Made Government Work for the People

hen the Chiles/MacKay team took office in 1991, they knew they wanted to bring new people, new ideas and new approaches to Florida's government. They wanted to make government work for the people.

Chiles/MacKay wanted to ensure that government was held accountable to the people of Florida. In 1991, they created the Commission for Government by the People, which looked at the state's responsiveness to citizens' needs and developed ways to restructure government. Chiles/MacKay created the Commission on Government Accountability to the People (GAP Commission) to further grade government performance in accomplishing missions and reaching goals. The commission developed benchmarks to objectively and quantitatively measure the success of government in meeting Florida's needs.

For the first time, departments in government could understand the true impact of their work by measuring and monitoring key indicators such as infant mortality, child health, juvenile delinquency, or environmental pollution. These measures helped refocus the government's leadership on results rather than activities.

Governor Chiles' creation of the Sterling Council was another major milestone. For the first time, a forum was held for quality management practitioners in the public and private sectors to share their knowledge. This interaction led to the development of customized quality management criteria for businesses, not-for-profit organizations and public sector organizations in Florida to use in measuring their performance. Florida's Sterling self-assessment processes are considered by many to be the benchmark for the country and enjoy widespread support from corporations and the overall business community in Florida.

The Chiles/MacKay administration's use of quality management tools has led to numerous success stories. The departments of Revenue, Children and Families, and Labor and Employment Security have all made quality management integral to their work, and other agencies have followed their lead. Millions of dollars have been saved, the responsiveness of state government has improved, and Florida is responding to the needs of an ever-growing population while limiting the size of its employee workforce.


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	hen the Chiles/MacKay team took office in 1991, they knew they wanted to bring new people, new ideas and new approaches to Florida's government. They wanted to make government work for the people. Chiles/MacKay wanted to ensure that government was held accountable to the people of Florida. In 1991, they created the Commission for Government by the People, which looked at the state's responsiveness to citizens' needs and developed ways to restructure government. Chiles/MacKay created the Commission on Government Accountability to the People (GAP Commission) to further grade government performance in accomplishing missions and reaching goals. The commission developed benchmarks to objectively and quantitatively measure the success of government in meeting Florida's needs. For the first time, departments in government could understand the true impact of their work by measuring and monitoring key indicators such as infant mortality, child health, juvenile delinquency, or environmental pollution. These measures helped refocus the government's leadership on results rather than activities. Governor Chiles' creation of the Sterling Council was another major milestone. For the first time, a forum was held for quality management practitioners in the public and private sectors to share their knowledge. This interaction led to the development of customized quality management criteria for businesses, not-for-profit organizations and public sector organizations in Florida to use in measuring their performance. Florida's Sterling self-assessment processes are considered by many to be the benchmark for the country and enjoy widespread support from corporations and the overall business community in Florida. The Chiles/MacKay administration's use of quality management tools has led to numerous success stories. The departments of Revenue, Children and Families, and Labor and Employment Security have all made quality management integral to their work, and other agencies have followed their lead. Millions of dollars have been saved, the responsiveness of state government has improved, and Florida is responding to the needs of an ever-growing population while limiting the size of its employee workforce.
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