on how to streamline state government.

http://www.governor.state.nc.us/forms/setGovernmentStraight.aspx

I have to find my essay rant on how worthless ALE (alcohol law enforcement) is.

10/21/2010 8:51:00 PM

i disagree with ALE being worthless

they just need to hire better officers for this purpose

I dont want actual police officers devoting resources to enforcing alcohol laws. ALE is perfect for that the problem is the people they hire

10/27/2010 12:23:47 PM

Email today to state employees today...

Quote :

"Consolidation Message to State Employees My fellow state employees: Last week I attended a ceremony recognizing ten state employees for exceptional service above and beyond what their jobs require. I wish there were more opportunities for that kind of well-earned praise. I congratulated ten of you last week, but the truth is, you all deserve more recognition for the job you do. You are this state’s most valuable resource. That is why, today, as I announce a significant change in how I want to see our state government work, I am reaching out to you. You deserve to learn directly from me about my plans to restructure state government, because it will affect you and because, ultimately, I can’t do it without you. We will take the economic difficulties facing us and forge them into opportunity. Our economy has changed dramatically over the last 30 years, as have our methods of communicating and our ways of doing business. In that time, state government has largely stayed the same. The times we are in call for reshaping, reinvention and innovation. We must tear down the parts of bureaucracy that don’t work and rebuild a state government that focuses on our core priorities. To me, those core priorities are clear: jobs, investing in our children’s education and safer and healthier communities. But as part of the system you know how challenging it will be to whittle away all the rest. That won’t stop us, though, as we work together to set government straight. Here are more details about my proposal: http://www.setgovernmentstraight.nc.gov. Organizations will be streamlined. Core services will be prioritized. Many divisions, programs and sections will no longer exist as we know them. Some state agencies will disappear. We will create a leaner, more nimble state government. As we do that, our ranks will be thinned. I know that is a troubling thought for you. Let me assure you – my focus is on efficiencies, priorities and cost savings. My targets are inefficient policies, redundant programs and overlapping office functions. I will work hard with you to ensure North Carolina has a strong state employee workforce. Decades from now we must be able to look back at this global recession and say: We did it. We made the tough choices, we protected core priorities and we did what we had to do. North Carolina, our people, and especially our children, will be better off for it. Thank you, Bev "

I love my some trimming of the fat, just funny to say "the employees are the most important resource... so we will be terminating a bunch of you"

12/9/2010 5:59:10 PM

ABC needs to go.

On a positive note she did an outstanding job with the Christmas lights on the governors mansion this year.

12/9/2010 6:07:37 PM

I don't understand the privatization proposals. That's not going to save money, just ask the DMV about Verizon or the mental health system.

12/9/2010 6:24:55 PM

i don't want abc to be privatized, i want it removed

12/9/2010 10:20:19 PM

To get authorization for travel and purchases it is still a paper form that gets passed from place to place to get the correct signatures. I think the state government thrives on inefficiency.

12/10/2010 8:35:55 AM

Quote :

"To get authorization for travel and purchases it is still a paper form that gets passed from place to place to get the correct signatures. I think the state government thrives on inefficiency."

HAHAHAHAHA. My immediate response was "oh, someone on my team is working on an app to do that here...."

The next thought was "it's been in development for 3 years."

*facepalm*

12/10/2010 9:08:37 AM

I took over a software project that, before I took it over, had already billed $17million. If I was free lance I would have assumed the project would be about $100k, maybe $150k. When I wrote a new version from scratch it took me about a year, most of that writing DB sync stuff. One group has billed about $180k of my time for a project over the years that they could have bought off the shelf for $1k a seat x20 employees. I know a manager that need to buy a 2-piece hardware setup for a project and he placed the order at 2x $250,000 not knowing that a single order included two units so he just handed over a quarter million tax payers dollars for 2 extra units that now sit in a storage room. As a software developer I'm always thinking about efficiency and simplicity, two concepts that state government never seem to understand. But it sure is nice having total job security!

12/10/2010 4:26:34 PM

Bye bye job security. Thx bev!

12/10/2010 6:02:11 PM

Quote :

"To get authorization for travel and purchases it is still a paper form that gets passed from place to place to get the correct signatures. I think the state government thrives on inefficiency."

true, but if you started getting rid of some of those inefficiencies, you'll get people bitching about a lack of oversight for travel and purchases.

12/10/2010 6:43:15 PM

My suggestion to Bev is to resign

12/10/2010 7:27:51 PM

GOLO default comment #2

12/10/2010 7:36:40 PM

^^^ They could easily make an electronic form. Same amount of oversight less wasted time. Of course that would mean that many of the managers in State government would have to become computer literate. That would probably be next to impossible. FYI many of those forms are hand delivered...

12/11/2010 9:43:37 PM

^When I started at a local school district, all leave requests had to be done in paper. My boss designed a web app that was posted on the website so anybody could submit a leave slip in no time. It streamlined the process, but to make it official, they had to print it out so you could sign it. WTF, why couldn't the signing of my timesheet (another waste of paper) count for that as well.

12/11/2010 10:44:56 PM

Timesheets HA I forgot about that. Just go look at the articles on Beacon if you want another example of NC government failure.

12/12/2010 9:11:10 AM