FEBRUARY 7, 2006 FARMINGVILLE, NY – Looking to bring Baltimore CitiStat (an award winning, internationally–acclaimed and much-emulated management accountability tool) to Brookhaven Town, Supervisor Brian X. Foley led a delegation on Friday with Councilwoman Bissonette, Deputy Supervisor Jack Schnirman and IT Director Donna Gergela to Baltimore city to see this dynamic management strategy in action.

CitiStat, winner of the 2004 Innovation in American Government Award presented by Harvard University and the Council on Excellence in Government, is a powerful management and accountability tool used to facilitate data-driven decisions in the deployment of town resources.  It enables government agencies to collect information on and evaluate the performance of a wide variety of functions and concerns, from crime fighting to vacant buildings, building inspections, potholes and summer recreation programs.

Department heads are held accountable; results are measured and reported on how the public is served- not yearly, quarterly or monthly, but week to week.  Corruption and mismanagement are rooted out when there is a management structure that demands a microscope on numbers, performance tracking, costs and customer satisfaction – data doesn’t lie.

Foley Sees Baltimore’s CITISTAT in action

The Foley Team in Baltimore on Friday, along with a delegation from the British Embassy:

• Toured the CitiStat offices,
• Witnessed an actual CitiStat accountability session of the Bureau of Solid Waste with Mayor Martin O’Malley and the CitiStat Team,
• Was briefed by CitiStat’s Director Matt Gallagher,
• Participated in a Q&A session with CitiStat Senior Analyst Christopher Thomaskutty,
• Participated in a lunch briefing session on how to get Citistat started with CitiStat founding analyst and current chief of the city Public Works Department's Bureau of Water and Wastewater Jay Sakai
• Tour of 311 call center and briefing of Baltimore’s 311 program with 311 Call Center Director Lisa Allen

“My administration is committed to delivering accountability and transparency through data-driven management,” said Foley.  “I want to thank Mayor O’Malley and his team for demonstrating the level of effectiveness, transparency and the amount of money saved by CitiStat.  This fact-finding trip has opened our eyes to just how far we need to go in Brookhaven to reach this extraordinary level of accountability by our Departments.  We will have a culture of accountability and results, driven by accurate data and statistics.”

The Foley Team is now working on the next steps as they begin to consider implementing SeviceStat in the Town of Brookhaven.