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POR 2017 #7 · Agenda item attachment · Jan 23 2017

That the City Manager is requested to hire an independent consultant who shall assess the efficiency and effectiveness of how all City Departments conduct their work, who will begin implementing whatever necessary adjustments are deemed to be necessary, and who will report back to the City Manager and the City Council on his or her progress in regular monthly intervals

POR 2017 #7·Council meeting Jan 23, 2017·1 page·📄 Original PDF (city portal)
City of Cambridge O- Calendar Item # 8 IN CITY COUNCIL February 6, 2017 MAYOR SIMMONS COUNCILLOR CHEUNG COUNCILLOR MAZEN WHEREAS: The demands and expectations placed upon not only individuals, but upon businesses and government entities, have dramatically changed and evolved along with all the other aspects of life that have been greatly impacted by the technological revolution of the past two decades; and WHEREAS: The template for how the City of Cambridge operates at an institutional level has, for the most part, changed little since the Plan E form of government was adopted in 1945, with inter-department communication and the assessment of departmental performance and effectiveness seeing practically no changes in the intervening decades; and WHEREAS: The consistency of the municipal government’s internal operations is virtuous on the one hand, providing a stable framework for conducting important and necessary City business over the course of many generations, yet there is the risk that this framework could become ineffective if not periodically reviewed and adjusted to meet the demands of a rapidly changing, faster-paced world; and WHEREAS: Adjustments such as reorganizing the Community Development Department to ensure that that the City can more adroitly and effectively assess and address the City’s rapidly changing development needs, re-conceptualizing the City’s Personnel Department to better ensure our workforce is fully diverse, professional, and able to meet the needs of our evolving community, and reinvigorating the IT Department to ensure that it is undertaking constituent-facing design and development, are just three examples of what this re-assessment and reinvigoration effort could and should entail; now therefore be it ORDERED: That the City Manager be and hereby is requested to hire an independent consultant who shall assess the efficiency and effectiveness of how all City Departments conduct their work, who will begin implementing whatever necessary adjustments are deemed to be necessary, and who will report back to the City Manager and the City Council on his or her progress in regular monthly intervals. PLACED ON TABLE ON MOTION OF MAYOR SIMMONS