Letter to the Editor: sources for information in Shoreline Proposition 1 mailer

To the Editor:

A question has been raised as to what are the data sources for the charts found in the City’s factual Proposition 1 mailer. We appreciate the opportunity to provide a brief explanation of how and why the City uses such comparisons.

The City obtained most of the data referenced in this informational mailer from the budgets of the different cities cited. All of the budgets are located on the respective cities’ websites and are open to the public. For the police cost comparisons, this data was obtained from the 2009 Police Service Highlights and Data Annual Report, which may be found at http://shorelinewa.gov/index.aspx?page=512. This report is produced by the King County Sheriff’s Office.

It is common practice for cities to compare their operations with neighboring cities. This comparison provides a snapshot of how efficiently the City is providing services. The Proposition 1 mailer provides factual information regarding employees per 1,000 population and comparisons of park maintenance and police costs; these results show that Shoreline is below the average, and in some cases, near the bottom.

Another source utilized by the City in measuring efficiency and comparative benchmarking is the International City/County Management Association’s (ICMA) Center for Performance Measurement. When practical, we use some of their data; however, their comparisons include cities from across the country, rather than just those in the Puget Sound region. Another source utilized is the biannual citizen satisfaction survey, which is administered by an outside qualified company.

Likewise, the City relies on citizen review for an independent view of City operations. The City Council did this when they appointed an 18-member citizen advisory committee in 2008. This committee reviewed budgets, citizen satisfaction surveys, benchmark comparisons, etc.

The City is constantly measuring efficiency, effectiveness and overall performance in order to continuously improve how we deliver services.

Eric Bratton

City Manager’s Office Management Analyst

City of Shoreline