Grading the Cities introduction THE GOVERNMENT PERFORMANCE PROJECT Report Card: San Antonio Revenue Rank: 13 Form of Government: Council-Manager Mayor: Howard W. Peak (took office 1997) City Manager: Alexander E. Briseno (appointed 1990) City Council: 10 members, elected by district FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT: B+ San Antonio has a five-year financial plan, and it’s “a brutally honest document,” says Lou Lendman, the assistant budget director. The plan shows a tiny gap for fiscal year 2000, which has already been addressed, while department heads are being asked to think about budget reductions to fill the $19 million projected hole for 2001. Accurate estimates — long term and short term — are a particular source of pride in San Antonio. They aren’t easy to achieve, because the city owns an electric utility, and revenues from that source are volatile, depending on weather conditions and fuel prices. Decision makers are encouraged to look forward in San Antonio, and the fiscal effects of policy decisions are meticulously considered. When San Antonio annexes property — which happens frequently — a 10-year cost-benefit analysis is prepared. The city, which contracts out about 32 percent of its spending, could use better cost accounting. After all, it’s difficult to know whether a contractor is giving the city a good deal if the city doesn’t have precise data on the costs. Department heads also complain that the purchasing process is cumbersome for many items. HUMAN RESOURCES: B+ Although strategic long-term planning is strongly embedded in the San Antonio ethos, work force planning could be better. “We need to be more proactive in making sure we’re recruiting in the right areas,” says Terry Brechtel, the director of budget, as well as of employee services (an unusual combination of jobs). Recruiting is very strong, with use of career days, seminars, a 24-hour telephone job line and 12 kiosks around the city where residents can get online job information. And once they are in the door, San Antonio does a good job of training them. It offers a leadership-development program, executive management team training and a tuition-assistance program. The city has maintained a database of all city employees trained since 1996. After six months, a survey is sent to the worker’s supervisor to find out whether the training had an impact on performance. Speed of hiring is reasonable for non-uniformed positions in San Antonio. Although the process has been a bit slow for uniformed positions, steps are under way to streamline it. INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY: B- Technology is well standardized in San Antonio, with the information services department guiding new acquisitions for all the agencies. Automated sharing of information between city departments, as well as between city and county, is routine business here. The police department can perform a “wanted” inquiry, match it against the city’s municipal court database, the county’s criminal justice database and state and national criminal databases. Although San Antonio’s financial management and human resource systems are serviceable, managers complain that the systems aren’t particularly strong in helping them get at important data. The city is considering upgrading to a fully integrated financial management/human resource system. Managers complain that making major procurements can be too time-consuming. A big problem is lack of sufficient preparation in the departments, which may go through two or three RFPs before they figure out what they want. The city is working on its first genuinely strategic IT plan. This much-needed document is due to be completed sometime this year. CAPITAL MANAGEMENT: B San Antonio has an excellent formal capital plan and airtight linkage between its operating and capital budgets. A new IT system will help it improve project management. Still, council members have had a habit of rushing the schedule for capital projects in the hope that they can still be in office for the ribbon-cutting ceremonies. Frequently, the schedule just can’t be met. About 25 percent of the projects outlined six years ago — and due for completion no later than last year — were not finished at the start of fiscal 2000. San Antonio currently shortchanges building maintenance, but it’s pretty good on streets. Under the city’s pavement management system, about 20 percent of the streets are evaluated each year. Although funding for street maintenance has grown through the 1990s, it could stand to be higher. MANAGING FOR RESULTS: B+ MFR practices have been well established in San Antonio for the past decade. This is a good example of a city that has a comprehensive approach, good measurements and in-depth evaluations to drive further improvement. There are planning weaknesses in some of the departments, though. And local officials could do better at communicating the information they gather to citizens and other stakeholders, including the city council. In a city accustomed to dealing with budget shortfalls, careful prioritization of local needs — “strategic issues,” in local jargon — has become an ingrained part of the budget process. The council utilizes focus groups, surveys and a well-organized neighborhood movement to bring in much feedback. In the past, this process actually resulted in a ranked list of priorities. Now, the council selects about a quarter of the strategic issues to focus on. These are the items most likely to be given funding. One big priority shift: In the early 1990s, crime fighting was on top of the list. This year, it was inner-city investment and development services, working to ease growing pains associated with the city’s booming population. AVERAGE GRADE: B Copyright © 2000, Congressional Quarterly, Inc. Reproduction in any form without the written permission of the publisher is prohibited. Governing, City & State and Governing.com are trademarks of Congressional Quarterly, Inc.