A year ago we learned Carlsbad is considering outsourcing city services, but to this date we haven\u2019t been told why.<\/p>\n
At a July 2011 workshop, city council members heard a presentation by Carrollton, Texas\u2019 Director of Competition, Tom Guilfoy (\u201cCity to explore some outsourcing of government work<\/a><\/strong>,\u201d NCT, 2011). He told the council his city saved at least $25 million over nine years under its Managed Competition plan.<\/p>\n Liking what they heard, the council directed City Manager Lisa Hildabrand<\/strong> to conduct an internal review to see if outsourcing could make city government more business-like.<\/p>\n City park landscaping work has been suggested for potential outsourcing, which added irony to Councilman Mark Packard\u2019s<\/strong> warning that council members should not “let the grass grow under our feet\u201d waiting for Carlsbad to \u201chandle its operations the way private businesses do.\u201d Packard is apparently not as worried about the weeds growing under his feet while he\u2019s strolling through Aviara Park if a private contractor is maintaining it with lower paid employees. <\/p>\n Carrollton\u2019s Guilfoy proudly pointed out how much money was saved by outsourcing solid waste management collection and laying off 50 city employees. Carlsbad outsourced waste collection long ago. Carrollton\u2019s Parks and Recreation department escaped outsourcing by reducing costs of equipment replacements.A closer look at why and how the Texas town adopted outsourcing suggests Carlsbad\u2019s city leaders may have found a solution in search of a problem.<\/p>\n In an April interview with the Reason Foundation, Carrollton City Manager, Leonard Martin<\/strong>, explained he was hired in 2001 to help the city close a $2.5 million budget deficit. He created the position of Director of Competition, hiring Guilfoy from the private sector. Guilfoy introduced Managed Competition for all city services, requiring each to prove it could deliver \u201ccheaper, better, faster and friendlier service\u201d than private businesses contracted to do the work.<\/p>\n The first objective listed under Carrollton\u2019s 2002 goal to transform the city\u2019s culture into a competitive service business was to \u201cachieve high citizen satisfaction with services and organizational values.\u201d<\/p>\n When I asked Guilfoy a week ago if he could produce evidence the objective had been met, he told me Carrollton, unlike Carlsbad, doesn\u2019t do citizen satisfaction surveys. \u201cWe know intuitively that they like the results,\u201d he explained, adding, \u201cCitizens everywhere want better quality services at lower prices. We have delivered on that promise.\u201d<\/p>\n In his Reason Foundation interview City Manager Martin was asked if residents were happy with the city’s changed business practices. \u201cWe know residents are pleased with what\u2019s happening,” he explained, “because there\u2019s no political turmoil.\u201d<\/p>\n For city officials who take such pride in running their city like a business, it\u2019s hard to understand why they have no interest in customer feedback, especially after investing so much in the program\u2019s administration. The city\u2019s organization chart shows a Director of Competition, an Organizational Development office, and a Marketing Services Director, none of which Carlsbad has at this time, and all of which add costs to the administrative bureaucracy. <\/p>\n Carrollton may no longer be running a deficit, but the city\u2019s financial condition, as posted on its website, is nothing to crow about. While Carlsbad\u2019s growing general fund balance is projected to be over $53 million this year, 47 percent of its spending plan, Carrollton projects a $2 million decline in its general fund balance over the last three years to $12.6 million, a mere 16 percent of its budget.<\/p>\n Council members Keith Blackburn<\/strong> and Ann Kulchin<\/strong> have expressed less enthusiasm than Packard for adopting a competitive business model for the city. I think they recognize the risk of messing with success by trying to do city services on the cheap. <\/p>\n So the question remains: Why would Carlsbad, with an enviable record of fiscal responsibility and customer satisfaction, want to emulate the business model forced on a Texas town as life-support for a failing city budget?<\/p>\n Richard J. Riehl writes from Carlsbad. Contact him at <\/em>riehlworld2@yahoo.com<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Links to sources:<\/p>\n North County Times story Reason Foundation Interview Managed Competition 10th Anniversary Report Carrollton city budget:
\nhttp:\/\/www.nctimes.com\/news\/local\/carlsbad\/e06d7912-a9da-5c30-8ed5-65bdc9a999c4.html<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n
\nhttp:\/\/reason.org\/news\/show\/innovators-carrollton-texas<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n
\nhttp:\/\/www.cityofcarrollton.com\/Modules\/ShowDocument.aspx?documentid=8334<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n
\nhttp:\/\/www.cityofcarrollton.com\/Modules\/ShowDocument.aspx?documentid=7767<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n