Laura Gill
City Manager
Elk Grove, California
lgill@elkgrovecity.org

I tour neighborhoods as part of National Night Out, and I pose the same question that New York Mayor Ed Koch used to ask: “How’m I doing?” While it may not be the most scientific assessment, it leads to candid conversations that help me better manage our city.

Some variation of that question is included in our outreach efforts and in the biannual National Citizen Survey. It is also used to develop long-term, strategic goals and imperatives that connect to a broader vision statement.

We use performance measures to track our progress as well as Ask Elk Grove, our citywide customer service tool to respond to residents, track trends, and ensure city hall is open and accessible to residents.

Both the matrix of performance measures and the man-on-the-street approach help me gauge our success in delivering services. I have learned the value of both.

William Johnson III
City Manager
Petersburg, Virginia
wjohnson@petersburg-va.org

It is my job to make sure the city is always performing at an optimum level. Public services provide the most common interface between people and their local government, and their daily operations shape people’s sense of trust and expectations.

I know my city is doing well through various tools like the software program Government Outreach, which we use daily to monitor the number of service requests, complaints, or calls we receive, and then the responsiveness in following up on these concerns.

I also take a drive around the city each month to see how the city looks on a firsthand basis. It is a collaborative approach with city employees and myself understanding that eyes are always on the city, and each of us has a responsibility to report anything we see. This is important to establishing trust and making sure the services we provide are top-notch.

Jeffrey Moon
City Manager
Woodstock, Georgia
jmoon@woodstockga.gov

In this modern age of performance measurement and data analytics, it is easy to reduce everything to numbers and percentages and lose sight of the actual impact that we have on the lives of the residents of the communities we, as managers, serve on a daily basis.

I feel that there is an old-fashioned way to assess how well we are delivering public services that is equally important: simple observation. The smile on a kid’s face playing on a new playground. The joy in the eyes of a senior citizen engaging with other seniors in their new center. The relief on the face of a homeowner when the fire department saves his or her house from burning down.

Statistics are important. Performance measurement is critical. Improving the quality of life of our residents is priceless.

Stephen Parry
Chief Executive
Gore District Council New Zealand
sparry@goredc.govt.nz

It is tempting to become intoxicated with an array of performance measures and isolate a favorite few to provide indelible evidence of a high-performing council. Such indicators as debt per taxpayer, revenue per taxpayer, or average cost per employee are all relevant to a degree; in reality, they are only a piece of the puzzle.

As managers, we need to think beyond the confines of these internal measures and consider the value and quality of the services delivered and how that resonates with the public we serve. To focus on a select few indices can have the distorted effect of a “race to the bottom.”

Resident satisfaction surveys are a useful indicator of performance, but I believe the overall performance of a council can be viewed through the ballot box. Elected members and staff working together can achieve a great deal.