Citizens can view performance measures, give feedback
Brian Coddington, Communications Director, 509.625.6740
Monday, May 11, 2015 at 12:30 p.m.
The City of Spokane is improving how citizens access and understand information about City performance in delivering services to citizens. On Monday, Mayor David Condon announced the launch of the new performance page on the City’s website.
The page features an easy tile-based layout and organizes City performance measures into 22 clear categories. Clicking on a tile reveals all of the performance measures in the category. Each measure includes interactive graphs and a few-sentence discussion about its significance, the expected performance and, in some cases, potential improvement strategies. The name of the department head responsible for the content and a way to provide feedback directly to the Mayor is also attached to each measure.
“We’re doing this because we want to hear from citizens,” said Mayor Condon. “It’s another important way that we keep city government affordable, accountable and aligned to the citizens we serve.”
Performance data is driving the decisions City leaders make and focuses resources where they can be most effective. The City has utilized the data and feedback to improve in a number of areas.
One such measure being tracked closely is how the City can better use energy produced at the Upriver Dam to save citizens money and reduce the load placed on the grid. The dam produces power that powers some of our booster stations and other needs. That practice typically saves the City up to $700,000 annually. There appears to be an opportunity to generate additional revenue with closer tracking and consideration of the activities we can do during peak and off-peak times. Using more power during off-peak times allows for the sale of power generated during peak hours at higher rates. It also reduces demand on the system during those high-use times. During the first quarter, 53 percent of the power we generated was used for pumping during off-peak hours. The City’s goal is to get that to 60 percent.
Including water services, the City is monitoring more than five dozen areas using this data-driven approach. The Spokane Police Division has been using data quite effectively for some time to position its resources daily. The City also monitors fire response times and several measures related to the condition of our streets and improvements to road conditions. In the past quarter, the Office of Neighborhood Services & Code Enforcement has used data and feedback to drive down the time between when a code enforcement complaint is received and when an investigation begins. The department is getting close to the City’s goal of two days or less between complaint and investigation.
A complete list of performance measures can be found at SpokaneCity.org/performs.
