On 10/19/05, Pamela Silvestri <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> The Bush Administration has had a heavy hand in all issues pertaining to
> Federal lands and I have not yet heard of one of these to be positive in any
> way, shape or form. This directive is just another example. It's the
> reflection of an administration that has been behaving more like a
> dictatorship.

All the directive was saying is that people who are hired for
management and supervisory positions, aka the GS-13-15 positions have
to be familiar with the national directives and policies set by the
president and the secretary of the DOI. These new hires must be
approved by the people who are responsible for what they do on their
jobs. The PEER memo made it sound like the directive was making the
whole of the NPS swear an oath to Hitler. Okay, that is exaggerating a
little but the words "swear an oath" and "political loyality test"
were used by PEER, not the directive.

> There could be more than one issue apparent in the directive and I don't
> believe you hit on any of them. It seems as though you believe that the
> 'President's Management Agenda' is something to be unquestionably followed.

Um, it's national policy. It puts it in the "must be followed lest you
get hauled before congress and have to answer a bunch of embarassing
questions" category.

> Well what is it? Maybe it is something that is really not the best way to
> manage the NPS? I can take some guesses about what may be included in that.

For some light reading, try:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budintegration/pma_index.html

But I'll sum up. The new management agenda mainly concerns
"competitive sourcing" - aka spending federal money. People in
GS-13-15 positions oversee federal contracts, set budgets and spend
our tax dollars. Therefore, requiring people in such positions to be
familiar with the policies is a Good Idea. It has nothing to do with
what to do with national park service land but it does say that if
you're buying office supplies, you need to get the best deal.

Now the merits of this program is for another discussion and probably
left off this list.

Deb

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