New Online Tool Shares Performance of City Departments

In an effort to bring "unprecedented transparency" to the city of Newton, announced today the launch of CitiStat -- an online tool that delivers monthly "score cards" for each of the city departments.

According to a press release issued this evening by the mayor's office, CitiStat allows residents to track the performance of city departments. The site also offers more information on as well as opportunities to provide feedback and view results on various citizen surveys. 

“Residents will now have the opportunity to see how we are doing as a city, using real data on a monthly basis. We have established clear and compelling standards of performance for each department, and will be holding our staff accountable to those standards. This information will allow us to see how we are doing, and make improvements in the delivery of city services,” Warren said in the press release.

The tool, which is accessed through the city website, includes .pdf copies of "score cards" where the departments are measured on various areas of responsibility. For example, the Fire Department is measured in areas including personnel, fire prevention and response to emergency calls. To view a copy of the Fire Department's score card, check out our photos and .pdf section above.

The departments currently listed with score cards on the site include Police, Fire, Customer Service, Parks & Recreation, Public Works and Public Buildings. Warren said in his welcome video on the homepage that more departments will be added in the coming weeks and months. 

Similar tools have been launched in the cities of Somerville, Springfield and Providence, the site says. 

Warren and his staff will host a public viewing of CitiStat next Tues., April 12 at 5 p.m. in room 209 of . 

Residents are encouraged to provide feedback about the new tool through the CitiStat survey. Inquiries can also be directed to Nancy Forrester, director of performance management, or Andrew Warner, performance management analyst.