NEW ORLEANS – Mayor Mitch Landrieu has released the ResultsNOLA report on performance for mid-year 2015. This is the City’s 15th comprehensive performance report. Additionally, the International City/County Management Association (ICMA) has recognized the City of New Orleans for the second year in a row for its performance management efforts with a Certificate of Excellence from the association’s Center for Performance Analytics™.
"As we strive to focus our resources on our top priorities, we have to set goals, track performance and get results,” said Mayor Landrieu. “We will continue to evaluate the data in these reports to improve services for our residents and make government more efficient. I am also very proud to share that New Orleans has received the Certificate of Excellence from the ICMA – the association’s highest level awarded. This recognition is validation of the hard work of employees throughout City government in implementing our program over the past five years and evidence that our city is leading the nation in transparency and accountability.”
ICMA assesses a local government’s performance management program and encourages analysis of results by comparing to peers and gauging performance over time. Performance management aids in cost reduction, program prioritization, and quality improvement. It also encourages accountability and transparency. Certificates are awarded at the levels of Achievement, Distinction, and Excellence. New Orleans is among 33 jurisdictions receiving the Certificate of Excellence – the highest level awarded.
“The certificate program recognizes the principles of performance management,” said Randall H. Reid, ICMA Director of Performance Initiatives. “Jurisdictions meeting the qualifications have demonstrated leadership in continuous improvement and community engagement, and they serve as examples for other governments to follow.”
Since taking office, Mayor Landrieu’s reps say he has committed to dramatically improving the accountability, transparency and performance of New Orleans City government. In January 2011, Mayor Landrieu created the Office of Performance and Accountability (OPA) to implement a performance management system in which the City sets goals, tracks performance, and gets better results through data-driven management decision-making and accountability to residents. He also required the office to submit regular reports on the City’s progress.
The ResultsNOLA mid-year report includes key performance results for all departments, as well as the City resources budgeted to achieve the results. It also includes budget and performance information for other organizations that received an appropriation from the City, including criminal justice agencies.
The report shows that City organizations met or exceeded a majority of performance targets.
Among other highlights:
Public Safety
• Property and person crimes are down 12 percent and 11 percent, respectively, from the end of 2014.
• Superintendent Harrison transferred 32 officers from administrative positions and targeted 31 new civilian positions for hire in 2015 as part of an initiative to free up commissioned manpower to focus on policing.
• Murder increased and continues to be a challenge, but remains Mayor Landrieu’s top priority
• The average daily number of inmates in Orleans Parish Prison is 1,813 through the second quarter of 2015, down 28 percent from the same period in 2013 – showing results of smart policies that allow police to put the right people in jail and aggressively focus on the most dangerous and violent offenders.
• The New Orleans Fire Department (NOFD) installed a number of grant-funded technologies designed to aid in reducing incident response times, facilitating rescues of trapped occupants, pinpointing fires in hidden locations within structures, as well as providing greater visibility and safety during fire calls.
Sustainable Communities
• The City delivered 86 percent of capital projects on schedule, completing the Andrew P. Sanchez (CopelinByrd) Multi-Service Center, Carrollton Hollygrove Senior Center, St. Bernard Locker Rooms, Behrman Pool Repairs, Allie Mae Williams Demolition, and Municipal Auditorium Lead and Asbestos Abatement, among other projects.
• The City filled 18,188 potholes in the first six months of 2015, nearly hitting its target.
• Code Enforcement has performed 7,300 inspections so far and returned 342 blighted properties into compliance at the time of hearings.
• Code Enforcement held 1,338 hearings through June 30, 2015, achieving 808 guilty judgments with 110 complying prior to the hearing.
• 187 NORA properties were returned to commerce.
• Fully 98 percent of streetlights were functional at the end of the second quarter of 2015
• Since the City's announcement on ending veterans homelessness in January, the Office of Community Development (OCD) and its partners have maintained "functional zero" status, meaning that any identified homeless veteran is able to be housed within 30 days after their veteran status has been verified by the local Veterans Affairs Office. Currently veterans are being housed on average within 23 days.
Children and Families
• The New Orleans Health Department marketplace outreach staff contacted 3,888 individuals to help them secure health insurance, far exceeding targets.
• Over 80,000 patrons visited New Orleans Recreation Development Commission (NORDC) recreation centers.
• NORDC teen and youth camp participants exceeded targets.
• Despite Midnight Basketball shifting from 10-week seasons to 8-week seasons, the total number of participants continue to be on pace with the target set based on 10-week seasons. Participation in Season 8 was the highest ever, and continues to be strong in Season 9 at the Sanchez Community Center.
Economic Development
• With retail sales taxes collections growth at nearly 10 percent through mid-year, general sales tax collections were up 5.9 percent from the same period in 2014.
• In the first half of 2015, several new retail and corporate developments opened:
– The Magnolia Marketplace on South Claiborne Avenue between Washington and Louisiana opened in March, creating 300 jobs. Stores in the marketplace include TJ Maxx, Ulta, Michael’s, and PetSmart, and Ross Dress for Less.
– Aloft Apartments, a $100 million project at 225 Baronne, opened in March. The project created 76 permanent jobs and offers 180 hotel rooms and over 190 apartments.
• In April the Historic St. Roch Market on St. Claude Avenue re-opened, creating 96 permanent jobs.
• Nest New Orleans, a business incubator, and Torsh, a digital media company, both opened offices in New Orleans in 2015.
• Additionally, new projects were announced in the first half of 2015:
– In February, Mayor Landrieu announced that New Orleans will be the homeport for 6 river boat cruises that Viking Cruises plans to bring to the Mississippi. The project will create 416 permanent jobs, as well as 368 indirect jobs, to Southeast Louisiana.
– In May, Mayor Landrieu signed ordinances and a lease related to the redevelopment of the World Trade Center at 2 Canal Street into a Four Seasons hotel/condominium complex. The project will create 450 permanent jobs.
• Through the first half of 2015, 34.8 percent of City contract value was awarded to Disadvantaged Business Enterprises (DBEs), nearly meeting its target of 35 percent.
• The number of DBE certifications reached 36 at the end of the quarter, exceeding its year-end target of 25.
• The number of participants in the City’s Capacity Building program designed to enhance community development across New Orleans through training, skills development, and small grants reached 354 – far exceeding its target of 100 for the year.
• Percent of adults seeking employment assistance who gained a job, percent of dislocated workers seeking employment assistance who gained a job and percent of youth seeking employment or education assistance who gained a job or enrolled in post-secondary education have all so far exceeded their targets.
Open and Effective Government
• In the first half of 2015, the Department of Property Management provided a higher proportion of repairs using in-house staff than any year since 2011.
• Property Management has also reached the most timely completion of repair work orders since prior to 2011.
• One Stop Shop customer service measures are nearly all meeting targets, including driving down the wait times for visitors for licenses, permits, building permits, occupational licenses, and payments
• The Department of Safety & Permits also drove down the average number of days to respond to zoning and building complaints by 9.7 and 40.9 days, respectively.
• Sanitation services for the French Quarter and Downtown Development District (DDD) were transitioned to a new vendor with additional services and at a lower cost than previous contracts.
• The Office Information Technology & Innovation help desk customer satisfaction rate increased to 87 percent up from 66 percent in the second quarter of 2013.
In addition to the ResultsNOLA report, OPA developed a series of monthly STAT programs, or data-driven performance review meetings, for key initiatives. BlightSTAT, QualityofLifeSTAT, BottomLineSTAT, and CustomerServiceSTAT. These meetings are open to the public.
Read the ResultsNOLA 2015 mid-year report here
