Left In Lowell

More than just a position!

by Mimi at 8:32 am.

Tonight’s public hearing and vote by the City Council on establishing the position of a Stat analyst will be much more than a vote to approve a new hire; it will in effect define the philosophy of this City Council on how the City should be operated. It appears that the arguments presented by the City Manager for the need of this position are accepted but it is the implementation in this atmosphere that has become the issue.

Since a new ordinance needs six votes for approval, it will be tight. Two of the City Councilors (CC R. Mercier and R. Elliott) have already announced they will not vote for it. I am assuming that CC B. Caulfield will also not vote for it. Therefore the decision will be left to the two policy wonk on this new Council, CC P. Murphy and CC J. Mendonca. (Yes, I am making a major assumption that the other four will vote for it; although I have not read or heard any indications that this will be the case).

I have heard CM Lynch a couple of times on the radio discussing the need for this position; and of course, he made a presentation to the full CC when he submitted his report. Quite a few questions were posed and the CM was asked to come back tonight with additional information:  Here is a short paragraph from CM Lynch’s report to the CC: 

In the spring of 2009, the principal question for realizing a LowellStat program was the resources required to implement the program. To a very large extent our technology requirements for such a program are already in place as is our data collection. The challenge will be rolling out the program department by department with the required, or desired, metrics to be captured. Further, the data collected needs to be analyzed and researched, including operational modifications. Unfortunately, this is one of those areas of management capacity that is deficient within the City organization (my italic).

Individual departments do not have analytical capabilities and the central administration within the City Managers and Finance Office are very much lacking staff support in this area.

The CM proposed salary for that position is $40 - 60K and he intends to fund it in FY 2010 from the Manager’s Contigency Fund.

The initial argument against the opponent of this position was how can we hire someone when we laid off so many people. Now the argument has morphed to “make a reduction” to fund this new position. That is what today’s Sun editorial is advocating. It would have been hard for them to disagree with this position when the editor was once upon a time a strong proponent.

If this position works properly, it will help bring the efficiencies required to run government within the framework of today’s and more importantly tomorrow, financial’s realities. We cannot go on running government the way we have been.

Back to Murphy and Mendonca, I know that they both understand and appreciate the position of an analyst to give upper management and department heads additional tools. Since it was CC Murphy who made the initial motion to have the CM investigate the possibility of the City using a City Stat model, and since CC Mendonca is well versed in municipal finance, I am confident they will both do their homework before the public hearing and listen to the concerns on both sides of the issue that will be expressed tonight. I am comfortable that whatever they decide, it will not be capricious and will be done in the best interest of the City not only for FY 2010 but for the years to come. Good luck Joe and Patrick!

[Filed under MA politics] [link]

11 Responses to “More than just a position!”

Shawn Says:
March 2nd, 2010 at 9:06 am
I would say hire a part time consultant to do the analysis (or get UMASS to do it on thier dime).

No benefits, no pension, no retirement, no sick time buyback, etc.

If the system saves enough money over the first year, use that savings to bring someone on full time if needed.
K-R-S Says:
March 2nd, 2010 at 9:21 am
Statistics along with your budget drive the operation..any operation whether it be private, non profit or government. Strategic planning is better facilitated as well, with data.
Jack Mitchell Says:
March 2nd, 2010 at 10:36 am
I fully support the creation of this position. CC Murphy presented the ideas in detail at the last CNAG meeting. It is clear that the data will allow departments to make well informed decisions on how to build in efficiencies.

The city must work smarter, not harder.
Lynne Says:
March 2nd, 2010 at 11:42 am
I think there will be too much data, and too much setting up of the infrastructure to collect data (and the analyst should be able to help with “what data to collect”), to make it a part time position. I think you won’t get a whole hella lot out of it if you do this half assed.
Jack Mitchell Says:
March 2nd, 2010 at 12:11 pm
The CM should be careful not to do too much, at first. This will work best, if the CM picks a few departments to serve as role models for this effort.

Then the roll out can proceed, steadily, without detour.
observer Says:
March 2nd, 2010 at 12:53 pm
Let the manager manage! Let the man do his job . . . he knows what he is doing.
Lynne Says:
March 2nd, 2010 at 12:54 pm
I think, from what I’ve heard, is that is the plan. But the setup of even a few depts, training them, deciding what to track, and then how to effectively use that data, will not be a part time job. Even the stats that are currently tracked (there are some!) could be given to this person to handle.
Maggie Says:
March 2nd, 2010 at 5:19 pm
I still don’t kmow what to think about this. I have been told that more layoffs are coming with the next fiscal year and there are only so many cuts that can be made without seriously affecting service. They have to pay out a tremendous amount of overtinme with the storms and especially with the one last Thursday. The fire dept was straight out with calls including a 40 minute one on the corner when a huge branch broke and was threatening a neighbor’s house. ( a branch I might add that the state has refused to cut despite pleas from the neighbor) I would also like to see a completely reorganized Inspectional Services though and a stricter policy on foreclosed properties that that socks it to the mortage holder if they fail to maintain the property. So if this new person can do that - fine.
Mr. Lynne Says:
March 2nd, 2010 at 7:55 pm
The first step toward finding out how to work better is gathering intelligence on how your working now. If you skip or only play lip service to that first step, you won’t nearly be as effective at implementing improvements. The notion that it may take a dedicated person who’s job function is to work with that intelligence to make it meaningful for decision makers seems common sense to me - especially for a city the size of Lowell. I suppose all this is optional, but only if you think there isn’t an urgent need for improvement. I, for one, do see an urgent need just looking at the budgetary pressures alone.

It’s about working smarter, not harder. Paying lip service to using data is a waste of resources. Actually using it smartly is much preferred.
hmmmm Says:
March 2nd, 2010 at 8:42 pm
Mr. Lynne, I believe that this is what the Manager is proposing. The City needs to examine how they are conducting business now to truly be able to move forward and do things more efficiently.
Lynne Says:
March 2nd, 2010 at 9:26 pm
Maggie - I think this position is *pivotal* to doing those things you list…Sheehan before he was ousted (possibly illegally) was looking into how to rework the inspectional services, for instance. It takes someone pouring over the data, to decide where people are being over- or under-utilized and back that up with the real data to prove it.

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March 2, 2010

More than just a position!

11 Responses to “More than just a position!”

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