Studies of ways to make government more efficient and less costly have had mixed success, especially in Northwest Indiana. A Fort Wayne nonprofit consulting firm is trying to change that.
The privately financed Good Government Study in Lake County and the Indiana Commission on Local Government Reform -- often referred to as the Kernan-Shepard Commission -- offered recommendations for saving millions of dollars, cutting hundreds of unneeded jobs and eliminating duplication. Most of the recommendations were ignored or have met with intense political opposition.
At the same time, many communities are looking for ways to cut costs to compensate for the reduction in taxes from the property tax caps and the floundering economy. The High Performance Government Network is a group of former government employees helping local governments find ways to operate lean and mean.
HPGN was set up by former Fort Wayne Mayor Graham Richard after he left office in 2008. He brought with him several former employees who helped him save $31 million during his eight years in office. They are working with several communities around the state, including Whiting, and Valparaiso Mayor Jon Costas said he wants to hire them, too.
HPGN President Ryan Chasey said, "There are a lot of organizations they can join that will lobby for them, but we chose to set up this network. It is nonpartisan, nonprofit, and we focus strictly on helping towns improve the operational effectiveness of their organizations.
"We're set up as a volunteer member organization, and we only work with those who want to make improvements," Chasey said. "We have approached most or all the mayors in Indiana over the past year, and we only work with the ones that want to make a commitment. We ask for a three-year relationship, but we don't require payment up front for the three years.
"We don't want to come in and solve what the hot button issue of the day is. We want it to be a meaningful, lasting, sustained improvement for the community. We are working with about 15 cities that are full-time members in Indiana now. We would work with counties or school systems as well. We've focused on cities because we have limited staff time."
The program starts with setting up a plan. Chasey said most communities don't have a plan that sets specific goals and the timeline for achieving them. Each community determines its own goals and their order of priority. The fee is based on population, with Indianapolis paying $20,000 a year. He said Valparaiso's fee would be about $1,000; Whiting pays $750.
"We set a low membership fee so it is not a barrier to people to join," Chasey said. "There is a package of services that comes with it that includes the strategic plan portion up front and the networking. We now have 15 cities that regularly exchange ideas, and we're helping provide a forum for that."
Whiting Mayor Joseph Stahura said the city is still in the initial stages of working with HPGN. He said the city already has done "a ton" of things to cut costs, but he's hoping HPGN will provide new ideas as well as determine whether what's been done so far has Whiting headed in the right direction.
"It's a new ballgame out there today, and we are facing restrictions and changes we never had to face before," Stahura said. "We are trying to get some new ideas and opinions on the best practices across the state. I'm fascinated to learn what other people are doing."
While interested in having HPGN look at the city's organizational structure, Stahura said he also wants to look at the overall operation. He said the city will continue to be a part of the network as long as it is providing a benefit.
"I hope we can learn from the wealth of expertise that is out there," he said. "I think we do things well in Whiting, but there are people out there who do some things a heck of a lot better, and we hope to learn where we can make some improvements."
