CC Web Header  

       
 The Collins Center Report          

Center Sees Increased Demand for Public Works Consulting Projects 


Across the Commonwealth, cities and towns are reviewing the operations of their public works departments to see how, in an era of staffing and budget cuts, work can be done more efficiently while improving services at the same time. Over the past two years, the Collins Center has engaged in extensive organizational studies of public works departments in Littleton, Lowell, Marshfield, Saugus, and Watertown, looking at information systems and automation, staffing and operations, organizational structure, management and planning, administrative services, and customer service, among other topics.

A few lessons can already be learned from these studies. First, each of the departments has significant strengths that can be built upon, foremost among them being teams of committed staff trying to meet community needs even under challenging circumstances. Unfortunately, many of these departments have experienced staffing and budget cuts, resulting in predictable effects on service levels in such areas as infrastructure replacement, response times, and preventive maintenance. Second, department managers have historically focused on "getting the job done" day-to-day, and they tend to continue the same practices that have been done for years. Most of them have not done much to define service levels, measure performance, or report results, and the use of technology as a way to organize and track work has also been limited. 

By comparing a municipality's operations against "best management practices," interviewing staff, elected officials, and community members, and collecting and analyzing available data, the Center has helped each municipality identify specific actions to strengthen their public works organizations. Some of these actions may include:
  • Hire an administrative manager for the department, so that the superintendent and supervisors can focus on operations;
  • Implement a work order system and use technology to its fullest to track the time and resources needed to perform various functions, organize the work so crews can close out multiple work orders in a particular area before moving onto another neighborhood, and ensure that customers hear back after their complaints have been addressed;
  • Develop and implement an asset management plan to maintain, rehabilitate, and/or replace infrastructure and facilities, thereby reducing the high cost and disruptions that come with emergency repair work; and,
  • Enhance departmental websites so community members can find information they need quickly and easily, thereby reducing staff time spent answering repeated questions
Although the Center brings years of expertise to this topic, a key ingredient to developing sound, implementable solutions for any city or town is collaborating with local officials, hearing from residents and elected officials about to each community's unique public works needs, and building upon existing departmental strengths.

For more information on the Center's DPW consulting practice, please contact Rob Haley at [email protected].

Pittsfield Voters Approve New City Charter  

Voters in Pittsfield overwhelmingly approved a new city charter by a vote of 4,682 to 1,489. The new charter replaces one that was enacted back in 1932. The Collins Center served as the primary consultant to the Charter Commission, which drafted the new charter and presented it to the City Council.

The new charter establishes broader citizen involvement through initiative and referendum provisions, a transparent budgeting and capital planning process, and a provision that will allow the city to restructure its operations in response to future conditions. Following a Massachusetts trend, it calls for a four year term for the mayor.

In addition to Pittsfield, the Center has consulted on recent successful charter changes (and other major statutory changes) in the cities of Everett, Newburyport, and Northampton, and the towns of Hubbardston and South Hadley.

For more information on the Center's charter consulting practice, please contact Steve McGoldrick at [email protected] or 617.287.4824.

Your Input Needed on a Municipal Performance Management Website 

As part of the Massachusetts Municipal Performance Management Program, the Collins Center is developing a website on performance management, data and analysis, information technology, best practices, and related topics to serve as a resource for municipal managers in Massachusetts and beyond. If you are a municipal manager or someone who works with municipalities, the Center would appreciate your input to make the site as useful as possible. Please click here to take this eight-question survey.

The funding for the website has been provided by the Executive Office for Administration and Finance through its Community Innovation Challenge (CIC) Grant Program.

Center Executive Recruitment Practice Continues to Grow    

Focusing on Municipal Managers and Other High Level Public Sector Positions, the Center Has Provided Assistance on Nearly 30 Executive Level Recruitments

The Collins Center recruitment practice was established in 2008, shortly after the commencement of the Center's operations. Since that time the Center has assisted in almost thirty executive level recruitments for public sector organizations. 

Center recruitment experts are often asked: What does a recruiter do? What value added does a recruiter bring to a hiring process? When an organization chooses a new leader, it chooses a path for the organization. The Center approach to executive recruitment places heavy emphasis on understanding the client from the inside out. To be effective, the Center team must understand and be able to articulate the critical issues that an organization has to address over a three to five year period. The team does not start active recruiting until critical issues are identified, documented, and approved by the appointing authority. In complex situations, this takes considerable expertise and facilitation. The Center provides both.

When organizations are ambiguous about the kind of leadership they need and the challenges that must be addressed, the risk of failure by a new hire increases.  To mitigate this risk, the Center helps its clients develop common expectations of the role of a new leader.

In in its short history, the Center has helped municipalities as small as Princeton (pop. 3,353) and as large as Springfield (pop. 153,552). In addition, the Center has assisted in the hiring of the Medford Housing Authority executive director, the director of the Essex Regional Retirement Board, the executive director of the Somerville Retirement Board, and a police chief in Wilbraham.

Currently, the Center is recruiting a town administrator for Carver and town managers for Cohasset, and Dracut, and Foxborough.

For more information on the Center's recruitment practice, please contact Richard Kobayashi at [email protected] or 617.287.4824.

New England StatNet Holds Meeting on Police Departments 


The Next Meeting Will Be in February and Will Focus on Inspectional Services

Statnet The Collins Center held the fall New England StatNet meeting Tuesday, October 28, 2013 from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm at the Charlton Public Library. The topic of the meeting was data and performance management in police departments, and it was attended by approximately 100 city and town managers, police chiefs and officers, and other state and local officials.

In addition, StatNet hosted its first international guests, as a delegation of 10 police officers from Abu Dhabi attended the meeting. The delegation has been touring the United States to learn more about performance management and cost accounting in police departments.

Meeting topics included information technology, use of geographic data, constituent surveys and internal surveys, geographic districts, performance measures in police departments, and the role of crime analysts. In addition, the Massachusetts Association of Crime Analysts (MACA) presented a case study on the value of crime analysis, and the Abu Dhabi delegation spoke about their travels learning about performance management in police departments.

Further information about the February meeting will be available in December. In the meantime, if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact StatNet Coordinator Amy Dain at [email protected] or Director of Municipal Services Michael Ward at [email protected].

Massachusetts Education Partnership Holds Conference on Improving Student Achievement through Labor-Management Collaboration and the Common Core     

MEP Logo The Massachusetts Education Partnership (MEP), located at the Collins Center, seeks to improve student achievement through labor-management collaboration. On October 28, approximately 300 educators representing more than 70 school districts as well as scholars, policy makers and education thought leaders gathered in Marlborough, Massachusetts to share the latest information about major education policies and initiatives. While the conference focused on Common Core State Standards (CCSS), participants also discussed educator evaluation, innovation schools, tools for 21st century teaching, and interest-based collective bargaining were addressed in a series of breakout sessions.

The opening plenary session featured Susan Moore Johnson, Jerome T. Murphy Professor of Education, Harvard Graduate School of Education. The title of her talk was "Ensuring that Teacher Evaluation Provides Both Support and Assessment."

A second plenary session, "Labor and Management Working Together to Implement the Common Core," featured Kathleen Skinner, Director, Center for Education Policy and Practice, Massachusetts Teachers Association, Dr. John Doherty, Superintendent, Reading School District, and Robert Mooney, President, Reading Teachers Association.

Funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the National Education Association Foundation and the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, the Massachusetts Education Partnership is led by a board composed of the Massachusetts Teachers Association, Massachusetts Association of School Committees, Massachusetts Association of School Superintendents, American Federation of Teachers Massachusetts, and four research institutions-University of Massachusetts Boston, Northeastern University, MIT, and the Rennie Center for Education  Research and Policy. 

For information about the MEP, visit www.massedpartnership.org or call Nancy E. Peace, executive director, at 617.287.7185.

Contracting with the Collins Center

Agreements between local governments and the Collins Center are exempt from the provisions of Chapter 30b, the Uniform Procurement Act, since the University of Massachusetts is an instrumentality of the Commonwealth. Municipalities may negotiate a scope of services and a price with the Collins Center directly, saving both time and money. Similarly, Massachusetts state agencies may enter into Interagency Service Agreements with the Collins Center. For further information, please contact Stephen McGoldrick at [email protected].

The Edward J. Collins, Jr. Center for Public Management is dedicated to improving the efficiency and effectiveness of all levels of government, with a particular focus on state and local government. The Collins Center is part of the John W. McCormack Graduate School of Policy and Global Studies at the University of Massachusetts Boston.
The Edward J. Collins, Jr. Center for Public Management
John W. McCormack Graduate School of Policy and Global Studies
100 Morrissey Boulevard
Boston, MA 02125
Phone: 617.287.4824
FAX: 617.287.5566
New Banner 1
Volume 5, Issue 5 

November 2013

Facebook
Collins Center in the News

Collins Center Offers Proposal for Wayland Administrator Search
Wicked Local,
November 6, 2013


Consultant: Add Jobs to Saugus DPW
Itemlive.com,
October 28, 2013


Findings From Rec Survey Unveiled
Jamestown Press,
October 24, 2013

Over-55 Developments Can Squeeze Families Looking for Housing
Telegram.com,
October 19, 2013


Mendon Looking at Administrator Search Options
Milford Daily News, September 24, 2013

Town Widens Town Manager Pool
The Foxboro Reporter, September 19, 2013

UMass Boston Center to Handle Cohasset Town Manager Search
Patriot Ledger,
September 19, 2013


Public Works Department Given Slew of Recommendations by Consultants
Watertown Patch, September 17, 2013


Medway, Collins Center Team Up on Town Administrator Search
Milford Daily News, September 17, 2013
ARRA Two
Contracting with the Collins Center

Quick Links
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 Ed's legacy - helping governments work effectively and productively for the benefit of their citizens.

More about Ed Collins