The problems GSA has faced in the past, and I believe continues to face, in trying to keep clients 'happy' is not necessarily to make it 'fast and easy'. The problems, as I see them, is in GSA's treatment of the 'fees', charged to these clients, like some sort of profit, and management encouraging the generation of these fees by rewarding employees with bonuses, etc. I believe this could be the catalyst behind GSA's insistence in awarding the Sun Microsystem contract.

Another major problem, in GSA's attempts to keep clients 'happy', is the presumed pressure Contracting Officers (COs) feel to award to a favored/preferred source non-competitively. A primary qualification for COs must be the backbone to say 'no' to anyone, including mgmt./clients, who tries to force them to commit an action that would be in violation of statutes/regs. Consequently, any CO who awards a sole-source contract/order without adequate justification should, 'in the best interest of the Government', be permanently stripped of their warrant.

The Government must be mindful of the fact that, unlike private industry, it is not in the business of making a profit. Additionally, unlike businesses, the Government is bound to support numerous socio-economic/small business programs as well as various labor statutes (such as Davis-Bacon Act and Service Contract Act) and other laws (e.g. Brooks Act, Clinger-Cohen Act, etc.).

Another issue that leads to abuse in the Government, that businesses do not face, is the whole concept of expending funds tied to fiscal years. Agencies are fraudulently 'spending' the funds on paper, before the fiscal year expires, in advance of, and/or with no guarantee of, any benefit or receipt of goods/services from the contractors. When, where, and how did agencies make it their mission to put the expenditure of annually appropriated funds above the laws of this land and without consideration the nation's taxpayers?

Please consider the suggestion that agency officials are themselves working to protect taxpayers by delivering public missions, and doing so in an effective and economical manner. If public missions are important, do we want it to be slow and hard (the opposite of fast and easy) to accomplish them? If you were working on an important story, would you like a system where you were told you needed to wait four months to get, say, a tape recorder you needed to interview people? And wouldn't you consider it insulting and demeaning if people thought so little of you and the importance of your work that it was irrelevant how long you needed to wait to get what you needed to do your job?

SENT BY FAS COMMISSIONER 10/24/2007 TO EMPLOYEES

As you know, the Federal Acquisition Service implemented a cost recovery plan for the Assisted Acquisition Services (AAS) business portfolio. This plan will reduce expenses and align resources with customer requirements. A large component of the plan includes a transition of AAS employees to other organizations in GSA that need resources.

I want to restate that there will be no early-outs, buy-outs, or reductions in force as part of our plan. Employees in AAS will be reassigned to positions in GSA for which they are qualified within their normal commuting areas. Organizations throughout GSA have identified vacant positions and human resource officers have completed qualifications analyses on AAS employees that have resulted in initial matches of employees with those vacancies.

I am confident that we will be able to match AAS employees with new positions within GSA. Our goals are to align employee skill sets with our overall resource needs and to ensure that employees can be successful in their new positions. Managers across GSA are looking forward to bringing AAS employees into their organization and will be providing the appropriate orientation, training, and time to adjust to their new roles.

FAS and the GSA Office of the Chief Human Capital Officer are working together with the unions and we are all committed to a smooth transition process. If you have specific questions about this process, please contact your supervisor or local human resources officer. You will also find additional information on FAS InSite.
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SENT 10/23/2007 BY FAS-AAS-FEDSIM DIRECTOR TO EMPLOYEES

As you know, the Administrator announced a plan to assist the Assisted Acquisition Services (AAS) with aligning its operating costs with its actual and projected revenue. The Administrator's plan also implemented hiring controls on all GSA vacancies to allow for the reassignment of qualified AAS personnel to other divisions in FAS and throughout the agency.

FEDSIM submitted an As-Is/To-Be organizational plan to the Chief Human Capital Office (CHCO) that included positions by series, grade, and locality for the To-Be organization. If the To-Be organization included fewer positions at a series, grade and locality in a functional area, then individuals in those positions (series, grade, and locality) were included in the referral pool for consideration for other vacancies in GSA. Your functional area and position is affected by the reduction which is why you are receiving this e-mail and the CHCO's office is requesting a copy of your resume.

The GSA Office of the Chief Human Capital Officer will be analyzing skills of employees to determine potential matches for identified GSA vacancies. This analysis will include a review of the employees' Official Personnel Files (OPFs); however, they also feel that by requesting resumes, you will be provided with an opportunity to describe experiences and skills that may not be completely reflected in the OPFs. This in turn provides you and the potential gaining organization with additional information to give fair consideration, and the CHCO can ensure they are making the best possible matches for both the employee and the organizations in GSA. It is essential that employees provide as much information about their skills, experience, education and training to ensure the best possible match.

We have attached a resume template and instructions for you or you may choose to fill out OF-612, Optional Application for Federal Employment which can be found at http://www.gsa.gov/Portal/gsa/ep/formslibrary.do?viewType=DETAIL&formId=41A93F1A1771761B85256A720061344C on GSA InSite under GSA Forms.

The resume should be emailed to the AAS Resumes mailbox by COB, Monday, October 29, 2007. Simply type in the To: address AAS Resumes on your email and attach your resume.

Mary Davie, the AAS AC will be sending out additional information about the process in the near future to all AAS employees.

QUESTION: HOW ARE THESE EMPLOYEES REALLY BEING SELECTED AND PLACED IF ACCORDING TO THE FIRST MEMO FROM THE FAS COMMISSIONER STATED "QUALIFICATION ANALYSES HAVE BEEN COMPLETED" and the request for this organizations resumes had not even been fulfilled yet, ref: 2nd memo from FEDSIM Director "RESUMES ARE DUE COB MONDAY OCTOBER 29, 2007"??????? SEVERAL EMPLOYEES ARE STILL AWAITING THE ANSWER.