Dear Friends,

We continue to tackle the challenge of improving our operations while balancing the City's budget in tough economic times. I recently addressed this effort in the following column that was published Sunday, February 1 in the Rockford Register Star, which I am including with a few minor updates.

Best wishes,

Mayor Morrissey

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“And those of us who manage the public's dollars will be held to account — to spend wisely, reform bad habits, and do our business in the light of day — because only then can we restore the vital trust between a people and their government.”

President Barack Obama, excerpt from Inaugural Address, January 20, 2009

I had the honor of attending President Obama's inauguration and heard the President make this challenge. Our President has called for accountable, transparent, and effective government. In a time of crisis, with job losses mounting, we must accept this challenge and do the hard work necessary to achieve excellence and turn around the fortunes of our city.

Our work to reform local government through transparent, accountable decision making has been through our "RockStat" management program. RockStat is our data-driven approach to making decisions and deploying our resources. It's a major change in how we do business. We opened up our RockStat meetings this year to the general public and published our analysis on our City's web site to provide our citizens the transparent and accountable government of which the President speaks. This is our constant check on delivering excellence even when reform means we have to cut labor costs as illustrated in our recent City Council debate on staffing for police and fire services.

For us to effectively balance our $8 million deficit and run the City like a business, we must look at all aspects of our operations. We simply can't ignore our City’s two largest operations that amount to roughly 70% of our general fund budget. Local home owners and businesses have had to make the same types of tough decisions. The good news is that through our RockStat efforts, we can make needed cuts while continuing to improve public safety through better use of our resources.

The recent analysis provided by consultant, Alex Weiss, to our City Council demonstrates that better deployment of police personnel can help make dramatic cuts in overtime costs while improving service. In1993, we switched to a 10 hour shift from an 8 hour shift and we applied standards requiring the same manning of patrol officers for every hour of every day regardless of actual calls for service. Consequently, we had more officers than we needed at certain hours, not enough officers at other hours, and our overtime costs skyrocketed. We are bargaining with the union now to make needed changes in our contract to provide more officers when our citizens need them and at a lower cost.

Through our RockStat efforts, we're also performing this type of rigorous analysis of our fire department. We have to examine questions like: why are we the only community in the region and only community among comparable communities in Illinois to place four people on an engine company? Across the U.S., 70% of all full-time fire departments surveyed through the International City/County Management Association use less than four. The use of a smaller fire fighting crew corresponds with the steady decline in fire calls compared to a sharp increase in ambulance runs across the country. In fact, 80% of Rockford’s calls are for ambulance service and not fire.

We can be just as safe with three on an engine by rigorously monitoring our work and sharing responsibility with our citizens. We used three on an engine until the late 1990's and the Insurance Services Office (ISO) did not rate our risk level differently when we went to four. In fact, we currently use three to a crew on many of our engines when personnel are involved in training, which happens almost every week. At every fire, we have multiple companies respond bringing on scene 18-25 fire fighters.

The Fire Prevention Division of our department has done an excellent job in putting smoke detectors and carbon monoxide monitors in the hands of our residents. These are tools that have long been credited for reducing the risk of fire and fire related injuries in our city and allowed us to better manage fire risk. In fact, the majority of our own fire fighters manage an even greater risk in their own homes as 58% of our fire fighters actually live outside of Rockford in surrounding communities where homes and families are protected by volunteer or part-time departments. Obviously, when balancing the concerns of having a strong fire department, strong schools, and fair taxes, many have found that the balance tips in favor of surrounding communities where the schools rate better and the taxes are lower even though they know we have the best fire service.

In reviewing all aspects of our City operations, we cannot avoid the imperative to balance our budget and logic compels us to correctly match our resources to our needs. We are in the trenches right now fighting through the very challenge President Obama has made for us to transform the way we do business. I thank all of our staff and our citizens as we tackle this effort during tough times and I look forward to continued ideas on improving our operations.

The Home States Ball was great last night. I joined several thousand guests in congratulating our new President and Vice-President, each of whom shared a dance on stage with their wives.

There were several Rockford area residents in attendance at the ball as well as new leaders for the new administration. To the right is a photo taken of me and newly appointed Secretary of Transportation, Ray LaHood. Mr. LaHood's appointment will likely be confirmed soon by the Senate. He was a central Illinois Republican Congressman from 1995-2008 and is well respected on both sides and should be a great friend of Rockford. I had a chance to talk to him about our willingness to be held accountable for any Economic Stimulus funds invested in our community. We know we can show a great return on federal investments made in our area in areas like roads, bridges, and rail transportation.

Local business leaders like Sunil Puri, pictured with me in the photo to the left, were also in attendance. Mr. Puri was heavily involved in President Obama's campaign and even hosted a campaign event at his home with Michelle Obama.

Pictured below are Rockford attorney, Carol Bailey, with her son, Michael Hallock, who were also in attendance. Michael has been a staff assistant with Congressman LaHood and he may have a chance to continue to work with Secretary LaHood in the new administration.

In the picture to the right is Rockford attorney and former Winnebago County Democratic Chairman, Greg Tuite, who is on the left, along with State Senator Don Harmon, in the center.

I also had a chance to chat with former Rockford Mayor and now Illinois Commerce Commission Chairman, Charles Box, pictured on the right, along with former Rockford Housing Authority Director, Lewis Jordan, who now heads the Chicago Housing Authority.

Finally, pictured to the right are Rockford activists and Obama supporters Valeri DeCastris and David Beccue who also celebrated the Inauguration and look forward to great things for our community.

This was another great event capping off a great celebration for our new President. This was a great opportunity to strengthen our relationships with the new administration. This is a historic time for our Country and a historic time for Illinois and Rockford. We have a great chance to make our case for investment in our community and I look forward to working with our City Council and our community to see our dreams realized.

I am leaving for the airport to head back to Rockford shortly and I look forward to your input, ideas, and energy as we move ahead!

Best wishes,

Mayor Morrissey

What a great day!

I have little time right now to share. Suffice it to say, it was an awesome day for our country. I can share for now some of the photos from the day with some brief descriptions. For starters, the above photo is the best shot I could get of the actual Presidential Oath being sworn by President Obama. Please enjoy the rest!

Best wishes,

Mayor Morrissey

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Early morning just getting to the Mall west of the Washington Monument. They are replaying Sunday's concert video on the video screen.

A shot looking toward the Lincoln Memorial from the Washington Monument as people making their way east toward the Capitol Building:

I was making good time headed down Independence Avenue south of the Mall headed toward 1st Street and the "Orange" Section where I was seated.

Then the lines started to converge and progress for me and everyone else got a lot slower.

And slower still....

And downright crazy...

This is a shot of the lines outside of the Orange and Blue Gates!

We finally got inside the gate. Here is a shot of the approach just outside of the viewing stands.

And the wait was well worth it!

Below, a shot looking west toward the Washington Monument showcasing the massive crowd .

A shot here of me prior to the start of the ceremony.

...And no I don't know who the man is to my left looking on. But everyone was friendly and polite.

A shot showing me fully bundled up as the temperature dropped.

A final shot of the President delivering his Inaugural Address (pictured at the bottom left) and showcasing the majestic and inspiring stage and backdrop.

I am headed tonight to the Illinois Home States Ball. I'll be back home tomorrow!

Take care,

Mayor Morrissey

It is truly an honor to be here at our Nation's Capitol for the Inauguration of our President. The United States Conference of Mayors has been holding its annual winter meeting, which has allowed me to combine our efforts to work with other mayors on issues like the National Economic Stimulus Package along with the celebration of the Inauguration of our new President.I also want to thank all of the efforts of our Rockford Community to celebrate today in a national day 0f service the life of Dr. Martin Luther King. Our local community began a five-day celebration of Dr. King's legacy last week with the re-dedication of North Second Street/IL 251 as the Honorary Martin Luther King Drive. Adam Smith, the City's Director of Education, worked with Cyndie Hall, our Director of Tourism and Special Events, and many other community members on a broad-based committee to plan multiple events, including today's local celebration of a day of service. The President-Elect and Vice-President-Elect along with their wives joined national service efforts today. While our Nation has many challenges today, it is wonderful to see so many people working hard to bring positive change to our communities.

Today was obviously a busy day of preparations at the Capitol for tomorrow's Inauguration. I joined a lot of people today waiting in lines and going through security to enter public buildings. Senator Durbin had a morning coffee at the Library of Congress with many Illinoisans who made the trek to Washington. I had a chance to say hello to NIU President, John Peters, and his wife who were in DC for the Inauguration. I later joined other Illinois mayors in a smaller gathering at Senator Durbin's Office where I also had a chance to congratulate our newest Senator, Roland Burris.

State Senator Don Harmon was also at Senator Durbin's Office. Don is from Oak Park and he has been a great friend of Rockford working with our local State delegation on efforts like our truancy bill and overturning the Governor's veto of our Road Referendum collection bill in 2007.

At the top our the national legislative agenda for me and my fellow mayors has been the manner and method of how the Economic Stimulus bill will make its way to our nation's cities. At our luncheon meeting with Senator Durbin, we raised concerns that simply sending money to the States could delay or deny needed investment into our communities. I have joined other mayors in pushing for a substantial part of any package to go directly to our cities via our existing metropolitan planning organizations. In Rockford, we now have a more robust metropolitan planning body known as the Rockford Metropolitan Agency for Planning or "RMAP" for short. This entity would push to get our local share invested as fast as possible. We all know well of many important projects that have been waiting far too long for investment.

Looking forward to a great Inauguration Day tomorrow!

Mayor Morrissey

Dear Friends,

Adoption of sound business practices and running the City based on data and accountability have been top priorities of our administration. RockStat embodies our effort to do just that. It has helped us streamline our departments, align our strategies, and hold ourselves accountable for improvement. The system of accountability we have put in place has resulted in improvement throughout the organization including snow plowing, pothole fixing, policing, fire prevention, property standards and code enforcement, and a more effective way of paying for road improvements. While we still have a long way to go, I am proud of the progress we are making.



Over the past two years, as we have done our part to improve our operations at the City, I have called on our partner agencies to do the same. The good news is that we have great examples where our partnership and accountability efforts are paying off; but we can and must do more. In the criminal justice arena, that's why, starting with my State of the City Address in 2007 and then again in 2008, I called for better alignment and accountability with our criminal justice partners.

In the State of the City Address in March of 2008 I stated that:

[T]he criminal justice system must be improved at all levels: city, county, state's attorney, law enforcement, probation, and the judiciary. To make sure we are all improving, the County has completed an analysis identifying many gaps in our justice system. To fill the gaps and ensure improvement, we must measure performance, have rigorous follow-up, and transparent reporting. In 2008, we must challenge our justice partners to use that study to create better accountability and better management systems. Like Churchill said, it's about looking at past strategies and honestly assessing results. Where results are lacking, new strategies must be deployed.

Following up on those State of the City Addresses, we invited county partners in private meetings to work with us at the City in a coordinated, data-driven analysis to improve our justice system. We call that approach, "Justice Stat." We recently presented formal data to our City Council at our Council Retreat providing detailed justification for such a system. I am writing to share with you some of that data as well as some of the responses we have received from some of the judiciary and media.

First, basic data demonstrates the need for better focus on the numbers. Since 1990, our local judges have sent far fewer convicted felons to jail than just about any other community in the State of Illinois. The following chart shows incarceration rates for felons in several major Illinois counties since 2001:

Winnebago has the lowest numbers for sending convicted felons to jail and lags far behind other areas of the State. Simply put, we are pushing for stiffer sentences for convicted felons as part of our overall effort to improve public safety. This has been the approach in Chicago where they have also pushed transformation and tougher standards in public housing. We need to match that approach in Rockford which will mean justice for victims as we get criminals off our streets and we send a message to criminals that Rockford is no longer going to be "easy" to prey upon. Unfortunately, the Rockford Register Star seems to disagree.

In their December 21 editorial, the paper accuses my administration of having 'bad data, a bad premise, and bad manners.' (Click here to see the entire editorial.) I would like to take a moment to respond to this editorial as these are important questions for our community to resolve.

First, as to "bad facts", the paper is wrong; our facts our correct. We pulled our data from the Administrative Office of the Illinois Courts. We acknowledged that one year, 1999, seemed to have corrupted data but that did not change the overall numbers or bottom line which is that Winnebago County has been more lenient on convicted felons by a huge margin for years! In fact, the Editorial Board doesn't seriously attempt to disagree with the fact that local incarceration rates for felons is low, they simply seem to point to some justification for not sending the majority of felons to jail, which brings us to their second argument.

As to the "bad premise" argument, clearly the Editorial Board disagrees with an approach of getting tough on criminals who commit felonies. They can have this opinion, but I don't think victims of crime will agree with them. Unfortunately, they seem more concerned about criminals than victims. Our police officers get tired of arresting the same people who wind up back on our streets. The Editorial Board seems to miss the point that when cities get tough on criminals, the criminal element will go to other cities! (See, for instance, news coverage of the 2006 Report of the Chicago Crime Commission detailing the migration of gang crime from Chicago to suburban areas. (Click here for a link to a re-print of the Chicago Tribune Article on this topic.)

Finally, the Register Star Editorial Board argues that I have exhibited "bad manners" apparently by "surprising" county officials with this material and making this data public. The editorial questions, "What's the point of his numbers, other than to take potshots?" Firstly, how can any organization improve without running itself by numbers as opposed to anecdote? Secondly, the Editorial Board is incorrect in concluding that there was any surprise.

I have regularly met with the County Board Chairman since I was elected and for at least two years we have discussed the need for greater accountability in our justice system in the form of something like Justice Stat. Our City Legal Director, Pat Hayes, met and discussed this material with County elected officials including the County Board Chair when he was pursuing the nomination for the open State's Attorney position. Mr. Hayes also met personally with the Chief Judge Holmgren prior to our City Council Retreat and went through these materials. The fact is, there was no surprise and how could there be when they are their numbers over which we had had numerous discussions. While there was no surprise, there certainly was displeasure with making these numbers public and that seems to be the real source of the "bad manners" argument.

The real irony here is that in the past the Register Star has repeatedly called for greater transparency when it comes to public information. For some reason here, however, the Editorial Board seems to prefer that data be concealed or ignored as irrelevant when it comes to the performance of our judiciary. This is particularly surprising to me when I see the fine work that their reporters are doing covering the City's efforts to fight crime by using and publishing data on where crime occurs. (Click here for link to Register Star story on the City's data driven crime analysis.)

Unfortunately, the implied threat seems to be that we should not dare question the judiciary or its sentencing habits. That is simply crazy. Why should it be okay to question police officers, the mayor, the Police Chief, and others but not question the effectiveness of judges? In fact, the entire question of "bad manners" really appears to be an effort to divert the community's attention from the bottom line. But it doesn't really matter how we came to find out that our system is broke; if it's broke, let's fix it! Here are some additional thoughts on how to start.

There is a lot of data that can be studied about our judicial system. I have pushed this issue since I was appointed by former County Board Chair, Kris Cohn, to be part of a 2001-2002 citizen-based Criminal Justice Steering Committee. Back then, the question was what to do about jail overcrowding and, in addition to the idea of building a new jail, we knew we needed to improve the management and efficiency of the system. As a result of those past efforts, we've built a big new jail and the County is spending some $7 million to upgrade technology and improve some of their systems. To manage such a system, however, requires more than just computers, it requires the examination of the data with a goal of improvement. That's where there seems to be resistance and why we will continue to push this issue.

For starters, I have asked the County Board Chair, who hires the trial courts administrator, to simply provide and publish ongoing data on three areas: 1) our rate of incarceration of felons; 2) our rate of recidivism (repeat offenders); and 3) our rate of moving cases (how long does it take for a case to close through trial or plea/settlement in both civil and criminal courts. These are all fair questions and the public has a right to know the answers and we should benefit by holding ourselves accountable for the results. Let's continuously publish these numbers and engage in an open and frank discussion on how to improve them.

We have said all along that this is only one part of the solution to lowering crime and creating a safer community, but it's an important part. I am asking today for your help in sending the message to the media and to our judiciary that we can and must improve our system by being open and direct with the facts and working together to develop solutions. Please contact your County Board member or the County Board Chair today and let him know that you support getting tough on convicted felons and pushing Justice Stat as a way to hold ourselves accountable for improvement. (Click here for a County Board Contact List.) You may also respond with a letter to the editor using this link: (Letter to the Editor).

Very truly yours,


Mayor Lawrence J. Morrissey