let’s get down to brass tacks and become more pragmatic. How do you incorporate a revolution (or progressive reform) into a status quo establishment bureaucracy?
How do you avoid serving the interests of the 1% when immediately upon taking the oath of office and being declared the newly sworn-in President, you become part of the establishment; part of an Executive Branch that is already captured by the Plutocracy; beholden in many ways to the Special Interests that have infiltrated the bureaucracy from top to bottom? Pragmatically, how will either Bernie or Hillary begin to overcome that influence on the first day in office? My answer: start change happening before inauguration and sign orders for certain changes on the very first day, followed by more in the first 100 days.
As usual, I have a few suggestions.
1) Issue
an Executive Order denying access to any Executive Branch member by registered
lobbyists;
-Require reporting by employees of any
contacts made that call for special consideration or privilege for
themselves or for a client
-Require the public reporting of
all contacts that have reference to the writing of regulations
-Institute policy that no
regulations may be published without full disclosure (public listing) of the
persons and entities who had any input to the construction or promulgation of
those regulations;
2) All regulations or policies issued must
contain an explanation of how persons most directly affected by such had access
to the process of development, and what consequences the proposals will have
upon those affected constituencies. All
legislation should have the same requirements.
We must listen less to Special Interests and more to citizens actually
affected.
3) Initiate
a review by Department and Office managers of all political appointments made
by prior Presidents. Those who oppose
the major policies and directions of the new administration should be given the
opportunity to work elsewhere. All
should be provided a listing of goals and objectives and directions of the new
administration and given a chance to state how they see themselves contributing
to those objectives. Agency managers will need to determine what appropriate
measures can be taken within federal law and policy in regard to those who will
not or cannot support the objectives of the new administration.
4) Require
a Consumer Advisory Council in every Department, composed of ordinary citizens,
who will have the right and the obligation to comment upon the policies,
practices, budget, and operation of every agency and administrator within those
departments
5) Name
at least 2 progressive citizen advocates to every Inspector General’s office to
be a part of the operations of that office.
Spell out their duties and include information about this in employee
training.
6) Require
training within first 3 months for every member of every agency relevant to:
--Team
functioning and shared leadership – incorporate citizen volunteers into this
--Problem
solving techniques, including a practical application
--Consumer
advocacy touted and outlined as to requirements
--Effective
constituency service stressed
--Requirements,
both practical and philosophical, of the current administration
--Teach
the basics of reform and revolution; examine what makes change happen
--Develop
input to each agency’s Mission and Purpose statements
--Have each employee/trainee develop
individualized personal goals related to Administration’s overall Mission and
Purpose statements and those of the agency in which they work
7) Require
a Mission and Purpose statement for every department and agency with input from
at least 50% of the employees of those offices. Each Statement must indicate
how they coincide with the Mission and Purpose of the new Administration
8) The
new President should meet with every Department to lay out the Mission and
objectives of the new Administration and to rally the personnel to new heights
of consumer and constituent awareness, service and advocacy. These visits should happen annually, but the
first year is crucial.
9) Name
the citizen appointees to each advisory council and to the Office of Inspector
General; make clear the duties and boundaries of citizen volunteers
10) Require new Department Heads or their Deputies
to meet with their Citizen Advisory Council at least quarterly; establish ways
to meet more often through electronic means
11) The
citizen advocates must be given access to the Office of the President – spell
this out
12) Have
every department immediately initiate review of outside contracts with input of
citizens in Inspector General offices to that process; publicize those
contracts that are terminated or substantially revised
13) Require
an evaluation process to be undertaken within every department and agency.
Utilize training sessions to aid in development of guidelines for such an
evaluation process.
14) Evaluation
of practices is key to effective change and adjustment. It must be instituted at least yearly in
every Department and participated in by the citizen advocates. The process
should include, at least:
§
Evaluation of operations related to goals and
objectives that stem from Mission and Purpose; what is the agency doing well;
where can improvements be made; what new goals and objectives are needed?
§
Evaluation and audit of spending and of the
budget: was it effective and efficient?
How well does the budget reflect and relate to the goals and objectives,
Mission & Purpose? What can be cut back, enhanced, made more relevant to the
Mission; what needs to change? What needs to be increased; what new goals and
objectives are suggested by this review?
§
Evaluate the impact on consumers; invite
consumers in to be part of the evaluation; find out how consumers/customers
feel about activities, services, personnel responsiveness, effect of
programs/services on their lives.
§
A final report of the evaluation in each agency
must be made available to the White House within a reasonable time, and the
responsible White House staff must respond with comments and recommendations
within 3 months from receipt.
Impractical? Impossible?
Unworkable? Wasteful? These words are NOT RELEVANT. All of the above are necessary activities and practical
measures that have been neglected over the years. They are proven methods of operation that
should have been instituted and nurtured instead of being ignored, or met by
indifference and apathy. After years of
such negative approaches, undue influence by those opposed, and by misplaced
and inadequate customer service, the road back seems impossible, but is
not. There are plenty of accomplished
and competent trainers available for teaching such practical tasks and
techniques.
CHANGE
is hard, but if never instituted, it gets harder. And, you will never see real change until
there are trained and valued “change agents” in the Executive Branch of
Government (and in the Congress as well).
We must allow our federal employees to suggest, implement, grow and
nurture big broad practical ideas and actions or we will be left with the same
old philosophy – ‘don’t rock the boat’, ‘don’t muddy the waters’, ‘don’t say
anything, just do your job.’ We must be
willing to allow and encourage revolutionary or reformist thinking and
attitudes because the Status Quo is
simply easy to maintain without interruption.
However, status quo thinking is also the path to calcification and
unresponsiveness to principles and to constituencies; to consumer rights, needs and
requirements.
Revolution or radical reform are far more difficult to
effect if one does not start right away to get at the root motivations,
attitudes and objectives of those charged with the everyday work of an organization. It is the status quo and “daily grind” that
stand in the way of meaningful progress toward fundamental change.
So, here’s one more practical thought: why not consider naming a Vice-presidential
candidate with this whole scheme in mind?
In other words, bring on a Vice President with expertise in making the
bureaucracy work, not only day-to-day, but with an attitude that each person
can and should make a revolutionary difference in how government operates. (How about Cory Booker? Or Elizabeth Warren?
Or, Julian Castro, current Secretary of HUD and former mayor of San Antonio?)
The Executive Branch of our government cannot be a
revolutionary or actively progressive Vanguard unless there is a clear understanding of what that
means for each employee individually, and for all of them collectively. I personally would like to hear more about
practical, pragmatic steps that will be taken by Bernie or Hillary to bring
about fundamental change when one of them takes possession of the Oval
Office. How about you?
[Want to read some more practical, pragmatic suggestions for
governmental action, try some postings like: 6/20/2010,
2/20/2011, 2/3/2013, 4/14/2013, 3/23/2014, 5/26/2014, 7/21/2014, 10/13/2015, 10/18/2015
and 2/8/2016]
