Taming City Hall: Rightsizing for Results [Hardcover]

Gerald Seals (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

A publication of the Center for Self-Governance, this volume chronicles the efforts of city manager Seals and other officials in Corvallis, Oregon, to "rightsize" the city's government. Between 1987 and 1993, officials cut budgets, reduced taxes, increased city salaries, and increased productivity. Beginning with a survey to assess the state of city operations, municipal authorities diagnosed management problems, inventoried and evaluated services, developed priorities, and set about reducing duplication, improving customer service, and "managing smarter." The Corvallis case, which drew public attention when it was recounted in David Osborne and Ted Gaebler's best-selling Reinventing Government (Addison-Wesley, 1992), is compelling. A pro-government rather than an anti-government diatribe, this book will be on the desks of city administrators, elected officials, and informed readers concerned about the poor state of government today.
William L. Waugh Jr., Georgia State Univ., Atlanta
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Corvallis, Oregon, is the leading example of a municipal government that took a proactive, strategic, "rightsizing" approach to the redefining of its workforce and operations to meet the constraints of the 1990s. And Seals, currently the head of Greenville County, South Carolina's rightsizing initiative, was the city manager who led the Corvallis campaign. In Taming City Hall, an in-depth case study, Seals spells out the situation he found in Corvallis in 1988 and includes the ideas--"working smarter," setting priorities, strong customer orientation, and "compacting" with other government agencies to eliminate duplication of services--he applied to change the situation. Obviously the results were impressive, and Seals was off to South Carolina. Throughout the text and in 100-plus pages of appendices, he supplies charts and graphs, surveys and policy statements, and press releases and press clippings to illustrate the steps taken in Corvallis. A valuable resource for readers interested in cost-effective reform of local government agencies. Mary Carroll

Product Details

• Hardcover: 283 pages
• Publisher: ICS Press (January 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1558153381
• ISBN-13: 978-1558153387
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 1.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,590,444 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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0 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Hilarious, August 11, 2001

By 

roy bennett (CORVALLIS, OR USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Taming City Hall: Rightsizing for Results (Hardcover)

For one who lived in Corvallis at the time referred to in this book, and still lives there, this book is an amusing concept, and I'm passing it around to others here for a belly laugh. The quote that Gerald was "Obviously the results were impressive, and Seals was off to South Carolina" hardly reflects the feelings of the citizenry at the time I think. My own opinion is that this book be relegated to the history of Sunday Funnies section. It's amusing.