OPEN GUELPH coordinator in the Office of the CAO , to develop a mechanism whereby staff could pitch their ideas , have decisions made quickly and connect with the tools and resources to do their jobs well .
The result is the city ’ s Innovation Fund , a peer-to-peer led process where city employees can pitch their ideas to a panel of their peers , who can award resources if they believe the idea has merit .
With $ 50,000 in seed money , the program got off the ground in summer 2014 with a total of 21 pitches . Winners were announced shortly afterwards , and today , most of the ideas have been implemented .
Examples of winning pitches include a bus driver who proposed more riderfriendly signage at Guelph ’ s bus hub , and a city works staffer who advocated for the purchase of wing-blade carts that would allow for easier mounting and dismounting of the blades – used for clearing snow – on city trucks .
In another pitch , the court services department asked for an investment of $ 8,000 so it could access the Equifax program database , which would allow it to more efficiently locate people who owed outstanding court-ordered tickets or fines . Implemented at the beginning of 2015 , the new program brought in $ 140,000 in fines over the year , allowing for the closure of more than 800 cases .
Holder said the Innovation Fund has been so successful that Guelph has launched its second request for pitches .
“ It turned out better than we could have hoped ,” she said . “ Staff felt supported by senior management and recognized for their great ideas . They felt they had a voice and were being heard .”
Collective collaboration Collaboration is a founding pillar of Guelph ’ s open government initiative . Many voices make for unique solutions , a belief shared by Jennifer Smith , manager of corporate and community strategic initiatives .
Smith coordinates the City of Guelph ’ s roundtables initiative , a process that brings executives together with employees , city councillors and citizen stakeholders to discuss specific
“ The fact is that transparency and accountability aren ’ t just overused buzzwords , they are government imperatives .”
– Barb Swartzentruber , Executive Director of Intergovernmental Relations , Policy and Open Government , City of Guelph
challenges standing in the way of the “ perfect city .”
“ It ’ s a new approach , with the tables really starting their work last fall ,” said Smith . “ They are quite experimental in nature and have proved excellent testing grounds for trying out new tools and methods at the city .”
The end goal , she says , is to build the city ’ s capacity for collaborative problem solving by giving more stakeholders a voice ; increasing problem-solving skills ( particularly methods and tools that build empathy and understanding from a user perspective ); and developing practical solutions that work .
Real improvements were made with the marriage licence process , whereby citizen experience led to a number of ground level enhancements . Smith said new roundtable groups will be considered for 2017 .
While Andy Best may now be in the middle of Guelph ’ s open government push , it ’ s clear that the city ’ s progress is a collective effort that involves all stakeholders – elected officers , managers , frontline employees and citizens alike .
While the transformation is a living process involving trial and error , each success provides a solid block upon which Guelph is building the open city of the future .
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