- John
Weingart*
The Star-Ledger (September 6, 2015)
It may be
too early to start thinking about New Jersey’s 2017 gubernatorial race. With
that said, here are some thoughts.
While the
candidates who run for governor during the next two years will have different
positions on a wide variety of issues, they will share a desire that government
be as capable as possible of doing whatever it is they believe it should do. Their
administration, they hope, will be one that provides high-quality, responsive,
efficient delivery of services and conducts meaningful policy analysis and
program modernization.
Although
this goal may be shared across the political spectrum, it can’t be realized
without first confronting two major obstacles. One is the state of the state’s
finances and the other is the condition of the state work force. The former
undoubtedly will be the focus of extensive analysis and debate, but the later may
well remain in the shadows. Yet the rules and procedures for attracting,
motivating and replacing public employees have become inadequate for implementing
virtually any agenda the next governor might want to put forward.
This
personnel problem has its roots in the significant natural attrition that has
followed the aging of the generation attracted to government careers in the 1960s
and 1970s. As individuals have retired, budget cuts have forced departments to
leave a sizable percentage of their positions vacant. The situation has been
exacerbated by quests from governors of both parties for bragging rights to a
number by which the size of the state work force under their predecessor could
be said to have been reduced. Only rarely have these staff reductions been
accompanied by any lessening of the scope and responsibilities of affected programs
and agencies. More often has been the admonition given state workers going back
at least as far as the 1980s to ‘do more with less.’
A catchy
and maybe motivating mantra at first, ‘doing more with less’ has become a naïve
and woefully ineffective remedy for meeting the state’s needs. For some
agencies, there simply are not enough boots on the ground, to borrow a phrase. Over
the last 12 years, for example, the NJDOT has experienced a net loss of 650
staffers – many of them engineers - while the need for repairs and upgrades to
the roads, bridges and public transit facilities for which New Jersey state
government is responsible has become ever more acute.
At the same
time, increasingly large holes in the senior policy and management levels have
become pervasive throughout state government. If governors and the agency heads
they select are to be effective, they need a cadre of experienced lieutenants
who have deep programmatic understanding and institutional memory. Some of the
tools these people acquire can be as seemingly mundane as connections with
federal agencies and workable relationships with knowledgeable counterparts in
other states. Yet, as people with those resources and skills have retired, many
of their positions too have been eliminated, left vacant or reassigned.
With the
number of public employees depleted at every level, the often understandably
stressed performance of those remaining contributes to a vicious cycle swirling
around the image of government “bureaucrats.” Rarely beloved to begin with, short-staffed
agencies are less able to quickly respond to public needs and inquiries. This
feeds a negative image of government which further depresses public support for
the resources necessary to attract and retain a new generation of skilled
public workers.
For men and
women considering running for governor, there may be little pressure to address
this problem during the campaign. They probably can get by with bromides about
eliminating waste, adapting lessons from the private sector, applying common
sense or just working smarter and being more efficient. They may feel that developing
specific proposals can wait until they are elected.
But that may
be too late. During the transition period, the governor-elect will be consumed
by choosing a cabinet and executive staff and juggling 100 other demands. Once
in office, thousands of other immediate needs will compete for attention and
the goal of a revitalized state work force will slip lower and lower on the
priority list.
It would be
far better if potential candidates and their advisors starting getting a handle
on this problem now. Here are some of the questions they could be exploring:
1) How
could the process for getting a job in state government be made easier to
access and understand? Does it include career ladders so that an undergraduate
or graduate student who shows promise as an intern could be hired directly upon
graduation? Are there other paths to entice people in academia, the private
sector or non-profits to consider a transition into state government?
2) What are
the satisfactions and frustrations of a stint or career in state government as
viewed by current state workers at a variety of levels? How do recently
departed cabinet members, agency heads and other staff view the situation and
possible remedies?
3) To what
extent could the salary/benefit package offered to state workers be changed to
provide greater incentive for smart, public-spirited young people to apply for
jobs, and for more senior staff and managers to stay longer?
Earlier
this summer, when Chris Porrino stepped down as Governor Christie’s Chief
Counsel, The Star-Ledger quoted the
governor as saying that Porrino was “an invaluable source of guidance and
wisdom.” Senate President Sweeney added that, “You hate to see people like him
leave.” Porrino himself said that if he could he would “do this job forever –
it’s that much fun.”
So why
isn’t he staying? Because, with “kids who are getting close to college age and
other family commitments” the salary is too low. That’s a perfectly
understandable choice for an individual to make, but should it just be a given
that state government could never offer long-term benefits to compete with a
private law firm?
If these
and other related questions are confronted before the next governor takes
office, both he or she and New Jersey residents would be well-served.
* John
Weingart is Associate Director of the Eagleton Institute of Politics at
Rutgers University.
** Title in NJ Spotlight is, "How Can State Government Attract and Keep The Best and Brightest"
