Democratic mayoral candidate John Gomes, former director of the city’s government-efficiency CitiStat program, weighs in on the state of the department he once managed.
A Community Meeting at City Hall and Discussion of CitiStat
On Monday evening, March 28th, Mayor Bill Finch held a community meeting at City Hall Annex, and used the time to present information about CitiStat-Bridgeport, a department created by the Mayor in 2008, and envisioned by him to replicate the critically successful, original CitiStat municipal program established in 2000, by Mayor Martin O’Malley of Baltimore, MD.
CitiStat is a database system that allows municipalities to track and review every element of City government operations using real-time performance information.
Since 2000, Baltimore has embraced this results-oriented city government program and the City has witnessed a radically transformed way of running city government. The Baltimore model has been replicated in cities across the country.
Mayor Finch, however, failed to talk about this part of the CitiStat-Bridgeport program at the community meeting that evening.
Looking at its original form in 2008, the CitiStat-Bridgeport system was based on the Baltimore model, which meant having meetings every two weeks with city departments whose directors were required to work up and submit reports on an extensive range of performance and human resources indicators, gradually building in the metrics attendant to both performance and indicators.
These reports would range along a spectrum of information that usually includes progress toward department goals and department effectiveness in managing decisions such as overtime and employee leave. Every two weeks, the Mayor, his CAO, the CitiStat Director and a selected panel rigorously grill agency heads and their management teams on what they have reported. This questioning is designed to hold departments accountable for their performance. The use of real-time data brings immediacy to performance management and provides quicker feedback. CitiStat meetings take place in a specially designed briefing room, equipped with two projection screens that clearly display the report information for everyone to see and discuss.
Problems are identified, and when necessary the departments get help to tackle them. Two weeks’ worth of data reported by a department is meant to frame both short- and long-term adjustments of resources throughout the department’s organizational structure. The changes affect the department’s goals immediately and over a period of time, the later meetings will assess how effective these changes have been. Staff analysts assigned by CitiStat to each department study reports, engage in discussion and questions, analyze budget documents, highlight important issues, and produce charts, maps, and photos that display or supplement the data reported; all part of the screen displays at the biweekly sessions.
Mayor Finch spoke about the overall success for CitiStat in Baltimore, when he established CitiStat-Bridgeport in 2008. He anticipated that his CitiStat-Bridgeport program would achieve its own success for the people of Bridgeport.
Success for Baltimore was achieved through greater frequency of performance reviews, thoroughness of analysis and research, the questioning process, and the use of real-time objective data. The ability to provide instant information about a pressing concern for the City created time for strategic solutions before problems escalated. Operational waste and inefficiency was addressed and adjusted. City taxpayers benefited.
The success of CitiStat allowed Baltimore officials to make decisions based on credible facts, rather than political ploys or pet projects of special interests. Baltimore turned from a spoils-based government system to a results-based system … moving Baltimore from patronage politics to performance politics. Every area of city government was touched: e.g. lead paint poisoning, pothole repair, overtime hours paid, worker compensation claims processes, tax collection rate, crime rates and the delivery of public services.
The success of CitiStat in Baltimore was indelibly conditioned on the will and the commitment of the Mayor to the process. Mayor O’Malley remained steadfast in his support as he faced down resistance. As a result, he was able to realize a remarkable transformation in city government operations in Baltimore. Part of building success called for continual interaction between department leadership and CitiStat which led to better overall coordination of efforts, and cost effectiveness with sustained and increasing progress.
The Baltimore CitiStat success generated 13 million dollars in savings during the first year.
This part of CitiStat just described, will always be the essential and transforming part of CitiStat-Bridgeport that Mayor Bill Finch abandoned.
A year after its creation in Bridgeport, Mayor Finch withdrew his support from CitiStat-Bridgeport, as he became either unwilling or unable to face down the resistance from those within his administration and within his political party who did not want CitiStat-Bridgeport to succeed. The Mayor withdrew from his decision in 2008 to use CitiStat-Bridgeport as a tool to rid Bridgeport’s city government of its decades of corrupt practices and inefficient delivery of essential city services. Although CitiStat-Bridgeport represented an unprecedented opportunity to replace “… a culture of delay and avoidance with a culture of accountability and results,” Mayor Finch chose not to take the advantage offered.
Mayor Finch backed away from the program, terminated CitiStat-Bridgeport appointments he made, and went on to reject some 117 CitiStat-Bridgeport recommendations that were given to him during the first 12 months of the program.
What the Mayor spoke about at the March 28th Community Meeting was about the only part of CitiStat-Bridgeport that remains, which is a 311 citizen call-in system used by the public to report non-emergency problems. Even with this program, Mayor Finch has deviated from the successful 311 models.
Bridgeport’s 311 system is weakened in its effectiveness and diluted of its efficiency because of insidious political favoritism and cronyism.
The original 311 program in Bridgeport was modeled after the highly successful CitiStat-311 programs operating in Baltimore, New York City and Hartford. In these cities, all the non-emergency 311 calls came into a single, physically sited call-in center, where anywhere from several people, to dozens of people, to hundreds of people worked as specifically trained 311 personnel. This trained staff took detailed information about the call, about the handling of the service request, and about the response time to complete the request. CitiStat-311 works to insure that each request is handled in a manner that is timely, competent and efficient. The City benefits from the real-time data coming to a centralized location. Responses can be coordinated and can be resolved immediately in many cases.
The original CitiStat-Bridgeport 311 model has changed, and it is not for the better. Currently incoming calls are dispersed throughout the City. Calls are not centralized. Additionally, the introduction of unnecessary computerization to Bridgeport’s 311 program has added unnecessary costs, and has placed further burdens on the already depleted ranks of City employees.
At the March 28th meeting Mayor Finch claimed that 40,000 non-emergency 311 calls were handled since October 2009. If this is true, it means over a quarter of the City’s 144K population (27.7%) called 311. Further, if this claim is true, it surely reflects a record of stunningly poor delivery of City services. This perhaps is why there was no discussion of emerging City patterns and trends, information that an effective 311 program provides.
What is apparent is the need to restore the original CitiStat-Bridgeport program. It worked for the hard-hit City of Baltimore. It was working during its short life in Bridgeport. And it can work again.
The Mayoral election this year to replace Bill Finch can mean the immediate restoration of the original CitiStat-Bridgeport and the original CitiStat-311 call-in center by the new Mayor. Most importantly it can mean that the 117 CitiStat-Bridgeport recommendations meant to benefit the citizens of Bridgeport are back on the table for review and implementation. Starting DAY ONE.
“Although CitiStat-Bridgeport represented an unprecedented opportunity to replace ‘… a culture of delay and avoidance with a culture of accountability and results,’ Mayor Finch chose not to take the advantage offered.”
Holy housecleaning, Batman! Finch signed off on this in ’08 and didn’t like the recommendations because it would’ve meant too many of Mario Testa’s “friends” would be unemployed.
Kid, you’re right.
What the hell was he thinking, bringing a system of change when it would upset the political applecart? All the leeches’ jobs threatened by progress?
I can appreciate LG running this piece for an OIB advertiser, but I would appreciate it more if the advertiser would disclosed his/her findings. Do we need to file a freedom of information act inquiry to disclose what was financed with taxpayers dollars? This cat & mouse game is getting rather tiresome, roll the dice or pass them.
It looked good at the time, which is why the Finch administration does a lot of things: to look good. Unfortunately for them and the people of the city of Bridgeport, there is no gain without pain. So CitiStat-Bridgeport was dumbed down to an ineffectual “information” program.
Change will come to Bridgeport’s dysfunctional political class, cleansing the improprieties out of City Hall like the Mistral Wind.
I am tired of this cat-and-mouse game about CitiStat. What we are getting is innuendo and unfilled out verbiage about what CitiStat found under Mr. Gomes.
I am still at a loss as to what was found by Mr. Gomes and his staff while they were in charge of CitiStat.
We know Mr. Gomes is running for mayor, but isn’t it time to come forward with some facts and figures on what he found?
Isn’t it time?
Are we going to be deluged with information further down the road as the primary season draws closer? Mr. Gomes, you are keeping this information you have developed to yourself at this point. I guess I understand but I don’t like it.
We paid you to do a job but have no way of knowing if you did it. We get these position papers filled with innuendo but woefully short on substance. It’s time to release the dogs and get this information out there. Don’t you think some of what you found out would be helpful in the upcoming budget hearings?
town committee // Apr 4, 2011 at 6:19 am
to your comment
It’s too soon to get tired, Andy, this is going to be one long campaign.
Innuendo? That’s an interesting word for you to use.
The betrayals of the current Mayor to this City and her population is more than innuendo.
Do yourself a favor Andy, get familiar with all the cities so far in the U.S. with CitiStat success. That’s the first way you can learn what was lost to Bridgeport …
Gomes is definitely running a “Stay Tuned … I’ll answer that later” campaign a la Caruso in the Primary. Trouble is, Caruso answered all outstanding questions that could have effected his election 4 days AFTER the primary.
town committee // Apr 4, 2011 at 6:19 am
to your posting
tc,
Any of the CitiStat recommendations or findings would have a snowball in hell’s chance of being helpful in the upcoming budget hearings.
Reason number 1 … the players have not changed. Reason number 2 … the players have not changed. Reason number 3 … the players have not changed.
Carolanne: First things first. I don’t doubt CitiStat could work so I don’t need to look at other cities. I need to focus on Bridgeport.
The CitStat information would alert the public to what is going on. The CitiStat information would have helped those of us who will be attending all the budget committee hearings.
Knowing some of the details that were found while you and john were CitiStat would certainly give the people of this city an idea as to what’s going on.
CitiStat as it is now manned is a dumping ground for the politically connected people. They do nothing, will do nothing and take a paycheck for doing nothing. So as it is constructed now it is a waste of taxpayer money.
Carolanne: I don’t understand this sentence “The betrayals of the current Mayor to this City and her population is more than innuendo.”
Sorry tc, but can’t take you seriously. If your MJF put out this press release you would be bowing down to her.
What more do you want Gomes to do?
For a dept that only oversees 311, they sure do have a lot of staff including state rep Ezequiel Santiago. While everyone else was giving concessions and being threatened with layoffs, the privileged CitiStat staff was enjoying job security. How many of Gomes’ 117 recommendations concerned public facilities and when was the last time CC was called on the carpet? CC has no clue what goes on since his office is at the Annex, quite removed from the day-to-day operations of public facilities. But he prefers to be close to the Mrs. (just in case someone asks her to make a copy or places a similar demand on her time).
The group that is attending the budget hearings–pay close attention. Will the budget committee even question this dept?
city hall smoker // Apr 4, 2011 at 8:07 am
to your posting
chs,
In answer to your question, most of the recommendations did concerned Public Facilities.
We’re talking about: roadways, sanitation and recycling, maintenance, landfill operations, lines and signs, municipal garage, administration offices, transfer station, parks and recreation, and parks administration/maintenance.
Beardsley zoo, the golf course and the harbor master were not discussed in the first year.
Great posts as usual. We will be discussing these and other issues uniquely affecting Bridgeport tomorrow evening–Tuesday LIVE at 8pm on either channel 77 or 88 on your cable network. Check Bridgeport Now’s post tomorrow for more details. One final thought–I recently came across another great Bridgeport site–www .barnumpost.com. Like this blog it also uniquely and effectively addresses Bridgeport issues. I also like it because it has an Anybody But Finch slant to it. And I know many of us agree on that point!
The CitiStat program is going to be Finch’s political Achilles Heel. Gomes is sitting on the malfeasance he discovered. When he finally hangs the dirty laundry out to dry it will be an embarrassment for the DTC and Bill Finch and Mario Testa.
The biggest hill for potential mayoral candidates to climb is pessimism. So many of the voters in this town know of the highly placed and well-connected getting municipal jobs for “friends” while the police and fire departments have to make concessions on union contracts.
From the Barnum Post:
“Have you heard this one? The invitations to attend Mayor Finch’s $500.00 a plate fundraiser were hand-delivered to some of Bridgeport department heads during business hours. While in itself not illegal (depending on who delivered the invitations), with pink slips that were also recently delivered, city department heads might feel pressured to donate to just to keep their jobs. And it doesn’t stop there! We also heard that if you are a developer that wants to do business with the city, you better not contribute to any challenger. This was denied by the Finch camp, but would you expect anything but a denial?”
*** Enough of CitiStat & how effective it was in Baltimore, this is Bpt! And like many admin. proposals it usually amounts to nothing more than more smoke & mirrors that merely sound good in theory, no? Budget time is here & one of the first line-item cuts the B&A committee should do is CitiStat, it will never work in Bpt. Let’s hear more from Gomes besides the same old CitiStat stories & will MJF make a decision already on whether she’s actually running for Mayor? Times a-ticking & talk is getting cheaper by the minute, no? *** ACTION ***
Mojo // Apr 4, 2011 at 10:59 am
to your posting
Mojo,
Chill …
Every city that has used the CitiStat model made the necessary adoptions for their own city.
Your problem may be you are not getting active enough in somebody’s campaign to replace Bill Finch. That can make a person frustrated and cranky.
You know what else can make a person frustrated and cranky? Losing their job and fighting a campaign with spite instead of insight.
Dial back the rhetoric just one notch, okay?
Lake Forest Guy // Apr 4, 2011 at 12:47 pm
to your posting
Lake Forest Guy,
You have my sympathy.
Carolanne,
The feeling is completely mutual.
CitiStat is the most effective tool for identifying wastefulness and redundancy in governmental administration. But that’s all CitiStat does. The elimination of wastefulness in Bridgeport requires the elimination of many unnecessary positions, I’m guessing at least 30% of the city’s payroll.
Tuesday evening is the night of the first budget hearings. To date the proposed new budget has not been put on the city’s web site.
I checked with the city clerk’s office and was told the proposed budget goes before the council tonight??? Why???
Did the members of the budget committee already receive a copy of the proposed budget? If they did then at least they would have had time to review it, especially the department(s) that go before the committee tomorrow night.
This is an old political trick, keep the proposed budget from public scrutiny as long as possible. If that proposed budget is not on the web site in the AM we will be forced to attend the hearing with no information. Great!!!
“Transparency” is not part of the lingua franca of Bridgeport politics.
The original Baltimore example of CitiStat was developed by former Baltimore mayor Donald Schaefer. He had a management style known as MBWA. Management by Wandering Around! He would drive around the city with dept. heads and make notes of what needed to be cleaned up or done. If it wasn’t done on his next go-around the department’s head would roll.
“Leaders do the Right Thing and Managers do Things Right!!!”
UOB,
I had heard the meaning of MBWA was MANAGEMENT BY WALKING AROUND. I am not sure if the viewer sees much difference between wandering and walking, but the latter seems a little more purposeful or efficient, and that is the entire purpose of the exercise.
I have been waiting for the Budget and the schedule. I guess we shall have it by tomorrow in print. The tiger does not change its stripes and must hope the public is tone deaf and blind also. My sense, as also expressed by a few OIB readers, is the hard facts expressed by this administration will not bear up under scrutiny by the primary audience. Whether it’s a hot or mild summer, the campaign accusations and failure to prepare a successful financial or administrative story will undercut past success of the “troops” who are dependable.
Okay boys & girls, here is an open challenge to all wannabes. Put up or shut up! We are bashing Finch but who resolves these issues? Foster? Gomes? Coviello? Kohut? Ganim? Newton? Keeley? Stallworth? Jimfox?
Criticism is easy, solutions are not. Tell us your survival plan or shut up! You pompous bastards complain but fail to offer any remedy! If you have nothing to bring to the table then do us all a favor and stay home! Your nitpicking is annoying. You bash Finch but offer no corrections of your own.
Put something on the table immediately, or I will be cutting a check to Finch & working on his re-election campaign.
Okay genius, you first!
Another county heard from …
“Put something on the table immediately, or I will be cutting a check to Finch & working on his re-election campaign.”
What a mature response and challenge to other OIB posters. Antitesto, don’t know who you are, but does that mean if no one responds to you in just the way you have specified, then you will convert to (or remain with) the current gang that cannot shoot straight?
I have read a good deal of what you have written and have not found it as irrational as your current posting. Have to give you some slack, I guess. Spring is slow in coming. UConn women failed to complete their journey. (Maybe there are job, health or family issues that are on your mind.) Congress can’t give us a budget for the year but only 2-3 weeks at a time, nor can they tackle the trillion dollar issues that have been pointed out for repair for years. And each of us is poorer by the day because of the added debt, financial responsibilities, and soon to be increasing interest costs at all levels of government where the elected legislators have failed to provide long-term stewardship.
LEGISLATOR SWAN SONG
“Voter-taxpayer, never fear,
I won’t be there, or here,
when the facts and results become clear!
But for me don’t shed a tear,
As my monthly pension check will appear,
Courtesy of you the taxpayer, my dear.”
Hold that check for awhile. And just what work would you be doing today that wouldn’t frustrate you more than waiting for those in the ring to fully declare? It’s worth thinking about.
Just a little aperitif to “put on the table.”
This is the third year Finch has not funded pensions. This year his budget still shows an $8,000,000 deficit.
It did come across as more than a little pompous. “Offer solutions or I will take my Divine Wisdom to Bill Finch’s office and tell him ‘Do with me what thou wilt.'” Hey man, go on, have at it. Don’t let the door hit you in the ass.
OIB, Mea Culpa.
I did come across as very pompous, sorry. This pissing contest is wearing me down. If John Gomes has any clandestine info on CitiStat he should divulge it now, we paid for it already.
Foster, or any other wannabes leak something of substance to us. Admittedly Finch offers nothing but neither does anyone else. Time is a factor, please give us some indication of your game plan. Maybe Jeff Kohut has the answers or Coviello, someone needs to offer something. In the future I shall refrain from texting during rage management classes.
Coviello is a gadfly, plain and simple.
Jeff who?
Gomes and Foster have the best chance of successfully challenging Mario Testa’s political hegemony. Waiting for the most appropriate time to release the information means waiting for the opportunity to inflict the most embarrassment on the mayor.