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One Washington City's Innovative Approach to Transparency and Civic Engagement

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One Washington City's Innovative Approach to Transparency and Civic Engagement


  • Citizen engagement is essential to building trust in local government.
  • The city of Liberty Lake, Wash., has developed innovative strategies for educating residents about its workings and eliciting their input.
  • The city administrator, Mark McAvoy, spoke with Governing about key elements of this work.

Mark McAvoy was serving in the Air Force, stationed at McChord Air Force Base in Western Washington, when he got in a tangle with a local planning department over a retaining wall on his property. The encounter was frustrating, but also made him want to understand more about the internal workings of cities.

McAvoy’s curiosity was strong enough to motivate him to earn a Master of Public Administration degree, an “MBA for the public sector,” as he describes it. After working for the city of Houston for nearly two decades he became city administrator for Liberty Lake, a rapidly growing city of 12,000 near the Washington-Idaho border.


Since taking the job, he’s made it a priority to ensure residents are well informed about the way Liberty Lake works, from its budget priorities to its service delivery. The city was one of the first in the nation to implement a “Rethinking Budgeting” tool developed by the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA), an assessment of budgeting processes designed to improve their speed and flexibility.

He’s been city administrator for three years now, the job he’s wanted ever since graduate school. He talked to Governing about what he’s doing to make sure citizens of Liberty Lake have a say in government decisions. The interview has been edited for length and clarity.

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Governing: What are some of the things you’ve done to help residents feel they have a voice in government?

McAvoy: We’ve established a community engagement commission made up of volunteer members. Their sole purpose is to derive methods to get more of a cross section of the city’s residents to engage regularly with the city government.

We started a community satisfaction survey, tied to our strategic plan, and it allows us to gauge how we are delivering what we said we’d prioritize in our strategic plan. We ask questions to see what the level of satisfaction generally is, and we use those results to inform our budget-making process and capital facilities plan.

Every spring we have a Citizen Academy, a class where people can come in each week for eight weeks and learn about a different department within the city. We go to the fire station, to the water and sewer district, to the police department. They have an opportunity to see the inner workings of those departments, how they make decisions and allocate resources, how they deliver services.

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All of our capital projects are on the city website, and there’s a widget that allows visitors to access a discussion forum about them.

We have a farmers market, and each week between May and October we have a booth there with an elected official and a member from one of our boards or commissions to answer questions about development projects, or why potholes aren’t being fixed. Kind of a living city hall.

What kinds of outcomes have you seen from this work?

At least two people who came through the academy decided that they wanted to run for City Council and were elected. We have several board and commission members who went through the academy and then decided to volunteer and become board and commission members.

We’re always looking for new techniques to be able to get more voices into the mix.

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You were one of the first to use the GFOA “Rethinking Budgeting” assessment. What did you learn from that?

The budget is the policy document of the city; all things are driven from the budget. I knew that there was a better way to do it, I just wasn’t quite sure how to get there.

The assessment is designed to ask people that are touching different parts of the budget process an array of questions that are diagnostic and informative. What are we doing well? What do we think we’re doing well, but we’re not doing so well based on these opinions?

That’s eye opening. One of the things we’ve taken from it is that our staff members can help us identify areas where if we just did things a little bit differently, we could either earn more revenue or save more expense.

How does the assessment relate to ensuring your budget aligns with community needs, what some call “priority-based” budgeting?

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Our priority-based budgeting implementation was not connected to the assessment. The priority system allows us to connect our budget with our strategic plan. In my opinion, it’s a better way to budget, a better way to communicate about the budget and a better way to demonstrate the return on investment.

Mark McAvoy: “You have to tailor things to your local conditions, but if you’re willing to work at it and engage the community and empower staff, you can make a real difference in local government.”

(Glen E.Ellman)

That’s the importance of getting feedback from the survey I mentioned earlier. The survey is written in the context of the strategic plan and the strategic plan is tied explicitly to the budget. When we’re getting feedback on an annual basis, we’re able to see that people want to see more investment in, say, crime prevention, or more investment in street maintenance.

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The survey is looking backward at how we performed, and the budget is looking forward at how we plan to perform.

Lately there’s been a lot of rhetoric suggesting government is wasteful and inefficient. Are your engagement efforts making it less likely that residents see you in this way?

There’s definitely an impact from what’s happening in the federal government, whether it’s on social media posts or people coming to council during citizen comment.

Assuming they still live in town, people who have gone through the City Academy are able to say to anyone they talk with, for example, “Here’s how the city really allocates tax revenue, and all of this information is on their website.” I hesitate to call them ambassadors, but they talk for us in the trenches.

We try to build trust, to have transparency in our communications, to never appear as though we’re behind closed doors. At no other level of government can you show up on a Tuesday night and get up to the lectern and tell your elected officials what you think. That gives us a tremendous advantage.

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Any last thoughts?

There’s no copy-and-paste function in this. Every government is different. You have to tailor things to your local conditions, but if you’re willing to work at it and engage the community and empower staff, you can make a real difference in local government.

There’s nothing like it.





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Washington Capitals 2025-26 W Magazine Now Available | Washington Capitals

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Washington Capitals 2025-26 W Magazine Now Available | Washington Capitals


Arlington, Va.W Magazine, a lifestyle publication produced by the Washington Capitals, is now available for purchase online at www.washcaps.com/wmagazine and at the Team Store at Capital One Arena and at the Team Store at MedStar Capitals Iceplex. The fan-favorite magazine, which features content surrounding every Capitals player along with hundreds of personal, never-before-seen family photos, is available for $8 plus shipping. In addition, season ticket members will receive a complimentary issue, with copies for season ticket members available at the Planholder Hub on the 100-level concourse during Capitals home games.

The cover story, written by Capitals senior writer Mike Vogel, goes in-depth with forward Pierre-Luc Dubois. Vogel speaks with Dubois, his teammates and family members for an extensive feature on the phone call that changed Dubois’ life and shaped his future with the Capitals franchise. Spanning more than 200 pages, W offers exclusive photography of Capitals players and their families, along with lifestyle content and interviews with every member of the 2025-26 roster. Highlights include:

  • John Carlson on fishing in Maryland with his sons
  • Brandon Duhaime on spearfishing and his related YouTube channel
  • Ryan Leonard on moving to D.C. and living with the Dubois family
  • Charlie Lindgren on his first offseason as a dad
  • Alex Ovechkin on celebrating back home after becoming the NHL’s all-time leading goal scorer
  • Logan Thompson on his love of dogs
  • Trevor van Riemsdyk on pop-a-shot and pickleball

The magazine also features an in-depth look at the Capital One Arena transformation project, including exclusive photos, insights into future phases and Capitals player reactions to the new Capitals locker room complex. A special interview with Monumental Sports Network’s Joe Beninati and Craig Laughlin reflects on the historic 50th anniversary season, while a day-in-the-life piece with Caps Radio’s John Walton and Katie Florio brings readers behind-the-scenes of a home game radio broadcast.

Additional features include a look at a regular day for former Capitals service dog in training Biscuit – now a facility dog at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center – and a photographic recap of Alex Ovechkin’s historic 2024-25 season. A new “Beyond the Boards” section spotlights community stories, while the fan-favorite “Short Shifts” section returns with Capitals players sharing thoughts on topics such as the best singer on the team, funniest teammate, personal goals beyond hockey, what everyone should try at least once, their ideal entrance theme song and more.

The magazine also profiles members of the Capitals Black Hockey Committee and introduces fans to the team driving the organization’s youth hockey initiatives.

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W design services were provided by Matt Ryan. Player photography was provided by Greg Powers with assistance from Damon Banks. The cover featuring Pierre-Luc Dubois was photographed on the Potomac River in Washington, D.C., with the assistance of captains and crew from City Cruises. Players were photographed for the publication at Origin in Arlington, Va.



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Ginger’s Journey: Walking from Washington State to Washington, D.C.

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Ginger’s Journey: Walking from Washington State to Washington, D.C.


Imagine setting out, on foot, for a journey not knowing how long it would take. Now imagine doing it with two animals as traveling partners from Washington State to Washington, D.C.

“Now I’ve started this leg of the journey in Morton, Washington where I was spiritually requested to go to Washington, D.C. and sing the song ‘Imagine’ by John Lennon on the Capitol steps,” says Jacob Holiday.

Jacob Holiday is on his way across America so he can sing a song he says signifies peace in the hopes, he says, of ending violence everywhere.

“I want so much peace. Cops would no longer carry firearms. We’re going to send the militaries of every country, I don’t care which one you’re talking about but every country, home to go to sleep. I don’t care what they do. But I want all this violence, everything, all this violence to stop.”

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He has two wagons and his traveling companions are a dog and a goat. Holiday started in Washington State in July and he’s not worried about how long his hike across America will take.

His multi-state trek has seen him encounter a lot along the way, including a run-in with a bear.

He carries food for himself and his dog and his goat on carts that he says weigh a couple hundred pounds. Besides necessities, Holiday has one thing he’d greatly appreciate receive being able to buy as he continues his mission.

Holiday says he knows his mission isn’t an easy one, and he uses it as a metaphor for life as a whole.

We caught up with Holiday in the early part of November on a 70-degree day in Cambridge, Nebraska then spoke to him again a few days later in the rain as he headed east on Highways 6 and 34, so no telling how far he’s gotten now.

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After we met with Holiday, we did notify the local sheriff to perform a welfare check, but we’re told Holiday wanted to continue his walk with his Capitol Steps goal still ahead of him. We also offered him food for himself and his animals, which he declined saying he had enough food on his carts.



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Washington state flooding damage profound but unclear, governor warns

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Washington state flooding damage profound but unclear, governor warns


The extent of the damage in Washington state is profound but unclear after more than a week of heavy rains and record flooding, according to the state’s governor, Bob Ferguson.

A barrage of storms from weather systems stretching across the Pacific has dumped close to 2ft (0.6 metres) of rain in parts of the state, swelling rivers far beyond their banks and prompting more than 600 rescues across 10 counties.

More high water, mudslides and power outages were in the forecast. Elevated rivers and flood risk could persist until at least late this month, according to the National Weather Service. Wind and flood watches and warnings are expected in much of the north-west for the next couple of days as storms bring rain, heavy mountain snow and high winds.

As of Tuesday, authorities had recorded one death – of a man who drove past warning signs into a flooded area – but key highways were buried or washed out, entire communities had been inundated, and saturated levees had given way. It could be months before State Route 2, which connects cities in western Washington with the Stevens Pass ski area and the faux Bavarian tourist town of Leavenworth across the mountains, can be reopened, Ferguson said.

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“We’re in for the long haul,” Ferguson said at a news conference. “If you get an evacuation order, for God’s sakes, follow it.”

It won’t be until after waters recede and landslide risk subsides that crews will be able to fully assess the damage, he said. The state and some counties are making several million dollars available to help people pay for hotels, groceries and other necessities, pending more extensive federal assistance that Ferguson and Washington’s congressional delegation expect to see approved.

According to the governor’s office, first responders had conducted at least 629 rescues and 572 assisted evacuations. As many as 100,000 people had been under evacuation orders at times, many of them in the flood plain of the Skagit River north of Seattle.



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