May 15, 2013, will mark the 11th anniversary of the Notification and Federal Anti-Discrimination and Retaliation (No FEAR) Act. Congressed passed No FEAR on May 15, 2002, after hearing testimony that federal workforce abuse reduces government’s ability to effectively execute with integrity essential programs such as waste management, pollution prevention, water treatment, food inspection, Medicare,Read… Read more »
I recently wrote on the coming of age of the “Digital Public Information Officer (PIO)” and how social media, digital volunteers, and organization is key. (Find the original posting here: Considerations for the Digital Public Information Officer) This sparked a lot of great conversation across the Social Media in Emergency Management (SMEM) community and aRead… Read more »
NEW on the #OGP blog | Civil Society Coordinator Newsletter for March 2013. http://blog.opengovpartnership.org/2013/04/civil-society-n (…) … #opengov #civilsociety Consultation now open to gather views on @opengovpart UK action plan – have your say here: http://ow.ly/jHkHT #opengov What’s next for the Open Government Partnership in Europe? http://blog.collaboratory.de/2013/03/whats-next-for-open-g (…) #ogp U.S. has fulfilled 24/26 commitments made inRead… Read more »
It’s Not What You Think Since last weekend, the internet has been aflutter with news that many states have petitioned the White House for permission to secede from the union. No state has officially done any such thing. This is what’s going on. To date, there are forty-eight petitions asking President Obama to approve theRead… Read more »
Photo credit: Luis Gomez Photos Yesterday, I had the pleasure of meeting two young entrepreneurs–the co-founders of the super-hip, new event crowdfunding startup, EventStir. Afghani-born Sajad explained to me how he met his business partner Andrew, at Startup Weekend DC. The event is a 54-hour race against the clock to launch a business in oneRead… Read more »
Jonathan Breul retires today from his role as executive director of the IBM Center. He has had a long and storied career in public service over the past four decades, where he has left a lasting mark. I’ve worked with Jonathan directly or indirectly over the past 30 years. His retirement is a good inflectionRead… Read more »
Does the Federal Government need to rebrand itself, as some have recently suggested, due to low public approval, politically-charged rhetoric, and negative stereotypes of Federal employees? I think not. Rather, I stipulate that: 1) Rebranding Feds is unnecessary and inadvisable at this time, and 2) There is no real “crisis” for Feds that warrants aRead… Read more »
December 15, 2011 marked the 220th anniversary of our Bill of Rights. As usual, it passed without much fanfare, yet it’s been protecting American rights for more than two centuries. The Bill of Rights is part of the Constitution–our nation’s primary legal document–and they are law. Americans are quick to assert our legal rights. WeRead… Read more »
Nearly three thousand federal civil servants have died in the line of duty since 1992. They represent a wide range of federal agencies, yet the federal government has no program or policy in place to provide a U.S. burial flag for these fallen heroes. This glaring omission was the subject of an Op-Ed in TheRead… Read more »
On Sunday, Tom Shoop of GovExec’s Fedblog reported that President Obama’s Chief Performance Officer, Jeffrey Zients, will lead the government reorganization effort announced during last week’s State of the Union address. I don’t know about you, but I was ecstatic to see Civil Service reform get a high-profile nod during the address. (Full disclosure: IRead… Read more »