TO:                 Don Kettl, Chairman
                        Members of the Kettl Commission

FROM:          Jane Wood, City Manager

DATE:          October 23, 2000

The concept of a local Government Institute has surfaced on at least two occasions, but has met with limited support by Commission members. The following brief proposal is intended to articulate the rationale behind the creation of a local Government Institute and the benefits both the State and Local governments would receive from the creation of an independent agency closely affiliated with a university.

The Kettl Commission has acknowledged that we are entering into a period of rapid change, where e-government and demands for services will force local governments into a period of escalated decision making, if not radically restructuring the manner in which government business is conducted at both the State and Local level. In order to accommodate the demands placed on government on both levels by citizens wanting a more responsive government, state and local officials will need to be able to make well informed decisions within an abbreviated period of time. To further complicate this accelerated decision making process, as future decisions are made they will have an impact on several organizations, including not-for-profits, governments and state agencies, making collaborative skills and shared visioning a necessity in the future executive. This change is going to be difficult to accomplish unless structures and processes are in place to ensure that up to date information is available and in a format which allows for practical application by appointed and elected officials.

To facilitate future decision making on policy changes among state and local officials, relationships must be built and sustained, and opportunities created which foster the principles of collaborative leadership. Working with others in an educational and problem solving forum will enhance existing skill levels of elected and appointed officials. A local Government Institute will create opportunities for the development of a complex set of competencies required for future local government executives, as well as providing a forum for problem solving.

A local Government Institute needs to be organized with an independent board of directors made up of affected stakeholders such as local elected and appointed officials from both state and local governments. The board of directors would then oversee a small but well trained staff who serves at the pleasure of the board for the specific purpose of meeting annual established policy objectives.

This proposal does not envision new resources would be necessary from either the state or local governments. Rather, this proposal acknowledges there are resources within the university system, as well as resources available at the local and state level that could be redirected into funding a local Government Institute. Specific goals of the Institute would be as follows:

1. The Institute would serve as a location where data is collected and structured in a uniform method to allow for quality analysis to take place. To avoid duplication of database development, the Institute would collaborate with existing State agencies to ensure that it has access to the most up to date information. With the dissemination of the census data in the spring of 2001, it is critical that a place be quickly identified for, not only receiving the census data and evaluating the impact on whatever foundation formula is created. Equally critical is that a place needs to be created where census data is maintained and updated on an annual basis. This continual updating of demographic information is essential to ensuring that the value of equity and accountability are maintained with a high level of integrity.
2. The Institute would foster collaborative relationships through opportunities for training on 21^st leadership styles including collaboration, creativity, innovation through electronic design and facilitated teamwork. One assumes everyone who is either appointed or elected possesses the skills necessary to advance government in the 21^st century. It is becoming apparent that leadership skills dealing with facilitated teamwork and collaborative leadership are skills learned through structured opportunities brought about by such an Institute for the specific purpose for solving problems.

It is envisioned that opportunities for skill building would be structured around problem solving for the specific purpose of looking at innovative policy initiatives.

3. The Institute would be a place for the collection of best practices that would then be transformed into an analysis of performance measures by region to determine models for efficiency and responsiveness at the local and state level. Currently, cities are involved in organizations which foster a confrontational approach to relationships through lobbying for specific agenda issues with the legislature. It is envisioned that government in the 21^st century will need to shift its relationship focus from one of "win-lose" in the legislative arena, to a "win-win" where collaboration and teamwork provide the basis for policy recommendations rather than confrontation and political pressure.
4. The Institute would serve as a gathering place where private/public partnerships are fostered, encouraged and developed. Governments in the 21^st century will need to learn from the private sector and adopt methods of service delivery that mirror, to a large extent, the tried and true customer service model already perfected to a large degree by some of our Wisconsin manufacturers and service industries. The Institute could serve as a place where executives from both the private and public sector meet to learn from each other and, more importantly, create models of service delivery that incorporate the best of both the government service model as well as the private sector service model.

As the Kettl Commission has stressed, we are entering into a new era of partnerships between local and state governments. Therefore, the funding for such an Institute should be a shared responsibility between local and state governments. A fraction of the current existing state shared revenue formula could be directed into the Institute as the local government’s contribution with state resources being redirected within the university environment.

Without a local Government Institute, the state will continue to rely on periodic task force and blue ribbon commissions to address specific issues. A comprehensive and on-going approach to problem solving where the state and local governments attempt to be on the cutting edge of technology and progressive governmental relationships, will not be possible given the constraints of daily operations of government.