It’s happy trails time for OMB Watch Executive Director Gary Bass, who plans to leave the influential watchdog group he founded in 1983 to head the Bauman Foundation, according to a mass e-mail sent out this afternoon.
From his experience in the nonprofit sector, Bass said in the message, “I have learned there comes a time when an organization’s founder needs to move on in order to strengthen the very organization the founder loves.”
Bass added that he is “confident that the group’s commitment to high-quality work and smart policy advocacy will continue, and I have no doubt that OMB Watch will not miss a beat during the leadership transition.”
That transition won’t happen quickly: Bass said he will start his new gig “no later than” next fall. The OMB Watch board has begun a search for a replacement.
Created to “bring sunshine” to the secretive Office of Management and Budget, the left-leaning organization now also focuses on regulatory policy, access to government information and budget issues, according to its web site. The Washington, D.C.-based Bauman Foundation is one of its funders.
