Civic engagement and performance management

Free and Open to the Public.

Presenting:
Mark Funkhouser, Director, Governing Institute, Former Mayor of Kansas City, MO

Abstract
"The legitimate object of government is to do for a community of people whatever they need to have done, but cannot do at all, or cannot so well do, for themselves in their separate and individual capacities." - Abraham Lincoln

Government exists to produce positive outcomes in the community and those outcomes are "co-produced" by government and citizens working together.  Every citizen has political responsibilities since improvements in government performance only occur as the result of a series of political acts.  In the 21st Century, performance management means partnering with citizens to produce results.  Nothing else works.  We'll address some of the aspects of this co-production and how it is working across America, including community economic development, place making and the tools and techniques of deliberative democracy.

Dr. Mark Funkhouser is the Director of the Governing Institute.  Prior to that, he was mayor of Kansas City, Missouri from 2007 to 2011.  Funkhouser was the first government professional ever elected by Kansas Citians to serve as their mayor.  During his controversial term he relied heavily on his experience and training in public finance to lead the city back from the brink of bankruptcy.  When he left office, the city's finances were in the best shape they had been in over a decade, a feat accomplished in the midst of the worst recession since the Great Depression.

Funkhouser began his career as a guard at George Junior Republic, a youth corrections facility in Grove City, Pennsylvania.  He went on to work as a rehabilitation counselor with the Pennsylvania State Bureau of Vocational Rehabilitation and then as an assistant professor at Salem College in Salem, West Virginia, teaching social work and sociology.  In 1978 he began a career as a performance auditor, first in Tennessee state government and then for the City of Kansas City, where he served as City Auditor from 1988 until 2006.  Under his leadership, the City Auditor's Office won the Knighton Award for outstanding auditing in 1997, 2000, 2003, and 2004.  GOVERNING recognized Funkhouser as one of its Public Officials of the Year in 2003.

While he was the City Auditor, Funkhouser also taught courses in public budgeting, program evaluation, policy analysis, public finance and related topics in the MPA programs of the University of Kansas and the University of Missouri at Kansas City.  He has written extensively about government performance and accountability and spoken at numerous seminars and workshops throughout the world.  His book, Honest, Competent Government, was the first global study of performance auditing.  In addition, he has served on the editorial boards of several publications including the American Review of Public Administration and the Journal of Government Financial Management.

Funkhouser's academic training includes a bachelor's degree in political science from Thiel College, a master's degree in social work from West Virginia University, an MBA in accounting and finance from Tennessee State University, and an interdisciplinary PhD in public administration and sociology from the University of Missouri at Kansas City.

Sponsored by:
The Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy (CLOSUP)
University of Michigan Nonprofit and Public Management Center

• Nonprofit
• NPM