Government Technology - June 2008 - (Page 32)

In addition to that, feedback systems are the backbone of human improvement. A feedback system is a fancy way of saying you take information and then think about it, analyze what you’ve learned, put it back in the system and get better results. One of my responsibilities that I’m holding the police department and also the technology company accountable for, is they stay on course, they report to my IT committee and tell me the progress [of the Jordan Downs pilot]. We’re also always looking for opportunities and other beneficial factors, such as making sure that backbone of infrastructure can be used for the community’s purposes as well. So it’s primarily for public safety, and that’s what we use it for. We’re keeping our fingers crossed because we hope and expect it will be successful, and if it’s proven successful, we want to duplicate [the Jordan Downs pilot program] throughout the city. GT: IN LESS THAN TWO YEARS, YOU’VE OVERHAULED L.A.’S BUSINESS TAX SYSTEM. WHAT DID THAT ENTAIL? CARDENAS: L.A.’s mayor [Antonio Villaraigosa] was quoted as acknowledging we had an overburdened city tax system for and they might not the next year. We’re able to give them an even higher threshold of not having to pay city taxes. GT: WAS THERE CONCERN THAT BY ELIMINATING THOSE TAXES, THE CITY WOULD LOSE MUCH-NEEDED REVENUE? CARDENAS: I was arguing with some of my colleagues about whether this would work, and I had promised them that based on our analysis, if we reduce the taxes on most of the businesses in L.A., we could do two things: One, we wouldn’t have to worry about the vast majority of businesses and could focus on proper taxation of the bigger businesses. As a result, we would see a rebounding effect of our tax base and collect more money. People thought that was kind of odd. We actually had professors who explained to us that there is, in fact, an economic phenomenon called the “elasticity effect,” and that means (this sounds more like a Republican ideal) that if you reduce the tax burden, you could actually have a healthier government and perhaps more money in your coffer. We analyzed it and realized that if we get it just right, we would have that effect; with my legislation, we reduced the business tax by JUNE_08 32 “ GT: WHAT ARE YOUR TOP TECHNOLOGY PRIORITIES FOR THE CITY? CARDENAS: One is something that our police department has testified is critical in some of the high-crime areas. For example, in Jordan Downs, we have a pilot program with a private company working with the police department. They have two commandments. One is that they have cameras that are already hooked in to the police department, and [officers] can actually watch them from a screen within their vehicles. So if they have a shooting, or a report of rape or other heavy crime, they can turn to those cameras and see the scene before they walk in. They may be going into a scene where someone has weapons, so for the police officer to actually get a bird’s-eye view of what’s going on in there is a tremendous safety [feature], not only for the public, but for the department. Now that the infrastructure is there, the second commandment is to have technology and computers available to kids and families in Jordan Downs, which is a public housing facility — one of the biggest and most crime-ridden in the city. They’re using the technology for public safety, and at the same time, using that backbone of infrastructure to have technology available so kids become computer literate. … When you look at the digital divide, they’re trying to provide answers. GT: CAN YOU TELL ME ABOUT OTHER WAYS YOU’VE BRIDGED TECHNOLOGY AND PUBLIC SAFETY? CARDENAS: Reporting is very important. I was trained as an engineer, and it’s important for me to have feedback. Once you get feedback, you can decide whether or not the first investment did happen and it’s working the way it was expected. businesses. We don’t rank very well with our neighboring cities — some cities have no city tax for businesses; some have a very minimal tax; we have had one of the highest. So I became the chairman of the committee and made a commitment to the L.A. community that we were going to reduce their tax to do business in the city. As a result, we removed close to two-thirds of the city’s businesses — smallest businesses — off the tax rolls. Once they grow into a medium-sized business, they would fall into that tax system. In addition to that, we give special exemptions, for example, to people who work from their home in the movie industry, because a lot of those writers and people who work out of their homes were feeling overburdened. One year they make a good amount of money, “ A FEEDBACK SYSTEM IS A FANCY WAY OF SAYING YOU TAKE INFORMATION AND THEN THINK ABOUT IT, ANALYZE WHAT YOU’VE LEARNED, PUT IT BACK IN THE SYSTEM AND GET BETTER RESULTS. http://www.govtech.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Government Technology - June 2008

Government Technology - June 2008 Contents Point of View The Last Mile Big Picture On the Scene Four Questions For... 3 Technologies That May Change Your Job ...And Your Life Loosening Medicaid's Grip Better Living Through Technology Immersive Itineraries Help Yourself Taking the Bait Shared Connection Up Close Spectrum Products Personal Computing signal:noise Digital Communities Contents Digital Tactics for a U.S. Recession E-Dilemma Stifling Community Innovation Leadership Interview Estonia Becomes E-Stonia If It Were Up to Me …

Government Technology - June 2008

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