A recent question posted on the ICMA website generated some great examples of citizen-friendly performance measures. Tracy Miller, Manager of Strategy Development in Sarasota County, Florida, wrote that the county is building a public dashboard for citizens to view useful information about the community and performance outcomes.

But staff noted that many of their measures are internally focused and not particularly interesting to the public. She asked for suggestions for citizen-oriented measures in eight categories:

• Encourage Economic Growth
• Provide Excellent Service
• Ensure Fiscal Sustainability
• Promote Quality of Life
• Plan for Positive Development
• Be Environmental Stewards
• Maintain and Enhance Existing Infrastructure
• Cultivate an Innovative Organization.

The question got several responses from cities that have developed measures of this kind.

Jackson Tuttle, former city manager in Williamsburg, Virginia, provided outcome measures developed by the city for eight goals: character of the city, economic vitality, transportation, public safety, human services and education, recreation and culture, environmental sustainability, and citizen engagement/city governance. Among the measures:

• National Citizen Survey ratings on outcomes for all eight goals
• Trends in property values (a measure for character of the city)
• Trends in the number of businesses operating in the city, household income, and number of in-city employment opportunities (economic vitality)
• Pedestrian and rider safety on city streets (transportation)
• Recycling rates (environmental sustainability)
• Use of online and social media communications between residents and the city (citizen engagement).

And Samantha Timko, Strategic Initiatives Administrator in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, shared that city's Vision Scorecard, which appears in the strategic plan document. The scorecard shows baseline and target performance indicators tracking the components of “Fast Forward Fort Lauderdale: Vision 2035”: We are Connected; We are Ready; We are Community; We are Here; We are Prosperous; We are United.

These are some sample measures (a few have changed slightly since the Vision Scorecard was published):

• “Walkability” score
• Average days to close a code violation case
• Number of countywide chronically homeless individuals
• Public high school graduation rate
• Satisfaction with overall traffic flow, quality of parks and recreation programs and facilities, and overall quality of city services.

Performance measures like these can help tell the “good government” story in a way that is understandable and meaningful to citizens.