Campbell Students Attend Government Workshop

Dr. Stephen M. King, associate professor of Public Administration at Campbell University, took several students in his Municipal Government and Public Policy classes to a half-day workshop on local government innovation. Held Wednesday, February 16, at the Radisson Hotel in Research Triangle Park, the workshop was sponsored by The Center for Local Innovation, a division of conservative think tank, the John Locke Society.
Titled “Innovation 2005 for Local Government,” the workshop consisted of three 90-minute sessions dealing with budgeting, privatization and merging, and performance management. The purpose of the workshop was to promote a more proactive, efficient and responsive local government.
“The workshop was centered on innovative ways for local governments to do their job of service delivery,” King said. “It covered a lot of good issues on how local government intervention can deliver services in a more efficient and cost-saving manner.”
The students were enlightened on how privatization enhances cost savings by merging with private and non-profit sectors to produce better quality service delivery; how performance budgeting produces savings for the customer by focusing on the entire budget rather than just the margins of tax increase; and how performance management is more results-oriented, requiring strict adherence to budget and management prioritization.
“I think the workshop helped students better understand the workings of local government, instead of just reading about what local government does and how it operates out of a textbook,” King said. “All of the students who participated found the experience to be educational and rewarding.”

Bulletin 0042-2/22/05