Essential Workers?

[jyoutz]

I believe what i have witnessed in person for decades and right up to today is relivent to this conversation. This link takes you to the location and legal discription. This link take's you to early history. This link take's you to April 2021 when a collective shout of joy arose from greatful North Texans. And here's an update. Two weeks ago my wife and I hosted a vacationing couple that grew up locally but hasn't returned since graduating high school,getting married and going away to college in 2010. We visited local landmarks and I told them what I recollected about their grandparents, families and Congressman Sam Rayburn. Our plans for the secound day included a picnic at Lake Fannin. When we arrived, entrance was restricted by an iron gate with a log chain and padlock the size of my fist. Beside the gate stood a bulitin board with U S Forest Service posters warning tresspassers how much fine and jail time they would be subject to. I have tons of first hand experience and those links I posted only touch the tip of an iceberg but furnish enough information for researching facts if desired. If nothing else,I ask you to note (A) Forest Service used the "NO FUNDS" excuse to close it and alow it to go to ruin (B) Local volunteers furnished funds and labor to restore the land and buildings (C) For their efforts,managment was signed over to state and county atthority to be carried out by volunteers. (D) U S Forest Service seized the place within hours and locked it up without posting a reason along with threats on their stinking builitin board.

No funds is not an excuse, it’s cold hard fact. FS cannot spend funds that Congress doesn’t appropriate.

 

[newbury]

A good part of the problem with gov't employees is the overwhelming bureaucracy of rules built up since 1776 and the inability to reward a job well done. I spent 37 years working as a scientist at an Army research lab.

In "private" companies office politics don't change every 4 or 8 years. In the Federal Govt. there is GAURANTEED to be a change of the power structure. And it takes time to "trickle down".
The agency head gets replaced, within another year most of the upper management, also political appointees, has changed. Corporate knowledge may be thrown out the window for "new" ideas. The new ideas don't always work.

So many employees become "turtles". We'd see a policy change and withdraw into our shells while the flack went around us.

Covid threw a big wrench into the works. My son, who now works at the same lab as a scientist, was effectively banned from going in to work more than a few hours a day. The rest was work from home. As were all his coworkers.

So now there are millions of turtles who are hopefully getting over the biggest non-war disaster to ever had hit that are afraid to stick their head out. It will take a long time to get back to normal.

 

[oosik]

I am likewise perturbed at the lack of service at State DMV offices and county government offices. I consider going to these places to be a major ordeal.

Ha, ha - my drivers license was due for renewal - 2020. WA DMV had a simple answer. No driving test, no written test - just put the costs on my MasterCard - good for another seven years.

Property taxes. I should be so lucky that the annual taxes would be waived for a year. They would resurrect Scrooge, if need be, just to get those property taxes.

 

[Frankenkubota]

Kind of amazing just how things vary depending on where you are...

Similar to much legislation.

 

[Frankenkubota]

Most federal employees who I work with who are in the office are busy all day, not just sitting around drinking coffee. Retirements and budget cuts have resulted in short staffing government wide. Now about those people at state MVD departments….

I ***** about govt employees all the time. But for me it's more about the system than the people.

But......

There is a lot going on. First of all, govt employment rewards complacency and punishes any out of the box thinking. There is virtually no reward for reformers. Actually reformers are beaten down or run outta town. I know 2 highschool principals who experienced this, I still play golf with one. I will give you their phone number so they can give you the details. both in real estate now

IMHO. The problem is the system tends to attract people who don't want to reform, who don't want to think out of the box, who are not problem solvers but problem avoiders and don't want to change things so.....

The beat goes on. It's self perpetuating, from congress all the way to the dog catcher.

Reform must start with term limits. Why would congress want to reform anything, their job depends on the status quo.

 

[Jstpssng]

The problem with term limits is that just as a Congressman starts to get respected by his constituents, he is booted out of office.Rather than getting on the ways and means committee his successor finds himself on that of the assistant dog catcher.

 

[Torvy]

No funds is not an excuse, it’s cold hard fact. FS cannot spend funds that Congress doesn’t appropriate.

Plenty of funds, they are just not spent wisely. Actual government workers, such as yourself get the short end. Government employees, read bureaucracy, waste billions for the 'leadership' to travel, have bloated staffs and fund 'studies' (read money directed to friends of the bureaucracy). This is apolitical as it doesn't matter who is in charge other than who the 'friends' are that receive the largess.

In the private sector, management must come in under budget to stay employed.. Oh, and the customer must still be happy. In the public sector, budgets must be spent, regardless of need. No need to provide good customer service as customers have no alternatives. Check the data, government spending is largest every September, last month of the fiscal year. The bureaucracy ensuring they continue to be fed at the same level.

Most importantly, this thread was about state and local employees, you took it on yourself to assume that it meant you and yours. I thank you for your service. A wise former boss of mine told me to assume positive intent. While we all know people who don't have positive intentions, but, assuming the worst is a road to anger and distrust.

 

[Jchonline]

USFS only has funding appropriated by Congress and has hundreds of millions of acres to treat. There is a very limited market for forest product processing, and this means that the government must pay for removing excess trees and fuel on every acre. Congress has never funded for treatment of all the lands that need work. But even so we do treat millions of acres annually.

I know its not you, you are doing what you are paid to do. I am also aware of the funding shortfalls. We need to fund more, and if the government cant properly take care of something, it needs to be sold back to private citizens (not businesses) with some forest ag program type requirements. We are in they forest ag program, its awesome.

 

[Torvy]

Here's an example...non- teaching staffing has far outpaced teaching staffing in the last 50 years. The non teachers primary role seems to be to think up new things for teachers to do that have nothing to do with teaching our students.

 

[Frankenkubota]

The problem with term limits is that just as a Congressman starts to get respected by his constituents, he is booted out of office.Rather than getting on the ways and means committee his successor finds himself on that of the assistant dog catcher