|
|
Grading the Cities introduction THE GOVERNMENT PERFORMANCE PROJECT
From the Publisher:
The five areas we focused on were the same as for the states: management of finances, personnel, infrastructure, information technology and the use of performance measures. The actors also remained the same: Governing for the journalism and the Maxwell School at Syracuse University for the academic analysis. The project is underwritten by the Pew Charitable Trusts.
This has been a tough undertaking. Those of you involved in replying to our survey, or what really were five surveys for every one of the 35 cities, can testify to the breadth and depth of material covered there. A hearty thanks for your time and patience. (If you were feeling a little testy about it, you had some company.)
But for us, that was only the beginning. We figure that in reporting the story, we conducted something like 500 interviews. Just the fact checking, which takes place at the very end of the process, required another 250 or so calls. And none of that includes all the calls made by Maxwell’s graduate students to collect data and supporting documents throughout the process.
I want to accentuate the reporting effort. The surveys, asking questions about specific criteria, were important. They were crafted by knowledgeable people, tested and used in the states, and then refined for cities. But the reporting is what really matters, because that’s where we can not only verify what we are being told but also begin to understand the nuances of each city’s own situation.
A number of people at the magazine worked on this project, as well as the excellent professors and grad students provided by Maxwell. But our effort really is dominated by the husband-wife team of Richard Greene and Katherine Barrett, our intrepid project editors and management columnists, who I believe have become the most knowledgeable and well-connected journalists watching state and local governments nationally.
What I particularly appreciate is their ability to write the story in breezy, informal, clear prose that is a joy to read. I know that most everyone turns immediately to the grades of cities they care about, but please take the time to read the introductory summaries on what we learned about each management area. They are crammed with insights and facts that you will find useful.
Finally, this thought: We are proud of what we have done here, and we care deeply about state and local governments and respect those who run them. Some of our readers will be disappointed with their grades, others elated. Like you, we should be held accountable for our performance, so that factual errors are quickly corrected and disagreements over judgments seriously discussed. We don’t pretend to be infallible, and we learn more every time we do this. So don’t be shy in responding.
Peter A. Harkness
|
 |
This marks the second installment of our multi-year effort to measure how well state and local governments are managed. Last year, we graded the 50 states; this month we do the same for the 35 largest cities, determined by their revenues.