Click here to read the editorial from Cincinnati.com.

From ICMA.org:
 
Local governments find new ways to cut costs and improve efficiency.
 
Read the full article here.

Click here to view the article.
 
Source: Excerpted and adapted from Monte Mercer, "Shared Services and Cost-Saving Collaboration Deserve Repect," PM Magazine, May 2011, published by ICMA (International City/County Management Association).

The Extreme Government Makeover Workshop will be February 9 in Madison.
 
Click here for a press release and more information.

With limited resources, collaboration and partnerships between local units of government play an important role in enhancing and improving service delivery and addressing difficult issues.  
 
The Local Government Institute of Wisconsin is pleased to announce the release of a resource directory which includes case study examples of collaboration between local units of government and other entitites.  This directory was created in part from submissions of examples from local government officials across the state.
 
Case Study Resource Directory
 
This is a working resource directory, as it will be added to and enhanced as more examples present themselves.
 

The Wisconsin Counties Association Conference was held the last week of September.  Wisconsin Eye covered key portions of the conference and have posted the video to their website.  Coverage includes:

• Union Negotiations in the New Landscape
• WCA's Second General Assembly
• Budgeting In the New Environment
• Highway Maintenance in an Era of Budget Cuts

The video can be found at http://www.wiseye.org/Programming/VideoArchive/EventDetail.aspx?evhdid=5087.
 

Performance measurements help us know how we are doing in meeting our objectives.  If our objective is the highest level of service at the lowest cost with the least environmental impact, the only way to know whether we are hitting those objectives is through the selection of appropriate performance measures. 
 
This publication from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency describes a set of performance measures to meet the objectives described above.
 
Guide to Sustainable Transportation Performance Measurements - 2.6 mb

Supercharging Structural Innovation

by Stephen Goldsmith - deputy mayor of operations for the City of New York.  Last week, an important event occurred that could dramatically reshape the face of municipal reform. Bloomberg Philanthropies announced $24 million in grants designed to prove that a dedicated "innovation delivery team" can effectively help mayors design and implement new solutions to pressing city challenges.

Lean Government Conference

October 10, 2011

Monona Terrace, Madison, Wisconsin

At this conference, brought to you by the Wisconsin Center for Performance Excellence and the Local Government Institute of Wisconsin, you will learn about tools and principles to improve quality, cost effectiveness, service delivery and responsiveness to the public. These tools have transformed manufacturing and service delivery in the private sector - cutting the cost of business, producing higher quality products and services, and improving both customer and employee satisfaction.  The conference will focus on successful application of these concepts to the public sector.

For more information, click here.

To register, click here.