Center's Work on Municipal Turnarounds
 The Collins Center has established a strong presence in the world of municipal turnarounds. Deputy Director Stephen McGoldrick served as Chief of Staff to the Receiver in Chelsea from 1991 to 1996 and Associate Stephen Lisauskas served as Deputy Executive Director and Executive Director of the Springfield Finance Control Board from 2006 to 2009. Prior to this, Mr. Lisauskas worked to help stabilize and restructure the finances of the City of Haverhill after the financial collapse of its municipal hospital.
More recently, the Center assisted the financially troubled City of Lawrence in its budget development, focusing not only on producing the physical document, but also on identifying opportunities to restructure its municipal government and save money. In three months alone, the Collins Center saved the City of Lawrence more than $2.4 million and made recommendations for cost savings and additional revenue opportunities that can produce millions of dollars in additional benefit to the City and its residents.
Perhaps most interestingly, the Center was retained by the State of Rhode Island to support the receivership in Central Falls. The smallest community in Rhode Island from a geographic standpoint, Central Falls is one of the most densely populated communities in America and faces significant financial, operating and structural challenges. The Collins Center is supporting the Receiver appointed by the Governor in his work in a variety of areas, from finance and operations to longer-term strategic solutions to the City's financial and other challenges.
The Center expects its work in municipal restructuring to grow with time. Importantly, Central Falls represents the Collins Center's first project outside of Massachusetts. Continued expansion of the Center's restructuring and bankruptcy work outside of the Commonwealth will not only help the Center develop critical expertise that can be used in Massachusetts, it will bring in revenue from other areas of the United States to help support programs and the public mission of the McCormack Graduate School and the University of Massachusetts Boston.
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 Collins Center Guides Municipalities Through Charter Change
Among the variety of services the Collins Center offers the cities and towns of the Commonwealth is the expert advice of Deputy Director Stephen McGoldrick on how to develop a municipal charter. Many municipal charters in Massachusetts today are more than a century old and fail to take into account changes in state law and population size as well as in management systems and business practices. An article on the technical aspects of how to undertake charter development written by McGoldrick, Michael Ward, a Collins Center Associate, and Marilyn Contreas, a senior program and policy analyst at the Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development, was published in June by the Massachusetts Department of Revenue.
McGoldrick began his work in this area during his tenure as the Receiver's Chief of Staff for the City of Chelsea during the early 1990's. The Receivership legislation required the Receiver to recommend a new form of governance for post-receivership Chelsea. McGoldrick played a leading role in that charter development process. In various capacities, McGoldrick has done charter work for Amesbury, Barnstable, Melrose and Somerville. The Center has recently been engaged by the Charter Commissions in Everett and Holyoke and is in discussions with the Newburyport Charter Commission to assist and support them in their charter review processes.
The Collins Center utilizes a collaborative approach to the charter development process. The Center views these exercises as consensus-based deliberations that lead to governance structures and divisions of authority and responsibility that best serve the needs of the particular municipality, as determined by the municipality; not by the Center. Although the Center counts an attorney expert in municipal law among its associates, it views these processes as deliberations on governance and policy issues that are then put into legal form. Our experience has demonstrated that facilitative and organizational skills and knowledge of municipal government forms, governmental structures and on the ground experience in managing municipal organizations are of the greatest value to those involved in charter review processes. McGoldrick observed, "Each of the charter projects I have worked on is unique, just as each community has its unique characteristics and governance structures. This work is among the most interesting and complicated aspects of our municipal practice at the Collins Center."
The Collins Center is also developing two new resources to help Massachusetts cities and towns with charter-related issues: a Charter Commission Handbook and a database of charter-related information. Both are anticipated to be completed by the end of 2010.
Please contact Steve at stephen.mcgoldrick@umb.edu if you would like further information on municipal charter issues.
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Sparks Named Permanent Director of Center
|  David M. Sparks, the Interim Director of the Center, was named to the position permanently last month by Stephen Crosby, Dean of the McCormack Graduate School of Policy Studies. In announcing his decision, Dean Crosby said, "I am very pleased to make this appointment. David's entrepreneurial experience, combined with his extensive service at all levels of government, will take the Collins Center to its next level of impact on state and local government, particularly in the areas of performance management and regionalization."
Sparks came to the University in 2006, serving as Assistant to the Dean prior to being named Interim Director of the Collins Center in September 2009, upon the departure of founding director Shelley Metzenbaum. Metzenbaum left the Center after being chosen by President Obama to lead the Administration's implementation of Performance Management throughout the federal government. During his tenure in the Dean's Office, Sparks was instrumental in the formation of the Collins Center.
Sparks brings a wealth of experience in all levels of government as well as in the private sector to the Collins Center, including stints as New England Regional Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Director of Intergovernmental Relations for the Governor of Maine and Chair of the Nashoba Regional School Committee. In addition, he has coordinated the public sector practice of a national productivity improvement firm and worked with utility companies and universities.
During his tenure as Interim Director, Sparks oversaw a number of new initiatives, including the Center's designation by the Massachusetts Executive Office of Administration and Finance as the coordinator of the municipal grant portion of the Federal Stimulus Program and the expansion of the Center's operations throughout New England. He also supervised the development of the Center's first online performance management course and initiated publication of the Collins Report, the Center's monthly newsletter.
Sparks graduated from Tufts University and received an MPA from Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, where he was also named a Fellow at the Institute of Politics.
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Online Performance Management Course To Be Offered in October
 Does your organization value setting and achieving goals? How do you know if you
are successful? The Collins Center's online course on Performance Management can
provide a public or non-profit sector employee with the tools necessary to
identify appropriate measurements to gauge your effectiveness in reaching those
goals. In addition, the course will teach you how to identify your target
audiences and convey meaningful results.
This course is appropriate for
individuals in government or non-profit settings who wish to enhance their
organization's performance as well as for entire staffs who wish to work
together to increase their organization's effectiveness.
Online
professional development uses emerging technology to engage employees where they
work. This educational delivery model recognizes the increasing demands on the
government and non-profit workforce and aims to provide an alternative to
on-site programs which require travel and predetermined meeting times. If you
haven't tried online courses, now is the time to see how efficiently they are
delivered; if you have taken online courses, you know how you can make them work
to your advantage. Our six module course offers valuable information,
flexibility and an opportunity to improve your value to your
organization.
Sign up today for our fall offering, October 4, 2010 -
November 20, 2010. Now is the time to continue your own professional
development!
For more information, check out these links.
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The Edward J. Collins Jr. Center for Public Management
100 Morrissey Boulevard
Boston, MA 02125
Phone: (617) 287- 4824
FAX: (617) 287- 5566
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About Ed Collins
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Throughout his outstanding public career, Edward J. Collins, Jr. epitomized the spirit and goals of the Center that now bears his name. We at the Collins Center are proud to continue the work of Ed's life - helping governments work effectively and productively for the benefit of their citizens.More about Ed |
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