Tiger GPS: Government and Public Service Blog

FIRST, DO NO HARM by Chelsea Spence

The political climate in the United States is becoming increasingly hostile. In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic and response, presidential election, and movement to challenge police brutality are polarizing the country. Each of these bring their own health and economic concerns as well as a feeling of instability. As of September 2020, in America there have […]

Obituary for David Cook, a cherished MPA professor.

On August 15, 2020, David L. Cook, Sr., beloved husband, father, grandfather, and brother peacefully passed away at age 69 at his Culpeper home. David was born on September 22, 1950 to William W. “Bill” Cook and Eva “Kate” (Perciful) Cook at Fort Carson, Colorado. Being the middle child – having an older sister, Lucy, […]

A CRISIS IN POLICE LEGITIMACY – AGAIN! by Timothy Forrestall

Our American policing industry has a self-induced identity problem: it sees itself first as an enforcement business not as a crime prevention and order maintenance public service. American policing has adopted an overarching enforcement approach and a “thin blue line” perspective, both of which are unhealthy for a democracy. A culture defined by compliance, arrests, […]

WORKERS COMPENSATION AND COVID by Madison Marriott

The year of 2020 has brought many changes in the world. The COVID-19 pandemic is one of the many events that have affected both policy and daily lives.  COVID-19 or “Corona-virus” is a respiratory disease that is infecting people all around the world.  The only precautions that can be taken to assist in preventing the […]

FROM A FIRE IN NEW HAMPSHIRE TO FEMA by Jennifer Thackston

The first act of Federal disaster relief in American history was through the Congressional Act of 1803 following a devastating fire through a seaport town in New Hampshire in 1802. The assistance was in the form of suspended bond payments for the merchants affected by the fire, as the areas of the seaport that was […]

EFFECTIVE GOVERNANCE SAVES LIVES: South Korea and the U.S. by Robin Parsons

The first half of 2020 has been an interesting case study on the effectiveness of different methods chosen by governments to deal with crisis of the Covid-19 pandemic. When comparing policies set by different countries in response to Covid-19, the outcomes based on their responses vary greatly. While some countries took swift, decisive action based […]

A Message from the MPA Program Director, Dr. Lori Dickes

The events of the past weeks are manifestations of generations of systemic racism and structural inequities.  As the Minneapolis Mayor, Jacob Frey said these feelings of anger and sadness are “not only understandable, it’s right — it’s a reflection of the truth that our black community has lived.”  This may have left some of us wondering what […]

FULL DISCLOSURE (part of the COVID-19 RESPONSE series) by Rob Veronesi

Full disclosure, I wasn’t sure I was going to publicly post this when I sat down to write it.  Then I remembered at the end of the day, my job is to ensure everyone goes home safe and lessons are learned from mistakes, even if those mistakes are my own or my departments.  COVID-19 has […]

“5 YEARS FROM NOW” (part of the COVID-19 RESPONSE series) by Joshua Tucker

As we settle into our new normal within the world of COVID-19 and evaluate the ongoing national response to the Coronavirus outbreak, we’ve seen varying degrees of effectiveness in managing the viruses spread across all levels of government. Regardless of where one stands on the political spectrum, there has been chaos, confusion, and uncertainty about […]

UNCHARTED TERRITORY (part of the COVID-19 RESPONSE series) by Michael Stanton

The response to the COVID-19 is presented a myriad of public policy problems. To me, what is most troubling is the amount of authority that has been vested in government bodies at all level. So far this week, the governor of South Carolina has closed all public beaches and boat ramps. In addition to those […]