2009 ICMA Center for Performance Measurement
"Certificate of Excellence"

The International City/County Management Association has announced that "the City of Olathe is among only 14 jurisdictions being recognized for their superior efforts and results in performance measurement and management with a Certificate of Excellence, the highest level of recognition, from the ICMA Center for Performance Measurement (CPM)."  This is the first year Olathe has applied for this award.  Criteria for the Certificate of Excellence include:

• Reporting of performance data to the public through budgets, newsletters, and/or information provided to elected officials, with sufficient context to judge past performance
• Verification efforts to ensure the data's reliability
• Staff training in the principles of performance measurement
• Using performance data in strategic planning and management decision-making
• Sharing of performance measurement knowledge with other local governments through presentations, site-visits, and other networking
• A committment to tracking and reporting to the public key outcome measures
• Surveying of both residents and local government employees
• Communicating data via public-focused and timely reports such as performance dashboards

According to City Manager Michael Wilkes, this award speaks to the culture of the City's organization.  He said, "We are driven to work better and smarter each and every day.  The City Council has made that a priority ... providing the best city services even in the face of the challenging economy and beyond."

Measuring performance has become critical to City operations and projects.  Performance measurement has been incorporated into its 5-year business planning and budgeting process to meet community and organizational objectives and target resources to drive success.

Business planning and performance measurement transform the City's annual budget into an actionable document and shift the focus from dollars to results.  Ultimately a good performance measurement program works to communicate trust and accountability to citizens, answering the questions of where are resources being spent, what are the services being provided, and what results are being achieved.

ICMA News Release - Olathe Specific
ICMA News Release - All Award Winners
Olathe Press Release
City of Olathe Accountable Government Webpage