Controller's citywide performance report shows mixed trends; supervisors file the hearing

Chair London Breed opened a hearing on the controller's citywide performance measurement annual report, saying the document is a tool for evaluating whether budget investments produce intended results.

Natasha Mihal, project manager in the controller's city performance unit, gave an overview of the FY2013-14 report: it includes measures for every city department (48 departments, more than 1,000 measures), targets and actuals, and three years of trend data. Mihal described recurring products (quarterly government barometer, benchmarking reports) and emphasized moving from activity measures toward efficiency and outcome measures.

Examples cited in the presentation included a decline in Healthy San Francisco enrollment as residents transition to Medi-Cal and Covered California after the Affordable Care Act; an increase in food-stamp enrollment following expanded outreach; improvements in park-condition scores tied to bond-funded park projects and maintenance staffing; and an increase in pavement condition index (PCI) from roughly 63 to 67 in recent years, aided by a repaving bond and added funding.

Breed thanked the controller's office and asked for follow-up materials; Supervisor Katie Tang requested the presentation and the parks report electronically, which staff agreed to provide. The chair opened public comment (none), then the committee voted by unanimous consent to file the hearing record.

The controller said the office will continue quarterly and benchmarking reports, is expanding staff to improve measure selection and reporting clarity, and will work with departments to move from tracking outputs to outcomes.

Next steps: the controller's office will provide requested park-level detail to supervisors and continue developing a refined set of citywide performance indicators for policymakers.