February 2003

Table of Contents:

1. Managing for Results: Strategic Planning and Performance Budgeting
2. Workforce: Strategic Management of Human Capital
3. Technology: E-Government and Information Technology
4. Procurement: Competitive Sourcing and Contracting
5. Program Spotlight: Santa Clara, CA: Stand-Alone Email System for Emergency Communications

2003 City and County Innovations Summit

March 3-5, 2003                            San Diego, CA

-City and county managers from across the nation will gather in San Diego, CA for the 2003 City and County Innovations Summit.  The focus of this year’s event is “How to Survive Budget Shortfalls and Improve Citizen Services through Management Innovations.” The Summit will bring together a faculty of public administrators from cities and counties and will explore innovations in all major management functions from strategic planning and measurement to personnel management and budgeting.  Participants will emerge from the 2003 Summit with timely strategies for enhancing their city or county agency’s performance through the three specially designed tracks: 

• Performance-Based Budgeting and Management

• Strategically Managing the City/County Workforce and Partnerships

• Information Technology and e-Government

 For more details or to register, go to: www.CityandCounty.org

1. Managing for Results: Strategic Planning and Performance Budgeting

a. PART: Local Governments can now use it to Assess Their Programs

-On February 3, President Bush released his FY04 budget, one section containing the Program Assessment Rating Tool (PART).  The PART is being used for the first time in this budget to assess the performance of federal government programs.  Twenty percent of all federal programs were assessed this year, totaling 234 programs spanning the federal government.  To further enhance public understanding of the PART, The Performance Institute has sponsored a website, Transparent Government, containing resources that explain the PART, ranks program assessment by agency and by individual program, as well as offer government managers, at all level, an opportunity to take the PART test for their own programs.  Access www.transparentgovernment.org to examine the accountability of federal programs to the tax payer, as well as evaluate the principles of transparency, accountability, and performance in your own programs.  

 b. The Logic Model Approach to Government Performance

- As the nation’s largest think tank dedicated exclusively to government performance, the Performance Institute works with government agencies to develop and use meaningful performance measures for nearly every operational function and every mission area in government. Through its work, the Institute has defined and refined a proven methodology for measuring government performance: The Logic Model. To see an overview of how the Logic Model works and how it can benefit your agency’s efforts to define, plan for, manage, and measure program performance, go to: PI Logic Model

c. Boston Mayor Menino’s Statement on the FY04
    Presidential Budget

-Boston Mayor and President of the US Conference of Mayors, Thomas Menino , issued a statement in response to the FY04 presidential budget.  Mayor Menino expresses his disappointment that cities are not strongly represented in the proposed budget that recommends very small increases and major cuts to many city programs.  He also asks for the homeland security funding promised to the cities but not yet received in full, and applauds the additional funding pledged to several programs, such as “No Child Left Behind.”  To read Menino’s statement, go to:
U.S. Conference Of Mayors Statement

2. Workforce: Strategic Management of Human
           Capital

a. Report: US Mayors Outline the Future City Workforce

-The US Conference of Mayors released a report that outlines their predictions for the future of city workforces in regard to metro area economies. The report found significant job loss in 2001 and 2002, and predicts weak job growth in 2003.  One significant finding of the report is overall job growth in metro areas will average just 0.7% annually over 2001-04, down from a robust 1.7% over 1998-2001.  To download this report, go to: U.S. Conference of Mayors Report

     b. Florida County Adopts Software that will Match
         Applicant’s Skills to Job Openings

-In order to improve the application process for government jobs, Broward County, Florida will unveil a applicant matching and tracking system.  The old system requires applicants to find job openings online, download and print the application and then mail it to human resources.  The new software will soon allow prospective employees to view job openings and register their skills and experience into an online portfolio for recruiters to access.  This will greatly enhance the ability of recruiters to match qualified applicants to jobs in an expedited manner.  To read more, go to: Federal Computer Week

 c. Research Advisory: Strategic Recruitment Report to be
    Released

-The Performance Institute will release a comprehensive report in February cataloguing various recruitment initiatives being managed by federal agencies and assessing their relative success in attracting quality employees to federal government service.  The project will survey all federal agencies to identify the most innovative recruitment initiatives, examine common lessons learned, review measures of performance, and evaluate overall recruitment success.  While the focus of this report is the federal government, the findings and recommendations will be fully applicable to local government as well.  For more information, contact Patti Powers at: [email protected].

3. Technology: E-Government and Information
        Technology

a. Utah Cities to Create High-Speed Fiber Network Called
    UTOPIA

- The Utah Telecommunications Open Infrastructure Agency, or UTOPIA, is a consortium of 17 municipalities in Utah that will break ground for a high-speed fiber network that will serve more than a half million people in a six-county region.  The proposed network is projected to cost more than $400 million and the agency is hoping to attract competitive service providers to deliver the services of the network.  To learn more about UTOPIA, go to their homepage at UTOPIA 

b. Georgia Incorporates One Website for Government
    Transactions

-The Georgia Technology Authority (GTA) is constructing a single website portal to make government transactions and information more easily accessible for citizens.  The website will be the sole location for conducting a variety of governmental transactions, including applying for licenses, accessing physicians and child care profiles, as well as researching educational and recreational activities.  State agencies will be incorporated into this enhanced portal to ensure the effective use of IT resources throughout the state.  To read more, go to: Government Technology 

c. Government Technology Performance Measurement Summit 2003, April 28-30, Washington, DC

-The Performance Institute is sponsoring a summit for designing and implementing performance measures for information technology and e-Government.  Participants will learn how to justify IT investments and target scarce resources with mission-aligned performance goals and measures.  This summit will examine the requirements of the 2002 e-Government Act, address emerging standards for privacy, security and architecture, implementing refined and proven performance measures for all government IT functions and e-government initiatives, and preparing for rising performance expectations and demands for improved IT budget justification and coordination.  For more information or to register, contact James Lewis at 703-894-0481, or email at [email protected]. 

4. Procurement: Competitive Sourcing and
        Contracting 

a. New York City Council Issues e-Procurement
    Recommendations Report

-The New York City Council and the Council’s Select Committee on Technology in Government released a comprehensive report that provides 13 recommendations for fixing New York City’s antiquated contracting system.  The 13 recommendations contained in the Council’s report represent major strides toward computerizing the contract process without requiring expensive investments in equipment and training. The report is based on several months of research by the Technology and Contracts Committee staff as well as an October 28, 2002 oversight hearing.  To download this report, go to: NY City Council e-Procurement

b. Lessons Learned from the Atlanta Water Privatization

- On January 24, the City of Atlanta and United Water announced that the city would take back operation of its water utility, ending the privatization after four years.  While most privatizations succeed with mostly positive lessons learned from them, there are also lessons to be learned from privatizations that don't work out.  Reason’s Privatization Director, Geoffrey Segal, examines this failed privatization experience and evaluates lessons learned to apply to future water privatizations.  To read this analysis, go to: Reason Public Policy Institute 

c. Clearly Defined Requirements and Expectations Needed
    for Outsourcing

-While a partnership with the private sector can greatly reduce costs and increase performance, local governments must still be sure that the desired requirements and expectations for a partnership are clearly defined.  In order to outsource to the private sector, local governments should first determine if this is the best course, prepare for administrating the project, determine goals before making any action, and choose a vender carefully.  To read more advice on outsourcing, go to: Federal Computer Week 

d. Dallas County, Texas has Outsourced New IT Provider

-Dallas County, Texas, awarded a new contract for a $40 million, five-year deal to SchlumbergerSema, a global technology company, to manage their information technology department.  Dallas County was one of the first counties to outsource its IT department seven years ago, and decided to award this contract to a new provider due to a variety of new services being offered by the company, as well as well-defined service-level measurements with penalties for not delivering being negotiated in the contract.  To read more, go to: Federal Computer Week 

e. 2003 Competitive Sourcing Conference
         April 22-23         Washington, DC

-The Performance Institute is sponsoring a conference to provide up-to-date information on the new competitive sourcing developments and how to use these changes to improve the efficiency of government departments.  Sessions are designed to walk through A-76 changes for major parts of the competition process, including preparation of the PWS/QASP, source selection using Sealed Bid and evaluation of bids under the “Cost/Technical Tradeoff” and “Lowest Priced Technically Acceptable” methods.  Attending this conference will ensure that your agency has the tools and the mastery of the new sourcing rules to stay ahead of the competitive sourcing process.  For more information or to register, contact Marco Amaro at 703-894-0481, or via email at [email protected]. 

f. 2003 Performance-Based Contracting Conference
          April 24-25                  Washington, DC

-The Performance Institute is sponsoring a conference focused on the seven-step process of performance-based contracting to meet departmental mission and program needs.  This conference will provide a comprehensive walk through of each of the seven steps of performance-based acquisition and how to directly implement these steps into agency acquisition plans.  Industry and government leaders in PBSC will discuss topics that include the development of a performance work statement (PWS) or statement of objectives (SOO), learning how to select the right contractor and deciding how to measure and manage performance.  For more information or to register, contact Marco Amaro at 703-894-0481, or via email at [email protected]. 

5. Program Spotlight: Santa Clara, CA: Stand-Alone Email System for Emergency Communications

- The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) recently launched an initiative to gather and share the smart practices of state and local emergency managers and responders on a weekly basis. The shared information will benefit the national emergency response community by improving state and local preparation and response plans for emergencies and disasters of all kinds.  FEMA commends Santa Clara, California's Smart Practice efforts in developing a stand-alone, cost efficient e-mail system that connects critical agencies and individuals in preparation for and during emergency situations.  

The system is designed to handle exactly the type of information essential to emergency management – large data files such as inundation maps and digital photographs. Extremely large files, which often cause Internet-based systems to crash, or are blocked by firewalls, can be sent and received over the network much faster than they can be carried by messenger, the only other direct delivery alternative.  To read more, go to: Santa Clara Smart Practices

Project Director: Carl DeMaio
Newsletter Editor: Vincent Badolato  

City and County Management Innovations Newsletter  is provided as an informational newsletter to all city and county government employees.  Should you not wish to continue to receive the newsletter, please respond to this email address with "unsubscribe" and your email will be taken off of the distribution list. 

The Performance Institute is a private think tank that serves as the nation’s leading authority and repository on performance-based management practices for government organizations.  Its mission is to identify, study and disseminate the leading management innovations pioneered by “best-in-class” government programs at federal, state and local levels. Through its national conferences on pressing issues, interactive executive training programs, and best practice research projects, the Institute provides cutting-edge expertise in the design, implementation and evaluation of strategies to solve operational challenges and enhance government performance.

Reason Public Policy Institute is a public policy think tank promoting the principles of competition, accountability, performance and transparency in government.  Through practical and innovative approaches to complex government management problems, Reason seeks to assist federal, state and local government leaders in implementing change in the design and management of government programs.