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The federal government in the DC area will be closed on Tuesday, February 9. Teleworking employees are expected to work from their assigned remote locations, and emergency employees to make it into the office.

First, I wanted to thank everyone who sent me reading suggestions, or said they'd be reading along with me. I'm glad to know you all are out there. Just as a heads-up, though, my reading list is determined by a syllabus, so I don't have a lot of discretion to incorporate suggestions, since the list is extremely heavy (much more than I'm writing about here) and tied to assignments and class discussions. Otherwise I'd change directions in a heartbeat! I'll keep track of them, though, and perhaps extend the project further into the year if folks are interested.

But now to dive into this week's reading, James Q. Wilson's Bureaucracy. Of everything I'm reading for this project, Bureaucracy is the thing I'm most embarrassed I didn't read on my own at some point, and that I regret not getting to. It's an extremely clear, cogent, lucid account of how government works that both tracks with most of my own experience as a reporter, and that I think would have been extremely useful to me when I was just beginning to get to know government agencies.

Continue reading "Bureaucracy Reading II: James Q. Wilson's Bureaucracy" »

As anyone who watched the New Orleans Saints' drubbing of the Indianapolis Colts last night knows, the U.S. Census ran a commercial during the Superbowl to highlight attention to its upcoming 2010 survey. The $2.5 million spot -- part of the agency's $340 million promotion campaign -- aims to increase participation and reach historically under-counted populations, although it attracted ire from conservative critics such as Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., who claimed it was a waste of taxpayer money.

The spot was directed by Christopher Guest, the off-beat actor and director behind so-called "mockumetary" hits "This is Spinal Tap" and "Best in Show." Competing with advertising heavyweights such as Budweiser, Google, and Coca-Cola, how did the Census fair?

Based on instant reactions, not too well.

"Um, the $2.5 million for this are taxpayer dollars, right? Not cool," wrote MSNBC contributor Rick Chandler, who included it on his list of worst ads of the night. So did Entertainment Weekly.

The spot scored low in USA Today's "Ad Meter" rankings, compiled through focus groups, although it didn't inspire as much loathing as those Danica Patrick GoDaddy.com ads. And Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management also gave the ad an "F" in its ratings, claiming the ad "fell flat."

The spot has its defenders, but they're few and far between. For instance, Digital Sports Daily wrote, "It makes fun of corporate speak, of Hollywood, and in a way itself."

But remember, their target audience isn't entertainment writers, it's regular citizens. And as any marketing expert will tell you, commercials don't have to be works of art to work.

This isn't the first time an agency has dipped its toe into the world of big-time sports advertising. Last year, to gear up for the switch-over to digit television, the Federal Communications Commission sponsored a NASCAR team--which crashed in its first race.

Office of Personnel Management Director John Berry (who apparently has an aching back from digging out his corner house) says he'll make the call about the federal government's operating status in the DC area after a 6pm conference call with state, local, county and regional governments this evening. Stay tuned for updates.

The Washington Post is polling on that question right now. I'm voting yes, if only because I'm starting to go stir crazy in my apartment, and Atlantic Media's offices are closed on snow days. But I can see the case for safety Ed is making over at the Post. Especially if it starts snowing again tomorrow afternoon. The major thoroughfares I live near in DC aren't remotely plowed yet, buses aren't running. And it could only get worse. If the federal government was a fully teleworking organization, this wouldn't be a problem.

After this weekend's storm, federal agencies in the Washington, DC area will remain closed on Monday as the region digs itself out. To all our readers in the area, stay safe and warm, and good luck getting your cars out of the snow!

Without 60 votes to break the deadlock, apparently placed over some earmarks Shelby wants for his home state of Alabama, no nominations can move forward. The debate over this will focus on politics and on the deficit, and the optics of Shelby throwing a fit over earmarks at a time when the Republicans are hammering the administration on spending. But I really wish that some politician, somewhere, would talk about the impact of agencies not having leaders because of this kind of move. Holds aren't cost-free, but because most politicians and most Americans don't see the costs to agencies, they feel free to ignore them.

Yesterday, the Office of Personnel Management launched its new OpenOPM website, where it will release things like Freedom of Information Act Reports and publicly track progress towards transparency goals. So far, most of the information that's up on the site is procedural, listing when the agency picked officials who will be responsible for releasing spending information, or positing dates for incorporating public feedback on the design of the site. But they've got the name and number of the person who will be responsible for answering questions about transparency issues at OPM. I haven't tried calling yet to see if it's a direct dial, but if any of y'all do, report back. And I'm looking forward to playing around with FedScope to see what I find in the employment data there. As I've said before, transparency is as much a matter of legibility as of access to data. But getting the data out there, and naming the people responsible for access to it, is a start.

The Office of Personnel Management has just announced that federal agencies in the Washington, DC area, which is due to be hit hard by a major snowstorm, will open on time tomorrow (though under an unscheduled leave policy) and will close four hours early to make sure folks can get home safe.

The Office of Personnel Management has already moved to declare that agencies in the Washington, DC area will be open under an unscheduled leave policy tomorrow, as heavy snow moves into the region. In addition, OPM Director John Berry sent a memo to Chief Human Capital Officers outlining a range of other options for managing the federal workforce during the storm, including:

* Permit employees at your agencies under a telework agreement to telework tomorrow. This severe weather forecast presents a key opportunity for agencies to test their telework plans in the context of emergency preparedness.

* Allow employees on alternative work schedules (AWS) to schedule their AWS day off or use credit hours (if available) tomorrow.

* Advise your employees now that OPM will be announcing the Government will operate on an unscheduled leave policy tomorrow. For planning purposes, employees should advise their supervisors as soon as possible if they plan to take annual leave, compensatory time off, credit hours, or leave without pay tomorrow.