On Thursday, the Times Picayune in New Orleans posted a story about a report given to Mayor Mitch Landrieu by consultant David Osborne regarding dysfunction in the government of New Orleans.  The report also included a ten-point plan to correct the problems.

According to the Public Strategies Group website:

“David (Osborne) is a senior partner of The Public Strategies Group, a consulting firm that helps public organizations develop and implement strategies to improve their performance. He has worked with governments large and small, from cities and counties to states, federal agencies, and foreign governments.”

The article in the Times Picayune explains:

“Unlike the mayor’s top policy priorities — reducing crime, eliminating blight, improving education and creating jobs — the actions proposed by PSG are designed to overhaul the way City Hall manages its employees, provides public services and spends money, Kopplin said. Among the fixes, which Osborne predicted will take three to five years to implement, are improving customer service, developing performance measures, reforming the contracting process, implementing a sophisticated data-tracking system and boosting revenue collection.”

The report listed ten areas that could be corrected, and city officials have assigned a person to be in charge of dealing with each area.  Many of the areas mentioned are areas that all cities and towns could improve–they include such things as developing performance and accountability standards for employees, consolidating human resources and personnel functions, and reforming civil service rules.

New Orleans is a wonderful city.  It is an amazing place to visit–the street art and street music are fantastic.  It is a city rich in culture and culturally unique in America because of its strong French roots.  It would be wonderful to see the government of the city function more efficiently and the people of the city prosper.