Invisiblestateworkforcehiding
inplainsightatOMHITcenter
By SHERRY HALBROOK as“consultants”)makeup43percentof advantagesanddisadvantagesofhaving
Ifyouwalkedintothemain OMH’sactual,ITcenterworkforce. stateemployeesdoworkin-houseversus
informationtechnology(IT)operation handingitofftoconsultantsbefore
centerforthestateOfficeofMental Costdisparitystaggering awardingthosecontracts.
Health(OMH)inAlbany,youwouldfind “Contractingworkouthasbecomea “We’vebeenworkingfordecadesto
approximately265peopleonthejob,but kindoffirst-resortreflexformany changethatatmosphere,sowewere
youwouldbewrongtoassumetheyare agencies.It’sbecomealmostaforegone elatedwhenGov.PatersonissuedExec.
allstateworkers. conclusionwheneverworkneedstobe Order6.Andwe’vebeenwaitingeagerly
Morethan40percentarenotonthe done,evenattheday-to-dayoperations toseeagenciesbegintocomply,”Brynien
statepayroll,butthestateispaying52 level,”saidPEFPresidentKenBrynien. said.
percentmorefortheirservicesthanit Withthestate’sbacktothefiscalwall, Changingsucholdandingrained
paysforitsownemployees(inpay, itappearsOMHandpossiblysomeother habitsisabitliketryingtoturna
benefitsandpensionscombined)working agencieshavebeguntorecognizethe battleshiparoundinabusyharbor.It
rightnexttothem. costdisparitiesandprojecttheir doesn’thappenquicklyoreasily.
OMHhas172stateemployee potentialforsavingmillionsofdollarsby However,agenciesnowarerequiredto
positionsfortheITcenter.However,16- usingstateemployeestodomoreofthe beginsubmittingannualreportstoa
21ofthemarevacant.So,thenumberof work. group,theGovernor’sTaskForceon
actualstateemployeesworkingthereis JustoneoftheprivateITconsultants, PersonalServicesContracting,created
between156and151,orjustabout57 forinstance,costsOMH$126perhour, byExec.Order6tomonitorcompliance
percent. or$245,700annually.Thatindividual andissueitsowncomprehensiveannual
Theother114ITworkersforOMHare hasbeenworkingatOMHforeight reportwithevaluationsand
employeesofprivatecompanieswith years,buttheagencynowrecognizesit recommendations.
whichOMHhas couldsave$118,491byreplacinghim Tospeedtheprocessalong,thestate
contractsfor withastateemployee.Theagencycould DivisionofBudget(DOB)issueda
ITservices. havesavedstatetaxpayers$947,928 bulletinlastmonthtotheheadsofall
These overtheeightyearsjustbyreplacingthis statedepartmentsandagencies
private- oneconsultant. establishingproceduresforcompliance,
sector AnotherITconsultantwhoalsohas includinganewelectronicstandardized
employees beenworkingatOMHforeightyears methodforreporting.
(also couldbereplacedbyastateemployeefor “It’sgreattoseetheDOBfocuson
known asavingofnearly$73,000annually. enforcingthisorder,becausethestate
I
Overtheeightyears,thatwouldhave standstosavemillionsofdollars,”
S
addedupto$583,568. Bryniensaid,“anditneverneededthat
moneymorethanitneedsitnow.
M
T
Liketurninga
“Therealsavingswon’tcome
(
t
e
a
C
n
t
e
e
ta
n
O
l
te
H
ff
r
e
ic
a
e
lt
o
h
f
battleship
fromlayoffsorevenfromahiring
It’sbeenayearsince
freeze,butfromproperstaffingat
PEFpersuadedGov.
allagenciesandonlycontracting
5
O
DavidPatersontoissue
forprivateconsultantstodo
w
7
M
o
%
H
rk
a
)
e
r
r
e
s
state
ExecutiveOrder6
isolated,short-term,specialized
requiringstate
jobs.That’sthewayitwas
agenciesto
alwaysmeanttowork,butthat
analyzeand
goodintentionhasbeenlostin
badhabitsthatgoback
4
considerthe
relative
decades,”Bryniensaid.
p
“Hiringmorestateworkersto
savetaxdollarsseems
c
3
o
ri
%
n
v
s
a
a
u
te
r
lt
e
ants
counter-intuitiveand
definitelyhasa
politicaldownside,”
Brynienconceded.
“Nevertheless,it’sa
truththat’shidingin
plainsight,justlike
thatarmyofprivate
consultantsatthe
OMHITcenter.”
Page6—TheCommunicatorJune2009 PEFInformationLine:1-800-553-2445
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