Indianapolis Mayor-elect Joe Hogsett has ordered a top-to-bottom review of city agencies before his inauguration Jan. 1.
The review is a page from Greg Ballard's playbook -- Hogsett has even hired the same Indianapolis accounting firm which reviewed city government when Ballard was first elected in 2007. Crowe Horwath will report how many workers each department has, what projects are in progress, and what their priorities are.
Hogsett says the audit isn't an attempt to ferret out waste, though he says if the review uncovers inefficiencies, he'll move to address them. But he says the real goal is to make sure the incoming administration has a clear picture of the details of city government.
Hogsett says the report will take different forms for different departments.
“I’m not going to micromanage,” Hogsett says. “I’m charging these transition leaders to give me a thorough review: financially, operationally, managerially…”
And Hogsett says he's particularly interested in seeing the results for the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department. He notes police are still trying to increase manpower, despite two tax increases earmarked for public safety.
“There may be a perfectly understandable explanation – that those monies were somehow prioritized in different ways or used elsewhere in the public safety department. Maybe there was a greater priority that overtook the need for more additional officers on the street,” Hogsett says. “But, those are some of the questions that I’d like to have answered.”
