Harsha Mallajosyula, Chief Data Officer for the City of Paterson in New Jersey, shares insights to improve equity and outcomes for those historically marginalized.
The Chief Data Officer for the City of Paterson in New Jersey joins the Govlaunch podcast. Paterson, like many cities across the globe, is looking to improve equity and outcomes for those historically marginalized. They've partnered with Bloomberg Cities on a variety of projects ranging from license restoration to a guaranteed income pilot. So let's get into these and how your local government may be able to explore similar initiatives.
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Featured government: City of Paterson, NJ
Episode guests: Harsha Mallajosyula, Chief Data Officer
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Lindsay: (00:05)
Welcome to the Govlaunch podcast. Govlaunch is the Wiki for local government innovation and on this podcast, we're sharing the stories of local government innovators and their efforts to build smarter governments. I'm Lindsay Pica-Alfano, co-founder of Govlaunch and your host. Today I'm chatting with the chief data officer for the city of Paterson in New Jersey. Paterson, like many cities across the globe is looking to improve equity and outcomes for those historically marginalized they've partnered with Bloomberg cities on a variety of projects, ranging from license restoration to a guaranteed income pilot. So let's get into to these and how your local government may be able to explore similar initiatives. Hi Harsha, so glad to have you on the podcast today, let's start by having you introduce yourself and a bit about your role.
Harsha: (00:55)
Hi Lindsay. My name is Harsha Mallajosyula. I'm the Chief Data Officer for the city of Paterson and I been tasked to develop performance analytics programs for the eight departments here. I sit in the office of innovation and my collaborator as the chief innovation officer.
Lindsay: (01:14)
Great. Well, I know you were previously at the city of Los Angeles, so quite the transition from Los Angeles to New Jersey. Um, tell us about your career prior to Paterson and what led you ultimately to the public sector?
Harsha: (01:27)
Yes. As you mentioned correctly, I was a senior data scientist at the mayor's office of budget and innovation for the city of Los Angeles, working for mayor Eric Garcetti. I had been there that role for about a year prior to that I product data scientists or a product engineer at, at a few ed tech startups, a mix of nonprofits and engineering companies. I have a dual masters in engineering and public policy, and I went to grad school at UC Berkeley. So shouted out to UC Berkeley. When I was working solely as an engineer, I was also involved with a lot of projects that looked into, uh, improving outcomes for, uh, local communities in the bay area. At one point, I came to a realization that what I wanted to do, uh, for my living and then the causes that I was passionate about, uh, there had to be an intersection and public service was at a perfect intersection and that led me to start working in public sector.
Lindsay: (02:34)
Yeah. Wonderful. Let's have you give us a quick rundown of Paterson, it's unique history as a city and how you've been really making moves these last few years to address some high level initiatives in your community.
Harsha: (02:46)
So Paterson is the third largest city in New Jersey. It was founded by Alexander Hamilton. So it really has a unique history. Um, it was once an industrial center in the Northeast, but as industries moved outside of United States, particularly manufacturing, the city in some sorts has been left behind. We are primarily a community of the demographics are around 60% Hispanic, 28% African and the city has some challenges. The poverty level is twice that of the national average and only around 10 per residents have a college degree. We've been part of a cohort of cities that get lot of technical training from Bloomberg philanthropy. So we've been able to lean into this network and learn what other cities are doing in terms of providing economic opportunities for their residents. And we've been able to leap frog and launch some high level initiatives around license restoration, driver's license restoration as well as providing a pilot, uh, for our residents.
Lindsay: (03:58)
Yeah. I wanna get into some of those in more detail since you have been involved in some pretty neat projects or pilots supported by Bloomberg so let's talk about some of them. Let's have you introduce for us first the license restoration project. I think that one's pretty cool.
Harsha: (04:12)
Yeah. Thank you. So the license restoration program is a collaboration with the mayor's office, our office of law and the public defender's office. The aim of the program, quite simple for residents who make, uh, incomes below the poverty line, if their driver's license has been suspended and the reason for suspension is not related to driving related offenses, the city, to work with them and bring their case in front of the municipal court, uh, to try and restore their license restoration. One additional cool thing about this project is that even when the municipal court decides to set aside fees and fines, the individual still has to go back to the DMV and pay a license fee of hundred 20. So, uh, we were able to raise some funding from our local philanthropy, the tab foundation, so that we are also able to restore our participants in the pilot, uh, this $120 fee that is paid by the DMV.
Lindsay: (05:17)
And so what inspired this initiative? You talk about the economic hardship that Paterson faces generally talk about more, the overarching issue that you're trying to solve for and how this, um, how this project has a trickledown effect in terms of your economic wellbeing as city.
Harsha: (05:36)
Yeah, so like you've touched upon a lot of points, but the overarching problem is to provide economic opportunity for, for our residents. And there is research that shows that if you do not have a valid driver's license, the number of economic opportunities that are open to you are limited, like around 60% of jobs in the United States will state that they would require a valid driver's license. In 2019, Brown University did a study looking into driver's license suspensions, particularly for the state of New Jersey. And the study found out that in that one year 91% of licenses that were suspended were due to non-driving related offenses. The study also, uh, pointed out that people who live in low income communities might have their licenses suspended twice and black in Hispanic communities, uh, see their licenses suspended about five times to communities that have a higher proportion of, uh, Caucasians.
Harsha: (06:41)
So all of these exacerbate the conditions in Paterson, because it as a low income community, as well as primarily a community of color. Um, so these were some of the reasons why we thought this would be a really good program to provide economic opportunity relief. Uh, for our residents, we participated in a 12 week sprint that was led by Bloomberg philanthropies, uh, rally to, uh, they were one of the first cities to launch, uh, driver's license restoration program. So we launch from them about how to set up partnerships with the public defender's office. How do we structure the program that addresses the certain inequities that like we've talked about,
Lindsay: (07:28)
Any other details you'd provide for local governments, curious to launch a program like this. I know Bloomberg really helped shepherd you all through this, and you have some other cities to look toward. What were some lessons learned from other cities or from your own implementation of this. Really advice that other governments could use if they wanted to launch a program like this of their own.
Harsha: (07:48)
The specifics of the program for vary from one state to another, uh, and only certain kinds of suspensions are eligible within each of the states. Uh, so our priority was, uh, restoring licenses where, uh, folks licenses were suspended because they were not able to pay fees and fines. Uh, for example, you get a parking ticket and then you're not able pay the fine associated with the parking ticket. And then you start accruing additional fees because, uh, you did not pay a parking ticket in the first place. So, uh, we were primarily concentrating on, um, inability to pay fees and fines. I think that would be a good starting point for any city wanting to do this kind of work, uh, tying it to, uh, some kind of an income limit for participants is also critical so that, uh, the program helps those who need this the most, and then getting buy in from your public defenders office, um, getting buyin from, uh, your municipal court, as well as your chief legal council are like critical and getting the word out, uh, to the program and measuring some outcomes.
Harsha: (09:11)
We designed it as a randomized control trial. So we have participants who are our treatment. We have a control group, and, uh, we are tracking metrics around their, uh, employment status, uh, the current wages, uh, that they're getting. And then we will end as well as their, uh, sense of belonging, belonging in the community, because I think having access to a card would help address the issue of social isolation. So we've collected baseline data in one licenses, we'll collect follow up data because we wanna see, uh, how successful this program is, um, in addressing these root causes.
Lindsay: (09:53)
Yeah, really interesting. And I wanna also talk quickly about your guaranteed income pilot. We've also seen a few cities experimenting with guaranteed income programs. I want you to explain for us how this is set up in Paterson and what metrics you have in place to track its success.
Harsha: (10:10)
So the guaranteed income program is similar to a universal basic income program, but, uh, the universal basic income is universal in nature that anyone regardless of their income level would be to participate income program it's tied to, uh, program are this also came about by us participating in an eight week sprint, uh, led by Bloomberg philanthropies and the mayor's office in Stockton, like Stockton became the first city in the United States to lead a, a mayor's office led guaranteed income program. Uh, for our program, we were to raise around $600,000. We were able to then, uh, set up a program where hundred and 110 participants, uh, drawn through a lottery based system would get $400 a month for 12 months. Our applications went live in April of this year. And, uh, the first payments went out in July. The, we are partnering with the university of Pennsylvania to set up a randomized control trial, even though we had only 110 spots available based on the funding, we were able to raise, we had more than applications come.
Harsha: (11:34)
So the research team at the University of Pennsylvania, we're able to randomly select 110 folks into the treatment group folks control group. Uh, they've already collected baseline metrics, again, employment status, uh, income volatility, housing situation metrics around like emotional wellbeing and financial security and financial literacy. These are the metrics that we are really interested in monitoring. We are just, uh, getting ready to collect the six month follow up data from the baseline in the control group. If a guaranteed income program is successful in red use saying unemployment rates for the city. Uh, and if we see innovation in terms of more entrepreneurs setting up small businesses in our community, we would want to, um, lobby for a state level guaranteed income program or a state level guaranteed.
Lindsay: (12:35)
And one other interesting thing, uh, you had mentioned when we talked previously was that you're issuing debit cards, these people. So obviously also able to track what they're spending their $400 a month on, uh, let's get into the thorny issue of data privacy for a second. I assume, you know, they're signing up for this pilot. They know that you're gonna have access to all this data. Have you received any pushback from your participants about the level of information you're collecting and analyzing on their spending habits, for instance, with this money?
Harsha: (13:05)
So, uh, that's a really good question around data privacy. Uh, first of all, like all this tracking that happens around spending happens in level and not at an individual level. And, uh, like when we were onboarding our participants, uh, participants had an option to opt in so that we can start tracking these metrics. So, uh, only participants who gave us the go ahead to opt in. Uh, we are collecting these metrics, but participants also understand that this is a pilot program and like monitoring these metrics can, uh, help advocate for better policies at the state and federal level. And we add more than 95% of our participants, uh, opting in and saying that it's okay to track how they spend, uh, the money on their debit cards at an aggregate level.
Lindsay: (13:57)
Oh, okay. So you had the option for them to opt out of tracking. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. That's interesting. Um, yeah, so some really cool pilots you all are working on. We'll be interested to follow up in a few months to see when you've got some of this data coming in. I wanna transition if, if you don't mind, to just more general advice, you know, your chief data officer, we have quite a few chief data officers that we've spoken with on the podcast, but as a former data scientist, obviously you're still a data scientist, but the office of innovation was established in Paterson in 2019. What changes have you been part of specifically around data in the city?
Harsha: (14:30)
So I think, um, coming from a city such as Los Angeles, one thing that was clearly evident, uh, working in a smaller city in New Jersey was that, uh, the city did not have like a lot of data analysts or, uh, even analysts, uh, working in departments. So, uh, some of the initial changes, uh, that we were able, uh, uh, set up in Paterson, uh, included doing a full inventory of the dataset that the city owns, uh, trying to understand like the quality of the data that is being collected, uh, trying to understand, uh, uh, what are some of the skill sets and what are some of the gaps and providing staff training, staff training started happening in January of 2020, and our initial few months were just around, uh, like how to effectively use Excel, like how to enter data into Excel. Like how can you automate the process of data capture using Google forms and Google sheets? How do you make sure that the data fields are consistent across the, those, uh, that you collect the data? And then, um, uh, once are staff and various departments, uh, felt they were comfortable with the Excel component of it. Uh, we moved on using power BI and building like basic analytics around, uh, bar charts, uh, diagram, like just, uh, seeing how, uh, this department was making again, some of, uh, the KPIs, uh, that was set by the directors of the department.
Lindsay: (16:18)
I'm, I'm glad you brought that up because we talk about data driven decision making, um, and that's important for every local government, but also accountability and holding and making sure that fellow employees are holding up their under the bargain, right. You're public servants, or what are you doing to serve, serve the public. So these KPIs are really important and something that you can't necessarily track if you don't have the data. So can you break down for us some specific KPIs you have for a department or two, just give us an example of what that would look like.
Harsha: (16:49)
Yeah. So I'll give you a really good example about, uh, transparency to the community. So in November of 2019, we launched a three 11 app called C click fix. You might be familiar with this app. Like a lot of municipalities are now moving away from like a call center towards an app where residents can like select a category and send us a complaint. Complaints couldn't involve around like pothole on the streets. Uh, so we get a variety of through the three, uh, one thing, uh, that was like really important for our mayor says administration and for responsiveness. So we had the first step in this workflow was to acknowledge, uh, that, uh, the complaint was received and that, uh, the person or the staff in the department who is in charge of looking at this complaint, acknowledges the complaint, resolves it, and then closes it within, uh, uh, SLA period, uh, which is a standard labor agreement period.
Harsha: (17:57)
So, uh, because we were using the app, all of the data was available electronically, and I created a public facing dashboard that tracks the number of complaints that we get. Uh, it breaks it down by the categories of complaints that we get. It tells you how good the city is doing and responding to these complaints at an aggregate level. We also then break it down at a department level, uh, acknowledge the claim within one business day. Initially when the app went live, we were not meeting the, so now every week, all of the department staff handling the app will meet, uh, with the mayor's chief of staff. And I, and we, the, and when someone's not able to meet the KPIs, like what's going on, for example, sometimes they might just forget to acknowledge a complaint within the workflow, even though they resolve it and close it. And we have to reiterate that acknowledging, which is the first part of the workflow is really important because then, uh, the resident and the complaint has an idea that someone's looked into their complaint.
Lindsay: (19:15)
Yeah. Interesting. The app would let you resolve it without following prior steps in the workflow. So maybe that's a technology enhancement. You should bounce back to see click fix over there.
Harsha: (19:25)
I know. Yeah.
Lindsay: (19:27)
So working for a large city like LA and now a smaller, you have a really unique perspective, would you say there are different challenges to using data just based off government size?
Harsha: (19:38)
So, I mean, I touched upon this just a little bit, but I think in LA, uh, uh, the systems that I've put in place are, are more advanced than, uh, the students that the city of has, uh, coming from private sector. When I first started working in LA, uh, I was a little bit shocked that the systems there were still not up to industry standard, but LA has an analyst class coming to a smaller city, such as pat. I think training is really essential, uh, to be able to use spreadsheets and then understand the importance of analyzing the data because the city council will ask various departments on certain metrics. So it's really important that staff has the skillset so that they can have a story to tell to the public, uh, have a story to tell to the city council, one thing, a smaller size city has an advantage over a bigger city. That things move pretty quickly or efficiently in a smaller size city compared to a city such as LA where bureaucracy can slow things down.
Lindsay: (20:51)
Yeah. That's a great point. Much more nimble when you've got a smaller team to work with. Yeah. Even if, even if you don't have a crew of data scientists, you can still make some quick progress. So that's great advice.
Harsha: (21:02)
Yeah. And in a smaller city, like your work also gets lot of visibility, uh, here. Like we have people who are analyst level and then they get the opportunity to sit with the, of, and like their ideas and present the projects that they're working on. In a big city, such as LA it's very difficult for someone, even with my skill, a senior data, senior data scientist to get audience. So that is another advantage of working in a smaller size city.
Lindsay: (21:38)
Yeah, definitely. Well, as chief data officer for Paterson, what would you say is the single most important trend in local government or one you hope to see more of?
Harsha: (21:49)
So I think especially during the pandemic, we, as a city have been pretty nimble in responding to needs of the community, especially the needs of our nonprofit community and older adults. Uh, we see a digital divide. So, uh, we were able to quickly set up, uh, services the city, uh, would never have thought setting up such services using SaaS or software as a service. Um, I, as part of the innovation team set up a growth service, uh, coordinating with volunteers, uh, like a couple of grocery stores and older adults in our community who are living by themselves. Uh, I think prior to the pandemic, the city would never be in a grocery delivery business. So, uh, this is just one example of how local governments have been really nimble using open source tools, uh, software as service tools, tools that are inexpensive and would not add to their budgets, or wouldn't have to go through, uh, pretty strenuous procurement process. So that is one thing that I've seen cities take up as a challenge and be pretty nimble during the pandemic. And I think, uh, once employees start using these open source tools and software solution tools, they will be more open to, uh, using these tools in the future as well.
Lindsay: (23:14)
It's been really impressive to see what local governments, large and small have been able to do in, in a very short period of time. It's forced everyone to get on the same page when it comes to digital tools and the need for digital transformation. Even the most re communities have chosen to embrace tech, uh, just out of necessity. And I think it's really gonna benefit all of these communities long term
Harsha: (23:40)
Of definitely. And I think most local governments still do not see themselves as digital first, but I think the pandemic has four cities and mayor offices to start thinking that their organizations should be digital first or should have at least an equally robust digital footing. Uh, and, uh, and that's gonna improve outcomes for everyone longer.
Lindsay: (24:06)
Well, looking back on your time in local government, I'd be curious to know what's something that you now know that you wish you knew from the start of your career in local government. Something that perhaps you'd improve upon, if you could do it all over again,
Harsha: (24:20)
For me, I think like something that I wish I had known for, I went into local government as just, uh, like that local governments, uh, are big bureaucracies and you need to start understanding like power structures within local government, uh, because buy-in is very critical, uh, especially when you're working the public sector and from those who are at a directed level, uh, as really required, if you wanna think about culture change. So that is something that I've learned over time. And I wish I spent more time understanding what motivates those at the top level, because it is still a very top down culture in public.
Lindsay: (25:07)
Yeah, well, and that what I'm hearing from a lot of people, and we talk about stakeholder buyin a lot. In fact, we've got a, an article six tips on how to get stakeholder buyin. The irony is data is what really can draw them to the other side, you know, convince them that this initiative or project that you've got in mind is really gonna be worth it. It, so really understanding the full scope, how it's gonna impact the community and being able to show some data that supports why this is this vision should be worked on. So that's interesting that you you'd bring that up
Harsha: (25:38)
Both data. And like, if you can make a strong case, uh, that you're, whatever you're proposing is gonna improve process efficiency. Uh, that is something that like a lot of directors have, uh, interest in improving so that like lot of their staff are not doing repeated manual tasks. So data and automation are like really good tools or skill sets to have, uh, that you can used to start advocating for projects that can improve process efficiencies, and that can make, uh, departments in the public sector more nimble.
Lindsay: (26:16)
We wanna make sure our listeners have some really clear, tangible advice that they could take away from, from each episode. So what's some advice you'd share that would resonate with any size local government.
Harsha: (26:28)
I think the advice that I would share is that of like folks who work in local government choose to work in local government because they are change makers. They are really passionate about social impact. My suggestion is that just don't wait for someone else to take the initiative, take the initiative, have a smart plan that you can follow through because there is a reason why you're working in the public sector.
Lindsay: (26:58)
Oh, that's great advice. I wanna thank you so much for joining me Harsha on behalf of the team, Paterson, New Jersey, and we're really looking forward to continuing to track your progress and data leadership and innovation, especially with these Bloomberg pilots. So keep up the good work.
Harsha: (27:11)
Thanks Lindsay. It's been a pleasure. I look forward to in touch
Lindsay: (27:20)
I'm Lindsay Pica-Alfano and this podcast was by produced by Govlaunch, the Wiki for local government innovation. You can subscribe to hear more stories like this, wherever you get your podcast. If you're a local government innovator, we hope you'll help us on our mission to build the largest free resource for local governments globally. You can join to search and contribute to the wiki@govlaunch.com. Thanks for tuning in. We hope to see you next time on the Govlaunch podcast.