[ale] Governmental Efficiency? ... lack thereof

[Kevin O'Neill Stoll]

I thought that y'all might get a kick out of this little story.

This is a flame of sorts but towards our local government...so read on :)

I work for a Joint Agency Office of the General Assembly of Georgia. To be
specific, an department called BROC (Budgetary Responsibility Oversight
Committee). BROC and the Research office, where I work, focuses on
reviewing agencies for the proper use of government funds. One of the 12
committee members (6 senators and 6 reps) will come to us and ask a
business analysis type question upon which we are to respond with a wealth
of data that provides them with the answer to their question. Anyway, on a
daily bases I get a chance to see a lot of wasteful spending by our state
government and it pains me because I don't see that there is a whole lot
that I can do to stop it.

Well, just outside the BROC research office is an overflow area that
partially belongs to the LT Gov and is partially a storage facility. There
are all sorts of stuff piled up in there, from leather sofas and loveseats
to brand new HP laser jets with envelope feeders to near new gateway 17"
monitors that any reasonible person would never turn down. In fact some of
the stuff is new but someone just didn't like the color or something
silly.

So I was wading through some of the software that is piled up in this room
and I can across something I thought I would never see. A brand new, still
in package with the plastic wrapping Microsoft Windows Version 3.1. NEVER
been opened or touched. You have got to be kidding me! Of all the things,
not that Win3.X rocked or anything but if you are going to spend, what?
$250 on an OS at least install the thing!

Anywho, I could go on but I there isn't enough memory on this machine to
hold the book that I could write regarding all the waste that I have seen
with my own eyes. If the government was a private corp most of the execs
would be on the street the next day and the place would have to declare
bankruptcy.

Just my $0.02.

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Kevin O'Neill Stoll
http://kevinstoll.org/

OpenSource Software ... FREE!
Angering Bill Gates ... Priceless!
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