Council strengthens accountability in County government

First-ever countywide strategic plan is key part of Performance and Accountability Act

County residents will be better able to assess the performance and efficiency of King County government under a countywide effort to increase accountability and set identifiable performance standards, adopted unanimously today by the Metropolitan King County Council.

“The ability of citizens to review how well the County performs is especially important in light of our shrinking county wallet and increasing costs for providing services,” said Councilmember Jane Hague, prime sponsor of the legislation. “Today we have continued King County’s leadership in accountability to its citizens through performance measures.”

“This is a transparent way for citizens to see if King County is ‘making the grade’ in tackling the important issues our communities face,” said Councilmember Larry Phillips. “Measuring King County’s performance with benchmarks and accessible reporting will help enhance the dialogue between citizens and their representatives.”

“This legislation continues the Council’s ongoing efforts to make performance measurement an integral part of how we do business at King County,” said Councilmember Dow Constantine. “In these tough economic times, these systems can help us to identify efficiencies and trim the budget.”

The Performance Management and Accountability Act adopted by the Council today calls for county residents to be asked their opinions on the performance of County government. Those opinions along with solid data will be publicly reported annually in a “King County scorecard” and a “State of King County” report. The information will help enable county residents to answer two critical questions on the performance of their government:

• What is the state of the county? What is the condition of our air, our economy, our infrastructure? Are we safe and healthy? Do all residents have the same access and opportunities?

• How is King County government performing to improve the state of the county? What has the County accomplished this year to improve our air quality, economy, safety and health? Who is accountable for improving performance?

Under this legislation, county residents will be asked for their opinions on the county’s future strategic direction. In addition, information about the county overall and specifically about county government will be made available.

The legislation states the County’s intent to create an Executive Office of Performance Management that will be responsible for overseeing executive branch performance and providing technical assistance on performance management for elected agencies. 

“We are happy to see that the cutting-edge work we’re doing to improve our management, report results to the public and involve residents in what gets reported is being recognized by Council,” said County Executive Ron Sims. “I asked our department directors to ensure that we manage county lines of business using strategic plans and performance measures. We will share these results with the public to ensure transparency and accountability.”

 Previous Executive branch performance reports and the performance Web site have received national awards and acclaim.

The Performance and Accountability Act will:

• Promote a culture of accountability within King County government.

• Present to the public the county’s achievements in meeting its prioritized goals.

• Engage the public in the development of countywide priorities as part of the development of a countywide strategic plan.

• Assist county elected leaders in making policy and budget decisions.

• Increase the ability of county managers and staff to improve county management and customer service and assess program effectiveness.

In each of the last six years, the Council has adopted legislation promoting performance measurement for development and implementation countywide, including the offices of separately-elected officials. Under direction from the County Council, the County Auditor has led a collaborative effort among representatives from all separately-elected offices to encourage a unified implementation of a countywide system. In 2006 the Council adopted legislation directing development of a work plan that builds upon successful performance measurement and performance management systems already in place.