Cincinatti, Ohio’s ‘Queen City’, could become a well-oiled machine. Source: istock

Ambitious Harry Black intends to change that, by running a city with the tight professionalism of a private business.

Can it work? Black’s guinea pig is Cincinatti, Ohio, where he will introduce a performance-driven culture that turns traditional governance on its head.

His focus is on outcomes, Backchannel reports, but instead of high profit and good branding, his goals are thriving neighbourhoods, safer streets and sustainability.

Staff will be given targets and expected to deliver to residents, or “customers”. The city will transform into “the go-to destination for people who want to live, work and play in Ohio”, a fountain of work and economic opportunity.

Data guru Chad Kenney Jr. Source: Supplied

New boss Harry Black. Source: Supplied

Black’s secret weapon? Numbers. Futuristic CincyStat will use visualised data to assess departments’ work against desired outcomes in real time.

It will be run by “27-year-old data guru” Chad Kenney Jr., with whom Black worked in Baltimore, along with an “Innovation Lab” to identity the city’s biggest issues.

Kenney Jr was described by Baltimore Brew as “abrasive”, “talented” and “committed”. In Baltimore, he worked to track services, violence and homelessness through CitiStat, telling a meeting attended by the Baltimore Sun: “A citizen just wants to see the grass cut.”

Now, his brief is to keep Cincinatti streamlined and accountable, and monitor how it is handling its $1 billion budget, WCPO Cincinatti reported.

Black previously managed Baltimore’s finances, but said recently that everyone needed to play a part in its success. Source: AFP

Black was chief finance officer in Baltimore, where he introduced a plan to save the fire department $70 million in 10 years while increasing firefighters’ pay 14.5 per cent and surveyed all 72,000 street lights to find where money was being wasted.

He told the Cincinatti Enquirer he was saddened at rioting in the neighbourhood where he grew up. “Baltimore, like Cincinnati, is undergoing an economic resurgence,” he said. “However, everyone has to be a part of the success. “The challenge is you have to pay attention to all your communities.”

But the UrbanCincy blog expressed reservation about his “strong-headed and ruthless approach”. In an earlier job running the finances in Richmond, Virginia, Black was known as “Mr PitBull”, the Enquirer revealed.

“I am not a pit bull,” Black said. “I’m open, but decision- and mission-driven.”

Growing up in Baltimore was “real rough”, he told a Richmond website. “You couldn’t make any mistakes. There was no safety net. There was no opportunity for a redo. So it forced me to develop an intensity of focus.”

Can an uncompromising, results-focused structure really work for a community? Watch this space.