Of the 34 Midlands unitary, county and metropolitan district councils required to have plans in place before the end of the month, just 11 have so far managed to do so.

BBC: Planning shake-up: Time running out for local councils

The Fortune article also described the investigation this firm conducted regarding the investment consultant of another client, the Metropolitan Employee Benefit Board of Nashville and Davidson County.

FORBES: Public Pension Shortfalls and Consultant Conflicts (September 1, 2002 )

The town received 100 of the 300 pieces of snow-removal equipment loaded to Long Island towns from the New York state Department of Transportation, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, New York City and Westchester County, said Vanessa Baird-Streeter, Suffolk County spokeswoman.

WSJ: Road by Road, Plows Reopen Cities, Towns

In our national ranking of 200 metropolitan regions for employer attractiveness, the four-county Syracuse region ranks in the bottom quintile. (See "map") Some of the factors indirectly affecting this ranking are beyond any city's control--such as climate and transportation grids--but one very big one is very much the province of politicians: taxes.

FORBES: Magazine Article

Thatcher dismantled metropolitan county councils but the socialist heart continued to beat strongly for another couple of decades in Sheffield.

BBC: Vote 2011: Lib Dem gloom in Clegg's Sheffield powerbase

It would be better by far to divide Britain into nominal provinces and have all of the directly elected councillors for the metropolitan areas, other urban areas and the county councils gather together and elect from within their own ranks representatives to go to the upper house.

ECONOMIST: Letters