The AP reported Rob McKenna's (Washington State Attorney General and candidate for governor in 2012) math was faulty in regards to curbing the costs of personnel in statement government.
It's one of those math calculations both by the AP reporter and Rob McKenna's campaign that reminded me of Only Cowgirls get the Blues, by Tom Robbins, Washington State author. In Robbin's book Sissy describes (page 31) how she feels about math problems: "If a hen and a half can lay an egg and a half in a day and a half how long would it take a monkey with a wooden leg to kick out the seeds in a dill pickle?"
Understanding government budgets can produce such a sentiment as Tom Robbin's character feels.
Math calculations aside McKenna makes the cogent and important point that there are problems with "personnel in state government."
As a one time, long time Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) and the Department of Early Learning (DEL) insider and whistle blower McKenna's underlying foundational perspective has validity.
The costs in dollar amounts must be analyzed per RCW 41.06.169 in computing how state personnel manage state agencies in terms of performance evaluations: "...shall place primary emphasis on recording how well the employee has contributed to efficiency, effectiveness and economy in fulfilling state agency and job objectives."
This "shall" RCW is not on the radar of the unelected bureaucratic managers in my witnessing. A performance audit I would recommend to State Auditor, Brian Sonntag is to collect and report on the data on how many and which unelected bureaucratic managers received a performance evaluation let alone that this RCW was complied with.
My managers at one point (between times when I wasn't making whistle blower reports) sent me to take the week long Basics of Supervision training. It was touchy feeling, we were trained to view employees as though they might have mental health issues and the most important trait managers were to look for in an employee was "loyalty". No focus on we must operate per the laws passed by the legislature (like RCW 41.06.169), no focus on the citizens of Washington and no focus on that fact we are operating on taxpayer money.
Costs to the taxpayer and citizens that aren't in the data used by the AP report are the cost of lives of the children who were emotionally damaged, physically injured, permanently maimed and dead. The cost to their parents, grandparents, sisters, brothers, aunts, uncles, cousins and friends.
My blog article April 25, 2011 entitled "Spending Taxpayers' money wisely & words from the day care provider who Killed Charlotte Wetzel" I sent to the managers of DEL with the intent that 14 month old Charlotte's death might move a heart in the agency responsible with overseeing child care licensing (my former agency with the usual name change).
Bob Hamilton, Deputy Director of DEL and for Amy Blondin, Communication Manager of DEL. Bob Hamilton makes $112,000.00 plus and Amy Blondin, $93,000.00 plus a year I learned per making a public disclosure request.
I also sent my blog article to Washington state senators and representatives, to Governor Gregoire, State Auditor Brian Sonntag and Attorney General Rob McKenna: "The budget dilemma cannot be analyzed only from numbers on a page."
My recent request for emails was to see if any of the unelected bureaucratic managers, none of whom I know personally from my time inside the bureaucracy to see if my historical knowledge and documentation would result in a thoughtful or critical thinking process.
Director of DEL, Betty Hyde on April 25, 2011 wrote to Bob Hamilton and Robert McLellan regarding my article about the death of 14 month old Charlotte Wetzel and spending taxpayer money wisely was: "More...Is this harassment?"
Bob Hamilton on April 26, 2011 wrote in an email string regarding my "Spending Taxpayers' money wisely..." post to Amy Blondin "I am just pleased that I make more than Amy." To which Amy responded, "You are hilarious!" To which Bob responded, "Life is hilarious, I just savior the opportunities."
In February 2011 I sent an email to senators, representatives, child care advocates, other agencies, Bob Hamilton and Amy Blondin about unlicensed care and DEL not posting revoked licenses on their website. Amy wrote in part to Bob: "We are all for sharing more data, but we at this time don't have the tools or staff capacity we would need to do that." Bob responded, "Thank you, Amy----are you busy?" Amy responded, "Nah, I'm bored."
You're collecting $93,000.00 with generous health and retirement benefits from the taxpayer and you're bored?
My annual salary when I worked for the agency was about $48,000.00 a year. I was not bored, not when my caseload was 260 and not when my caseload was at 100.
When the state legislature gave us an increase one year I sent a thank you card to our local representative. He called me at work to verify that it wasn't a joke, that I was a state worker, that a state worker actually was saying thank you to the legislature rather than the usual whining.
6/24/11 update to my article after hearing back from Amy Blondin:
What is easier is to calculate is the productivity and the quality of productivity produced by unelected state bureaucratic managers.
When citizens and taxpayers speak up to hold government of the people accountable the right action is to do a review of your work productivity and quality of work productivity rather than what is revealed in the emails quoted in this article that were obtained through public disclosure.
Amy Blondin responded on 6/23/11 after my article posted and email in the same vein as the previous emails. I responded that I would be pleased to write an article of the work plans currently being done to enact the Colby Thompson Act and increased monitoring now that the non-expiring license bill passed.
If Brian Sonntag and Rob McKenna both run for the office of governor and were to further address these issues I could see myself campaigning for both of them.
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