Community Member

Member since 2 years ago

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3 ideas posted

2 comments 37 votes

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Department/Agency:

Homeland Security

City:

Arlington

Ideas contributed by Community Member

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  Increasing Trade, Exports, and Overall Competitiveness »

  Eliminate Home-to-Work Vehicles

  Agency headquarters offices often assign home-to-work vehicles to non-operational personnel. As an example, our office is a support and coordination center. We have three vehicles assigned to our office as we are not co-located with our headquarters. Recently, the vehicles were assigned as home-to-work vehicles for the Director and Deputy Directors. Prior to this happening last summer, the two vehicles without police ...more »

  Agency headquarters offices often assign home-to-work vehicles to non-operational personnel. As an example, our office is a support and coordination center. We have three vehicles assigned to our office as we are not co-located with our headquarters. Recently, the vehicles were assigned as home-to-work vehicles for the Director and Deputy Directors. Prior to this happening last summer, the two vehicles without police accoutrements were sent out to add sirens and police lights for these non-operational managers at a cost of nearly $5K. Toys for the boys. The public not only paid for the upgrades, but pay for their fuel, maintenance, repair and inspections. This is true government waste on a small scale that is happening all over and most likely in every agency with a law enforcement component. It also teeters on the edge of abuse of position and fraud in certifying that the upgrades to these vehicles was mission essential.

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  1 comment for Idea: Eliminate Home-to-Work Vehicles

  Submitted by Community Member 2 years ago

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  33 votes

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  Ideas to Make Other Parts of Government More Efficient and Effective »

  Limit Upper Management Spread

  Particularly at HQ-level agency offices, there are often many more GS-15 level managers than required to manage a handful of employees. Using the agency office where I work, there is both a GS-15 Unit Chief position and a GS-14 Section Chief position managing four GS-14 national program managers. GS-14's should not require that level of oversight. An SES oversees a GS-15 deputy director and three other GS-15 Unit Chiefs, ...more »

  Particularly at HQ-level agency offices, there are often many more GS-15 level managers than required to manage a handful of employees. Using the agency office where I work, there is both a GS-15 Unit Chief position and a GS-14 Section Chief position managing four GS-14 national program managers. GS-14's should not require that level of oversight. An SES oversees a GS-15 deputy director and three other GS-15 Unit Chiefs, with each one of the Unit Chiefs supervising one GS-14 Section Chief, and then that Section Chief has 4 - 8 high-level program officers. That is a major waste of time, talent and funds. There needs to be strong guidance on agency structure to eliminate the top heavy nature of the beast.

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  2 comments for Idea: Limit Upper Management Spread

  Submitted by Community Member 2 years ago

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  23 votes

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  Ideas to Make Other Parts of Government More Efficient and Effective »

  Mandatory Budget Passage

  Congress must pass a funding act each year, yet it always seems to come as a surprise when October 1 rolls around. Congress should be mandated to provide a completed budget plan to the President no later than 30 September of the fiscal year prior to the funded year. The federal budget has become nothing more than a political football, meaning that many federal agencies, despite a continuing resolution. During a continuing ...more »

  Congress must pass a funding act each year, yet it always seems to come as a surprise when October 1 rolls around. Congress should be mandated to provide a completed budget plan to the President no later than 30 September of the fiscal year prior to the funded year. The federal budget has become nothing more than a political football, meaning that many federal agencies, despite a continuing resolution. During a continuing resolution, agency offices receive little drops of money regularly, but cannot obligate funds for major projects as the funds simply are not in place. Once the budget does pass--let's say late April for this year as an example, agencies then have 3-4 months to get as much done as possible before the budget offices start pulling the funding back in to reconcile for the year (July-September). Passage of the budget should be a mandated by law within a strict timeframe. If Congress fails to do it's job, there should be an "if, then" event that immediately takes place, e.g., last years levels + 5%, or the sitting administration's budget becomes fact.

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  2 comments for Idea: Mandatory Budget Passage

  Submitted by Community Member 2 years ago

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