Two major policy issues have been swirling around the Nation’s Capital this year: personnel and procurement.
Last week I discussed the new personnel rules embodied in the proposed National Security Personnel System (NSPS) and in the Department of Homeland Security.
This week, the topic is procurement. As mentioned last week, news reports appeared virtually daily about procurement matters in some form or fashion. Whether these stories dealt with doling out work to contractors instead of retaining it within the ranks of federal employees or the effectiveness of how we secure and monitor contracted goods and services, the Executive Branch’s ability to handle this challenge offered seemingly endless news accounts.
Most of the reported news was big and bad: Big because huge amounts of money were involved; bad because an unacceptable level of expended funds went unaccounted or were simply wasted.
Efforts to aid Hurricane Katrina victims and to fight the War in Iraq were, not surprisingly, the two biggest areas of abuse or poor management. Both of these efforts ran into the billions of dollars and the amount money identified and wasted, tragically, was in the multi-billion dollar range, too.
So far we’ve been told through the many news reports, Inspector General (IG) and General Accountability Office (GAO) reviews, and the like, that the primary reasons behind this sorry state of affairs were inadequate staff, inadequate training, and inadequate management of the process.
“Except for that Mrs. Lincoln, how did you enjoy the play?”
This sounds like a total system breakdown. We’ve been told of the problems, the waste and abuse. We haven’t yet been informed of the “fix” or solution.
Let’s hope 2007 brings focus to ‘the how’ for rectifying this pitiful problem. Lest I appear to be too harsh, I recognize that the government has a huge number of contracts to monitor with too few trained employees to manage them. Nevertheless, the citizenry needs to be told of what is being done to correct these deficiencies. We also must know what systems will be put in place to measure whether the Executive Branch is achieving success or failure in repairing this broken process.
I said last week that 2007 may or may not bring clarity and finality to NSPS and the emerging pay-for-performance approach. I’ll say the same regarding our national procurement policies and practices.
Procurement processes are so massive and wide-ranging that one year may not be sufficient time to grapple with and remedy all ills. Nevertheless, we’ll press forward. Talented and dedicated public servants throughout the government, especially in OMB’s Office of Federal Procurement, headed by Paul Denett, will be challenged to clearly state the specific problems and devise corrective practices that can be measured to determine the level of success.
All in all, 2006 has been a very busy, demanding year. 2007 is shaping up to nothing less that. As they say, same old, same old.
To all those working for, with, or on behalf of the Federal Government, I wish you good health, good luck, and a good New Year.
Happy holidays. Stay safe, and don’t forget to come back in 2007. “The Forum” needs you and your insights.
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Fred W. Apelquist, III, M.Ed.
Approximately 525 words.
© December, 2006