A 2010 poll showed that 88 percent of Americans are in favor of expanding domestic high-speed rail. Transportation departments throughout the country are now actively investigating whether high-speed rail is feasible.

In an effort to privatize student housing on campuses in the Georgia University System, legislators are considering a bill that could let developers get a property tax exemption when they take over operations of university system dorms.

House Bill 788 by Rep. Lynne Riley (pictured) would preserve the current property tax exemption for public property in the System, hoping to encourage private-sector operation of campus housing facilities. If passed by the Georgia Assembly, the legislation would provide for a voter referendum on whether to keep the existing tax-exempt status for parking and housing facilities for a private manager. Officials of the Georgia University System say turning over management would both save money and create efficiencies. Officials expect the privatization could reduce the System's $3.8 billion debt burden.

The bill has passed the House and is now headed to the Senate for debate. If passed, the state's constitution would need to be amended to allow the tax exemption to apply to developers. Passage in the House was not without objection as concern was expressed about the length of contracts with companies selected to operate dorms and the possibility of housing cost increases for students. What resulted was the addition of a competitive bidding clause for the contracts and restriction of the exemption to just housing and parking.

More than $6.4 billion in bond elections set in Texas

California school district calls $106 million bond election in June

Officials with the Culver City Unified School District in California will put a $106 million bond issue before voters in the June California General Election. The school superintendent will be holding a forum this week to explain what is in the election, what is not and why.

Los Angeles light rail system gets funding for expansion

The U.S. Department of Transportation recently announced the award of $670 million to help construct an expansion of Los Angeles' light rail system. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx (pictured) said the funds will be in the form of a grant from the Federal Aviation Administration. Another $160 million loan will be offered by the Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act. "LA's Regional Connector will help make this city and region a better place for tens of thousands of Angelenos by ensuring that public transit not only works for everyone, but that it works better than ever," Foxx said in a statement. The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority will use the funds to build a 1.9-mile underground connection between a pair of its current lines. Four new stations will be added to the LA Metro light rail system, ending a service gap that has existed for some time.

Ventura Harbor in line for multi-million-dollar dredging project

California's Ventura Harbor could be in for a $10.5 million dredging project. The U.S. Army Corp of Engineers has plans to put $7.1 million into the project and the President's 2015 budget proposal adds another $3.4 million. Ventura Port District Manager Oscar Pena said the funds will be used for a complete dredging of the harbor entrance channel area. He said the action will have a "positive effect" on the commercial and boating interests that use the entrance channel. Officials say without the dredging, navigation of the channel is threatened, as is the economic viability of the harbor.

• XTec Inc. won a 10-year, $102.8-million task order contract from the U. S. Department of Homeland Security for identity management support and services.
• Granite Construction Inc. has been awarded a $36 million road and bridge project by the Alaska Department of Transportation for a multiphase infrastructure improvement project that includes creating a new East-West corridor by extending Dowling Road within the Anchorage city limits as well as construction of a new bridge over the Alaska Railroad lines and Arctic Avenue. The project also includes soil stabilization improvements, retaining walls, 800,000 tons of imported gravel borrow, 230,000 cubic yards of excavation, utility improvements, two new signalized intersections, multi-use pathways and landscaping amenities.
• Northrop Grumman Information Technology has won a $15.9 million U.S. Army contract to support the Defense Department's Automated Biometric Identification System.
• Swank Construction Co. won a contract for $6.2 million from the West Virginia Division of Highways to build a new bridge and entrance to Coonskin Park.
• Maymead Inc. has won a contract for $8.7 million from the North Carolina Department of Transportation for pavement rehabilitation along seven miles of I-77 in Iredell County. The northbound and southbound lanes will undergo repairs over the next 18 months.
• CaremarkPCS Health was awarded a stand-alone contract from the state of Rhode Island to manage the pharmacy benefits for upwards of 16,600 state employees and their family members at an estimated 2014-16 cost of $158.1 million.
• Infrastructure & Industrial Energy LLC won a $24.71 million construction contract from the Vineland (New Jersey) Municipal Electric Utility to construct a power plant to help maintain the city utility's electric capacity.
• Russell Construction was awarded a $533,000 contract by the town of Rutland, Vermont, to build the town's first town hall.
• Raytheon Co. has won a $199.7 million contract to provide the U. S. Navy with sonar systems and other equipment for hunting mines.
• Oasis Systems has announced the award of a prime contract with the General Services Administration called One Acquisition Solution for Integrated Services (OASIS) Small Business (SB). OASIS SB is expected to provide federal agencies streamlined access to both commercial and non-commercial complex professional services with approximately $10 billion to be spent under this contract.

Greenville (Texas) City Council members recently voted to accept a $3.5 million building project at the municipal airport under an agreement with the Greenville Industrial Development Corporation (GIDC) and a defense contractor to build a new facility and renovate another building at Majors Field that GIDC will donate to the city once construction is completed.

The agreement calls for the contractor, L-3 Mission Integration, to renovate the main building by adding office space and a conference room, replacing the air conditioning system and upgrading the electrical system. The contractor also agreed to build a new 12,000-square-foot metal building to serve as a shipping and receiving depot for equipment and materials brought into the Multi-Sensor Test Facility and for paving and drainage upgrades around the two buildings.

The public-private partnership benefits the defense contractor, which will pay no taxes on the two building projects, and the city benefits from the improvements made at no cost on city-owned facilities, according to city officials. The new building and upgrades should be completed in May 2016.

P3 agreement could be possibility as Louisiana city studies new arena

The city of Monroe, Louisiana, has outgrown its 7,500-seat Civic Center arena. A recent study showed that the facility that once attracted top name entertainment is now too small and too old to attract top performers. The study indicates that the city has the potential to support a 9,000- to 10,000-seat arena.

The study shows that not only could such a center attract top entertainers, but it could also play host to major sporting events. Mayor Jamie Mayo (pictured) has in mind that a new arena might be the anchor of a development that includes cultural, recreational, entertainment and retail locations that would also help improve the local economy. The survey indicates that the demographics and market conditions favor such a project.

The next steps are to discuss whether the city's leaders believe Monroe should move forward with a plan and to work on funding for what is projected to be a nearly $84 million project. Should the city decide to build, the location of the new arena could be in a variety of areas, but the most favorable locations examined were all in the downtown area. 

A policy expert who is a specialist in information technology and open government, cyber security and privacy policy, data democratization, political and legal analysis, economic and statistical analysis, process improvement, system/service design and more, Joy Bonaguro (pictured) was recently named the city of San Francisco's first chief data officer. Bonaguro holds a bachelor's degree in mathematics and philosophy from Tulane University and a Master's of Public Policy from the University of California, Berkley. Bonaguro comes to her new job with the city from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in Berkeley, California, where she was involved in IT policy from 2011 to 2014. She held a variety of positions with the Greater New Orleans Data Center from 2002-2009 including intern, date support specialist, data and Web production coordinator, senior data support specialist, research analyst/interaction designer and information designer. Bonaguro is also a former policy analyst with the U.S. Government Accountability Office and a graduate student researcher for the California Center for Innovative Transportation and UC, Berkeley. She also was a health IT intern for Cal eConnect and was a consultant with the Metropolitan Transportation Commission. As chief data officer in San Francisco, she will be charged with standardizing the city's data policies across departments and making the city's data more user-friendly and accessible. She also will be responsible for establishing and managing data coordinators within individual city departments to develop and monitor data effort.