The GMC report suggested different ways to use city-owned buildings and facilities, such as selling aging fleet and recycling facilities occupying a desirable riverfront location and building more modern ones elsewhere. The city could gain one-time revenue from the sale and, in the longer term, tax income from the new development while achieving cost savings from the newer, more efficient facilities. It also identified other city buildings for possible consolidation or sale.
The GMC report recommended consolidating maintenance and operational staff for 20 staffed drawbridges, adjusting the service model for health clinics to reduce costs and improve services, modifying overtime policy and implementing a 10% fee to recover costs for special events such as parades.
Citing examples from other medium and larger cities, the report recommended different ways to monetize city assets, such as selling advertising space on trash containers, benches or bus shelters, as well as other opportunities to leverage parking, waterworks and even streetlights for income.
It also identified three buildings in the heart of the city, currently used for government offices, that could likely be consolidated into two buildings. The third building could be converted to rent-earning housing or private office space, creating additional revenue for the city.
The report mapped 90 recommendations according to their potential financial performance and equity impact (higher vs. lower value), as well as the estimated feasibility of implementation, giving a higher ranking to items that could be implemented by the city alone compared to those that would require city council or even state Legislative approval. The result was a grid that identified quick wins —higher value, more feasible recommendations — alongside those that could be considered longer-term goals.
“The feasibility and impact grid were especially valuable,” said DeSiato. “It acknowledges that you have things that are more and less feasible. It put all the options on the table, from quick hits to more difficult wish-list items.”
Activating the changes through a better innovation infrastructure
An important part of the engagement with GMC was to help GMC bolster the government’s so-called innovation infrastructure — to provide not just a to-do list of recommendations, but also to help city employees adopt new skills and ways of working, empowered by better communication, better tools and a culture of continuous improvement. The EY teams facilitated employee workshops to assist GMC in its focus on ways to improve the city’s performance in areas such as accountability, data analytics, employee-driven innovation and budgeting.
The process helped staff members adopt new ways of thinking about improving service delivery, DeSiato said. “One thing that came out of the study is a different kind of work process,” based on key performance indicators and quarterly departmental updates, he said. “We have a great cabinet and good people. It was important for our team to learn new ways to follow best practices by analyzing data”.
Mayor Johnson took the concept a step further and created a new role — innovation director — whose principal mission will be to prioritize and implement the GMC report’s recommendations, DeSiato said. “We’re using the GMC report as a blueprint for that new position. It shows the city is taking it seriously and not just letting it be a report on a shelf.”
Chepenik, of EY-Parthenon teams, said one of the ultimate benefits of the project was to provide the city with insights into the structural deficit it was confronting by providing a realistic financial forecast and list of potential challenges, as well as opportunities.
“Besides the practical revenue and cost-reduction options, the project indicated where and what to prioritize, and provided an assessment of how much could be potentially saved and an estimated time frame over which the savings could be achieved,” Chepenik said. “It also gave them tools to be able to improve the delivery of services and to be innovative.”
GMC President Brennan agreed. “The project was a way to surgically and creatively help us get to a long-term sustainable future,” he said. “The process had a big effect on the way they’re doing this, finding ways to cut millions of dollars from operations and deliver services more effectively.”