Of checks and balances, accountability and transparency
"pro•cure Pronunciation: (prō-kyoor', pru-), [key] —v., -cured, -cur•ing. —v.t. 1. to obtain or get by care, effort, or the use of special means: to procure evidence. 2. to bring about, esp. by unscrupulous and indirect means: to procure secret documents. 3. to obtain (a person) for the purpose of prostitution. —v.i. to act as a procurer or pimp." http://www.infoplease.com/ipd/A0604834.html
"...David Safavian was an important, if obscure, cog in the government’s Hurricane Katrina response operation. He and his small staff at the Office of Management and Budget were scrambling to complete instructions to agencies on how to use rules allowing speedier contracting for relief and reconstruction in the Gulf Coast and other disaster regions. His instructions, issued Sept. 13, told agency heads how to guard against the misuse of those rules as agencies raced to spend tens of billions of dollars on new Katrina-relief projects.
"But three days after he issued that guidance, Safavian abruptly quit his post as OMB’s administrator of federal procurement policy. The next Monday morning, Sept. 19, federal authorities arrested Safavian at his home in Alexandria, Va. Safavian is just the latest figure to be ensnared in a widening investigation of high-powered lobbyist Jack Abramoff. The criminal complaint against Safavian also alleges he improperly applied his influence in 2002 in an unsuccessful attempt to help Abramoff, a friend and former colleague, acquire two federal properties. At that time, Safavian was serving as chief of staff at the General Services Administration, which owns and manages federal properties....
"The charges, if true, “frankly have more to do with influence peddling, rather than procurement fraud,” he said. “It’s kind of premature to arrive at any conclusions, because he was just arrested,” Couture said. “We’re not going to prejudge what he may or may not have done. I just don’t think there’s enough fact out at this point. We’ll let the legal system do its work and arrive at its conclusions.”
"After law school, Safavian began his legal work at the Washington office of Preston Gates Ellis LLP, where he met friend and mentor Jack Abramoff. The two men started their stints at Preston Gates Ellis within two months of each other in early 1995, according to the firm’s records. At about the same time, Safavian married his wife, Jennifer, who is now chief counsel for oversight and investigations on the House Government Reform Committee, which is chaired by Rep. Tom Davis, R-Va. The committee is responsible for overseeing GSA and federal procurement. When Safavian was confirmed as OMB administrator for federal procurement policy, his wife recused herself from any involvement in the committee’s oversight of her husband’s work.
"Pugliese, now managing director of DuPont’s government business development group, said Safavian was qualified for the job. “He has good credentials. He is a lawyer who’s worked on procurement,” he said. “There have been all levels of people that have held that job over the years. You become a gatekeeper. If you are a political chief of staff like Safavian, you also become the link between the agency and the White House. That’s not unusual at all.”
"Despite the alleged conspiring between Safavian and Abramoff to secure the federal properties for Abramoff, neither deal panned out and both properties remain available today. Clay Johnson, OMB’s deputy director for management, said he interviewed four or five people for the administrator position. He said he was looking for someone who understood federal procurement policy, had prior experience working with different agencies and knew how Capitol Hill operated. “He had all three of those things and was the most qualified person, so my recommendation was that he be nominated to the position,” Johnson said.
“One of the important checks and balances in order for any system to work is to have adequate transparency and accountability mechanisms, and there are not. They are not adequate at the present point in time,” Walker said in an interview. Without adequate transparency and accountability mechanisms, Walker said, people will hold themselves only to the standard of what’s arguably legal. “We have to keep in mind that the law represents the floor of acceptable behavior, not the desired state. We want people who do things that not only are certainly legal, but they are ethically and morally right, and both in fact and appearance,” Walker said. “Some have strayed from that, and we need to get back to it.”
This and more at: http://federaltimes.com/index2.php?S=1130126
When connections corrode: http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-scheer27sep27,0,5132888.column?coll=la-news-comment-opinions
Old Stew bits still stuck in the teeth: http://guambatstew.blogspot.com/2005/08/jack-went-up-to-hills-to-fetch-pail-of.html
"...David Safavian was an important, if obscure, cog in the government’s Hurricane Katrina response operation. He and his small staff at the Office of Management and Budget were scrambling to complete instructions to agencies on how to use rules allowing speedier contracting for relief and reconstruction in the Gulf Coast and other disaster regions. His instructions, issued Sept. 13, told agency heads how to guard against the misuse of those rules as agencies raced to spend tens of billions of dollars on new Katrina-relief projects.
"But three days after he issued that guidance, Safavian abruptly quit his post as OMB’s administrator of federal procurement policy. The next Monday morning, Sept. 19, federal authorities arrested Safavian at his home in Alexandria, Va. Safavian is just the latest figure to be ensnared in a widening investigation of high-powered lobbyist Jack Abramoff. The criminal complaint against Safavian also alleges he improperly applied his influence in 2002 in an unsuccessful attempt to help Abramoff, a friend and former colleague, acquire two federal properties. At that time, Safavian was serving as chief of staff at the General Services Administration, which owns and manages federal properties....
"The charges, if true, “frankly have more to do with influence peddling, rather than procurement fraud,” he said. “It’s kind of premature to arrive at any conclusions, because he was just arrested,” Couture said. “We’re not going to prejudge what he may or may not have done. I just don’t think there’s enough fact out at this point. We’ll let the legal system do its work and arrive at its conclusions.”
"After law school, Safavian began his legal work at the Washington office of Preston Gates Ellis LLP, where he met friend and mentor Jack Abramoff. The two men started their stints at Preston Gates Ellis within two months of each other in early 1995, according to the firm’s records. At about the same time, Safavian married his wife, Jennifer, who is now chief counsel for oversight and investigations on the House Government Reform Committee, which is chaired by Rep. Tom Davis, R-Va. The committee is responsible for overseeing GSA and federal procurement. When Safavian was confirmed as OMB administrator for federal procurement policy, his wife recused herself from any involvement in the committee’s oversight of her husband’s work.
"Pugliese, now managing director of DuPont’s government business development group, said Safavian was qualified for the job. “He has good credentials. He is a lawyer who’s worked on procurement,” he said. “There have been all levels of people that have held that job over the years. You become a gatekeeper. If you are a political chief of staff like Safavian, you also become the link between the agency and the White House. That’s not unusual at all.”
"Despite the alleged conspiring between Safavian and Abramoff to secure the federal properties for Abramoff, neither deal panned out and both properties remain available today. Clay Johnson, OMB’s deputy director for management, said he interviewed four or five people for the administrator position. He said he was looking for someone who understood federal procurement policy, had prior experience working with different agencies and knew how Capitol Hill operated. “He had all three of those things and was the most qualified person, so my recommendation was that he be nominated to the position,” Johnson said.
“One of the important checks and balances in order for any system to work is to have adequate transparency and accountability mechanisms, and there are not. They are not adequate at the present point in time,” Walker said in an interview. Without adequate transparency and accountability mechanisms, Walker said, people will hold themselves only to the standard of what’s arguably legal. “We have to keep in mind that the law represents the floor of acceptable behavior, not the desired state. We want people who do things that not only are certainly legal, but they are ethically and morally right, and both in fact and appearance,” Walker said. “Some have strayed from that, and we need to get back to it.”
This and more at: http://federaltimes.com/index2.php?S=1130126
When connections corrode: http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-scheer27sep27,0,5132888.column?coll=la-news-comment-opinions
Old Stew bits still stuck in the teeth: http://guambatstew.blogspot.com/2005/08/jack-went-up-to-hills-to-fetch-pail-of.html
Labels: Procurement, Public governance
posted by Guambat Stew at Wednesday, September 28, 2005
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