Good Government: Accountability and Efficiency
Working to improve bureaucracy isn’t a very exciting topic, but it’s one that I’ve spent energy on because we can do better. Public service can be hampered by agency silos and TTWWADI (That’s The Way We’ve Always Done It). Taxpayers need to count on us to do the best we can with the dollars, and where we can do it better by cooperating, we should insist on agency agreements to cooperate. (Each bureaucracy seems to want to keep or invent its own systems, and I just don’t see the cost-effectiveness of that approach.)
Government should be:
COST EFFECTIVE: Years ago, I noticed lawn maintenance at city and school district parks and open areas, each agency making separate trips to the same neighborhood. Then I put my sights on state, county, and other public agencies maintaining separate motor pools and vehicle maintenance within a few miles of each other. Now I use legislative hearings to press for breaking down silos and insist on collaboration.
EFFICIENT: I have passed bills to prod agencies toward better approaches, like using new technology for mobile fingerprinting for background checks, and to eliminate multiple tedious forms for people to submit much of the same information over and over again.
ACCOUNTABLE: Government agencies sign contracts for goods and services, but I ferreted out business practices that weren’t adequate to protect the public interest for cost and quality. I’ve passed bills requiring third-party quality assurance review, training for anyone responsible for signing and overseeing execution of a contract, and making sure that when things are going awry, the reports aren’t buried in someone’s desk: the executive branch and the legislature will hear about it and take corrective action.
This is what I care about, and I will always keep an eye out for more effective government processes.