Statement In Support of “NY Performs” and Recent SAGE Recommendations
Thumbs Up for “NY Performs”
Public Online Performance Management System
Reinvent Albany supports many of the December 15, 2011 recommendations recently approved by Governor Cuomo’s SAGE commission. We applaud the thoughtful work of the SAGE commission and its goal of “Building a Culture of Performance and Accountability” within New York State government.
Strong support for “NY Performs,” public online performance management system
Reinvent Albany strongly supports the proposed creation of NY Performs, a public online Performance Management System, and the creation of a dedicated staff to manage and maintain that system. State agencies and the public will benefit from the proposed system-wide reporting and standardized performance metrics. the website mock-up of NY Performs includes a smart, three layered approach, which will help the governor, legislature and public better understand the priorities and effectiveness of state agencies.
Reinvent Albany Support for other SAGE recommendations
1. Transportation Merger of Bridge Authority into Thruway Authority, and combined DOT and Thruway/Bridge management. Ultimately, this merger will improve the state’s transportation planning and operations and save money. It is important that the merger helps increase transparency and management accountability, and make finances clearer, especially regarding the Tappan Zee Bridge and Dedicated Highway Bridge and Trust Fund.
2. Innovation Fund. This will pay for small, quick “efficiency-creating technology projects” and is itself an innovative idea that we strongly support. We hope for initial investments in an “OpenFOIL” tool to make Freedom of Information Law requests easier for government to respond to, and a tool for guiding the release of non-personal government data.
3. Lean Management Training worked well in Ohio, and is the kind of initiative NYS government needs more of.
No position on remaining SAGE recommendations.
Reinvent Albany supports the intent of the other recommendations, but we lack the expertise to adequately assess their implications, and we neither support nor oppose them.