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North Hempstead’s Performance Measurement System, TownStat, Honored with National Award

 

For Immediate Release                                                                            Media Contacts: Collin Nash, Sid Nathan, and Jason Elan
September 23, 2011                                                                                                                                                        (516) 869-7794

North Hempstead’s Performance Measurement System, TownStat, Honored with National Award

TONH Only Municipality in Entire Northeast United States to Win Nationwide Designation

Kaiman: “Upholds administration's focus on accountable, transparent government.”
 
North Hempstead, NYNorth Hempstead’s TownStat Performance Measurement and Management program has been honored with a Certificate of Distinction from the International City/County Management Association (ICMA), one of only 11 municipalities nationwide to receive such recognition. The award was made through the ICMA Center for Performance Management (CPM).

“The ICMA Certificate of Distinction is an affirmation of my administration’s focus on efficient, accountable and open government,” said North Hempstead Town Supervisor Jon Kaiman. “This award recognizes the outstanding work we’re doing here in North Hempstead to monitor and manage government service for our residents.”

“The certificate program in one of the pillars of CPM,” said Michael Lawson, the CPM Director. “Though our certificate program, local governments are recognized for their exceptional commitment to learning and improvement.”

TownStat and the Town’s 311 constituent service system have been cornerstones of the Kaiman administration. The programs, which were officially implemented in 2005, work together to take in resident service requests, direct them to the correct service delivery point, and follow-up to ensure that performance management standards are met.

“We log in every call and can follow it through to completion.” Kaiman noted. North Hempstead received its 500,000th 311 service request in October of 2010, and expects to receive more than 170,000 service requests in 2011.

Kaiman singled out Deputy Town Supervisor Christopher Senior and David Gottesman, the Director of Budget and Performance Management, for particular recognition. “Chris has been at the center of TownStat since its inception, and Dave has done outstanding work the past three years running the day-to-day operations. Their efforts have been instrumental in making TownStat the success it is today.”

North Hempstead completed a lengthy application and submitted dozens of supporting documents to show multiple years of data collection and analysis, TownStat meeting agendas, presentations given on performance measurement strategies, and articles in local media discussing the merits and successes of the initiative. Eleven local governments achieved the mark of “Distinction”, and out of the 47 local governments nationwide to achieve any level of recognition, North Hempstead is the only one in the entire northeast United States.

The ICMA certificate program assesses a local government’s performance management program and encourages analysis of results by comparing to peers and gauging performance over time. Performance management aids in cost reduction, program prioritization, and quality improvement. It encourages accountability and transparency.

TownStat also engages the North Hempstead public and civic groups as well.

Richard Bentley President of the Council of the Greater Manhasset Civic Associations, which has under its umbrella eight civic associations, conducts monthly meetings at North Hempstead Town Hall to review TownStat figures related to Manhasset service requests.

“The main benefit is that you see your concern acted upon more quickly and there is now a way to track progress through the Town bureaucracy,” Bentley said. “While it is not flawless, it is light years ahead of anything we have had in the past. It is nice to know that North Hempstead is the leader on Long Island for performance measurement and management. Supervisor Kaiman deserves credit for getting it up and running.”

TownStat also can be credited for improving a wide array of services delivered by the Town.

Tracking the number of non-emergency, round-trip medical taxi rides, TownStat analysis concluded that the service, provided by Project Independence, wasn’t being utilized enough by residents in the Westbury area compared to other places in the Town.

Armed with that crucial piece of information, the Town beefed up promotion of the service in Westbury. The result was an extraordinary increase, from 415 trips in August 2010 to 721 as of August this year, a whopping 74 percent increase.



About ICMA

ICMA advances professional local government worldwide. Its mission is to create excellence in local governance by developing and advancing professional management of local government. ICMA, the International City/County Management Association, provides member support; publications, data, and information; peer and results-oriented assistance; and training and professional development to nearly 9,000 city, town, and county experts and other individuals and organizations throughout the world. The management decisions made by ICMA's members affect 185 million individuals living in thousands of communities.

About the Center for Performance Measurement

ICMA’s Center for Performance Measurement is dedicated to helping local governments use performance information to better the lives of the people they serve. To that end, we assist localities with the collection, reporting and analysis of data relating to quality, effectiveness and efficiency. We encourage the use of performance information in a positive, continuous learning environment in order to foster organizational cultures that deliver results that matter. CPM currently assists more than 160 local governments in the U.S. and Canada with the collection, analysis, and application of performance information. For more information, please visit icma.org/performance.


Supervisor Jon Kaiman (right) accepts the Certificate of Distinction for North Hempstead’s TownStat in Milwaukee, Wisconsin from ICMA Executive Director Robert O’Neill (left)

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