Where In The World Is CITISTAT?

Citistat was the crown jewel of the Eddie Francis Mayoral campaign. It was what separated Eddie from Bill Marra. It helped him get elected.

Citistat is a real-time performance measurement tool that the City of Baltimore developed that was designed to improve operational efficiency and staff accountability throughout local government. Strategies are developed and employed, managers held accountable, and results measured week to week.

Citistat relies on Microsoft Excel for the spreadsheets and Arcview mapping software, both of which are available to the Windsor. Citistat would cost virtually nothing to buy and nothing for training but would save the City millions of dollars every year that would result in lower taxes.

WHATEVER HAPPENED TO CITISTAT? Why has it never been implemented?

Remember what Eddie said in the Star during the election

• “Francis said he will borrow cost-saving ideas from American cities.
  
  Baltimore manages all its municipal functions through a computer program called CitiStat. Data on every pothole, sewer backup and police call is plugged into the program and statistics are automatically generated. Baltimore credits CitiStat with reducing crime, absenteeism among municipal staff, overtime and illegal dumping, saving $43 million in two years.
  
  CitiStat updates statistics daily, making city departments more accountable for their spending, Francis said. "In the real world, performance is evaluated every day ... not yearly."

I had seen a report that was prepared for Eddie by Sue Braiden in January, 2004 that seemed to provide justification for moving forward http://www.ediblecomputer.com/111703.html

I wanted to know where we stood today on Citistat. The best information on the Mayor’s webpage that I could find was his 2004 Annual report [*This report is not the final draft. This report will be updated periodically. Check back here for future updates.*] Citistat was shown as “In Progress.” Hardly the timely reporting that we should be entitled to expect. Hardly evaluation every day….not yearly!

The problem is that the Mayor’s failure to implement Citistat is costing us real dollars. Eddie in his election Platform expressed his commitment about the value of Citistat in this manner:

1. Once implemented, Citistat will free up dollars to be applied against future debt.
2. Citistat will: Reduce operating costs
   Increase revenue streams
   Reduce lost time from absenteeism and accidents
   Eliminate cost over runs in purchasing
   Identify new efficiencies

Eddie went on to say that “Estimated savings will amount to $10 million per year. Based on the success of other municipalities using Citistat annual savings growth increases over time.”

We have gone through 2 budget cycles under Eddie’s regime and are just about to start the third. No Citistat.

Using Eddie’s numbers, the City has not saved at least $20 million so far plus annual savings increases. Even assuming that there is a will to implement Citistat, and I see no evidence of that commitment, how long would it take to bring it into effect. I would suggest that it would take at least 2 years since that is how long it took to implement the 3-1-1 program. Zero-based budgetting for all City Departments is still being carried out. Citistat seems to be a very complex program also.

That means at least another $10-20 plus million lost, or $30-40 million plus in total that could have been used for all kinds of City purposes like paying down debt or lowering taxes or fixing infrastructure or etc etc .

It should not be that big a deal for Windsor anyway. My understanding is that Windsor Police have a version of Citistat that they have been using for years now. Isn’t the Mayor on the Windsor Police Commission? Why can’t the City learn from that experience and take advantage of the expertise already developed?

To quote Eddie again: “Mayor O’Malley of Baltimore said “CitiStat brings the sense of urgency that we need around here. It has already produced a much deeper and faster culture of accountability,” the mayor said. It has produced millions in savings. Citizens of Windsor should expect no less.” Amen to that!