Browsing by Subject "City government"
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Item Scorecards and city government(2008-04-30) Larsen, Troy Arron; Oden, MichaelThere is a movement in government toward more accountability and higher performance in the delivery of services. Well-managed and documented results are vital to transparency and enhanced decision-making ability for managers. Performance management and measurement is becoming a bigger part of the dialogue in the public sector, even though it has been present for decades in the private sector. One tool that is being adopted by public sector organizations is scorecards or balanced scorecards for performance measurement or management frameworks. Increasingly these tools are being used to satisfy the public’s and legislature’s desire for more accountability among the public sector in service delivery with public funds. These tools can fill the gap between simple budgetary or financial reporting to including more diverse non-financial indicators of performance. They can also provide a framework for better performance management and decision-making ability in addition to reporting on performance measures. This report provides an overview of scorecards and introduces concepts for the public sector that may bridge the gap between simple reporting and incorporating a scorecard for management purposes. It also suggests some non-standard techniques to utilizing cutting edge approaches to enhance the usability of scorecards as a more dynamic reporting and management tool.Item The zoning change process in Austin, Texas(2008-05) Blunt, John Wallace; Butler, Kent S.The purpose of this report is to analyze the zoning change process in Austin, Texas. The report examines Austin's type of city government followed by an overview of zoning in the United States and Austin. The report chronicles the evolution of the Austin Tomorrow Comprehensive Plan and the Neighborhood Planning Area during the time period 1979-1997. Since 1997, zoning change protocol has become intertwined with neighborhood planning such that both must be discussed in detail. The extreme real estate cycles from 1982 to the present are also discussed. Economic conditions played a key role in the slow enactment of neighborhood planning in Austin. The report examines the jurisdictional boundaries of Austin and the governmental bodies charged with hearing zoning cases. After discussing the motivations of the market participants seeking zoning changes, the report analyzes four case studies to illustrate the basic types of zoning cases today. Finally, the report draws conclusions and offers suggestions for improving the efficiency and fairness of the zoning change process in Austin, Texas.