Copyright 2005 Chattanooga Publishing Company  
Chattanooga Times Free Press (Tennessee)

August 4, 2005 Thursday

Public asked to assess city services

By Herman Wang; Staff Writer

SECTION: LOCAL NEWS; Pg. B1

Chattanooga residents will get a chance to voice their opinions on city government and the services it provides at a series of town meetings beginning tonight.

As part of a nine-month project, the Community Research Council and the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga are holding a series of meetings in each of Chattanooga's nine City Council districts. The discussions will help project team members determine the best ways to track the performance of city services.

"The whole intent is to hear local citizen reaction to find out what citizens believe counts the most in terms of service delivery and how they'd like to see services measured," said David Eichenthal, president and CEO of the research council, an agency that provides data to guide government agencies and nonprofits in shaping local public policy.

The research council received a $100,000 grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation for the project, and two UTC faculty members, professors Stephanie Bellar and David Edwards, will facilitate the town hall meetings. Five focus groups with 50 Chattanooga residents were held in May.

The initiative, called chattanoogaCITIZEN, is designed to complement the city's efforts to monitor its performance.

Todd Womack, spokesman for Mayor Ron Littlefield, said the mayor will attend as many of the town hall meetings as he can.

"The mayor certainly is aware of what the CRC is doing and is looking forward to seeing the findings that come out of these community meetings," Mr. Womack said.

One of the goals, Mr. Eichenthal said, is to find ways residents can help measure performance.

"The focus groups have told us most people think pretty highly of city services, but there are areas like crime and traffic where they'd be pretty interested in seeing public reporting on performance," Mr. Eichenthal said.

For instance, in San Francisco, community volunteers regularly assess conditions in city parks and report problems to the municipal government, and in New York City, parents and staff provide independent reviews of the quality and conditions of public schools.

City Council Chairwoman Sally Robinson said she thinks the project will provide officials with helpful feedback.

"We all want to know more about what our citizens' needs are," Ms. Robinson said. "Anything we can do to improve our performance as a city for our citizens has got to be good information to have."

Mr. Eichenthal said a final report will be compiled at the end of the project and presented to Mr. Littlefield, the City Council and other government officials.

Councilman Yusuf Hakeem said he eagerly anticipates the report.

"It's one of those studies that will not sit on the shelf," he said. "It's one that we can utilize right away."

E-mail Herman Wang at hwang@timesfreepress.com