Maps & Meta-analysis: Looking at CA Cities

This episode is the first non-council meeting related episode where we discuss the structural budget deficit facing Folsom. This topic has been alluded throughout many episodes, and we wanted an evergreen episode to lay out definitions, context, hypotheses, and data/figures about potential explanations. We hope to do more of these in the future and we appreciate you listening. Let us know what you think!

In this episode Justin and Darvesh interview Sheri Merrick, COO of the Folsom Chamber of Commerce (FCC). We talk about the role of the FCC, the Folsom Rodeo, how Sheri recruits volunteers, and the Choose Folsom branding. This episode gives a better insight into the role of the FCC, clarifies some common misconceptions about the FCC, and some takeaways that many business or non-profit could adopt.

This week the co-hosts discuss the latest city council meeting. The topics of discussion were Folsom's water contracts and a proposal to have a community-led economic development council. The co-hosts dive deep with a healthy dose of tangents along the way.

This is the first city council meeting episode with Maclean as member. The 3 hosts discuss what was a relatively short city council meeting including a proclamation of zookeeper week by the mayor, the merits and efficacy of late fines at the Folsom Public Library, and a proposal to assess the feasibility of a split in the Folsom-Cordova Unified School District (FCUSD) into two school districts, one for Folsom and another for Rancho Cordova.

Maps and Meta-Analysis adds a third cohost, Maclean Ankhelyi. In this update episode, Maclean introduces himself and the three co-hosts discuss other updates and evaluate the direction of the podcast.

Another city council meeting week, the main item of discussion this week was the scope of work that the city council wanted for the recently proposed economic development consultant. This was a quick meeting and quick podcast episode as a result.

In the first of what will become a recurring series, hosts Darvesh and Justin go through the folsommaps project and discuss visions for its evolution.

Covering another City Council meeting, the hosts provide and overview on the agenda items. Topics discussed include the renewal of the Historic District, appointment of members to a special advisory committee, and a CEQA exemption appeal.

In a quick episode looking at local taxes, the hosts look at how local revenue sources are structured. This includes contextualising how our local taxes look in the region and how changing the tax rate would impact the city.

Covering the May 23rd City Council meeting, hosts Darvesh and Justin discuss the City's Adoption of the budget. Though this was a lighter agenda, the discussion on the items was thought provoking and impactful for the future of the City.