A Good Idea
Whose Time
Has Come -
Again!
BALTIMORE EFFICIENCY &
ECONOMY FOUNDATION
formed to restore the tradition and practices of Commission on Governmental Efficiency & Economy. |
 e invite you to enjoy "Briefs," the newsletter of the Baltimore Efficiency & Economy Foundation. In this inaugural issue, we will introduce you to our Foundation, known more familiarly as B.E.E.F., a tax exempt 501(c)(3) organization.
B.E.E.F. has been organized over the last eighteen months by its Board of Directors, all civic activists. We share the common belief that independent, nonpartisan research is the means to a more effective City government. B.E.E.F.'s primary activity is to direct independent reviews of various aspects of City government management, operations and fiscal and tax policy. |
GEORGE A. NILSON
PRESIDENT
B.E.E.F. Foundation
B.E.E.F. Welcomes
Collaboration with
the Public
Beef invites your suggestions of specific areas of Baltimore City government management, operations and fiscal affairs that may benefit from outside research information. We hope that City Hall, business, civic and non-profit orgainzations, local foundations and members of the public will collaborate with B.E.E.F. in helping City government function more efficiently and economically. Projects will be undertaken by volunteer task forces composed of professionals and citizens with relevant expertise or contracted to independent research organizations.
Watch for B.E.E.F's web page now under development. All of our reports will be included on the web page. It will be interactive to enable the public to discuss research reports and suggest new topics for study. Our web page address is www.beefbaltimore.org |
In addition to encouraging more efficient local government, the Board is particulary interested in new stratagies for increasing Baltimore's tax base with new businesses and homeowners and in facilitating regional cooperation between Baltimore City and the surrounding counties. By helping City government achieve efficiencies in its operations and services, we believe that existing funds will be freed to provide new, imporved services, rebuild the City's infrastructure, reduce the deficit and implement targeted tax relief.
Research findings will be shared with the government for consideration and implementation and with the public to provide them them necessary information to participate in informed dialogues on public issues. It is hoped that the Foundation's studies and public forums will encourage community participation and involvement in local government by supporting strong independent citizen input on matters of importance to Baltimore City.
By forming B.E.E.F., our Board is reviving a good idea that proved so valuable to Baltimore City for half a century.
B.E.E.F.'s historic forerunner is the Baltimore Commission on Governmental Efficiency and Economy, an innovative civic organization which made a remarkable contribution to the City's economic growth and fiscal stability from 1929 to 1975. With a Board of Directors comprised of accomplished businessman, perofessionals and academics, the Commission was the conscience of City government on financial matters for more than 47 years.
The original Commission was formed in 1923 with the support of then Mayor Howard W. Jackson who invited the business community to form a group to study City government, finances and municipal management. At the conclusion of Mayor Jackson's term in 1928, the Commission incorporated and continued to produce major studies that guided and challanged the City's leadership. Throughout its history, among the 1, 329 detailed major studies completed were those on City budgets, City debt, City property, the Courts, the election system, highways, jails, the library, museums, pension system, personnel, planning & zoning, police, fire, public works, purchasing, recreation & parks, schools, welfare, state/city cooperation, improvements and savings in marketing municipal bond issues and many more.
The Commission's work was so respected that cities througout the U.S. contacted the Baltimore Commission to learn how to set up similar[continued at top] |
organizations. To this day, comparable organizations serve an important function in other U.S. cities. In 1964, the Citizens' Economy & Efficiency Commission was formed in
By helping City government achieve efficiencies in its operations and services, we believe that existing funds will be freed to provide new, improved services, rebuild the City's infrastructure, reduce the deficit and implement targeted tax relief.
Las Angeles. (See http://eec.co.la.ca.us) In 1972, Research Atlanta, Inc. was formed to assist Atlanta's local government. (See http://researchatlanta.org)
In hindsight, the Commission's work was never completed. It had studied and understood city government structure as no other outside organization has done, and the public has been without the benefit of that understanding for a quarter century. One of its last major efforts was to recommend, in 1973, a study of the financial needs and inter-related interests of the City and five surrounding counties and of regional cooperation and revenue sharing -- ideas that have returned to focus and are the subject of renewed discussion today.
The Commission on Governmental Efficiency & Economy provides the B.E.E.F. Board of Directors a distinguished example of its founding mission and achievements. We are indebted to our friend, Dan Loden, who worked with John Sondheim in the Maryland Room at the Enoch Pratt Free Library to research the Commission's history. We express our appreciation to the Abell Foundation and to the two anonymous foundations that are providing us our initial operation support, and to the Goldseker Foundation which has funded, along with the City, our first study. We are fortunate to have the Commission's last president before it disbanded, George S. Wills, among B.E.E.F's founding directors.
In addition to this newsletter and report publications, please take advantage of the B.E.E.F. web site to stay informed of ongoing research and other activities.
The Foundation hopes to renew the creative work of the Baltimore Commission on Governmental Efficiency & Economy, and we invite you to share your ideas with us for helping Baltimore City government operate more efficiently and the City to be a better place to live and work.
George A. Nilson, President[next page]
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