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MuniNet Medley: 1/23/12 - Louisville Performance Improvement, Harrisburg’s New Treasurer, Premont Cuts Sports, Rochester & Kodak

Designed to bring the best of private sector accountability, transparency and efficiency to city government, Louisville has appointed its first Director of Performance Improvement.  Theresa Reno-Weber, who starts her new job today, brings private sector experience - and a Master’s degree in Public Policy from the Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government.   According to a City press release, one of Reno-Weber’s first project will be to develop “LouieStat,” a database that will help managers and leaders analyze trends and - as the job title suggests - improve performance.  

... There is also a new nameplate on the door of the Treasurer’s office in the fiscally challenged City of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.  Voters here opted to throw out the notion that “with age comes wisdom,” instead opting for the promise of youth when they elected 23-year-old John Campbell to the position.  Campbell, installed into office on January 3, is in charge of tax collections and investing city funds (however limited they may be).  According to a Reuters article, he intends to use the power of his office to bridge the city’s financial gap, despite the limits on that power by the state-appointed receiver...  

... Youth in one cash-strapped Texas school district will have more time to focus on studies now that their athletic program has been suspended mid-year, according to an article in the Corpus Christie Caller  The Premont Independent School District took the drastic measure as part of an effort to improve its financial and academic performance, and thereby, avoid closure by the State ...

Will “Kodak moments” instead become distant memories in Rochester, New York - a city that Eastman Kodak has called home for more than 130 years?  A New York Times article likens the City of Rochester to New Orleans without its French Quarter. But while Kodak is in the midst of determining its corporate future, the City of Rochester remains strong; in fact, according to the NYT article, the diversification of its economy over the past few decades has helped it remain a leader in job-growth leader in New York State.