Centennial, Colo.’s first mayor: What we learned about outsourcing services
Centennial, Colo., entered into a five-year, public-private partnership for public works services in 2008 that entrusts all public works services to a private contractor that is managed by Centennial's public works director. Besides public works, Centennial outsources many tasks to the private sector and it has intergovernmental agreements with neighboring jurisdictions for other services. By doing so, Centennial officials say they have been able to keep taxes low and service quality high. Additionally, the city, which formed in 2001, has kept its in-house staff to only 53 employees.
Randy Pye, one of Centennial's five founders and its first mayor, spoke with American City & County about the lessons the city has learned from outsourcing and what other city officials should know before they contract out city services.
