Paul Scott said:
>In reality local governments have very few trained Archivists.  
Paul, you beat me to the punch (or should I say "Send" key).  A few years
ago the Local Government ISG was one of the most energized in ARMA.  Many
large counties and cities have a full-time records manager or something
close to one, some who actively participate on this listserve.  There are
few archivists that I know of at the local level.  Those that are typically
work for the local historical society or a similar type of local government
entity.  

>Part of the problem is with the archivists, all too many who would rather
>work for a pittance in academia rather than work for local governments.  
Yet they complain about their pay and the lack of respect they get.  But
then I digress.

>But part of the problem is also with the local governments who may have the
>oldest, most extensive and heaviest used archives in their respective
>communities but do not seek out professionals to work with them.
What I've always found interesting is the emphasis on federal and state
archival programs, with little interest at the local level (unless the state
gets involved).  Yet, local records (particluarly at the county, in Texas
anyway) affect proportionally more individuals; deeds, birth and death
records, marriage licenses, divorce decress, criminal cases, etc.  Paul is
correct that many permanent records are falling by the wayside; a shame.

States such as Texas allow counties to collect a records management fee on
deeds, court filings and other records, typically between $1.00 to $5.00 per
filing.  Counties that are experiencing an active real estate market can
collect a significant amount of coin.  El Paso County, for example, had
collected close to $500K in 1996; other counties significantly more. The
drawback was (and probably still is) that only the County Clerk (and to a
certain degree, the District Clerk) had access to and could use the funds.  

Years ago when I worked for Texas local government the focus on spending was
technology; preservation of long term/permanent and historical records was
not always on the top of the list.  Hopefully this attitude has changed.
Unfortunately, though, I doubt it. 

Bruce L. White, MBA, CRM, PMP
Manager, Contracts/Records 
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Sempra Global
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