In this Issue

Now that mail ballots have been mailed, voting begins in earnest. And while many counties have local measures that could change the way the county is run, the state ballot features 17 measures that could change things for everyone.

The CSAC Board of Directors has taken positions on six of this November’s measures due to their effects on county programs or finances. Without further ado:
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Remember musical chairs, that staple of childhood birthday parties? All the kids walk around a bunch of chairs and when the adult stops the music everybody sits down. Except that there aren’t enough chairs and whoever is left standing is out. Then another chair is taken away and the whole thing starts over until only one kid is left.

It turns out our parents were teaching us an important lesson about the California housing market.
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As data becomes more available, it also becomes a more important resource for counties in making major policy and budget decisions. The problem is that county-related data is scattered. A few datasets are on this state agency’s website, another somewhere else. Some of it is available as a spreadsheet, but some is only in pdf.

The DataPile is CSAC’s new collection of up-to-date, county-by-county data sets, gathered from a wide variety of publicly available sources. 
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Counties are receiving their portion of $117 million in 2014-15 Behavioral Health growth funding this week.

The one-year growth allocation formula for 2014-15 revenues is based on actual claims from the Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnosis, and Treatment (EPSDT) and Drug Medi-Cal programs through June 2016. 
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BSCC Holds Two Upcoming Executive Steering Committee Meetings

Upcoming Webinar on Human Trafficking and Victimization

Bureau of Justice Assistance Launches Police-Mental Health Collaboration Toolkit

California Budget and Policy Center: State and County Spending on Incarceration and Crime 

Chris Gardner, best-selling author of “The Pursuit of Happyness, ” will help kick off the 122nd CSAC Annual Meeting next month in Palm Springs, Riverside County.

In this short video, he invites county officials to join him at the conference.
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The CSAC Institute for Excellence in County Government has a terrific slate of courses planned for November. Course topics range from leadership and managing conflict to evidence-based results and the New Supervisors Institute. These classes will fill quickly! Read on for details.

Download the Course Schedule for more details on all the classes offered by CSAC Institute and Register Now. Classes open to all county staff and elected officials. Classes are an affordable $129 each and include class materials and lunch. Discounts for multiple registrations.
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