Former GSA Chief Now a Novelist

• By Charles S. Clark
• April 17, 2013
• comments

Since the scandal over lavish conference spending jolted the General Services Administration a year ago, many have wondered what Martha Johnson, the GSA administrator who abruptly resigned, has been up to.

The answer is: Writing. Johnson has self-published a first novel, In Our Midst. Here's how the book's website describes the story:

Stanton, Indiana, in 1990, is a town in which people love their kids, joke with their mayor, attend church, and support the Wood Carving Festival. But, one boy is growing up with a secret that he unknowingly shares with another son of the community, a soldier in the Korean War who died the day he came home.

Johnson, a veteran of CSC Corp. who worked for both the Clinton and Obama administrations, was vigorously leading GSA in efficiency initiatives such as telecommuting and innovative office design when she was caught up in the scandal involving overspending on conferences by some at GSA’s Public Buildings Service.

Johnson has since hung out a shingle as a public speaker on leadership issues. She does not mention GSA in her author’s bio, which says she has delivered more than 50 public speeches on topics that include sustainability, leadership ...

A Framework for Response to Boston Explosions

• By Tom Shoop
• April 15, 2013
• comments

While details of what happened in Boston today, with multiple explosions near the finish line of the Boston Marathon, are just beginning to emerge, there is a framework in place for federal, state and local officials to respond to such situations -- and try to prevent them from occurring in the first place.

In the January/February issue of Government Executive, Charles S. Clark explored the Homeland Security Department's network of fusion centers. The centers bring together officials at all levels of government to share information (especially about potential terrorist activity) and coordinate responses to crisis situations. The most recent prominent example of such a center at work involved the response to Hurricane Sandy last October, conducted out of the New Jersey Regional Operations Intelligence Center in West Trenton, N.J. Clark's piece focuses on this center.

The Boston area is served by the Commonwealth Fusion Center in Maynard, Mass. According to its website, the  center "works with federal, state, regional and local law enforcement, as well as the public and private sector as the state repository for homeland security information and incident reporting. It serves as a point of contact for local entities seeking to receive information from ...

Obama Lauds Berry -- and Feds

• By Tom Shoop
• April 12, 2013
• comments

Many people in the federal community have stepped up this week to offer words of praise for John Berry as he leaves his post as head of the Office of Personnel Management. Now you can add one more name to the list: President Obama.

In a statement issued Friday, Obama not only lauded Berry for such achievements as overhauling the federal hiring process, he snuck in some praise for federal employees generally, calling them "men and women who devote their lives to vital tasks like securing our borders, curing disease, and keeping the American people safe."

Here's the full text of Obama's statement: 

John Berry has served the American people well as Director of the Office of Personnel Management.  He’s streamlined the way federal employees are hired, modernized the workplace, made the federal workforce more diverse, and increased the number of returning servicemembers hired by the government.  John has been a champion for federal workers – men and women who devote their lives to vital tasks like securing our borders, curing disease, and keeping the American people safe.  This country is better off because of John’s talent and dedication, and I’m grateful to him for his ...

Nudging Shinseki Out at VA?

• By Charles S. Clark
• April 11, 2013
• comments

The Veterans Affairs Department has been hit on multiple fronts for its burgeoning backlog of unprocessed veterans’ health care claims, taking shots from everyone from House Veterans ‘ Affairs Committee Chairman Jeff Miller, R-Fla., to Time magazine’s Joe Klein.

But perhaps the most blunt assessment appeared Thursday on the op-ed page of The Washington Post.

An essay titled “Time to Shake up the Dysfunctional VA” by Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., and Pete Hugest, chief executive of Concerned Veterans for America -- both of whom served in wars in Iraq and Afghanistan -- calls for Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki to step down.

The piece notes that despite a $25 billion influx of cash from Congress since 2009 and a shield from sequestration, Shinseki has been unable to deliver on his pledge to tackle the claims backlog. The VA is “projected soon to hit a grim landmark of 1 million unprocessed benefits claims, with roughly 600,000 of those more than 125 days old,” the authors write.

“Eric Shinseki is a patriot and an honorable man who has served this country faithfully in and out of uniform,” they say. “We have the utmost respect for him and his service, but his tenure at ...

The Boldest Leaders in Government

• By Tom Shoop
• April 11, 2013
• comments

Those who have dedicated their careers to public service often get little in the way of recognition. That's especially true in the case of risk-takers who go out of their way to bring innovation to the federal sector. 

Our sister publication, Nextgov, which focuses on how technology is transforming the federal government, is out to change all that. Nextgov has launched the Bold Awards, aimed at recognizing those who have implemented innovative, and at times provocative, programs, policies or management practices relying on information technology. 

The awards seek to highlights stories of accomplishments that resonate not only with federal employees, but the public. The winners will be people who defied the odds, overcame obstacles, pushed new ideas and made a genuine difference.

Do you know someone who fits the bill? Nominations are now open, until May 17.