New Castle County is turning introspective.
On Tuesday, County Executive Chris Coons unveiled plans to implement a detailed performance review system he hopes will help the government focus on its core functions and improve efficiency along the way.
The report card-style system, masterminded by Austin, Texas-based policy consultant Kevin Baum, calls on departments to set targeted success rates for a vast range of county functions, then routinely take stock of how close it is coming to meeting those goals.
"This is something I saw during my time at [W.L.] Gore used very successfully...and something lots of other governments around the country have benefited from," Coons said.
Baum told council that putting the measures in place could go a long way toward improving the perception of the government among the public.
"It's designed to improve your ability to prove your value," he said. "I do not think we are good enough at engaging the public in a conversation about our value."
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Scorecard: Green Means Go -County Exec Chris Coons |
Why? Because it's easier for lawmakers to defend a policy decision made based on data than it is to defend a decision based on feel or instinct, Baum said.
"The days where governments can say trust us, we're the experts, are gone forever," he said.
Under the review system, each county service is placed under the canopy of four overarching goals:
- Safe Communities
- Economic Growth & Vibrancy
- Accountability & Transparency
- Healthy & Livable Communities
That, Baum said, creates a framework in which a specific program can be justified. If it doesn't fit into one of those categories, it may not be worthwhile.
After that, baseline expectations established for each initiative. For police: What level of crime reduction is targeted? For code officers: How many inspections are expected in a given month? For procurement: What is an appropriate level of minority-owned vendors?
Adherence to those levels is then calculated at regular intervals. If expectations aren't met, it's a red flag that something isn't working operationally in that department, said Baum, who was paid $150,000 for his 18 months of work with the county.
"This makes the conversation about facts and not feelings," he said. "People may feel unsafe because of a lighting situation or because of the number of times they see a police car drive across their street, but it may not be the case."
That's welcome news for Councilman Bill Bell (D-Townsend), who said perception is a huge challenge for lawmakers.
"We know we offer a tremendous service," he said. "But in order to sell that and defend what we do, we have to have the facts."
