Josh Dressel June 26 at 11:47am
Dear Representative Carlyle,
Thank you for following up about the DNR. I hope this message isn't too long. I feel it's important to share my experience with you.
The quick answer is the IT situation remains the same. The DNR uses Microsoft Exchange Server without any sound data to back doing so. The decision in the first place to switch to Exchange Server had no justification and came at a significant increase in expenses to the agency, especially the monthly amount being paid to DIS. Prior to the switch, the DNR used Novell Groupwise with no recurring cost. My budget idea to look into open source as a way to save money was shot down. The director of IT stated the reason for this is the agency follows the lead of DIS.
The long answer contains all the details missing in the short answer. I now have only have 2 days left with the DNR. I was disciplined for lobbying and sharing public information by contacting you. It was mostly done informally but I ended up in a situation where I needed WFSE union representation to keep "lobbying" from being entered into my personnel record. The DNR has made an effort to revamp policies for employs who contact legislators.
The situation at work was so intense, I volunteered for layoff. I truly believe I would have been fired if I had not made this decision.
Mr. Carlyle, I have never felt like I do right now. Working for the DNR has made being a state employee a huge embarrassment. I wanted to save money and was met with the executive managers safety net of bureaucracy and then disciplined for doing so. These managers live in fear of transparency because of the selfish decisions they make which have no justification.
The end result of all this hasn't been entirely negative. I'm going to be [blogging] for the Sunlight Foundation, an organization I believe in, and am also taking part in the Google Transparency Bloggers group. My blog helped keep Commissioner Goldmark from spending $60,000 of the agency's budget on soundproofing his office. In the future, I hope it will not only prevent bad decisions like these from being made but encourage those with authority to work selflessly to begin with.
If you ever meet with Mr. Goldmark in his office, I think you too will find his need for soundproofing to be absurd, distant from his campaign promise of transparency, and most importantly far from the public's interest.
It is truly reassuring to receive email from you. Thank you immensely for taking an interest!!!
Sincerely,
Josh
Original message from Rep. Carlyle (here).
