Letters

While I enjoyed the article on the Fed-Hollywood connection ("Feds on Film, " April), I was led to write on two points. One, as a civil servant, I find it only too easy to believe that the U.S. government cannot be trusted to tell the public the truth. And if I have trouble with it, where does that leave the average citizen?

Two, regarding Courage Under Fire not being supported, the quoted paragraph on "unrealistic relationships" was indeed unrealistic. My personal experience has been that the comment referred to was completely realistic and I myself have heard such comments. I accept that the movie may not have been supportable for the other reasons, but that particular comment certainly wasn't one.

D.M. England
San Antonio, Texas

Just to set the record straight: In your article "Feds on Film," you say "In Absolute Power, Secret Service agents kill the First Lady and White House aides try to cover it up." Not so--in Absolute Power the President is attempting to boff the young wife of a billionaire supporter. The party gets too rough. The President smacks her around and she is about to stab him with a pair of scissors when the Secret Service agents burst into the bedroom and kill her. So far, absolutely correct actions on the part of the Secret Service. The White House's attempts to cover up the President's involvement is where the federal employee characters go wrong. But your article's basic premise that "Federal employee characters, particularly managers, make good villains" is right on. The Chief Executive is a federal employee, isn't he or she, as the case may be.

Mitch Rose,
GM-14, Retired

Time to Oversee Execs

Willy Losinger's letter to the editor (March), suggests getting rid of 70 percent of the workforce in government agencies would result in a great deal more accomplishments. I disagree. An arbitrary layoff of "x" percent of our employees is not the answer to getting more from our bureaucracy. What would work is to inject a power-balancing entity into the workplace that would have the ability to enforce disciplinary action on senior management (Senior Executive Service or Senior Foreign Service) who violate laws and regulations, or fail to perform. Our current system allows senior managers to circle the wagons, which is a natural human tendency within groups of any kind, and protect each other no matter the sins carried out by a colleague. Senior managers are also allowed to draw upon any of the agency's resources to defend their position. And since all the resources are under their control, there is no opportunity for an independent evaluation and action unless the issue is litigated. Our founding fathers knew we could all be devious if the opportunity arises, and our senior managers are no different.

Until the day comes that there is a way to hold senior managers accountable for their actions, our bureaucracy will continue to "decay and stagnate."

Hal Seeley
Facilities Plant Supervisor
Voice of America
Sri Lanka

Single Parents Struggle

"The Mother Load" (May) addresses the juggling act from only one point of view. There are many single parents, both fathers and mothers who do not have the support of a spouse to share the chores of housekeeping, meals, shopping, etc.

There have been several occasions where I have had to leave a meeting early or not attend at all to pick my son up from child care. Most childcare facilities charge extra after a certain time and agencies are not picking up the tab. Remember also the days missed on doctor's visits and school closings. I have a supervisor who believes families come first and if I run a little late in the morning and leave a little early in the afternoon it's OK. I am in the office as early and as late as I can be.

Unfortunately, managing an agency help desk is not something I can do from home or I would look into telecommuting a few days a week as an option. I am a firm believer that telecommuting and flex schedules are soon going to be the standard schedule for most employees. Managers will need to learn to manage from a distance and use quality of work as a measurement of performance vs. the number of hours in the office.

I would not trade my situation as a single parent for any promotion or job benefit. The companies and agencies that can figure out how to support all their employees regardless of their social status will find they have a strong organization and an organization that will work its heart out to accomplish the mission. The solutions will be as varied as the employees and go against the "standard," but it's time to make these changes and move forward.

Paul Alberti
FEMA

Your original scenario and three responses in "The Mother Load" ignore a large portion of the workforce: single parents. I used to supervise two people, each of whom was married and had kids. When either of these people was asked to travel, they only went if a spouse was able to take care of the kids. In other words, they were not expected to put themselves in the position that I was in all the time-having to find someone other than a spouse to keep the kids while I traveled.

Also, I was wondering how many of your readers have seen the latest U.S. News and World Report article on working moms. It has some surprising findings, such as that many two-earner families don't do it because they have to but rather because they want to. In other words, if they feel that they're sacrificing their home lives with spouse and kids, they're doing it willingly. Maybe that's why there's such a feeling of guilt!

Linda Knowlton
USDA

Juggling career and family is becoming more and more of a sensitive subject for me as my two sons, ages 5 and 7, get older and become more involved in their own activities. I am a single parent with a busy career as a federal attorney. Sometimes I feel guilty because I don't have the time to let them participate in more activities and I have to admit to not checking the homework each and every night. Don't mention housework!

There are times when I think that the answer would be a supportive spouse, but the couple in your article seem to be having the same time-management problems I am experiencing. What is the answer?

Rosalyn Wilcots
Library of Congress

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