My wife commented to me the other day that I must find my job very rewarding. She remarked, “How many people in this world write their whole lives, only to have their work read by their spouse or loved ones?” In my case, I have the responsibility of knowing that thousands of people across the state, country, and indeed world read what I write, and what PublicCEO publishes.

In fact, yesterday I was humbled by looking at the website’s statistics.

Reader loyalty has never been higher. In the first half of the year, 47,352 people have logged into the website on an average of at least once per week. 94,549 people have come to the site at least once. When those numbers are compared to the first six months of last year, that’s an increase of 32% and 49% respectively.

So as we approach the midpoint for 2011, I have to pause and say thank you to PublicCEO’s authors, contributors, sponsors, and especially you, our readers.

To all of you, I say thank you.

Day in and day out, PublicCEO publishes the news that is relevant to the world of local government. One of the most visited pages on the site is now the Today’s News Section. It has been described as the news clipping service for California local government, and I believe it provides an apt snapshot of local government news. It is summarized in its entirety to subscribers of the daily newsletter, and if you don’t currently subscribe, I encourage you to visit this website and sign up today.

Larger stories are published on their own, either by myself or in conjunction with people PublicCEO has developed partnerships with – people like Erin Treadwell from CSAC, Eva Spiegel from the League of Cities, Ed Mendel from Calpensions.com, and Nicole Dunn at the Special Districts Association.

PublicCEO is described as a local government news, resource, and advocacy website. The Staff Report page (maintained with the invaluable help of Louis Dettore) is one of the resources we provide, as are our Local Government Directory and Jobs Board sections.

Nearly every page is full of news and information. And when we editorialize, as I am sometimes prone to do, it is meant to inform readers of both the facts of an issue and some of the potential impacts in local government.

I know that my interpretation of a situation or a potential outcome isn’t the same as everyone else’s, but I try to keep PublicCEO fair. And I commend all of you who disagree, and disagree respectfully. It’s good to know that if a reader disagrees with an editorial on the site on Monday, they are likely to come back and read again on a Tuesday.

It’s that trust and mutual respect that will help PublicCEO continue to grow.

I would also like to say that I am proud of PublicCEO’s international readers. From our repeat readers in places like India, China, France, Mexico, the United Kingdom, and Canada, everyone is welcome. In fact, every state in America has had repeat visitors, and nearly every country in North America has as well.

To Greenland: It’s time to get your acts together and come to PublicCEO. We’ve had anomaly visits from Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, and Mongolia, and yet nothing from a fellow North American Country?

In all seriousness, as PublicCEO continues to grow, I hope we can continue to enlighten and sometimes entertain our readers. The remainder of the year will be exciting, as we roll out a new design for the website with increased focus on the various arenas of local government.

I look forward to seeing the site grow, working with new sponsors, hearing from more readers, and meeting new readers.

If you know of a coworker who doesn’t current subscribe to PublicCEO, encourage them to sign up at this website.

If you work with a company or consulting group that you think provides a valuable service and you would like to see them work with PublicCEO, tell me about them or ask them to send me an email at dan@publicceo.com.

But more than anything, keep reading, keep coming to the site, and continue to join me in the journey of PublicCEO.