The Bush Foundation, an MCF member, has released a new report, Focus on Outcomes: Redesigning Minnesota’s Local Government Services. It features findings from six “Local Government Innovation Forums” held across the state in November 2011.
The forums brought together more than 400 city, county and school district leaders, including elected and appointed officials, to generate ideas about ways they could collaborate across jurisdictions for better public service delivery.
At the forums, some of Minnesota’s most innovative local leaders came together to share their experiences with redesign and to explore new opportunities to work together across jurisdictions. They shared stories of what’s working in their communities, and they shared their hopes for the future.
Three critical lessons, summarized here, came out of the forums. The report provides much more detail on each.
1. Redesign is facing some barriers to change. Changing the way services are managed or delivered is never easy, and it hasn’t been for our local leaders working to redesign services in their communities.
There’s the identity issue, there’s turf, and there’s ego, and there’s the fear of change. We’ve got to get people to understand that we’ve got to change to stay alive.
— JO CARLSON, MAYOR, CITY OF WHITE BEAR LAKE
2. Leaders agree that five essential elements are needed to redesign local governments. Barriers are not permanent obstacles, and many local leaders have moved past them.
There’s definitely a willingness among local units of government to work together. At the legislature, they need to know that there are people in local government that want to work together, and I think that message needs to go out to our stakeholders at the local level, too.
— KEVIN DONOVAN, MAHTOMEDI SCHOOL BOARD
3. Minnesota’s local governments are ready to innovate. In fact, they’re already doing it.
Right now we’re working with other school districts in Itasca County and the region in Deerwood, Nashwauk-Keewatin, Floodwood, Hill City, Greenway, and Northland Community School. We’re linking via technology and together we’re sharing teachers and courses. Our students are getting electives and opportunities that a lot of large school districts in the Metro don’t offer because we’ve worked together and used technology to do more with what we have.
— JOE SILKO, SUPERINTENDENT, GRAND RAPIDS
Learn more, follow the media coverage of the report and find additional resources on local government redesign on The Bush Foundation’s Redesigning Local Government web page.
- Susan Stehling, communications associate
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