What Works Cities initiative
Post Date:08/05/2015 8:32 AM
"Mayor John Giles announced today that Mesa is one of the first cities selected to participate in Bloomberg Philanthropies’ What Works Cities, a $42 million initiative to help 100 mid-sized American cities enhance their use of data and evidence to improve the lives of residents.
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| John Giles, Alex Deshuk and Jeff McVay |
Mesa is one of eight cities that will receive expert on-the-ground support and peer-to-peer learning opportunities to make local government more effective. Since the launch of the What Works Cities initiative in April 2015, mayors from every region of the country have expressed their desire for assistance to address local challenges using data and evidence and within the first six weeks alone, 112 U.S. cities across 41 states applied. . . "
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WHAT HAPPENED
. . .and then this more than two years later:
08 December 2017
New Administrator named for the not-so-successful Mesa Open Data Portal > Evan Allred.
Presentation of the 'new' platform BUT PLEASE READ THE ORIGINAL HYPE FOR WHAT WHATWORKSMESA was supposed to do two years ago
THE GOAL =?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
Discussion of Open Data Portal introduced by Mayor John Giles - the portal has been "in a trial basis" for the last two years - the contract is ending and a new contractor is announced in 6 months April 2018
What Works City Feature: Mesa, AZ
Data and evidence as the building blocks in the foundation of the new NextMesa
Setting the Stage
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October 2015
The city’s Open Data Management Policy, which was signed by City Manager Chris Brady last October, affirms Mesa’s commitment to joining the open data movement. Meeting the majority of Sunlight’s open data policy guidelines, it firmly establishes
- processes for the collection and release of quality data,
- takes major steps to ensure that data release is timely
- is prioritized based on city priorities and public feedback.
- It also mandates an annual open data report and review process — an activity that will be fundamental in the effort to achieve the policy’s ultimate goals.
[City Manager Chris Brady is shown in the image to the right signing the Open Data agreement]
Here's a excerpt from the article from The Sunlight Foundation :
Mesa is streamlining cross-departmental data sharing by "eating their own dog food"
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The Certification program launched in April 2017, and U.S. cities with populations of 30,000 and higher are eligible to participate.
TODAY 24 April 2019
Bloomberg Philanthropies Announces the American Cities Best at Using Data to Improve Residents’ Lives in 2019
Second Annual What Works Cities Certification Recognizes Seven New or Advancing Cities that Are Using Data and Evidence to Solve Local Issues and Prepare for Future Challenges
Thirteen Cities Have Received Certification Since 2018
New York, NY – Today, Bloomberg Philanthropies announced the seven cities to achieve 2019 What Works Cities Certification, a national standard of excellence in city governance. What Works Cities Certification rates how well cities are managed by measuring the extent to which city leaders incorporate data and evidence in their decision-making. This year, the Certification recognizes Arlington, TX; Kansas City, MO; Louisville, KY; Memphis, TN; Philadelphia, PA; Scottsdale, AZ; and Washington, DC.“Data helps city leaders understand problems and measure success, and it helps citizens hold government accountable for meeting public needs on all the big challenges we face – from promoting health and safety to fighting climate change,” said Michael R. Bloomberg, founder of Bloomberg Philanthropies and three-term Mayor of New York City.
Three cities (Kansas City, MO; Louisville, KY; and Washington, DC) achieved Certification at the gold level, moving up from silver in 2018.
Four cities (Arlington, TX; Memphis, TN; Philadelphia, PA; and Scottsdale, AZ) are newly certified and achieved the silver level.
Additional accomplishments can be found here. No city achieved platinum in 2019, the highest level of Certification.
To date, a total of thirteen cities have achieved Certification:
Arlington, TX (2019 Silver), Boston, MA (2018 Silver), Kansas City, MO (2019 Gold, 2018 Silver), Los Angeles, CA (2018 Gold), Louisville, KY (2019 Gold, 2018 Silver), Memphis, TN (2019 Silver), New Orleans, LA (2018 Silver), Philadelphia, PA (2019 Silver), San Diego, CA (2018 Silver), San Francisco (2018 Silver), Scottsdale, AZ (2019 Silver), Seattle, WA (2018 Silver), and Washington, DC (2019 Gold, 2018 Silver)
