Having mused over this journal’s fall 2010 forum
(presently in layout) on lessons learned from Katrina and the more
recent BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico –
it’s hard not to get sick over government’s
failure to see in advance that something was terribly wrong, about
to go over the cliff. Within the past several months,
I’ve read in the morning newspapers articles like:
· “$8.7 billion in Iraqi cash not
traceable” – the subtext being
“An audit finds the Pentagon cannot account for the
money meant for reconstruction”
· “FBI director says he
doesn’t know the extent of cheating”
– the subtext being “(does)
…the FBI know its own rules for conducting
surveillance on Americans?”
· “On Day 100, lessons learned from the
(BP) spill” – one of the biggest being
“Regulators shouldn’t sleep with
industry”
· “Offshore drilling to require stricter
environmental scrutiny…ending a practice in which
government regulators essentially rubber-stamped potentially
hazardous deepwater projects…”
· “(US) Coast Guard OK’d
frequent use of dispersants, reports indicate”
– subtext being despite the Obama
administration’s direction and the EPA’s
urging to restrict use of dispersants to ‘rare
cases’ upon appeal, “…the
approval process (administered by the Coast Guard) appears to be
somewhat pro forma…”
· “Feds urged work on pipeline in Mich.
Spill” – the subtext being despite urging
from the US Department of Transportation’s pipeline
safety agency (Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety
Administration) that the Canadian company operating the system
check for corrosion problems in the 1900-mile network, the work
wasn’t done and an estimated 1 million gallons of crude
oil escaped into the Kalamazoo River in southern
Michigan.
Compared to these “downers,” I also read
one article that actually caught public managers getting their
oversight function right. Such as “Area beaches mostly
clear of pollutants, testing shows;” – the
subtext being “Palm Beach County (FL) exceeded
standards for two types of harmful bacteria...” Yea,
we’re testing and disclosing our research findings
timely!!
As someone who spent virtually all his government career
in federal Executive Branch agencies - mostly in program operations
- my view of oversight responsibility is that it
starts at the front lines. That is, with organizations
having delegated authority for implementing programs
and related "legislative and appropriated authorities."
Yes, even those programs not run directly by career federal civil
servants, but through states and localities, nonprofit grantees,
and private sector contractors. Alongside these line
organizations (mainly the cabinet departments and their sub-cabinet
off-shoots, such as FEMA, IRS, the SEC, and the Federal Reserve,
for example), are organizations that serve the President,
Department Heads, and the Congress in their own oversight of our
front-line overseers (e.g., OMB, OIGs, GAO, etc.).
Moreover, these same line organizations are stewards of the public
trust – protecting our nation’s resources,
assets and the unique missions embedded in their
organizations’ charters. For example, the US Department
of the Interior’s National Park Service and Fish
& Wildlife Service; the Department of
Commerce’s National Weather Service, Bureau of the
Census, National Institute of Standards & Technology and
Patent & Trade Office; the Department of
Agriculture’s Forest Service, Animal Plant Health
Inspection Service and Food & Nutrition Service; the
Department of Health & Human Services’
Children’s Bureau, Centers for Disease Control
& Prevention, and the Food & Drug
Administration; to name but a few at the federal level that make
the local newspapers and, on occasion, 60 Minutes
whenever something goes awry.
So...we should have lots to talk about on the matter of oversight
and stewardship – hopefully with a focus on systems in
place and organizational cultures prepared to keep things from
going awry. Sort of a ‘Catcher in the Rye’
subtext, you might say. All of this is good news if what we're
after is an open dialogue on the full range of oversight
and stewardship responsibilities exercised at every level of
government. We’ll do our part by having more on the
theme of “Best Practices in Oversight, Stewardship and
Accountability” in the winter issue of The Public Manager, on our Web site (www.thepublicmanager.org)
and in events through the remainder of 2010 and into 2011.
In the meantime. let us hear from you on what your organization is
doing to raise the bar on its oversight and stewardship performance
to keep its charges from going over the cliff.
Warren Master, President & Editor-in-Chief, The
Public Manager