GovernmentExecutive.com

The head of the Homeland Security Department's Preparedness Directorate said Wednesday that senior management positions should be filled by career employees who plan to stay with the department for a while.

George Foresman, undersecretary for the directorate, told attendees of a conference sponsored by the Industry Advisory Council that he is "focused on hiring career staff." He acknowledged, however, that the department is "not the easiest place" to work.

"We're trying to minimize the churn," Foresman said.

In particular, Senior Executive Service spots and GS-14 to GS-15 level positions should be occupied by workers planning on a longer tenure, the preparedness chief said.

Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., ranking member of the House Homeland Security Committee, told reporters during a conference call late Wednesday afternoon that he wants DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff to address the department's hiring issues next year. With the Democrats' sweep of the House in the midterm elections, Thompson is slated to become the committee's chairman.

He has in the past harshly criticized DHS' ability to recruit and retain senior managers. When asked what, as chairman of the committee, he would do to improve this, he said Chertoff "needs to come clean" before the committee on why "he's unable to fill the positions."

"We can't really operate a department this essential" to national security with the current retention rate, Thompson said. Absent of any plan from Chertoff on how the department will keep employees longer and improve recruitment, the "committee will step forward and provide some ideas," Thompson added.

Homeland Security Committee Democrats repeatedly have called for better recruitment and retention rates at DHS, and even went as far as independently researching and publishing their own report over the summer chronicling staffing shortfalls.

That report listed nine empty management positions within Foresman's directorate, though DHS spokesman Russ Knocke on Thursday said some of the spots have since been filled.

The vacancies listed were for the Preparedness Directorate's assistant secretary for cyber and telecommunications, deputy assistant director for cyber and telecommunications, deputy chief medical officer, associate medical officer for science and policy, associate medical officer for preparedness, state and local government coordination director, deputy directors for state and local affairs and another associate director position.

Knocke acknowledged that most of those positions do remain unfilled, but said that several, including the cyber and telecommunications posts, have been filled. Also, Chet Lunner now directs the office of state and local government coordination.

"We are looking forward to working with the new House leadership on a broad range of important homeland security issues, and if the committee has ideas on this particular topic, we're open and interested in hearing them," Knocke said. "Our experience has been that when a vacancy occurs, which is going to happen in a department of our size, we're increasingly nimble in filling it with the right candidate."