Question for mayoral hopefuls: How to measure city's performance

The context: There is an expression in business that what can't be measured can't be managed. Nowhere is realization of this maxim's truth growing more rapidly than in municipal government. Data collection and analysis have been underway for many years in cities like New York, with its Mayor's Management Report, and have been promoted by national organizations such as the International City/County Management Association.

More recently, the need to provide services more cost-effectively has sparked interest in performance management in cities like Baltimore, where then Mayor Martin O'Malley received national attention for pioneering the use of CitiStat.

However, not every mayor or city uses data in quite the same way, and the degree to which a mayor is engaged in measuring performance can be an indicator of how successful the program will be. Data can be collected through a variety of sources. Some communities employ an internal data-management system. Others rely on department-level reporting, citizen surveys or an assessment of phone requests for services. Focus groups and mystery shoppers can be employed to better understand how public services are performing and to learn more about what citizens perceive as important issues.

Boston's performance management system, Boston About Results, uses measures tied to departmental services and mayoral objectives to evaluate the performance of over 40 city departments. Primarily used as an internal budget and management evaluation tool, selected budget and performance data for many of the city's biggest departments are presented on the city's website and updated quarterly. The City's Constituent Relationship Management program allows citizens to request city services and notify officials of concerns online and by 24-7 hotline. Individuals submitting requests can track their current status online and the CRM data is being integrated into BAR performance reports. Some other cities with a similar service employ a 311 line to facilitate use of the system.

The question: As mayor, how would you choose to collect and use data to improve service performance and be responsive to service needs? What role would you play in this process? How would you engage citizens in your performance measurement program? What degree of data and analysis would you make available to the public?

The answers (alphabetically by candidate):

Flaherty: Strong performance management will ensure that scarce city resources are used most efficiently, improve the delivery of city services, and empower residents to hold City Hall accountable.

As mayor, I’ll employ various mechanisms to regularly collect and review information to make data-driven management and policy decisions, such as annual performance reviews of all city departments, a 311 call center and call-tracking technology, Baltimore's model CitiStat program and regular city surveys. I will be involved in the implementation of these programs.

Specifically, I will lead the biweekly CitiStat meetings with CitiStat staff and department heads and will work closely with the new Chief Technology Officer to conduct sweeping performance reviews of all city services and departments. Equally as important will be creating measures to give residents access to real-time performance management data so as to increase government transparency and accountability. To achieve that end, I will share the results of city surveys, publicly post our call center's call logs and service request completion rates, ensure that biweekly CitiStat meetings are open to the public and can be viewed either online or on television, and will post all relevant CitiStat data online on a biweekly basis, instead of quarterly.

McCrea: First, we have to measure the right things, and that’s the most important step for Mayoral involvement. For example, counting pot-hole fillings is always cited in these discussions, but the number of pot-holes filled is not as important as the number of street repairs necessitated by poor planning and lack of responsibility for substandard street utility work.

Quality of service is not always measured by quantity, and more of something is not necessarily better. The goal should be zero potholes filled because the roads are in good condition. I will work with residents and businesses, in public sessions, to identify meaningful measures of productivity and efficiency and give citizens a stake in this process.

I support a system such as Citistat linked in with a 311 system. I want to implement what I call the Total Transparency Project. All data, all documents, all reports, all complaints (and compliments!) will be available online for all the citizens to review. I will include multi-year comparisons to show trends. Transparency and accessibility will engage citizens in taking an interest in public service quality and monitoring performance.

At annual budget hearings, performance of every department will be reviewed in determining funding, through zero-based budgeting.

Menino: My administration has been successful at fighting foreclosures, lowering crime, improving schools, cutting residential property taxes, and providing basic city services because we use data every day to make smart decisions. From my chief information officer and police chief to my school superintendent and director of administration & finance, I have hired and promoted strong leaders who use data to make daily decisions and shape long-term strategy.

We are constantly collecting and using information data to achieve several goals:

Increase civic engagement: We have built a state-of-the-art system to handle constituent requests both on-line and through our 24-hour hotline. We’ve created an iPhone application to make it easier for residents to report issues. And, we regularly discuss meaningful data at community meetings, from crime watch groups to neighborhood associations.

Drive performance improvement: Regularly within departments, bi-weekly in our basic city service meetings, quarterly in department reviews, and in all budget meetings, we look at data to drive continuous improvement in city service delivery.

Improve public transparency: We post the city’s major data sources on-line – you can download data on service requests, create neighborhood crime maps, view the budget, and see results on departments’ key performance measures.

Yoon: The lack of a 311 system and performance-based management tools in City Hall is costing taxpayers money - and it hurts our city services.

Residents should not have to call the mayor’s office for basic city services. Cities across the country – even here in Massachusetts – have 311 call centers. I will initiate a comprehensive 311 call center and introduce the latest performance based management tools to city government.

The mayor and public must be aware how departments and their employees are performing. By using this hard data – just like other cities and businesses do – we can identify the problem areas and direct resources and energy to areas that are not performing.

To make city government work, residents have to be involved. A 311 call center will dramatically increase both participation and information – and will help us cut waste in City Hall.

A Yoon administration will hold regular meetings in the neighborhoods to share the data and performance numbers with residents, and seek local input. This is another way to receive information, as well as an opportunity to relay what our city government is doing for residents.

All information and analysis that the city gets from these tools should be available online.

Coming Wednesday: Alcohol and drug testing

Monday’s Question: Spending on the city’s workforce