National News Roundup – July 7, 2025
CA County Aims to Protect Public Sector Jobs
San Mateo passes resolution addressing AI impacts on employees.
San Mateo, a county in the heart of California’s famed Silicon Valley, finds itself trying to protect county jobs from rapidly expanding use of artificial intelligence (AI) – one of Silicon Valley’s most significant and impactful innovations.
Goldman Sachs, a global investment banking firm, predicts as many as 300 million jobs worldwide might be lost to artificial intelligence. But AI is also expected to create jobs, and that is what San Mateo County is focusing on.
The San Mateo County Board of Supervisors is requiring county departments to suggest new jobs to create if positions are cut due to the implementation of artificial intelligence. San Mateo County officials are deciding how to develop policies that embrace the use of AI in their operations while also protecting jobs that could be at risk of replacement. Most jobs in the county government are unionized, and most of the supervisors were elected with union support.
“There was the Industrial Revolution, now there’s the AI revolution,” said Supervisor Jackie Speier at the meeting. “We’re going to have to adapt.”
County positions deemed no longer necessary due to the integration of AI won’t be eliminated until those positions become vacant through natural attrition such as retirement, transfers or voluntarily separation.
“I want to make sure, as we move forward, that we embrace artificial intelligence,” said board president David Canepa. “At the same time, we do it in a responsible way.” The resolution passed unanimously.
(Source: Palo Alto Daily Post)
US Population Shifts toward Older Demographics
Census data reveals potential future challenges in elder care.
Based on figures released last month by the US Census Bureau, older adults now outnumber children in 11 states. Montana, Oregon, and Pennsylvania are the latest states in which older people outnumber children. In every state across the country, the ratio of people over 65 to those younger than 18 increased. Seniors outnumber children in Michigan counties across the Upper Peninsula and roughly the upper half of the Lower Peninsula.
The trend bodes poorly for the future number of young adults who can help care for older relatives, according to a report published last year by the Maxwell School of Citizenship & Public Affairs at Syracuse University. It states that health care likely will become scarcer and more unequal if the nation’s older population grows to 73 million as projected by 2030, from the roughly 61.3 million in the latest 2024 estimates.
“America’s health and aging care system is unprepared to support its large and growing older adult population,” the report concluded. It also cited ongoing healthcare worker shortages and drastic increases in the cost of living as other factors that could contribute to this issue.
Florida has many of the counties with the highest ratios of older people to children, census estimates show. Among larger counties with 100,000 people or more, older adults outnumber children the most — by 8 to 1 — in Florida’s Sumter County, home to most of The Villages, a collection of fast-growing retirement communities.
“The number of years a given individual lives over 65 has been steadily increasing,” says Mindy Marks, an economics professor at Northeastern University. “That’s going to make that group a larger and larger share of any population block.”
This trend has important implications for local governments everywhere. What a community is doing to help its senior citizens is certain to become a hot political issue.
(Sources: Stateline, AARP)
Cities Use Legislation to Revitalize Downtowns
Zones seeking to increase foot traffic are on the rise nationwide.
Over the years, downtowns big and small seemed to have lost their allure nationwide. Many became ghost towns after 5 pm when offices closed.
Cities have hit on a simple legislative tool aimed at transforming downtowns after dark, establishing special zones where customers of restaurants, bars, and other venues can carry open alcoholic beverages out of businesses and enjoy them in the street during special events.
San Francisco’s Front Street served as the first testing ground for so-called “Entertainment Zone” legislation and is now part of a broader movement to redefine downtowns, with local organizations fighting to drive economic and inclusive regeneration. In cities like Grand Rapids, Michigan, and Savannah, Georgia, similar zones have increased foot traffic and revenue by allowing food and beverage businesses to serve to-go drinks and activate their streets. Some cities also close streets to vehicles during events, prioritizing people over cars and turning underused blocks into cultural destinations.
(Source: Planetizen)
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