Dare to Compare June 2008 - The importance of comparing performance data across local governments. Addresses the "we're too different to compare" mindset. Source: Governing Magazine Far Sighted: Long-range focus allows city government to celebrate Baldrige recognition June 2008 - Recap of Coral Springs' receipt of 2008 Baldrige Award, including how their participation in the FBC helped them achieve performance goals. Source: qualityprogress.com 112105-goltz-police-pm-in-florida.pdf FBCpermeasures[1].report.pdf 0806-fbc-pm-biblio.pdf 2006-gov-ster-conf-city-county-followup.pdf Tax Watch Report Re Local Government Productivity Improvements - 0907.pdf http://www.governing.com/manage/pm/perf1007.htm COPS performace measurement guide for law enforcement Sloan Sponsored article on visual effects in presenting performance measures Bringing a Higher Level of Productivity to the Fire Services - Tales of Two cities Public Management - March 2008. Published by ICMA Fire+Rescue+Best+Practices+-+ICMA+0308.pdf The fire departments in Albany and White Plans (NY) demonstrate that looking beyond the traditional roles of the fire service and seeking cooperative ventures with law enforcement and other agencies lead to significant opportunities to greatly enhance fire service productivity. Managers seeking additional resouces to address the increasing demands placed upon our communities may want to explore the large andoften untapped resources in their existing fire departments. Pinellas County FL Call (help) Desk Performance Pinellas+County+IT+-+Call+Desk+Performance+Excellence.pdf It is Pinellas County's goal to resolve its help desk customers' concerns at the first contact. To that end, in early FY2006, the County relocated the help desk so that call center staff and desktop technicians could resider in the same facility.  As a result, during FY2006, the County reported that 88 percent of help desk calls were resolved at the time of call. The County's peers in the ICMA-CPM network reported an average of 43%. Involving the Public in Measuring and Reporting Local Government Performance BY BARBARA J. COHN BERMAN Barbara+Cohn+Berman+article+-+Involving+the+Public+in+Measuring+and+Reporting+Local+Government+Performance[1)_Barbara_Cohn].pdf Regular reporting to the public about the range of government performance has not been commonplace, but involving the public in selecting information to be measured and reported is even more infrequent. Constructive conversations between the public and government on the subject of performance measures and reports are rarer still. Yet our research at the Fund for the City of New York’s Center on Government Performance revealed that the public assesses government by using indicators that differ from some of government’s standard measures. Hence, engaging the public is critically important if we are to have government actions aligned with the public’s needs.