconstruction processes, limited opportunities for citizen participation have contributed to tensions among stakeholders, calling into question the community ownership of decision-making following a disaster.

Governance in managing public health resources in Brazilian municipalities

This study contributes to the health governance discussion by presenting a new data set that allows for comparisons of the management of health resources among Brazilian municipalities. Research on Brazil is particularly important as the provision of health services was decentralized in 1988 and since then municipalities have been given greater responsibilities for the management of fiscal resources for public health service provision. Based on detailed information on corruption practices (such as over-invoicing, illegal procurement and fake receipts) from audit reports of health programmes in 980 randomly selected Brazilian municipalities, this study deepens understanding of the relationship between health governance institutions and the incidence of corruption at the local level by exploring the extent to which horizontal and vertical accountabilities contribute to reducing the propensity of municipal government officials to divert public health resources for private gain. The results of our multiple regression analysis suggest that the experience of health municipal councils is correlated with reductions in the incidence of corruption in public health programmes. This impact is significant over time, with each additional year of health council experience reducing corruption incidence levels by 2.1% from baseline values. The findings reported in this study do not rely on the subjectivity of corruption measures which usually conflate the actual incidence of corruption with its perception by informants. Based on our results, we provide recommendations that can assist policy makers to reduce corruption.

Evaluation of Brazil's public health surveillance system within the context of the International Health Regulations (2005)

To evaluate Brazil's public health surveillance system (HSS), identifying its core capacities, shortcomings, and limitations in dealing with public health emergencies, within the context of the International Health Regulations (IHR 2005). In 2008-2009 an evaluative cross-sectional study was conducted using semistructured questionnaires administered to key informants (municipal, state, and national government officials) to assess Brazilian HSS structure (legal framework and resources) and surveillance and response procedures vis-à-vis compliance with the IHR (2005) requirements for management of public health emergencies of national and international concern. Evaluation criteria included the capacity to detect, assess, notify, investigate, intervene, and communicate. Responses were analyzed separately by level of government (municipal health departments, state health departments, and national Ministry of Health). Overall, at all three levels of government, Brazil's HSS has a well-established legal framework (including the essential technical regulations) and the infrastructure, supplies, materials, and mechanisms required for liaison and coordination. However, there are still some weaknesses at the state level, especially in land border areas and small towns. Professionals in the field need to be more familiar with the IHR 2005 Annex 2 decision tool (designed to increase sensitivity and consistency in the notification process). At the state and municipal level, the capacity to detect, assess, and notify is better than the capacity to investigate, intervene, and communicate. Surveillance activities are conducted 24 hours a day, 7 days a week in 40.7% of states and 35.5% of municipalities. There are shortcomings in organizational activities and methods, and in the process of hiring and training personnel. In general, the core capacities of Brazil's HSS are well established and fulfill most of the requisites listed in the IHR 2005 with respect to both structure and surveillance and response procedures, particularly at the national and state levels.

Public input methods impacting confidence in government

PurposeMunicipalities commonly ask the public to give input by answering questions about their preferences. There is some belief that input enhances the public's confidence in government. The purpose of this paper is to examine whether different types of input activities (obtained by phone or online surveys, or via face‐to‐face engagements) differentially impact confidence.Design/methodology/approachData were collected over two years from different input activities undertaken to inform a city's budgeting and performance measures' determinations.FindingsSignificant amounts of variance in the public's confidence in municipal governments are accounted for by independent predictors such as current satisfaction, perceived trustworthiness, legitimacy, and loyalty to the institution. Compared to online and phone surveys, face‐to‐face input methods seem to have a particularly strong, positive relationship with the public's perceptions of the trustworthiness (e.g. competence, integrity, benevolence) of municipal government officials. Persons who participate in face‐to‐face, online, or phone events differ both in extent of confidence and, to a small extent, in the bases of their confidence.Research limitations/implicationsThe study design is correlational rather than experimental and data were not originally gathered to test the identified hypotheses. In addition, it is not prudent to put too much stock in results from only one jurisdiction that relied primarily on convenience samples.Originality/valueIn instances in which enhancing confidence in the institution is a specific objective of public input, this work provides researchers and practitioners with guidance to better anticipate which input technique(s) works best and why.