BasicGov / BLOG

Ahead of the Curve blog series, authored by HB Lanarc and sponsored by BasicGov, explores trends in municipal management, including a move to adopt sustainable practices. Leading communities are taking on all of these trends and leveraging opportunities to improve services to citizens and productivity.

Opportunities for Leadership Part 3: Making Visions Real

Mayor and Council are increasingly expected to show their constituents that their actions support their words.  This accountability starts with high-level direction setting from Mayor, Council and senior staff, reflected in regular reporting on implementation of strategic plans and community land use plans. 

But it is during rezoning and development permit applications that citizens really experience the impact of policies, so communities are beginning to use “sustainability checklists” and similar tools to demonstrate that their policies are being implemented on the ground. 

In the future, we may see permitting software used to track these checklists, and to report the aggregate performance of applicants to senior management and Council.  This enables them to show how well development is meeting community visions.

Previous Ahead of the Curve blog posts Trend 1 – Drive toward sustainability, Trend 2 – Mounting fiscal challenges, Trend 3 – public demands for accountability, Trend 4 – reduce red tape, Trend 5 – risk management, Trend 6 – preparing for emergencies, Development process – manage land use, Leadership opportunity 1 – making sustainability a daily consideration; Leadership opportunity 2 – cheaper, faster, more resilient processes.

Click to read Ahead of the Curve white paper

This is the 3rd trend as part of our Ahead of the Curve white paper and blog series authored by HB Lanarc and sponsored by BasicGov. Click to read previous Trend 1 and Trend 2.

Trend 3: Public Demands for Accountability

Trust in the government is at an all-time low by some measures. As a result, citizens are demanding more clarity about what local governments are doing, and how well elected officials are delivering on their promises. For example, Chicago recently adopted a performance management program as a means of ensuring accountability to its citizens.

Furthermore, some senior governments are starting to require cities, towns and counties to regularly report “up” on performance. These demands are beginning to extend to details of development applications, with many local governments providing citizens and businesses access with web portals to apply and check status of permits and licenses. A few are even engaging in participatory budgeting processes, involving citizens directly with priority-setting and the resulting fiscal decisions.

What are you seeing as trends in public demands and local government?

Next trend is “Competition to reduce red tape“.

To read full white paper, click here.