Assigning blame where it belongs

Steve Duin, a columnist in the Oregonian, wrote today about a settlement with the family of a man who died as a result of his actions and those of public officials after his arrest. Many were involved including the arresting officers, jail staff, and the ambulance personnel. The columnist worries that without the exercise of a trial that will assign blame, there will be no motivation to change. I think there should be accountability in the system, but does assigning blame motivate employees to change?

An audit steps back and looks at the structure that allowed employees to make bad decisions. When I meet with auditees, I always tell them we are auditing a program's or service's performance, not the employee's performance. What was the tone at the top or the climate that allowed police to believe that a man urinating in a trendy neighborhood required a forceful police reaction? Are police trained to recognize that sometimes a person's actions can be the result of mental illness? Do personnel treat all medical emergencies with the same urgency and care? What is the procedure for medical personnel at the jail to make medical decisions? Should medical personnel at the jail and police reassess a person's medical condition before transporting to a hospital to determine the current urgency of the situation? Training, procedures, and the management climate can make for better outcomes. An audit would review all of those and assign blame, but not to the individual, instead to the services that failed. Then maybe there would be change.

More Web 2.0

Found out from a newspaper article that a local police agency is using twitter, MySpace and Facebook. I checked out the FB site for the Tigard Police Department. It is being used to reach out for assistance in ongoing investigations and to provide information.

Here is the most unique and interesting website I have seen for a government. Many interesting features, particularly the search function. Doesn't have the look and feel of the usual government site.

Update to fan of San Francisco on Facebook

Despite the interesting site that increases government accessibility for the San Francisco citizen, don't become a fan. Your "wall" will become inundated by messages from the city. More than you ever wanted to know on a daily basis.

Bus audit creates discussion about purpose

Here is an interesting news article about an audit of the transit system in Houston. A state audit has caused a debate about what the purpose of the transit system is. Is it efficiency? One metric considered was the operating ratio or the percent of the cost that is paid for by the fare. Increasing this metric requires reducing or eliminating routes that serve lower numbers of people. But then this raises the issue of equity or whether the transit authority's purpose is serving the low income, those who have no other means of transportation. Quality can be measured in another way - the comfort of the trip. Some think that using that performance measure light rail transportation is better than bus routes - because light rail is quieter, more comfortable, and more reliable.

A very interesting discussion and illustrates the value of an audit. Audits can improve the quality of the public discussion. This article reminds me of the debate that is taking place in my own jurisdiction, but without the benefit of an audit to clarify issues. See here, here, and here.

I became a fan of San Francisco on FB today

I became a fan of San Francisco on Facebook today. My son invited me to join FB several months ago and I have to admit it has been fun. I am careful though who I let friend me and also what I say knowing that nothing is private. But I have reconnected with some old high school friends that I never would have found without it. Also, I've been able to communicate with my son and his fiance in different ways. However, my daughter still remains appalled that I am a member.

But, if you are a member of FB you should check out the official site of the City and County of San Francisco. I find most government web sites difficult to penetrate or understand. The developers of these sites do not use language that is easily understood by a citizen and also have not thought about what a citizen might be looking for. That old auditing from a "citizen's point of view" thing. But SF's Facebook site was penetrable and actually interesting. It managed to talk about governmental things in a way that was interesting to a citizen.