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DAILY 03-11-10 MD SU B3 BLACK
THURSDAY, MARCH 11, 2010 KLMNO S B3
THE FEDERAL WORKER
Security guards under scrutiny
contract guards. In response to Maryland for more than 15 years,
Concerns raised about
GAO concerns with the training asked for anonymity for fear of
and qualification of those guards, retribution from his employer
use of contract workers the agency said it has reviewed all and the FPS.
FEDERAL DIARY
at government buildings
contract guard certification and “You never know what to ex-
Joe Davidson
qualification records. pect day to day,” said another
But the agency’s current ar- guard, who also requested ano-
by Ed O’Keefe rangement leads to an odd mix of nymity for similar reasons. “It can
Zients fires up
public- and private-sector workers be health problems, domestic
There’s a saying among some who frequently fight turf wars and problems. Ex-husbands show up
private security guards in the disagree on lines of authority, both to see their wives in the lobby,” the
the troops to
Washington region: “There’s no private and federal guards said. guard said. FPS officers may re-
security in security.” Some contract guards perma- spond to incidents, he said, but
motivate change
Poor job security and the poten- nently stationed at a location can contractors are usually the first
tial dangers that come with pro- believe they have a stronger un- point of contact.
tecting government buildings derstanding of a site’s security The guard has worked at feder-
“C
hief performance make it a risky line of work, said al sites in downtown Washington
officer” for the U.S. guards interviewed this week. and suburban Maryland for 10
government is a pretty
impressive title, especially when
“Here it is — a cave in
Unlike officers with the Penta-
By the numbers
years. Private guards are re-
gon Force Protection Agency quired to have first-aid and CPR
you’re the first to have it. But it
Boyers, Pa. — yes, a cave —
who gunned down shooter John The Federal Protective Service, part training and must be recertified
didn’t seem to matter much to at Patrick Bedell last week, most se- of the Department of Homeland by the FPS each year.
least a few among the non-silent
and yes, the retirement
curity guards at federal buildings Security, provides security at more John Childs III, an FPS K-9 in-
minority of union members who
prattled on during Jeffrey
records are stored in
in the Washington region are em- than spector and regional vice presi-
ployed by private firms that have dent for American Federation of
Zients’s luncheon speech to the
National Treasury Employee
35,000 metal file
contracts with the Federal Pro-
9,000
Government Employees Local
tective Service. 918, discounted the concerns of
Union on Wednesday.
It didn’t help that his tight
cabinets. It reminds me
The FPS, part of the Depart- federal buildings across the country; the guards interviewed.
ment of Homeland Security, pro- “It’s just sometimes [contract
schedule forced Zients, who also
of that famous last scene in
vides security at more than 9,000
is deputy director for
15,000
guards] think they have more au-
federal buildings across the thority than we do, and that’s not
management at the Office of
‘Raiders of the Lost Ark.’ ”
country and uses about 15,000 contract security guards support the case,” Childs said. But the
Management and Budget, to
— Jeffrey Zients,
contract security guards to sup- tensions would disappear if the
speak above the clanking of
deputy director for management, Office of Management and Budget
port about 1,200 officers, inspec-
dishes as the meal of chicken
1,200
FPS federalized or “insourced”
tors and administrative staffers, the contract guards, he said.
paninis and pasta salad was according to agency officials. A officers, inspectors and “If they worked for FPS, things
being served. development. To attract and appraisal system and House hearing Tuesday will focus administrative staffers. would be probably smoother,”
In fairness to Zients, his retain the best people, we need investments in staff training and on the FPS’s future and its re- Childs said.
theme, the administration’s to fundamentally rethink how development, something he sponse to a 2009 Government Childs and the contract guards
“performance management we both hire and develop our called “vital to achieving Accountability Office investiga- did agree on that point. They said
agenda,” isn’t the kind of subject employees.” efficiency and service quality tion that exposed security gaps at threats than FPS officers and in- Congress and the Obama admin-
you would expect to draw cheers Federal hiring has long been a gains.” 10 major federal buildings. The spectors who make infrequent istration need to federalize pri-
and standing ovations such as problem for the government. It Efficiency, or rather the lack GAO report also faulted the FPS visits to perform law enforcement vate guards or establish stronger
those the boss-in-chief, President takes too much time, of it, brings us to the federal for inconsistent training and poor duties, review building security guidelines for the private forces.
Obama, can get when he’s fired applications can be much too retirement information system, oversight of private guards. plans and train tenants about se- “There really are no federal
up. But that agenda is crucial to long, and it can be so frustrating the sorry state of which we wrote Next month, Sen. Joseph I. Lie- curity threats. standards for security guards,”
implementing Obama’s overall that too many people give up and about last week. Zients described berman (I-Conn.) plans to intro- “We’ve gained minimal respect said David Wright, president of
program, which includes making go work elsewhere. it with photographic evidence duce legislation that addresses over the years, but we’re still Local 918 and an FPS inspector
government cool again. He showed a flowchart during his speech. Among his the agency’s future and broader looked down on,” said one guard, based in Kansas City. AFGE Local
The key element in that representing the confusing maze slides was a picture of the threats and security measures at who asked that his name be with- 918 represents FPS workers na-
coolness — people — also is the that is the Department of underground storage area where all civilian and military facilities, held. “We’re on the front lines. Be- tionwide.
focal point of the last, though Housing and Urban retirement records are kept. aides said. ing on the front lines, we need to “These individuals should be
probably the most important, of Development’s 40-step hiring “The government’s system for FPS officials said in a statement be seen as essential and treated as trained at the federal level, and
six strategies that Zients said process. He said 19 signatures managing retirement records is that it has increased both overt essential.” we think that they should be fed-
offer the greatest potential to are required, and it takes 139 stuck in a different era,” he said, and covert inspections of security The guard, who has worked at eral police officers,” he said.
improve Uncle Sam’s days from start to finish. as he discussed the information posts, as well as its oversight of federal facilities in suburban
ed.okeefe@washingtonpost.com
performance. The other five are “Not surprisingly,” he added, technology gap. Alongside him
eliminating waste, driving top “this results in terrible were large photos of a
priorities, leveraging purchasing satisfaction scores from both windowless storage room with
power, closing the information managers and applicants.” wires hanging from the ceiling.
technology gap and making Other agencies shouldn’t feel “Here it is — a cave in Boyers, ‘Challenges’ in Kabul
House passes measure to compensate
government more open. smug because Zients pointed to Pa. — yes, a cave — and yes, the The U.S. Embassy in Af-
Transportation workers for furlough days
There’s not enough room here HUD. He said that it is moving retirement records are stored in ghanistan is overworked
to examine all those, so let’s look aggressively to fix its hiring 35,000 metal file cabinets. It and underappreciated, ac-
at the one drawing the most process and that the 139 days to reminds me of that famous last cording to a State Depart- If you are among the nearly measure he blocked also provided
attention from the federal hire is about average across all scene in ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark.’ ment report. A19 2,000 Transportation Department unemployment benefits and
employees at the NTEU agencies. The administration’s Clearly, there is a better answer employees who were furloughed health insurance subsidies for
conference. goal is to cut hiring time in half. here.” last week because Sen. Jim Bun- those who had lost jobs. The fur-
No. 6, attracting and The crowd was clearly Zients needs to find that ning (R-Ky.) temporarily blocked loughed federal workers “became
motivating top talent, means “to warming up and interrupted answer soon, because as he
A higher bar
funding for federal highway and unwitting victims of an arcane
get the most out of people, we Zients with applause when he mentioned, nearly half the Julianna Smoot, the White transportation projects, help is on practice in the upper chamber
have to do more,” Zients said. said an improved hiring process government’s workforce will be House’s new social secre- the way. that allows one member’s objec-
Now he had everyone’s “starts with short, plain language eligible to retire in the coming tary, has ties to high-dollar The House passed legislation tion, no matter how specious, to
attention. The room was quiet, job descriptions, not 20-page decade. donors and has worked that would compensate those grind to a halt the work of the
and the wait staff had finished documents full of government He concluded with a plea for for a who’s 1,922 workers, Rep. Gerald E. Con- American people,” Connolly said.
serving the cheesecake. lingo. We will request résumés help. who of nolly (D-Va.) announced Wednes- Connolly said the measure
“As all of you who have and cover letters, not “Help me work to create Demo- day. In a speech to the House, Con- would prevent a 20 percent cut in
worked as federal employees and burdensome essays that don’t effective relationships between crats. nolly, sponsor of the legislation, the employees’ next biweekly pay-
managers know, many of our predict performance.” labor and management,” he told A19 said the bill would pay employees check. The bill also ratifies Trans-
policies are bureaucratic, Once you hire employees, you the union delegates, “so we can “who were forced out of their job portation actions that maintained
cumbersome and outdated,” he need to treat them right while tap into the creativity and for two days because of political minimum essential services dur-
said. No one shouted “amen,” but they’re on the job and when they expertise of frontline workers to gamesmanship on the other side ing the two furlough days. “It’s the
the crowd certainly was engaged. retire. advance our improvement of the Capitol.” right thing to do,” he added.
“Too often, we don’t focus on “We’ve got real problems efforts.” Last week, Bunning said he But don’t spend that money yet.
‘people’ as a primary tool for engaging and retaining the best,” Zients ended his speech to blocked the transportation fund- The Senate must pass the measure
achieving our missions, and we Zients said. He called for a warm applause. ing because Congress had not pro- before the checks get cut.
under-invest in management and redesign of the employee
federaldiary@washpost.com vided a way to pay for it. The — Joe Davidson
on
washingtonpost.com
Positioning for promotions
Federal careers expert Derrick Dortch answers questions
on
washingtonpost.com. Following is a brief excerpt.
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