News Release:
Albany Featured in Performance Measurement Book

The Albany Fire Department and Albany Public Library are showcased in the newly published “What Works:  How Local Governments Have Made the Leap from Measurement to Management.”

The book was produced by staff at the International City-County Management Association’s (ICMA) Center for Performance Measurement.  The Albany examples are among 75 real-life case studies that illustrate how performance measurement promotes positive change in15 different local government service areas.

The Fire Department case study, on pages 51-53 of the book, is based on data from fiscal 2006.  It shows that of customers who had contact with the Fire Department that year, 97 percent rated the quality of the contact as excellent.  For those who had contact with the Fire Department’s emergency medical service, 96 percent rated the service as excellent.  Both figures are well above national means reported in the book.

“City staff noted that Albany’s emergency call volume makes the city one of the busiest in the state of Oregon (on a per capita basis), yet department employees continue to strive to meet customer needs well beyond those normally associated with emergency response,” the book reports.  The entry goes on to describe the department’s community outreach efforts and ongoing customer-service training.

At Albany Public Library, City staff reported circulating 22.1 items per registered borrower in 2006, compared to a national mean of 12.4 items.  Library Director Ed Gallagher credited the high circulation figure to strong community support and increases in the Library’s budget for acquisitions.

The entry, which appears on page 103, describes attention-getting displays that draw attention to popular titles and lesser-known recommendations and promotion of the large-print collection via the Library’s Web site.
“What Works” is available at http://bookstore.icma.org.  The 200-page volume costs $79 for non-ICMA members.
ICMA is the premier local government leadership and management organization.  Its mission is to create excellence in local governance by developing and advocating professional management of local government worldwide. 

ICMA’s Center for Performance Measurement (CPM) is dedicated to helping local governments improve the effectiveness and efficiency of public services through the collection, analysis, and application of performance information.  CPM currently assists more than 220 cities, towns, counties, and other local government entities in the United States and Canada with the collection, analysis, and application of performance information.  The City of Albany is one of 11 CPM partners in Oregon and southwest Washington.

For more information regarding this news release, contact:
Bob Woods, Management Systems Director, 541-917-7654

For general information regarding the City of Albany, contact:
Marilyn Smith
Public Information Officer
(541) 917-7507