Matthew Gallagher
Matt Gallagher, as the chief of staff for Maryland’s Governor Martin O’Malley, talks about the implementation of StateStat and his role in the cabinet of the governor. StateStat is a performance-measurement and management tool which was first put into action upon Governor O’Malley’s taking of office. As Gallagher details, the tool allows Maryland’s government to be more accountable and more efficient. Gallagher talks about the weakness of Managing for Results, the management program that was present when O’Malley first became governor. The weaknesses include how the program was not operationalized, and how it had an inadequate, inefficient measurement technique. He talks about the program that StateStat is modeled after, CitiStat, the measurement program that O’Malley developed while he was Mayor of Baltimore City. As Gallagher explains, CitiStat is a much more aggressive performance measurement in terms of the number of measures and the frequency of meetings. The chief of staff elaborates upon the benefits of StateStat, and how the program accelerates decision-making and provides the opportunity to observe where there is management capacity and deficiencies at the agency level. Gallagher talks about the areas in which they focused on, such as public safety and crime, shown by their creation of the Violence Prevention Initiative (VPI). He also details the dynamics within the cabinet, and the struggles of having the most qualified people working under him while still creating an atmosphere where everybody gets along and performs to their highest potential.
Case Study: Rethinking the Role of the Cabinet: Maryland's Center of Government Reforms, 2007-2012
At the time of this interview, Matt Gallagher was the chief of staff for Maryland’s Governor Martin O’Malley. He had been chief of staff for a little over three years. Gallagher had been with the governor ever since he was the mayor of Baltimore city, first managing a private sector business transition team effort for the then new O’Malley administration, and then serving as the director of the CitiStat program for 6.5 years. Following this, when Mayor O’Malley was first elected governor, Gallagher entered the administration as a deputy chief of staff in charge of operations. He graduated to chief of staff a little over three years ago. Gallagher has played a major role in improving the efficiency of the government of Maryland, serving as an overseer in the implementation of StateStat. He has played a vital role in improving the performance-measurement and management tool, and is a primary reason why the process of its implementation continues to proceed exceptionally.