RUSHERN IN THE NEWS
Baker Launches Prince George's CountyStat
on March 28, 2012View Article from Source
Upper Marlboro, MD – Today, Prince George’s County Executive Rushern L. Baker, III launched Prince George’s CountyStat, his program to deliver results through analysis, accountability, and innovation. The Prince George’s County model is an adaptation of "stat" programs from other jurisdictions, including New York City, the State of Washington, and Gov. Martin O’Malley’s pioneering work in Baltimore City and the State of Maryland. Additionally, with the launch of the CountyStat website, residents, stakeholders, and the media can now view analyzed data and findings at http://www.princegeorgescountymd.gov/countystat.
“CountyStat signals a new era of openness and accountability in Prince George’s.” said Baker. “By monitoring performance, promoting innovation, and sharing our findings with the public, CountyStat will ensure my administration is making measurable progress toward improving the efficiency of the Prince George’s County government.”
Some of the features of Prince George’s CountyStat include:
•Thematic issue approach: The challenges before the County are complex and therefore require a coordinated response among agencies. So, under the thematic issue approach CountyStat convenes key agencies around a single issue, aligns resources, executes a common response, and measures results -as opposed to an administrative approach focused on reviewing individual departments.
•Transparency: CountyStat sessions are open to the public and its reports and other materials are posted online. By being open, CountyStat generates greater urgency towards fixing problems, and also shares the good things that the County is doing. This openness and opportunity for public feedback is important to the health of our government.
• Best practice promotion: CountyStat also performs a research and development function, identifying and implementing best practices to improve government operations and policies. To do this, CountyStat engages think tanks, non-governmental organizations, and other jurisdictions from around the country to generate the best ideas possible. If another county, city, or town is doing something innovative, CountyStat wants to learn about it and find out if it will work here.
In addition to providing data and policy research, CountyStat is also an important governing forum for the County Executive and his top managers. During CountyStat sessions, the management team and agency heads meet face-to-face to ensure accountability by addressing issues in a collaborative manner. The complete PowerPoint presentation about CountyStat can be seen here.
“CountyStat’s job is to make sure our government is operating as effectively as possible,” explains Baker. “It is a tool that will enable us to identify problems and implement strategies to improve our processes and operations,” says Baker.
However, CountyStat does not shy away from asking tough questions, isolating problems, or holding agencies accountable for their performance. During CountyStat sessions, agencies engage in discussions on ways to improve their services with the CountyStat Executive’s Senior Management Team, which consists of the County Executive, Chief Administrative Officer, Deputy Chief Administrative Officer, the CountyStat Manager and senior staff from the Office of Management and Budget.
CountyStat will post its presentations, followup memos, agency responses and other information online for public information and input. Likewise, sessions are open to the public to observe in-person with the exceptions of very sensitive matters like public safety or personnel.
“CountyStat is not just a tool for me as County Executive, but a tool for the people of Prince George’s County to monitor their government and see how effective we are,” says Baker.
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