Priority Setting Checklist

Those who carry out reforms most effectively are leaders who have a clear policy agenda at the beginning. This lays out in some detail the main substance of what they plan to do. In other words, they need more than vague commitments to "new" and "fresh" approaches. They need plans that can be widely shared, and that people can understand and support.
New leaders always face a legacy of past legislation, administrative structures (or lack of them), key officials, and actions pending from those who have left office. They need to decide quickly what to carry forward, what to discard, and what to hold for further review. All of these choices send important signals to both supporters and opponents of reform.
The residents of cities want reform, but they also want assurances of continued service, and ongoing livelihoods. This means leaders need to balance reform and upheaval with stability and reassurance.
During a reform process, the scarcest resource is the attention of key leaders to their own agenda. Any reform agenda is likely to encounter unexpected resistance, surprise events, and the mundane realities of day-to-day administration. Successful leaders are most often those who combine flexibility on specific matters with clever use of events to keep their agendas moving forward. They often make excellent use of symbolic actions, e.g., changing names of organizations, starting regular meetings with residents, touring different neighbourhoods of their cities in person, etc.
Cities are often large and complex systems. It will not be feasible or desirable to concentrate authority over all aspects of reform in a few hands. There will need to be methods of delegating responsibilities to others. These people will need to be oriented to their assigned tasks. They will need to enlist the support of established groups and to mobilize new groups associated with their assigned field of reform.

The checklist begins on the first day in office of a reform administration or leader and moves onward over time as reforms are defined further, initiated, and accomplished.

Potential Actions	Do We Need To Do This?	Status Right Now
Announce a reform agenda, for example, areas in which reforms will be carried out.
Appoint key advisors on carrying out reforms.
Appoint key people to roles in actually implementing reforms.
Announce some key details about what reforms will mean for daily lives of residents.
Take symbolic actions in starting a "fresh team", e.g., removing a statue, planting trees, changing signs.
Take symbolic actions about what is left over from a previous administration.
Announce reviews of policies where the course of action is not yet clear.
Announce details on how reforms will be carried out.
Take immediate actions to implement reforms within current authorities and resources.
Propose new legislation with additional authorities and/or funding for reforms.
Begin to reorganize government departments.
Introduce new programs or major changes to existing programs.
Assess results of reforms in relation to original objectives.
Revise reform agenda based on learning.


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The checklist below is based on study of different approaches to taking office as a new city administration. The main lessons to be gained from this research are as follows: Those who carry out reforms most effectively are leaders who have a clear policy agenda at the beginning. This lays out in some detail the main substance of what they plan to do. In other words, they need more than vague commitments to "new" and "fresh" approaches. They need plans that can be widely shared, and that people can understand and support. New leaders always face a legacy of past legislation, administrative structures (or lack of them), key officials, and actions pending from those who have left office. They need to decide quickly what to carry forward, what to discard, and what to hold for further review. All of these choices send important signals to both supporters and opponents of reform. The residents of cities want reform, but they also want assurances of continued service, and ongoing livelihoods. This means leaders need to balance reform and upheaval with stability and reassurance. During a reform process, the scarcest resource is the attention of key leaders to their own agenda. Any reform agenda is likely to encounter unexpected resistance, surprise events, and the mundane realities of day-to-day administration. Successful leaders are most often those who combine flexibility on specific matters with clever use of events to keep their agendas moving forward. They often make excellent use of symbolic actions, e.g., changing names of organizations, starting regular meetings with residents, touring different neighbourhoods of their cities in person, etc. Cities are often large and complex systems. It will not be feasible or desirable to concentrate authority over all aspects of reform in a few hands. There will need to be methods of delegating responsibilities to others. These people will need to be oriented to their assigned tasks. They will need to enlist the support of established groups and to mobilize new groups associated with their assigned field of reform. The checklist begins on the first day in office of a reform administration or leader and moves onward over time as reforms are defined further, initiated, and accomplished.