A new online tool from the General Services Administration aims to make it easier for federal building managers to compare environmentally friendly options for renovation projects. The “Sustainable Facilities Tool” released Feb. 7 features a 3-D interactive walkthrough of potential office interiors and prompts users to consider multiple aspects of office performance. It also suggests dozens of different materials to promote sustainable workplaces. “With this tool we are sharing GSA’s experiences using innovative tools and strategies to reduce the environmental footprint of our buildings with the rest of the government and the general public,” Stephen Leeds, GSA’s senior sustainability officer,…
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Attention, postal junkies: Here’s a look at a door knocker used by nineteenth-century mailmen to save wear-and-tear on the knuckles. Interesting to learn that the mailbox requirement came about only a century or so ago as an efficiency move. See–even then, what is now the U.S. Postal Service was trying to cut work hours. Thanks to the Smithsonian Institution for the info.
The administration’s top procurement policy official issued a memo Wednesday encouraging more constructive talks between government and industry, as part of a larger initiative to debunk myths about the acquisition process. In a 13-page memo to senior procurement executives and chief information and acquisition officers, Gordon stressed the importance of “early, frequent and constructive engagement with industry,” especially for high-risk procurements and large information technology projects. The government spends more than $500 billion on goods and services, and “our industry partners are often the best source” for the latest information on pricing and efficient technology, the memo said. Under the…
When you’re an American institution saddled with a business model from the last century and hemorrhaging billions of dollars a year, it never hurts to get the high-altitude view of your challenges. That’s what the U.S. Postal Service’s inspector general aims to provide in a newly released report examining “fundamental questions” for the agency’s future. Those questions include whether the Postal Service ought to keep its letter and mailbox monopolies; whether it should be allowed to expand into non-postal lines of business; and whether it should be considered a profit-driven business or part of the national infrastructure. Particularly thought-provoking is…
The deadline to nominate your favorite public servants for a Service to America Medals award has been extended to Feb. 7. This year’s awards include a new management excellence medal category for a top employee who shows superior leadership or management. Federal employee of the year, career achievement and call to service are among the other categories. You can submit your nominations here.
From Jan. 9 to 10, 4.5 inches of snow fell across the Atlanta region. The city was ill prepared to deal with the snow; traffic ground to a halt, the ever-busy airport closed and supermarkets quickly ran out of basic supplies. Feds across the country, and especially in the Washington, D.C. and Chicago areas, have dealt with similar problems recently. These events have shown how much disruption some snow can cause, and recent preemptive announces by the Office of Personnel Management prove how important the forecast is to government activities. But for the General Services Administration (GSA) in the Atlanta-area,…
Cutting federal spending—at least on paper—is fast becoming Washington’s newest growth industry. Get ready for the latest contribution tomorrow when eight senators release a bill to reduce spending as a percentage of the nation’s gross domestic product. Known as the Commitment to American Prosperity Act (aka, the “CAP Act”), the measure would set a 10-year “glide path” to cap all spending—apparently including funding for popular entitlement programs like Medicare—from the current 24.7 percent of GDP to what a news release calls “the historical level” of 20.6 percent. The lead sponsors are Sens. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., and Claire McCaskill, D-Mo. Sen.…
Just as agencies are wrapping up security reviews launched after the latest WikiLeaks breach, a coalition of open government groups is warning of possible consequences for federal employee rights. Although improving safeguards for classified information is laudable, “we urge you not to craft policies that encourage agencies to unduly restrict free speech, or otherwise distract agencies from actually improving information security,” representatives of the American Civil Liberties Union and eight other organizations wrote Office of Management and Budget Director Jack Lew in a letter dated Friday. Ordered by Lew early this month and due to be finished Jan. 28, the…
Interesting news on the government transparency front this week, with a Democratic congressman complaining that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is unjustifiably redacting (i.e., censoring) some records related to the BP oil spill response. “I believe NOAA’s redactions violate the spirit and principle of the accountability you promised,” Rep. Raul Grijalva, D-Ariz., wrote President Obama on Tuesday. “These redactions are unacceptable and overreaching.” Along with the letter posted on his official web site, Grijalva, who chaired a House natural resources subcommittee last year, added dozens of documents, including examples of NOAA records completely or partially blacked out, and email…
Federal Times Editor Steve Watkins and Senior Writer Sean Reilly will discuss the many proposals out there to cut federal employee jobs, pay and benefits on Federal News Radio’s “Your Turn With Mike Causey” show today at 10 a.m. on 1500 AM in Washington. Podcasts of the show will be available at federalnewsradio.com. Call in to Mike’s show and let us know what you think of these proposals or on what you think of President Obama’s proposal, announced in his State of the Union speech, to cut spending and reorganize federal agencies.