San Diego Government Jobs Recognized for Transparency

Those with San Diego government jobs are being recognized for their willingness to share information with the public.

The Sunshine Review recently named the City of San Diego's website as one of the most transparent government sites in the nation. The city received a "Sunny Award" for getting an A+ score and ranking among the top 100 government websites on the Sunshine Review's Transparency Checklist.

"This award recognizes our effort to engage our citizens through electronic media," Mayor Jerry Sanders said in a statement. "Our web team redesigned the city's website last year to modernize the look and to enhance accessibility and usability for our citizens. We're proud that people have noticed."

The Sunshine Review, a non profit organization that supports open government, reviewed more than 6,000 local and state government websites to see how well they share information with the public. With 20 websites on the list, Florida received the most Sunny Awards, followed by Texas with 12, Utah with 10, Illinois with seven, Virginia with six, and California with five.

The sites were ranked using a 10-point transparency checklist that includes:

• Budgets
• Open meeting laws
• Elected officials
• Administrative officials
• Building permits and zoning
• Audits
• Contracts
• Lobbying
• Public records
• Taxes

"We hope the city of San Diego website will continue to serve as an example of transparency in the future," Sunshine Review President Mike Barnhart said.

Nursing Jobs in Arizona See Top Yearly Growth

Anyone looking for nursing jobs in Arizona or other healthcare positions should have no trouble finding work, as the education and health services industry continues to outperform others. Check out http://azjobs.cancercenter.com to see some current openings.

During February, Arizona's unemployment rate remained at 9.6 percent for the fourth consecutive month, after dropping from 9.8 percent in November 2008. Unfortunately, that means the state's rate is higher than the national average, which sits at 8.9 percent.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Arizona employed a total of 2,380,400 workers during February, which is up from 2,378,300 workers during January. However, it's the same number of employees the state had during February 2010, as only three industries added jobs over the year.

Not surprisingly, the education and health services industry continues to outrun any lingering effects of the economic downturn, increasing by 4.1 percent over the year to 354,600 jobs. That's the most growth experienced by any industry during the 12-month period.

Employment in the leisure and hospitality industry increased by 2 percent between February 2010 and February 2011, making for a total of 255,900 workers. Employment in the trade, transportation, and utilities industry grew by .8 percent to 472,900 jobs.

Every other industry - with the exception of mining and logging, which remained steady with 11,000 employees - continued to lose jobs throughout the last year. The construction industry saw the biggest drop, decreasing by 5.8 percent to 107,500 jobs.

Other industries that saw an over-the-year decrease in employment include:

• Other services by 3.6 percent to 85,800 jobs
• Financial activities by 1.5 percent to 161,700 jobs
• Professional and business services by 1.5 percent to 333,700 jobs
• Information by 1.4 percent to 36,100 jobs
• Government by 1.2 percent to 413,000 jobs
• Manufacturing by .1 percent to 148,200 jobs

On a month to month basis, five industries managed to add jobs during February, including: mining and logging; trade, transportation, and utilities; financial activities; education and health services; and government.

Retail Grocery Jobs at Center of Colorado Beer Battles

The ongoing battle of alcohol sales in Colorado could ultimately end up hurting retail grocery jobs and Denver restaurant jobs, among others.

A recently-passed law aimed at keeping low-strength beer out of restaurants and bars has already been overturned. The reversal comes after state officials were notified that the new measures were placing too many restrictions on local businesses, costing the local economy tons of jobs and revenue.

About two months ago, the Colorado Department of Revenue instituted a rule enforcing the state's existing alcohol laws. Those laws allow grocery stores to only sell low-strength beer, while liquor stores, bars, restaurants, and breweries are able to sell full-strength beer.

The law further prevents establishments that are allowed to sell high-strength beer from selling any beer below 4 percent ABV. The recent enforcement of the law required that brewers test, confirm, and report the alcohol content of all their products.

However, the new focus on this existing law quickly caused problems, as local brewers began complaining it was harder for them to do business in the state. The Colorado Brewers Guild claimed the testing aspect of the law could cost small breweries hundreds of thousands of dollars each year.

Those complaints led DOR Executive Director Roxy Huber to issue an emergency ruling voiding the new enforcement of the law. That ruling drops the testing requirement for brewers and allows the DOR to test beers made by certain companies.

"My intent, as I've been instructed in this administration, is to think about business when you make decisions,"  Huber told the House Committee on Economic and Business Development. "Even though I try to always think about business, I try to listen when they say I've gotten it wrong."

According to the Denver Business Journal, some critics think Huber overturned the law on the direction of Gov. John Hickenlooper, who founded and owned Wynkoop Brewing Company. Opponents argue that while the reversal may help the brewing industry, it will end up hurting smaller convenience stores, and could end up costing jobs.

Some officials are pushing for the introduction of a bill that would allow convenience and grocery stores to sell full-strength beer in order to better compete. The United Food & Commercial Workers Union Local 7 have already come out in support of such a bill.