The past two weeks, my focus has been about what I

believe to be the four most impactful initiatives undertaken by the City to improve the organization during the past six years. Those initiatives are: Use of Best Practices, Strategic Thinking, Performance Measurement, and Transparency. In the two previous City Manager' Reports, I wrote about how the City has used best practices and Strategic Thinking.

This week, my focus is on the initiative of Performance Measurement. A common phrase used in management is "what gets measured gets done." It is a simple phase that means regular measurement and reporting keeps you focused. Simply measuring performance isn't necessarily going to get the right things done though. Measuring the right things (Key Performance Indicators) is the most critical measurement.

An example of an important Key Performance Indicator (KPI) for the City of Bainbridge Island would be our Pavement Condition Index (PCI). Several years ago, the Pavement Condition Index for Bainbridge Island roads was 67 on a scale of 0 - 100, with 100 being the highest rating. In fact, one of the frequent criticisms I heard from the community back in 2013 was how poor the pavement conditions were on Island roadways. Our 140 miles of roadways on the Island represents an investment of approximately $110,000,000. The cost of replacing a roadway is in excess of $775M per mile so it is important to properly maintain our paved roadways before they deteriorate to the point of needing replacement. Since 2013, our overall Pavement Condition Index has improved significantly. Some individual roadways still require repaving, but the overall PCI is approaching a rating of 80, which is considered to be "Very Good".

The City has many Key Performance Indicators, which are tracked and reported on a regular basis. Our new performance measurement system was recently launched for the 2018 Mid-Year Report and is available on the City website for public review. This new reporting system is a fantastic tool for city management and for upholding our obligation to be accountable. This Mid-Year Report does not include the KPI, but those measures will be included in the 2018 Year End Report when that is published in early 2019. I hope you will take some time to review the 2018 Mid-Year Report to better understand what your local government is doing and how your tax dollars are being used.

Kindly,

Doug Schulze

City Manager