Nov. 6, 2014

City Manager Harry Black Launches Office of Performance & Data Analytics

Appoints Chad Kenney Director

Cincinnati City Manager Harry Black has selected Chad Kenney Jr. to lead Cincinnati’s newly created Office of Performance and Data Analytics. Kenney joins the City on Monday, Nov. 17, 2014. He will report directly to the City Manager.

Cincinnati’s Office of Performance and Data Analytics is designed to boost customer service and save taxpayer money through greater accountability and improved efficiency.

"I had the opportunity to work closely with Chad in Baltimore. I remain impressed with the quality and determination he exhibited as he rose in the ranks to become Director of Citistat. I am confident that he is the right man for the challenge here in Cincinnati," said Black. "We are fortunate to have him join our team and I am excited to begin our work."

Kenney will lead the office as it focuses on three main objectives:

• Design and implement performance management agreements with department heads.
• Establish an Innovation Lab to address some of the City’s most challenging operational and customer service issues.
• Design and establish a Citistat program, which will use data to methodically zero in on areas of underperformance and improve service throughout city government.

Kenney previously served as the Director of Baltimore’s CitiStat program, a nationally recognized performance management system. He led a team in developing key performance indicators for Baltimore City, a government with an annual budget of $3.4 billion and 15,000 employees serving 620,000 residents.

His accomplishments include helping to lead changes within the Baltimore Fire Department that are projected to save $70 million over 10 years while increasing pay 14.5% for firefighters; increasing customers’ satisfaction with Baltimore city services from 50% to 70%; and managing a survey of all 72,000 street lights to find wasted money on non-functioning lights.

Kenney also spent two years as a Teach for America Corps Member, teaching high school mathematics at a Baltimore City Public School. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Mathematics and a Masters in Teaching degree from Johns Hopkins University.