tagged with: Efficiency review
July 5, 2008
Define ’sparsely’ please
Today’s P-I notes that the Efficiency Review will be presented to the city, and then the public, in the near future. Happy words. But I take issue with the suggestion that the two public forums were ’sparsely’ attended. I was present at the meeting at Tabernacle, and I made a rough estimate of 50 people who were very engaged in the process. So I guess if 50 people present and accounted for constitutes ’sparse attendance’, I’m kinda curious what constitutes a well-attended meeting? Interestingly, however, the article didn’t mention whether each of our City Council members submit their surveys to the Efficiency Review consultants - surveys intended to learn our elected reps’ views of core vs. desired levels of service.
April 14, 2008
The Efficiency Review - requested info still not in
In a letter posted to this site April 1, the Efficiency Review consultants explained 1) that they were not able to proceed with their analysis until several city departments and city council representatives provided information on what they deem to be ‘core’ vs. ‘desired’ levels of service, and 2) that they were told all necessary information would be provided to them within two weeks. As of this morning: the consultants have received the required information from all city departments except the police department (which is said to be working on same), and they have received no additional core service questionnaires from city council members (only two of the council representatives have submit the requested questionnaires).
April 1, 2008
Efficiency Review…a progress report (or, why the delay)
In the following letter, Mr. Walker of Berkshire Advisors (the consultants conducting the city’s Efficiency Review) explains that progress on providing recommendations has largely been put on hold until various city departments submit the information necessary to complete the analysis. He also notes that he’s been apprised that the required information will be provided within the next two weeks. Read more >
January 7, 2008
Efficiency Review - The flyer
From the flyer (download it, share it):
Berkshire Advisors is currently conducting an efficiency study for the City of Petersburg. As part of this study Berkshire Advisors will be holding two community forums. These community forums are designed to offer Petersburg residents the opportunity to discuss their expectations for city services and provide insights into the effectiveness with which services are provided by the city to its citizens. The consultants will use the feedback gained at these meetings to inform their analysis of the city government and to develop recommendations to enhance the cityÔø?s ability to effectively serve Petersburg citizens.
December 11, 2007
Efficiency Review Public Forums — Dates are set!
1. Wednesday, January 23, 2008 - 6:00-8:00pm - Union Train Station
2. Thursday, January 24, 2008 - 6:00-8:00pm - Tabernacle Community Life Center
Flyers about these events are forthcoming….
November 28, 2007
About that Efficiency Review thing… WTF?
The community at large is supposed to have an opportunity to meet with the consultants conducting the review of the city’s operations. The consultants had recently indicated that the dates would be Dec 4/5. These dates were then noted to be not so good. The reason given: Dec 4 is the joint meeting b/t City Council and their Prince George analogs re: Indep. Village zoning, and Dec 5 is the Planning Commission meeting. Dec 10 was suggested as an alternative. To date, that’s all that anyone’s got.
Question: why is there a conflict? City officials are not the target participants of these public sessions.
Quesiton: why is the public not being given at least 2 week’s notice to schedule these important meetings into their calendars?
Question: why has the efficiency review team not made their own efforts to make sure everyone in town knows they are here and that the public is encouraged to participate (even if the exact date is not yet clear)?
This reminds me of Richmond’s Downtown Master Plan Charrette… hardly a squeak was to be heard from the city or Plan organizers or the RTD or… about the public being encouraged to participate until John Sarvay (Top 40 under 40) of Buttermilk and Molasses started asking WTF and investing his own energy into making sure the community at large was present and accounted for. They were. Will they be here in Petersburg at this public event? Depends… we first need a date peeps.
November 19, 2007
Efficiency Review — community forums to be held Dec 4 & 5
Save the dates. Times and locations TBD.
August 28, 2007
Council holding special session tonight
Per the P-I, 1) Council will consider authorizing the acquisition of land necessary to build an access road to the new Southside Regional Medical Center under construction, 2) Michael H. Walker of Berkshire Advisors Inc. will discuss and answer questions in relation to the efficiency review. Read more >
June 6, 2007
City of Petersburg to retain outside consultant to study City operations
Last night Petersburg’s City Council considered a resolution “authorizing and directing the city administration to retain an outside consultant to conduct a comprehensive study of the City’s operations.” The resolution stated that the study should be completed by December 31, 2007. The resolution passed unanimously.
