Public Service Innovators - Matt Bailey MPP '98: Cutting the Fat Out of Government

Matt Bailey MPP '98 has only been on the job for 18 months, and he's already made his mark on the state of Pennsylvania. As the head of the state's Office of Management and Productivity, he and his staff have saved taxpayers millions of dollars that will either be returned to taxpayers' wallets or invested in programs proven to help citizens of the Keystone State.

From the time Pennsylvania Governor Edward Rendell created the Office of Management and Productivity in April 2003 with the idea of making government "work smarter," the office has engineered some pretty significant cost savings. Under Bailey's direction, his office anticipates saving the state $6.2 million in staffing costs this fiscal year by decreasing the Commonwealth's dependence on outside contractors. The state will save an additional $5.4 million through other operational efficiency efforts, such as reduced cell phone usage at the Department of Agriculture and raising the mileage level at which State Police patrol vehicles are turned in.

Moreover, as a result of Bailey's project-management skills, the state cut $5.5 million out of its budget by creating partnerships among state agencies in contract negotiations. For example, the state was able to renegotiate the Department of Transportation's call center contract, the Department of Public Welfare's information technology contracts and natural gas contracts for three state correctional institutions.

"Making government work better and stand under scrutiny does have an impact on citizens' views of government and what government can accomplish," says Bailey, whose first government job was working for Elaine Kamarck, who managed President Clinton's efforts to reinvent government and who is now a lecturer in public policy at the Kennedy School.

"Bureaucratic inertia," Bailey readily admits, is the greatest challenge he faces. "It isn't that people are opposed to improving how government works," he says. "Often people are dying for this type of effort, but it's really complicated. You may have human resources or union-related issues. You can get a lot of grievances because you're taking away something that might appear minor, like the features on someone's phone."

Though he insists he doesn't spend most of his time hunched over spreadsheets, Bailey says his project-management skills are vital. From working on contract negotiations with copier companies to maintaining the governor's focus on providing access to government contracts for women- and minority-owned businesses, he's always kept on his toes.

"We're a tenacious group," says Bailey. "There are certainly cases where folks feel that [our team] can be ignored, that we'll go away. There are times when you get some friction. But we've really all got the same core mission: to make state government work better."
Based at Shaw Jr. High School in Washington, D.C., CCP offers volunteer tutoring and mentoring services to qualified, committed students at a school that has an impoverished student population with a history of below average test scores. His private-sector skills are key to CCP's success. In addition to holding strategic planning sessions and maintaining a record of student performance measurement data, Bayer cites technology as a powerful tool typically associated with for-profit endeavors.

"We use a share file on the Internet so that our board members can exchange documents and there's a hotline number for the kids to call when they need help. I think we run this organization with a very businesslike attitude, and I mean that in the best sense of the word," he said.

CCP matches each student with two volunteers who trade off weekly, Saturday-morning tutoring sessions. "We wanted to balance flexibility for the volunteer with consistency for the student," Bayer explains. In addition to sponsoring monthly outings and events, this year the program launched a Summer Opportunities Initiative that provided students with educational internships at sites such as the Corcoran Gallery of Art and Internet content provider AllAfrica.com. Student stipends are provided through private donations and students write four essays about the challenges and rewards of their experience.

"I find it tremendously exciting to work with what I call 'swing voters,'" Bayer remarks. "Junior high students haven't yet decided what their direction in life is going to be, and every year we launch a campaign to persuade these swing voters to choose the path towards educational opportunities after high school."

Recently, CCP entered into a partnership with Howard University's Upward Bound, a nationwide program for high school students that helps students develop the educational and interpersonal skills required for success at the college level.

"It's our goal to continue to build this organization," said Bayer. "I think we have a valuable product, and we'd like to make it available to as many students as we can."

Photo: Returning CCP students and Mark Bayer at a welcome back barbecue to kick off CCP's 2001-02 session.