With all of the talk of municipal finance and of raising additional revenues not much has been said about the need to change the way we do business. On Monday I will propose to the Methuen City Council that the School Department and the City merge their Human Resources function, creating one Director for both City and School. This merged Department will have one person doing the job that two had done previously, simply because of an artificial boundary between City and School. Superintendent Whitten and I have authorized the purchase of a new software system that meets the needs of both City and School in the area of Human Resources. In the past each side would have created specifications for their software and purchased it separately. Even though the school side does have different requirements related to education we went the extra bureacratic mile and found the right software. While this is only one department I truly believe that it is the wave of the future. Artificial barriers that create additional administrative expenses for cities and towns must be broken down. The property tax can no longer afford additional expense based on turf-protection.
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Bill Manzi.com 
IT’S A GREAT WAY FOR THE CITY TO SAVE REVENUE BY CONSOLIDATING THE TWO. GREAT JOB MAYOR KEEP UP THE INNOVATION. GOOD LUCK IN YOUR RE-ELECTION. I KNOW YOUR GOING TO WIN BY A HUGE MARGIN.
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A few years back Mitt Romney suggested something similar with saving money by consolidating the HR departments of all the UMass branches. While I don’t that ever happened, I agree whole heartedly with this plan, which reduces current and future costs.
You mentioned the city purchased specific software for this unique case, and that makes sense, but is there any case for other software needs that would use open source software to save the city money?
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Derek,
We have not, as of yet, looked into open source. With the advent of Windows Vista as well as a new suite from Office we will look into open source as well as proprietary alternatives to Microsoft. I believe Microsoft makes an acceptable product, but the expense is mounting and we will need to consider less expensive alternatives before we upgrade.
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HAVE YOU CONSIDERED CONSOLIDATING OTHERS SUCH AS CUSTODIANS AND THE DPW/ THAT COULD CREATE A COST SAVINGS FOR THE CITY. WHY HAVE ALL THESE DEPARTMENT HEADS? SOMETHING TO CONSIDER. THE OLD SAYING TOO MANY CHIEFS NOT ENOUGH INDIANS. HAVE A GOOD DAY.
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Great job! If huge corporations can run their businesses like that, why not the city? Are there other administrative functions under consideration for a plan like this? Accounts payable? Payroll?
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Two questions on further consolidations. Wow! Yes, Superintendent Whitten and I continue to evaluate additional management consolidations. I do believe that while government differs in many respects from business it also is similar in many key respects, and there is no real reason (aside from turf protection) why government cannot reduce administrative overhead. Another business principle that I believe in is “concentrating on your core function”, which has become popular in the corporate world as more business shed “non-core” functions, selling pieces off to players who can frankly do a better job of it in the selected area. Managing well should not be ideological, but practical.
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The City Council tonight voted to adopt my plan for a consolidated Human Resources Department by an 8-1 vote. The plan will save taxpayers (with the software savings) over $50,000. The only dissenting vote was Councilor Rahme.
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Maybe she thinks smaller government is ‘un-American’?
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I just don’t want to touch that!
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