City has taken report to heart

Topeka Capital-Journal, The, Apr 10, 2008 by Tim Hrenchir

By Tim Hrenchir

THE CAPITAL-JOURNAL

The city has fully put in place 107 of the 234 recommendations made by consultants hired four years ago, according to city manager Norton Bonaparte.

Bonaparte this week provided city council members with a 16-page document showing what the city has done in terms of carrying out recommendations made in 2004 by consultants from Cincinnati-based Management Partners Inc.

"As you can see, many of the suggestions made by the Management Partners study have been implemented," Bonaparte said Wednesday. "Others have not because they require funds we do not have, and yet others we will continue to pursue."

The city in 2004 paid Management Partners $125,000 to examine Topeka's government. The company gave recommendations on how to make government more effective and efficient.

Last week, Councilman Bill Haynes suggested at a council work session that the city in considering potential budget cuts this year take another look at the Management Partners report. In response, Bonaparte provided the council with a document listing all 234 recommendations and detailing progress the city has made in implementing each.

Management Partners' suggestions the city has fully put in place include initiating a process to regularly obtain information about citizen and customer satisfaction with city services and conducting a fleet utilization study of city-owned vehicles and heavy equipment.

Haynes said Bonaparte's report showed the city has implemented more of the recommendations than he had realized. Still, he said, the city has much to do.

Haynes said the city needs to put in place an enterprise resource planning software system to be able to fully implement recommendations the city has carried out partially or not at all.

Haynes was in the majority as the council voted 5-4 on April 1 to reauthorize the city's purchase of an ERP system from Lawson Software. Mayor Bill Bunten vetoed that move Friday. Supporters don't appear to have the seven votes necessary to override the veto.

Council members also appear to be short of mustering the seven votes necessary to override Bunten's veto Friday of a resolution they passed in a 5-4 vote April 1 reauthorizing the purchase of a Robinson R44 Raven II police helicopter.

The Management Partners' report suggested the city disband its police helicopter unit and replace it with leased service. But the document Bonaparte gave the council this week said the city doesn't plan to implement that recommendation, which his report said was "not cost effective or practical."