Prince George’s County officials on Monday introduced CountyStat, County Executive Rushern Baker’s new government efficiency and accountability tool that he says can help reshape the county’s operations.
The system, modeled after similar programs used by Gov. Martin O’Malley in Baltimore when he was mayor and at the state level, collects data on county departments and agencies to seek ways to save spending and expedite cumbersome processes for residents and businesses.
“CountyStat’s job is to make sure our government is operating as effectively as possible,” Baker said. “It is a tool that will enable us to identify problems and implement strategies to improve our processes and operations.”
No agency in the county will be exempt from CountyStat’s research – including his own office, Baker said. Officials have been running a pilot version of the program for the last six months, but finally rolled out CountyStat and its accompanying website Monday morning.
The program has already helped the county’s emergency call center speed up its response times.
All information available to the CountyStat team will be available to the public, with the exception of sensitive public safety and personnel material. Meetings will be open to the public, and meeting presentations and information will be posted online as well.
