Waiting For Goldmark

DNR RE BNR wrote:

Thank you for your letter.

I have forwarded your letter to the Board of Natural Resources Members.

From: Josh Dressel
Sent: Wednesday, July 01, 2009 9:54 AM
To: DNR RE BNR
Subject: $600,000 savings claim
Importance: High

Dear Board of Natural Resources,

I attempted to contact Peter Goldmark to clarify a discrepancy found on the DNR's website and also published in various media outlets. However, I have yet to receive any response at all, even an acknowledgement of receiving the email. Copies were sent to Governor Gregoire, Representative Reuven Carlyle, associates at the Washington Policy Center, and fellow bloggers. The matter of a public inquiry not being responded to is serious enough but the subject of the email is far more concerning.

The following information was posted on the DNR's website on March 24, 2009 (here):

“When Commissioner Goldmark took office, he restructured Executive Management by replacing four supervisors with one department supervisor and three deputy supervisors, and eliminating 11 funded exempt positions. The restructuring, coupled with reduced salaries for DNR’s leadership team, will save the Department over $600,000 in the next biennium."

In the employment section of the DNR's website (here) are current recruitments for 5 WMS managers, 5 exempt management positions, and the Executive Policy Advisor which has already been filled. This is all 11 of the positions Commissioner Goldmark took credit for eliminating and dissolves any savings over the next biennium.

I trust the Board of Natural Resources will be able to encourage Commissioner Goldmark to respond. At a time when our state is going through a very serious recession, public employees like Commissioner Goldmark should take inquiries like this just as seriously as anyone below the executive level would.

Your time is appreciated and I hope to hear from you soon.

Sincerely,

Josh Dressel
The Chrome Documents
Google Transparency Bloggers
The Sunlight Foundation

Reply To Representative Carlyle

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).

IT Division Helpdesk Changes

_____________________________________________
From: GEBHARDT, PAT (DNR)
Sent: Tuesday, June 30, 2009 9:52 AM
To: DNR DL ALLNRB; DNR DL ALLREGIONS
Subject: IT Division Helpdesk Changes

Like many of your programs, the IT Division has undergone some pretty dramatic changes of late.  15 positions have been eliminated of which only 3 were vacancies, an almost 25% reduction in staff.  In addition, as a result of bumping, 6 staff are new to either the division or to their current job.  This necessitates some fairly dramatic changes to a number of the services ITD provides. 

ITD is still assessing the extent of the changes and working through the details about how these impacts will affect  delivery of services.  The purpose of this message is to share with you specific changes taking place in one of the services provided by the Customer Support Team, that being Helpdesk services.  Another message will follow shortly that will focus on changes in other technology service areas. 

Customer Support Services – All Olympia area direct user support and some Region user support services for GIS and desktop Helpdesk and training, PC deployment and management, printer, phone, and copier management, and coordination with Region IT Coordinators are included in this service.  This service area is undergoing the biggest change of any within ITD.  2 desktop Helpdesk positions, the temporary PC deployment position, 1 of the GIS Helpdesk positions, and the Customer Support Team lead position have all been eliminateed, leaving 2 GIS Helpdesk staff, 2 desktop Helpdesk staff, and 1 PC deployment/management staff from the original team.  Of these 5 remaining positions, 1 is new as the result of a bump.  The Helpdesk process has been completely redesigned to account for this considerably smaller staff.

All requests for regular Helpdesk service, both desktop and GIS, will need to be initiated online via the online submittal form, which can be accessed by typing ‘help’ in the address line of your intranet browser or by clicking the ‘Request Helpdesk Assistance’ link in the eTools section of InsideDNR, which will be available on July 1.  Requests will be handled based on the priority and order received.  Requests for emergency service will also be submitted online but will generate a message that is sent to a pager that is carried by support staff who will then respond as quickly as possible. 

More self help processes and solutions will be provided on Sharepoint; printer, phone and copier support will, for the most part, be given a low priority; and, over time, more standardization and manageability will be brought to our PC environment.  The Helpdesk phone number will be discontinued in the next couple of weeks and any messages left on the Helpdesk phone after July 1 will not be checked.  It is requested that you refrain from calling or dropping by to ask assistance of Helpdesk staff directly – they will only be able to tell you to submit your request for assistance online and it will be addressed as soon as possible.    The full process compared to the existing process can be found on the IT Help & Information Center Sharepoint site, which can be accessed via a link in the eTools section of InsideDNR. 

All of this means that it will probably take longer to receive assistance.  This new process will be implemented on July 1. 

These are pretty dramatic changes from what you may be used to.  ITD staff ask your patience as they learn how to provide the best service possible under these reduced staffing levels.  If you have any immediate concerns or questions don’t hesitate to contact Pat Gebhardt, John Daane, Michelle Benton, or Wendy Huff.

Final Budget Idea

I’m concerned this idea will never see the light of day left in the hands of Lenny Young, so I’m making it public.

Why were no cuts made in the executive division where salaries are the highest? If cuts are really necessary, this would be universally true and not exclusive to those who fall below the executive level. Instead of a reduction, this division grew by one Executive Policy Director today. Not sure if this new exec will have a personal assistant but it seems to be the norm within the most expensive division in the agency. This would also be the least productive division unless increasing bureaucracy counts.

I’m not the only one thinking this way. Sarah Lacy of TechCrunch says 73% of executives need to fire themselves. (here) This goes back to the whole idea of using free software at a time when there’s a budget crisis. I’ll get back to that topic soon enough. For now, here’s my final attempt as a state employee to save money.
_____________________________________________
From: DRESSEL, JOSH (DNR)
Sent: Tuesday, June 30, 2009 8:47 AM
To: YOUNG, LENNY (DNR)
Cc: Redling, Bob (DNR)
Subject: budget idea

The top 9 executive managers each have personal assistants, and others within the executive division may as well. These managers make up nearly $2 million in salaries + benefits and their assistants over $1 million in additional salary + benefits.  Forest Practices currently has 4 secretaries for nearly 45 DNR employees. Tomorrow, both of these numbers will be reduced yet executive management's numbers will remain the same and then grow when the Executive Policy Advisor position is filled. Using Forest Practices as the model, 1 secretary per every 11 people has proven sufficient and would be no different for the executive division.

Individuals at the executive level have the skills necessary to maintain their own calendars and agendas as well as draft their own correspondence. A Blackberry, far less expensive than a personal assistant, would make this easier to do. When individuals at the highest pay scale do less work, a very negative message is sent. Most importantly, reducing the number of personal assistants communicates a real dedication from the DNR that those with decision-making authority are taking the current budget issues seriously and making selfless rather than self-serving decisions.

The talent of the personal assistants is probably best utilized within other divisions of the DNR.

Josh Dressel
IT Specialist 
Department of  Natural Resources
360.902.1545

Peter did what???

Times like these are too important for us not to hold government to the highest possible standards. –Ellen Miller, The Sunlight Foundation

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: 11 eliminated positions
Date: Mon, 29 Jun 2009 11:47:11 -0700
From: Josh Dressel
To: Peter Goldmark

This is posted on the DNR's website (here)...

When Commissioner Goldmark took office, he restructured Executive Management by replacing four supervisors with one department supervisor and three deputy supervisors, and eliminating 11 funded exempt positions. The restructuring, coupled with reduced salaries for DNR’s leadership team, will save the Department over $600,000 in the next biennium.

However, the reality of what the DNR is doing can be found in the image below, taken from the employment section of the DNR website (here). Note the number of Exempt Management Positions being recruited is 5, WMS managers is 5, and finally the Executive Policy Advisor. This is all 11 of the positions Commissioner Goldmark took credit for eliminating.

Please clarify this discrepancy. I can understand cleaning house but it can't be claimed as a $600,000 savings if you're filling them.

Josh Dressel
The Chrome Documents
Google Transparency Bloggers
The Sunlight Foundation