On Corruption in American Society

So I won't bother linking to the info about the Govenor of Illinois. Turns out the feds think he is crooked, and they've made a rather compelling case to the media. I don't know the whole story, but as a former public servant myself who investigated a fair amount of corruption allegations, I am always wary.

For example, a vendor to the governmental agency buys the purchasing manager a lunch. Corruption? Convenience store offers free coffee to police officers in uniform. The cops get coffee, the store gets a stead stream of nearly free security. Corruption? Maybe. Politician offers to provide an appointment to a colleague if certain fundraising goals are met. Corruption? Maybe.


The twist on corruption in a well-functioning bureaucratic society like ours is that it is not very profitable for the average government employee. There is some self interest in accepting the free pen, but there is also just a huge passel of laziness and good intentions. I am reminded of the scene in Stranger than Fiction where the IRS auditor is offered some cookies. He is compelled to refuse them, and because of that he is an asshole.

I think 90% of all corruption allegations I have seen are either bogus or the result of technical violations of complex accounting rules like those listed above. The other 10%, involve clear fraud. For example, selling public benefits (i.e. I will make sure you qualify for food stamps if you pay me $500); Self dealing, such as giving lucrative contracts to yourself through a shell company while hiding your involvement. Clear fraud is usually perpetrated by people with a true criminal mentality, not lazy public servants.

So I suppose it remains to be seen whether the governor of Illinois was a fraud or just lazy. The political machine in Chicago is legendary, but I've seen too many "investigative reports" on things that I actually knew about.

Minor update

Yes, a couple weeks has past. I have moved to Missouri, and taken with it my 18 computers, none of which were operational for a few weeks. Now I have the internets again, but my main occupation is home repair and handling a new puppy.

The End of Mandate Coverage

Well the new boss is now “interviewing” current people. He’s trying to make it a little bit like a job interview, even though he’s already told everyone at a general meeting that he won’t be firing anyone. He might have trouble keeping that pledge, though since the word is one of the past politicals is planning on staying on.

Right now it looks like he is also going to add a whole layer of middle management. I think that is a big mistake, but I guess he is just a bureaucrat and bureaucrats love meetings, and middle managers do nothing but make meetings for each other.

This will be the end of my coverage though, since today is my last day here. Soon I will be off in the great cold Midwest, and blog updates, if any, will probably be about what happens up there.

So goodbye Texas politics. You are a nasty beast, but you’ve grown on me.

More Mandates

The saga continues, and by saga I mean rumors. The favorite rumor is still that [old guy] is coming back. People are starting to call others and ask “do you think [old guy] is still pissed off about that thing I did in 1987?” The answer invariably seems to be “yes.” I’m still a short-timer, so I just tell everyone what I think about [old guy]. My mantra these days is “what are they going to do, fire me?”

Everyone else is worrying about the possibility of staffing changes. New boss wants everyone to update their resume. The agency I work for is big enough that I find it difficult to believe new boss will read all these resumes. Still, I think it is a good idea and if I ever get elected to a position like that I will do it too. For one thing, it is a nice little reminder that even though staffing changes are unlikely, we will all work for new boss soon. For another thing, it is good for a lot of long-term employees who haven’t written a resume in fifteen years. Speaking as someone who just did it myself, it helps you think about what you do for a living, which in an agency like mine can change over time.

For some people, though, the resume is pretty short, about as long as their name. Yes, some of my co-workers have the opposite reaction to the new administration…they know the new boss already. There is talk that some people who are working the trenches right now could be elevated above their current bosses. It makes the current bosses think hard about how they treated their employees.

The rumors continue, and I continue closing cases in anticipation of leaving. It is a very interesting time, and I kind of wish I could stick around to see it through.

How to apply for the Bar in Missouri

Well it has started. I’ve begun the process of applying for admission to the Missouri bar. If anyone is wondering who is checking up on lawyers in Missouri, I can assure you that the Missouri Board of Law Examiners is quite thorough. This is the bureaucratic equivalent of a body cavity search…if there is paperwork out there about me, they are going the lay their finger on it.

Here are some of the things I have to pay for:

1. Pay $800 to file my application
   
2. Pay $20 for certificates of good standing from Texas
   
3. Pay $?? for a certified copy of my driving record
   
4. Pay $20 for a certified copy of my birth certificate
   
5. Pay ~$20 for a certified transcript of lawschool
   
6. Maybe more fees.
   
   I also have to:
   
   
7. Provide 10+ different references
   
8. List every place I’ve lived since I was 18 (you try it, it is harder than you might think).
   
9. List every job I’ve had and every period of unemployment for ten years
   
10. Certify in several different ways that I am not a drunk or a drug addict
    
11. Certify that I have never had a mental illness
    
12. Get fingerprinted
    
13. Certify lots more stuff.
    
    I don’t fault them for it, but this is a pain in the ass.

Mandates Cont.

It has been up and down the last few days. The big news in one area I’m familiar with is that the new boss will be bringing back someone that everyone was glad to see go when he/she retired a few years ago. I will refer to him or her as [old guy].

[Old guy] was the type of guy that just pissed off everyone. He had a particular kind of narcissistic idealism which pains me as a defense attorney. It was the sort of attitude that makes judges assess sanctions. [Old guy] is just too pig-headed to see when he’s on the losing end of an argument. I have memos from twenty years ago that are just wrong, because he thought it was “the right thing to do.” He also had a way of demeaning everyone around him while at the same time taking all credit personally for anything good that every happened. In other words, not the type of person who would thank the little people during the award ceremony.

So it appears, however, that [old guy] and new boss are friends, or at least they get along well enough that new person is bringing him on. The real question is in what capacity, though. If [old guy] is put in a position of power, it might be a good way to clear out the ranks. If I wasn’t already leaving, I would probably quit if I had to deal with [old guy] anywhere in my chain of reporting. I wouldn’t be the only one.

Politics is a bitch.

Mandates

Well I gave it a couple of days to settle in. As I mentioned before, I work for an elected official, and that elected official has just been, er, un-elected. The mood around the office is a little quiet. The more risk-adverse people are wandering by saying “we’re all going to get fired.” Others, including myself, have a more pragmatic view, that certainly some people will not be reappointed, but that will be a distinct minority. It seems I am correct, because word has come down from the official-elect that he does not intend to fire anyone. (Presumably he assumes that the political positions will be vacated on a voluntary basis).

From what I can see, when you have a large professional staff, it would be lunacy to fire everyone. What may happen, however, is a major restructuring. That will not be as personal, but it may have drastic effects on the efficacy of the office to actually carry out its statutory mandate (as distinguished from its electoral mandate). If you work in a specialized field, it will be unwise for the new boss to move you out and put someone without those skills in your position. I feel comfortable that the new boss will realize that.

Once again, I am leaving my position for reasons unrelated to the election. Because I do not have a dog in this hunt, I think I can watch it with a lot more neutrality.

It’s gonna be fun.

On Elections

Having spent a fair number of years now as a professional appointee of an elected official, I have to say that election years are a little different. For one thing, questions about who exactly you vote for takes on a new meaning. Here's a typical exchange:

Person A: “Who you gonna vote for?”

Person B: “I don't know. [Incumbent] is a pretty good boss, he basically stays out of our business. Still, [challenger] is a [party member], so I'm kind of torn.”

Person A: “I hear [challenger] likes a lot of memos.”

Person B: “Memos? I hate memos. I'm totally voting for [incumbent].”

Elections take on a new meaning when you are actually choosing your new boss, especially when there is a real probability that your new boss might just fire you “because.” You try not to be afraid of change, but that is easy for me to day. I'm still young (for my profession) and I don't have a big pension that is just a few years from a step-up.

At the same time, who else actually gets to vote for their new boss?

In the end, I did not vote at all for the race for my new boss. It helped that he or she will not be my new boss soon since I am resigning, but I also just couldn't decide. In the end, while I was staring at the little check boxes on the ballot, I just thought “someone else can do this” and left it blank.

Here comes the election!

Just for Sandi: 538 on Missouri.

Ads

So I thought since I will be soon changing my employment situation, I might be able to get back into the blog business. I added some google ads to see how they work.

Hmmm. Gotta love 'em.