Freemont is looking past short-term solutions and is starting to think about long-term ways to address long-term issues.

While the city has been fighting to control costs over the majority of the last decade, they’ve hired a consulting firm to review how the city can control many of the cost-drivers that have been most severely affected by the recession.

The city hopes that the firm can help develop new budget strategies that will help the city emerge from the economic crisis stronger than before.

From the San Jose Mercury News:

Fremont City Council Tuesday night unanimously approved hiring San Jose’s Management Partners, a public-sector-focused management consultant team, to assist in conducting a Strategic Sustainability Study and take a targeted look at city operations. The firm will be paid up to $90,000.

Staff said the goal is to evaluate how key services are delivered, compare Fremont’s operations to other municipalities’ best practices, and recommend less costly alternatives to Fremont’s current models.

Management Partners has done similar studies for the cities of San Jose, Sacramento, Tracy, Burbank, Glendale and Pasadena. The firm is undertaking a study for Las Vegas.

Read the full article here.