- Exclusive -
THE B&G Interview: "No whining," and a dozen other thoughts from John Cape, former budget director of New York State.
READ THE INTERVIEW

"A complete waste of money." That's what California's inspector general, Matthew L. Cate, called the state's $1 billion investment in drug treatment for prisoners in a February 21 report. The problem had little to do with the policy, though. No, the issues here were almost entirely managerial and had been identified by outside auditors or the inspector general in the past. Most had to do with failures in dealing with the contractors who were responsible for the program. KEEP READING

And while we're thinking about California, here's a set of numbers from San Diego that define the concept of the receding shoreline. In 1997, San Diego estimated that it had 180 miles of crumbling cast-iron water pipes, according to a piece in the San Diego Union-Tribune. Since then, the city has replaced 90 miles of cast-iron pipes, which would be good news -- until you hear that the city now believes it has 195 miles to go.
KEEP READING

How often have you had the experience of being snarled in a thicket of automated messages when you're trying to accomplish something pretty simple on the phone? Suzanne Flynn is auditor of Oregon's Multnomah County, and she recently issued a report indicating that use of this technology in her county "is a significant barrier to citizen access."
   There's no reason to think Multnomah is different from most other cities, counties and states, and we think it's time for many to reconsider the speed with which they replace human contact with a series of computerized menus. KEEP READING

A growing number of cities and states has turned to online training as a way to keep employees up to speed. When we ask personnel officers why employees don't take better advantage of free training, often the answer is that they simply don't have time -- or explicit permission -- to leave their desks and enter a classroom. Thus, online training seemed like a very good idea to us. But maybe we've been a little naïve.
KEEP READING

"Managing the Right Tension" was the title of an engaging piece in the Harvard Business Review a few months ago. Though the article, by Dominic Dodd and Ken Favaro, focused on the private sector, many of the ideas discussed have potential value for public sector leaders.
   The piece generally focused on the idea that when corporations succeed in accomplishing one goal, they often sacrifice another. For example, if they're more profitable, they lose growth; or if they go for long-term profits, they don't make as much in the short term. KEEP READING

Add this to your list of favorite sites. We don't know of any state-funded organization that does a better job of providing evidence-based research and rigorous cost-benefit analysis than the Washington State Institute for Public Policy. Typically strong was its report last fall about the impact of various public policies on prison population, criminal-justice costs and crime rates. KEEP READING

The full B&G Report | Who are Barrett and Greene?

Questions? Comments? Got a lead for B&G?
E-mail Barrett and Greene