DorobekInsider.com: Many changes at GSA – this week, it’s the regional senior executives

I’ve been hearing a lot about changes at GSA — some concrete, and some just discussed. I’ll talk about potential changes later, but… a concrete move from Acting Administrator Paul Prouty Friday. In a memo, Prouty announced a number of changes to GSA’s regional leadership. Earlier, we told you how Prouty decided to change the names of the assistant regional administrators and deputy assistant regional administrators in GSA’s regions to regional commissioners and deputy regional commissioners. This was widely seen as a first step in broader changes.

On Friday, there was another step in a memo from Prouty:

The Deputy Regional Administrator (DRA) role is being eliminated and Senior Executives in these positions are moving into leadership roles within our two business lines—the Federal Acquisition (FAS) and Public Buildings Services (PBS). This is a significant, necessary action to position GSA to meet the challenges ahead with economic recovery work and the Administration’s agenda to improve how Government works.

This memo just came out yesterday, so I’m still trying to ferrit out what it all means, but… your thoughts always welcome, of course.

Here is the full memo:

April 24, 2009

MEMORANDUM FOR ALL EMPLOYEES

FROM: PAUL F. PROUTY
ACTING ADMINISTRATOR (A)

SUBJECT: Regional Senior Executives

Today, we are announcing a number of moves in GSA’s regional leadership. The Deputy Regional Administrator (DRA) role is being eliminated and Senior Executives in these positions are moving into leadership roles within our two business lines—the Federal Acquisition (FAS) and Public Buildings Services (PBS). This is a significant, necessary action to position GSA to meet the challenges ahead with economic recovery work and the Administration’s agenda to improve how Government works.

Effective April 26, 2009, the following Senior Executives will step out of the DRA role and into the following:

• Steve Ruggiero will become the permanent FAS Regional Commissioner (RC) in Region 2. Steve will continue to serve as Acting Regional Administrator RA.

• Jimmy Bridgeman will become the permanent PBS RC in Region 4. Jimmy will continue to serve as Acting RA.

• Michael Brincks will become the permanent FAS RC in Region 6. Mike will continue to serve as Acting RA.

• George Prochaska will become the permanent FAS RC in Region 7. George will continue to serve as Acting RA.

• Greg Porter will become the permanent PBS Principal Deputy RC in Region 9.

• Sharon Banks will become the permanent PBS Principal Deputy RC in Region 11. Sharon will continue to serve as Acting RA.

The DRA positions in Regions 3 and 5 are vacant, and the DRA positions in Regions 1, 8, and 10 are currently held by GS-15 leaders. Tim Horne in Region 8 and Gary Casteel in Region 10 will remain as FAS RCs. Marjorie Samra will serve as a Special Assistant to the PBS RC in Region 1.

Regional General Management & Administration (GM&A) functions that previously reported to the DRA will now report to the Acting RA. Discussions are underway regarding where GM&A functions can best be performed. Once a decision is made and the necessary stakeholder notifications are completed and union obligations are met, GM&A functions will be realigned within the Regions.

I want to thank all of the DRAs for their significant contributions to this agency and thank them for agreeing to undertake these new roles.

This is an exciting and challenging time for GSA. We will continue to position the agency to better serve our customers as we all help our country during this dynamic time.

DorobekInsider.com: Another Obama weekend address, and news on government reform

Last weekend, President Obama used his weekend address to announce the chief performance officer and the Obama chief technology officer. This week, he was talking government reform. (BTW, reporters just love it when they find out news is breaking over the weekend.) Read the AP story here.

The president offered up a few ideas that impact feds and how they will do their job.

One is cutting programs. The president says that the administration is looking to cut spending and that they will “identify more than 100 programs that will be cut or eliminated.”

Two… we’ll create new incentives to reduce wasteful spending and to invest in what works.

Three… the administration is going to create a process where front-line workers can offer up ideas. (I would recommend the administration look at TSA’s Idea Factory, a Digg-like system that allows front line TSA workers to offer up ideas — and allows others to vote on the best ideas.)

After all, Americans across the country know that the best ideas often come from workers – not just management. That’s why we’ll establish a process through which every government worker can submit their ideas for how their agency can save money and perform better. We’ll put the suggestions that work into practice. And later this year, I will meet with those who come up with the best ideas to hear firsthand about how they would make your government more efficient and effective.

Four… the administration is reaching out to industry.

We will reach beyond the halls of government. Many businesses have innovative ways of using technology to save money, and many experts have new ideas to make government work more efficiently. Government can – and must – learn from them. So later this year, we will host a forum on reforming government for the 21st century, so that we’re also guided by voices that come from outside of Washington.

The transcript can be found here … or below:

Good morning. Over the last three months, my Administration has taken aggressive action to confront an historic economic crisis. As we do everything that we can to create jobs and get our economy moving, we’re also building a new foundation for lasting prosperity – a foundation that invests in quality education, lowers health care costs, and develops new sources of energy powered by new jobs and industries.

One of the pillars of that foundation must be fiscal discipline. We came into office facing a budget deficit of $1.3 trillion for this year alone, and the cost of confronting our economic crisis is high. But we cannot settle for a future of rising deficits and debts that our children cannot pay.

All across America, families are tightening their belts and making hard choices. Now, Washington must show that same sense of responsibility. That is why we have identified two trillion dollars in deficit-reductions over the next decade, while taking on the special interest spending that doesn’t advance the peoples’ interests.

But we must also recognize that we cannot meet the challenges of today with old habits and stale thinking. So much of our government was built to deal with different challenges from a different era. Too often, the result is wasteful spending, bloated programs, and inefficient results.

It’s time to fundamentally change the way that we do business in Washington. To help build a new foundation for the 21st century, we need to reform our government so that it is more efficient, more transparent, and more creative. That will demand new thinking and a new sense of responsibility for every dollar that is spent.

Earlier this week, I held my first Cabinet meeting and sent a clear message: cut what doesn’t work. Already, we’ve identified substantial savings. And in the days and weeks ahead, we will continue going through the budget line by line, and we’ll identify more than 100 programs that will be cut or eliminated.

But we can’t stop there. We need to go further, and we need an all-hands-on-deck approach to reforming government. That’s why I’m announcing several steps that my Administration will take in the weeks ahead to restore fiscal discipline while making our government work better.

First, we need to adhere to the basic principle that new tax or entitlement policies should be paid for. This principle – known as PAYGO – helped transform large deficits into surpluses in the 1990s. Now, we must restore that sense of fiscal discipline. That’s why I’m calling on Congress to pass PAYGO legislation like a bill that will be introduced by Congressman Baron Hill, so that government acts the same way any responsible family does in setting its budget.

Second, we’ll create new incentives to reduce wasteful spending and to invest in what works. We don’t want agencies to protect bloated budgets – we want them to promote effective programs. So the idea is simple: agencies that identify savings will get to keep a portion of those savings to invest in programs that work. The result will be a smaller budget, and a more effective government.

Third, we’ll look for ideas from the bottom up. After all, Americans across the country know that the best ideas often come from workers – not just management. That’s why we’ll establish a process through which every government worker can submit their ideas for how their agency can save money and perform better. We’ll put the suggestions that work into practice. And later this year, I will meet with those who come up with the best ideas to hear firsthand about how they would make your government more efficient and effective.

And finally, we will reach beyond the halls of government. Many businesses have innovative ways of using technology to save money, and many experts have new ideas to make government work more efficiently. Government can – and must – learn from them. So later this year, we will host a forum on reforming government for the 21st century, so that we’re also guided by voices that come from outside of Washington.

We cannot sustain deficits that mortgage our children’s future, nor tolerate wasteful inefficiency. Government has a responsibility to spend the peoples’ money wisely, and to serve the people effectively. I will work every single day that I am President to live up to that responsibility, and to transform our government so that is held to a higher standard of performance on behalf of the American people.

Thank you.