O'Malley keynotes Governing magazine conference

Gov. Martin O'Malley (D-Baltimore) says that performance-based government management is "truly omni-partisan" and is "apolitical."

"There's no Democratic or Republican way to fix a pothole," O'Malley said during a video address. "You either do it or you don't."

O'Malley made the statements for his keynote speech at Governing magazine's Managing Performance 2008 Conference on Friday. 

The governor cancelled his trip to the conference in Texas after a medical helicopter crash killed four in Walker Mill Regional Park over the weekend.

O'Malley outlined the CitiStat and StateStat programs at the conference. The former Baltimore mayor played a key role in authoring both and remains an active proponent of performance based government management. He said such programs measure inputs "but more importantly outputs" of government performance.

"We didn't create CitiStat to win kudos from Governing magazine, though we deeply appreciate it," he said. "We did it to survive."

The governor also touched on the obstacles he faced as Baltimore mayor - pointing to a large population loss. The challenge, he explained, was that a declining population meant a smaller tax base to combat growing problems.

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