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A Reason Not To Work For The Government


Guest Vern Edwards

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Guest Vern Edwards

I'm not sure what I would say if a young person were to ask me if government service would be a good career. Read this story, which Bob posted about in the Wifcon Blog:

http://www.federalne...ressive-tactics

Keep in mind that the jerk was investigating conference spending, not the sale of meth to school kids.

I don't like to think about how I might have reacted to a stranger banging on my hotel room door at 11:30p.m., wanting to talk.

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Assuming the inside safety lock is engaged - First - Don't respond to the knocking. Second - Call the front desk and get security. Third - Don't open the door. Fourth - Don't answer the phone. They teach us this in our antiterrorism training on an annual basis.

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Guest Vern Edwards

New information about this. See http://www.govexec.com/oversight/2012/09/gsa-investigator-was-too-aggressive-nashville-conference-memo-alleges/57846/?oref=govexec_today_nl. Interesting quote:

[The GSA employee] said the incident left him considering a new line of work.

"Mr. Shea stated that he has worked for the federal government for 27 years, at three agencies, and has a spotless record, but now is beginning to wonder if continued federal employment is worth it, if, as appears to be the case, being a federal employee requires is [sic] that you submit to jack-booted secret police-style tactics by individuals evidently on the authority of the inspector general," Hudson wrote in the memo.

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Guest Vern Edwards

What are we supposed to learn from that? That it's reasonable to use Gestapo tactics when looking into a noncriminal matter?

I'm an ex-cop, LAPD, and I say that no civil servant should have to sit still for being awakened in his or her hotel room at 11:30pm by a jackass, overzealous IG investigator accompanied by a hotel security guard rudely wanting to ask questions about conference spending. I don't give a damn what the statute says. It's going too far. Those are the kinds of tactics you use when making a drug bust or investigating securities fraud. If the matter was urgent the investigator should have called the room from the hotel lobby. What did he think the guy was going to do, flush his nickel bags down the toilet? Light his flash paper? Why the confrontation? Did he think the guy was going to freak, cave, and cop to bad conference spending judgement when faced by a righteous IG investigator?

Everyone, absolutely everyone, including you, Carl, should be outraged by this story, including and especially the U.S. Congress. To hell with perspective.

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There is no rational explanation for an IG investigator to visit anyone's hotel room at night. If it was a serious matter, the IG should have asked the person to meet in a conference room and certainly not at 11:30 pm. Conference spending is not an 11:30 pm subject - it's an 8:00 am to 5:00 pm one.

What's ridiclous is the quote about the IG wanting an answer that evening! If the IG didn't intend for the investigator to act that way based on his words, then he needs to make fixes so communications are better in his office. If the IG acted because the Congressional rep wanted an answer quickly, Congress should have been clearer.

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