In 1997, FOCUS St. Louis quietly disproved the old, ironclad maxim that you "can’t change city hall." At the request of Mayor Clarence Harmon, FOCUS St. Louis conducted a comprehensive assessment of city services and operations with the help of 60 dedicated citizens. The task force study resulted in 267 recommendations for change in the report, "Inside City Hall: A Citizens’ Assessment of the Effectiveness of St. Louis City Government."

In the months following the study, FOCUS had a lasting presence at St. Louis City Hall - facilitating work teams, overseeing process changes, participating in the Mayor’s strategic planning sessions, and raising critical issues. In October 1999, the Mayor submitted a progress report to FOCUS that detailed the city’s efforts on every single recommendation that was made.

Some examples of improvements made:

		2.5 million was appropriated to install a new emergency warning siren system for the city
		An efficient "one-stop-shop" where application, review, and issuance of permits can occur was created for businesses and developers
		Pay and grade classifications were revised for all employees for the first time in 20 years
		A new system to allow parking violations to be paid by credit card was implemented
		The personal property tax system has become more fully automated to eliminate errors
		A comprehensive orientation program has been implemented for all new city employees
		Duplication of snow removal and pothole repair services was eliminated by streamlining the Parks Department and the Street Department

In 1999, FOCUS began reducing its role and letting the city operate the new decision-making infrastructure that FOCUS helped create. The network of employee-based work teams has developed dozens of innovative solutions that are now in various stages of implementation.