University of Southern California

March 1, 2015
by Raphael Bostic

When we started the Bedrosian Center Best and Worst in Governance feature, our goal was to highlight what’s going on in the field. And while we thought that instances of poor governance would provide clear teaching moments, we thought it was equally important to give a shout out to those doing good things. Moreover, success often goes unrecognized, even when it involves hard work and considerable leadership and innovation.

Our first year of Best/Worst has flown by, and it has been as good as we hoped. The response throughout 2014 was strong, and the awardees have all been noteworthy, with lessons to be learned from both the good and the bad.  We asked you to decide who was the most noteworthy and the responses yielded three “winners,” with a tie in the Worst of the Worst category. So, in the spirit of last week’s Oscars, the envelopes are ready to be opened. (more…)

February 27, 2015
by Jeremy Loudenback

Next Tuesday, Los Angeles will take to the polls to confront one of its enduring stereotypes.

Los Angeles, critics say, is a civic wasteland, a sprawling city still struggling to forge an identity for itself. Look no further than the last mayoral election, they might say. Only 20.8% of voters turned out for the Los Angeles mayoral primary election in March 2013, causing consternation from many commentators.

Two years after that dismal showing, Los Angeles voters must decide if changing the timing of city elections will provide the remedy to the civic problems that ail the city. Many of the city’s elected officials and pundits have forsworn the usual political palaver about the need for voter participation in favor of an initiative that hopes to create more robust voting in Los Angeles. (more…)

February 26, 2015
by Justine Dodgen

On March 3, the Bedrosian Center on Governance and the Schaeffer Center for Health Policy and Economics invite you to hear Dr. Mitchell Katz, Director of the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services, speak about how policy work can impact issues such as needle exchange, changes in public health law related to HIV and STDs, and increasing access to healthcare through the Affordable Care Act.

This event is part of the Quintiles Seminar Series that features prominent academics, researchers, policy makers, and industry leaders to discuss prevalent and current themes in health, policy, and economics. As a Director of LA County’s Department of Health Services, Dr. Katz oversees one of largest health services departments in the nation. The department provides services to thousands of LA’s 10 million residents, over ten percent of whom were uninsured when he took the post in 2010. (more…)