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NEWS: Nov. 18, 2016
The Presidency | The Nation
Put Senior Federal Executives
in Political-Appointee Jobs, Trump Is Urged
Donald Trump's administration should consider placing top federal career senior executives in jobs typically held by political appointees and think about slashing the number of appointed positions, the Senior Executives Association recommended, saying the move could provide continuity of leadership during the transition.
>> Government Executive
Trump Picks Alabama Senator for Attorney General
Trump has selected U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama to be attorney general, according to officials close to the transition. Sessions, a former prosecutor, has opposed immigration reform as well as proposals to cut mandatory minimum prison sentences.
>> New York Times
Trump Team Lags on Embedding with Agencies
Trump's transition team has yet to send personnel to embed with agencies to gather information and share priorities, setting that effort behind the anticipated schedule created by good-government groups working in conjunction with the Obama administration.
>> Government Executive
National Security | The Nation
Trump's Pick for Security Adviser
Brings Experience and Controversy
Retired Lt. Gen. Michael T. Flynn, the decorated military intelligence officer who is President-elect Donald Trump's choice to be White House national security adviser, has deep experience to draw on. But Flynn stunned former colleagues when he traveled to Moscow last year to appear alongside Russian President Vladimir Putin. And Flynn blamed his removal as director of the Defense Intelligence Agency in 2014 on the Obama administration's discomfort with his hard-line views on radical Islam.
>> Washington Post
As He Vowed, Nation's Spy Chief Is Resigning
Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, who has long promised to leave his job at the end of President Obama's term, told a House committee that he has submitted his resignation.
>> The Hill
The Military | California
Congress May Let Guard Troops
Keep Improper Enlistment Bonuses
California lawmakers in both houses of Congress offered legislative proposals that would allow some 9,700 California National Guard soldiers to keep improper enlistment bonuses they were paid during the height of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan a decade ago.
>> Los Angeles Times
Navy to Stop Buying $800,000 Shells for New Ship
It may be time to consign the $800,000-per-shell cost of the new destroyer Zumwalt's long-range ammunition to that dubious list of Pentagon-procured $640 toilet seats and $436 hammers. The Navy has reportedly balked at the price and isn't planning to buy more.
>> USA Today
Ethics | Passaic, N.J.
Mayor Pleads Guilty to Bribery Charges
Alex D. Blanco's guilty plea to bribery charges makes him the third Passaic elected mayor of the last four to crash and burn on corruption charges. Blanco, who admitted taking $110,000 in payments from developers, came to power in 2008 promising to clean up City Hall after his predecessor pleaded guilty to accepting a $5,000 bribe in an FBI sting operation.
>> The Record of Bergen County
Jury: Ex-Houston School Board President Took Kickbacks
A bribery lawsuit that kept a cloud of suspicion over the Houston school district for six years ended with a jury finding that former school board president Larry Marshall participated in a kickback scheme that cost a local construction contractor millions of dollars.
>> Houston Chronicle (subscription required)
Higher Education | New York City
Under Fire from State Inspector General,
CUNY Cuts Ties with Outside Lobbyists
The City University of New York and organizations affiliated with the country's largest public urban university abruptly terminated their contracts with outside lobbyists in the wake of a scathing report from the state inspector general's office citing poor management and oversight at CUNY that had created a system "ripe for abuse."
>> New York Times
110 College Presidents to Trump: Condemn Hate, Violence
A hundred and ten college and university presidents wrote to President-elect Donald Trump urging him to forcefully "condemn and work to prevent the harassment, hate and acts of violence that are being perpetrated across our nation, sometimes in your name."
>> Inside Higher Ed
Public Services | Montgomery County, Md.
County Exec Proposes Agency
to Improve Alcohol-Sale Service
Montgomery County would retain its lucrative monopoly on alcohol sales but would create an independent liquor authority to improve customer service under a proposal unveiled by County Executive Isiah Leggett. The county collects more than $22 million a year in profits under the system, which critics have long assailed as a relic of the era that followed the repeal of Prohibition and a legacy of the county's conservative, rural roots.
>> Washington Post
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QUOTABLE
“When everyone's in charge, no one is in charge.”
Retired Los Angeles County administrator David Janssen, at a state legislative hearing into the shortcomings of California's county governments, referring to the governing structure of the counties, most of which have five-member elected boards without an elected administrator, resulting in major issues sometimes taking years to resolve
>> Sacramento Bee | More quotes
DATAPOINT
$59 million
Amount of in overtime-pay expenditures over the past three years by the Minnesota Department of Human Services as the state's largest agency struggled to maintain adequate staffing at state psychiatric hospitals, far exceeding overtime spending at other large state agencies, according to a legislative audit reporting that one state-hospital employee had worked 8,129 hours of overtime since 2013, collecting $294,493 in extra pay
>> Minneapolis Star Tribune | More data
VIEWPOINT
Public Administration | Richard Jacobs
The Tricky Nature of Truth
When asked what the truth was, a public administrator of imperial Rome sarcastically retorted, "What is truth?" Historically, Pontius Pilate's retort has been judged to exemplify a crude form of skepticism. That is, truth doesn't exist, or, assuming that it does, it's relative. Public administrators must ask what is the truth, but without succumbing to the skeptic's error. They must also ask what honesty and transparency require.
>> PA Times | More commentaries
UPCOMING EVENTS
Coming soon:
ASPA's Annual Conference
The most comprehensive public-administration event of the year will be held March 17-21, 2017, in Atlanta, offering an array of educational options -- panels, workshops, roundtables -- along with hundreds of public-service experts for learning and networking. For more information and registration, click here. |
Brookings Institution
Documentary discussion: "Black America Since MLK: And Still I Rise"
Nov. 21, 6-7:30 p.m. ET, Washington, D.C.
Urban Institute
Webinar: "A Universal Child Allowance to Reduce Poverty and Improve Child Development"
Nov. 22, noon ET, Washington, D.C.
Government Technology
Webinar: "Social Media Is a Record: How Juneau, Alaska, Protects Transparency with Automated Archiving"
Nov. 22, 2 p.m. ET
Harvard Kennedy School Executive Education
Program for Senior Executives in National and International Security
Nov. 27-Dec. 9, Cambridge, Mass.
National Association of Attorneys General
Fall Meeting
Nov. 28-30, Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
Federal Computer Week
Conference: "Federal IT After the Transition"
Nov. 29, Washington, D.C.
Jennifer Schaus & Associates, George Mason University Procurement Technical Assistance Center and Arlington Economic Development
Seminar: "Doing Business With DoD and Intel Community"
Nov. 28, 7 a.m.-12:30 p.m. ET, Arlington, Va.
American Enterprise Institute
Discussion: "Conversation with Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation CEO Sue Desmond-Hellmann"
Nov. 29, 9:30-10:30 a.m. ET, Washington, D.C.
>> Full events listings
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