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Edward J. Collins, Jr. Center for Public Management
              McCormack Graduate School of Policy and Global Studies
       
 The Collins Report
SURVEY SHOWS MUNICIPAL CEOs PESSIMISTIC
More Use of Performance Management and Regionalization Seen as Likely
Massachusetts RegionsMore than 90 percent of the 159 cities and towns that responded to the Center's first annual Massachusetts Municipal Affairs Survey reported that they were unable to make improvements in their delivery of services over the past year. Indeed, almost half of the survey participants  (47.7 percent) actually rated their ability to deliver services as worse than one year ago. Respondents were also not optimistic about next year's levels of state aid: 74.7 percent expect a decrease in local aid for Fiscal Year 2012, further hampering the ability of managers to provide basic municipal services. A discussion of the survey's other key findings follows.

Personnel and Professional Development Needs

The survey measured anticipated turnover in the leadership of key municipal departments over the next five years, and the results make clear that there will be tremendous change soon in the management of major municipal departments across the state. Respondents predicted the greatest needs would be in Administration, with 46.5 percent of the participating communities indicating that there would be a change in the top leadership position. Almost 40 percent of respondents also predicted a likely change in the management of their Public Works Departments. Similar turnover was predicted in public safety: 34.2 percent anticipate hiring a new Police Chief; 32.7 percent a new Fire Chief. Change in the top leadership positions of most other municipal departments within the next five years is expected by between 19 and 30 percent of the survey participants.

Municipalities were asked to assess their needs for professional development training for management employees. Finance, Information Technology, Administration and Human Resources were identified as the departments having the greatest demand for such training.

Use of Performance Management Indicators on the Rise

Survey results show that the concept of performance management is making significant inroads in Massachusetts municipal government.  More than 40 percent of participating cities and towns indicated that they consider performance management likely to be introduced into most municipal departments, even though, fewer than 10 percent of respondents report measures already in place in those same departments.


Regionalization, Privatization and Use of Shared Service Agreements

The fiscal challenges facing municipal CEOs have brought consideration of  inter-municipal agreements and regionalization to the forefront. Almost 65 percent of the survey participants consider it very likely or likely that their Veterans Services Departments would be regionalized or privatized; 58.9 percent thought the same about their Animal Control operations. Almost 50 percent  predicted the regionalization or privatization of the Health and Inspectional Services Departments. Municipalities were asked whether they thought they could reduce current spending by regionalizing services. Respondents thought such cost savings could be achieved by regionalizing their Fire Departments, as well as in the previously mentioned Health, Animal Control, Inspectional Services and Veterans Services Departments.

Cities and towns were asked to report the existence of shared service agreements with other communities. These agreements are used most frequently among municipal Fire Departments, followed by Veterans Services, Health, Emergency Management, Animal Control and Police Departments.

The survey's findings reinforce the recent work of the Commonwealth's Regionalization Advisory Commission, chaired by Lieutenant Governor Timothy Murray and for which the Collins Center provided staffing. The Commission's full report can be found by clicking here.

About the Survey

The survey was sent to the Chief Executive Officer of each of the Commonwealth's 351 cities and towns. The Center received completed surveys from 159 communities, representing a statistically significant 45.2 percent rate of participation. Every geographical area of the Commonwealth was represented among the respondents, as well as every type of municipal government - whether Mayor, City Manager, Board of Selectmen, Town Manager or Town Administrator.

This survey will be repeated every year and should provide a longitudinal study of the attitudes and accomplishments of municipal managers in the key areas discussed above. The Center will be able to chart trends in Massachusetts municipal regionalization efforts, cost-savings and shared services, as well as in the need for professional development and the use of performance management techniques by the Commonwealth's cities and towns.

The information gained by the Center from this survey, and from future surveys, will be used to ensure that its programs and projects match municipal needs as closely as possible. The Center already has active municipal recruitment and interim management practices. It coordinates the work of New England StatNet, a network of municipalities using data-driven performance management approaches, and it recently assisted the Executive Office of Administration and Finance in developing a roadmap for introducing results-oriented management across state agencies.  Finally, the Center has already helped several municipalities enter into regional and shared service agreements.

The results of the survey will also be made available to state, city, town and state officials to provide them with insight regarding the state of affairs in Massachusetts municipal government.

Click here to read the Executive Summary of the Collins Center's 2010 Massachusetts Municipal Affairs Survey.
Center Concludes Management and Organizational Review in Ashby
Ashby FlagThe Collins Center has concluded an engagement in the Town of Ashby, which sought the Center's assistance on a variety of topics relating to its management structure.

Ashby has been without a Town Administrator (TA) since late 2009. Before the Board of Selectmen began the process of hiring a new Town Administrator, Board members requested that the Center conduct an independent assessment of what the job entails and how the position fits in with the Town's overall organizational structure. The Center worked with the Board to devise a project that would not only help Ashby think strategically about the Town Administrator position but would also help the Town build a strong foundation for the eventual recruitment of a qualified individual for the position, whether its responsibilities remained the same or were altered.

The project also provided the Center with the opportunity to "drill down" in one particular community. The Center was thus able to help the Town of Ashby itself and to develop materials, processes, and expertise that could be utilized in assisting other communities elsewhere across the Commonwealth.

The final project scope of work included six items:
  • Revised Town organizational chart
     
  • Analysis of and recommendations for a job description for Town Administrator position
  • Job descriptions for Town staff
  • Personnel policy booklet, including standard evaluation procedures
  • Town employee comparable salary research, and
  • Analysis of potential cost-savings policy changes, as time would permit.

Additionally, to assist the Board in organizing all these projects, the Center provided the Board with a roadmap for the implementation of the results of the study.

The Center made numerous recommendations to the Board regarding the future of the Town Administrator position. While the Town has functioned well during the absence of a TA, this short-term success is not evidence that the situation is sustainable for the long-term. Faced with the choice of using the resources available for a 40-hour per week TA at the currently authorized salary or a part-time TA at a higher pay rate, the Center believes that the latter is the better choice. In the long run, the Town will function best with a full-time TA, so the position should be allowed and encouraged to evolve toward full-time. The Center also provided seven policy recommendations on a wide variety of topics for the Board to consider and produced the other documents and research outlined in the scope of work. These products will serve as templates that will be useful for other communities facing similar issues.

The Center is currently compiling this information and it will soon be available upon request. Based on local press coverage of this work and references on the Center's website, several communities have already contacted the Center on topics related to the project. The work done by Center staff in Ashby is also proving valuable to the Center's development of a management toolkit/checklist for small towns across the Commonwealth.

If you are interested in learning more about the Ashby project or the resulting reports and documents, please contact Michael Ward at (617) 287-4876 or [email protected].
Online Performance Management Course To Be Offered in January

PerformanceDoes 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 winter offering, January 10, 2011 - February 18, 2011. Now is the time to continue your own professional development!

For more information, check out these links.

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
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