Fresh from the approval of a balanced fiscal budget for 2008, Springfield is the recipient of the 2007 Municipal Leadership Award presented by the Boston-based, non-profit Pioneer Institute, apparently in relation to its 16th annual Better Government Competition, which showcases innovative, concrete ideas to improve the quality and cost-effectiveness of government in the state.
The award recognizes Springfield’s progress and innovation in municipal operations, and will be presented during a sold-out banquet on Tuesday, June 26 at Hyatt Regency Boston, with Governor Deval Patrick in attendance. Mayor Charles Ryan will be there to receive the award on behalf of the city and the Finance Control Board. The event is expected to be covered by C-SPAN Radio and other as yet unspecified media outlets.
According to control board executive director Philip Puccia’s recent memo to the board, issued in tandem with the city’s new budget, an aggressive reform approach has affected Springfield’s finances, administration, public safety and schools, summarized in the memo as follows:
Health insurance plan design changes and the transfer of city employee and retiree health insurance to the Group Insurance Commission. This year, the increase in health insurance rates is only four percent, compared to the city’s historical annual 18 percent increase.
Adoption of Chapter 32B Section 18 of the Massachusetts General Laws which makes Medicare the primary payer of retiree health insurance costs, saving $18.7 million for the city and retirees over a three year period (FY06 – FY08).
Successful negotiation and implementation of all city and School Department labor contracts, most of which are long-term contracts, and all of which provide for improved departmental management and predictable, affordable wage increases.
Implementation of MUNIS, an integrated financial management system, for the city and School Department. This system will improve accountability and transparency, streamline inefficient processes and eliminate the vast majority of (often redundant) manual processing for municipal processes.
Collection of $25.8 million in overdue taxes, including fees and related interest charges.
Transfer of Retirement System assets to the Commonwealth’s Pension Reserves Investment Management Board, a decision which increased retirement system earnings by $25 million in one year, compared to the city’s prior investment performance.
Implementation of performance-based budgeting to increase the accountability and efficiency of service output.
Utilization of a comprehensive payroll system that has improved efficiency, reliability and has helped us to improve many other areas of municipal operation.
Increase in the size of the city’s Police Department and Fire Department through hiring, and by transferring dozens of sworn personnel from desk duty to street patrol and fire suppression duties.
Significant investment in a system to track and manage repairs in the city’s infrastructure of parks, schools and other municipal buildings.
In addition, the city’s bond rating received an upgrade from junk status within the last year. Regarding the city school buildings, Puccia writes, “The backlog of deferred maintenance in school buildings exceeds 3100 work order requests, with $190 million in new construction and major renovation projects needed.” While plenty of work lies ahead, the accomplishments achieved in the last few years are significant.
“It is an honor to have our hard work and diligence recognized by the Pioneer Institute,” Ryan said. “We’ve rolled up our sleeves and have been hard at work over the past three years, fixated on returning this great city to the level of excellence and acclaim it once enjoyed.”
Pioneer Institute executive director Jim Stergios said, “The mayor and the control board have given Springfield hope by taking city government in a new direction. Springfield was a city in crisis and now, in many respects, it is better managed than other Massachusetts cities. The governor has recognized this too, as parts of his municipal partnership plan build on Springfield’s success.”
In his memo, Puccia indicates additional targets for the city’s ongoing effort to streamline, improve efficiency, and serve more effectively as a government:
Set aside funds for stabilization and capital improvements. “Springfield should have approximately $50 million in stabilization reserves,” he writes. “Springfield’s current balance in its ‘rainy day’ fund is only $8 million. The City should have a multi-million dollar program of annual capital renewal, but is currently only able to invest on a limited basis.”
Continue to adhere to fiscal best practices. “We believe that we must adopt and adhere to the financial policies proposed earlier this calendar year,” Puccia notes. “Both Standard and Poor’s and Moody’s rating agencies cited these policies as strongly positive steps for the City, and they represent the best practices in financial management from well-run cities and counties across the nation.”
Adopt and adhere to new human resources policies. “These policies,” Puccia writes, “will bring the City’s human resource policies into compliance with appropriate practice and will better meet the needs of the City and its employees.” They are apparently currently in draft form.
Continue to improve efficiency while fostering economic development. “The City remains under enormous spending pressure,” Puccia writes, “with municipal departments requesting additional staffing and other spending, while the public is seeking additional or expanded services.” His view is that the city is expanding at its financial capacity—which cannot be rushed—and so the demand he notes cannot be met “without risking the City’s financial and operational recovery.” The fiscal situation is too fragile, in other words, for anything more ambitious under current conditions. Additional funds for expanded services can be generated through this combination of efficiency with ongoing economic development.
On this last point, I am reminded both of how disconnected some local politicians and leaders appear to be from what generates revenue and makes expanded services possible, as well as how frivolous economic development appears to be received by some, in terms of the array of legitimate activity for the control board to support and direct. There is apparently a need for local and state leadership to realize critical lessons in fiscal and municipal management. If near-bankruptcy for this city doesn’t teach those lessons, what will? How can it be more clearly enunciated that economic development is tied to growth at this time—and is not just an add-on in flush times—than to hear it spelled out by the control board’s executive director?
Sometimes it appears as though regional leadership, both in the public and private sectors, is hovering near this erstwhile near-drowning city, allowing gasps of air but not wanting us to find real relief and success by giving us a sustained hand out of the depths. There is a lack of acknowledgment at times of Springfield’s role in its region, and so a hand emerges and either benignly or malevolently plunges our head under the surface again. This should not really be tolerated anymore, but like a victim in an abusive relationship, the city has been slow to learn and attempt to extricate itself from bad-behaving leaders. Perhaps there has been no genuine evil objective, but the accumulation of neglect, absent responsible leadership, has taken its toll.
“It is important to remember that reforms are still in their early stages and can be reversed easily by opponents of change or by those who prefer the status quo,” Puccia warns. “We are now at a place where Springfield’s city government should have been long ago, and where it can set aside a crisis-management mode of operation and begin planning for a transition back to normal government representation.”
“This progress,” he adds, “is the result of a true partnership between the Control Board and Mayor Charles V. Ryan. Without the Mayor’s commitment to improving this City, Springfield would be in a much more difficult position than it is today.”
For his part, in a budget message, Ryan writes, “I salute the entire Control Board staff along with all of the talented department heads who lead the operations of this city on a daily basis. The combination I refer to has given Springfield the best management team this government has had at any time in the last 50 years.”
