In the News

Joe Davidson

You might not have realized how important last week was.

There was Tuba Day, No Socks Day and Bonza Bottler Day, which provides a reason to celebrate every month, when the number of the day and month are the same, as in May 5. Of course, that was Cinco de Mayo, a day of pride for Mexicans, a day of beer for others. V-E Day, observing the World War II victory in Europe and Nazi surrender, fell on Friday.

Curiously, the list of holidays and observances at www.emotionscards.com, “Where Every Day Is A Holiday,” does not include Public Service Recognition Week. Its 30th anniversary was last week. The theme was “Government Works.”

Events recognizing public servants might not be as loud as Tuba Day, but they should feel at least as good as No Socks Day. Fortunately, despite the week not making the list, federal, state, county and local government employees were not totally overlooked.

President Obama got things started with a proclamation that said public employees “are the leaders of today’s progress and the innovators of tomorrow’s breakthroughs. With determination and resolve, they defend our country overseas and work to widen the circle of opportunity and prosperity here at home.”

Significantly, his proclamation was more than sugary words. He acknowledged the morale-threatening situations that have confronted federal employees in recent years. “Despite tough circumstances,” he said, “including pay freezes, budget cuts, sequestration and a political climate that too often does not sufficiently value their work, these exceptional leaders continue to make real the fundamental truth that people who love their country can change it.”

The Nationals showed their appreciation with a government appreciation day at the ballpark. Other events during the week, which was organized by the Public Employees Roundtable, included a 5K run/walk, a Capitol Hill luncheon honoring the Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Medals finalists, and a Thunderclap. That’s a self-described digital-age “crowd-speaking platform that helps people be heard by saying something together.” Old heads should not confuse it with rain and lightning.

The Thunderclap, sponsored by the Partnership for Public Service, exceeded the goal of its social-media reach as it said, “Thank you to our public servants for their dedicated service.”
GovLoop, a social-networking site for federal employees, also said thank you with e-cards people could send to their favorite Uncle Sam staffer. The cards carry messages such as “You Deserve an Epic High Five” and “You’re really, really ridiculously awesome.”

Rep. Gerald E. Connolly (D), whose Northern Virginia district is home to thousands of feds and their families, also wanted to say thank you, while sending a message to his less appreciative colleagues. He launched an e-mail account, thankafed@mail.house.gov, where people could send notes about their personal experiences, presumably good experiences, with federal employees.

“Thank-a-fed was my attempt to counter the negative narrative that has dominated all too much of the conversation in Congress,” Connolly said by phone, adding that he “wanted to highlight the heroic work federal employees are doing on our behalf.”

More that just a show of appreciation, the thank-a-fed effort is a way to identify “promising good government practices that could be enhanced, scaled, or replicated to strengthen management across the federal government,” he explained in a constituent newsletter. Connolly is the top Democrat on the House Oversight and Government Reform government operations subcommittee and co-chair of the bipartisan Public Service Caucus.

A Connolly statement said that “one constituent highlighted the outstanding service provided by the VA Medical Clinic at Fort Belvoir, noting that ‘At the initial medical appointment, my primary care manager . . . had already reviewed my entire medical history and my VA disability claim. He took his time to address each issue and immediately began scheduling all of the required referral appointments.’”

With all the bad news, much of it deserved, about the Department of Veterans Affairs in the last year, it’s important to remember the good care the many dedicated VA employees provide veterans.

Another battered agency is the Internal Revenue Service. IRS officials have been the first to report the poor service resulting from congressionally imposed, punitive budget cuts. That means too few employees and long waits for taxpayers seeking assistance.

Despite the long waits, when — or if — taxpayers get to IRS employees, the service can be helpful and pleasant. That was the message in a series of comments from taxpayers IRS Commissioner John A. Koskinen shared with his staff to note Public Service Recognition Week.

In an internal agency newsletter, Koskinen recalled a letter from a taxpayer who wrote about his interaction with Sheila Reynolds, an IRS supervisor. “In his letter,” Koskinen wrote, “he said that Sheila listened, took his concerns seriously and called him three times over a two-day period.”

“ ‘I suspect that she just thought she was doing her job,’ ” Koskinen said the taxpayer wrote. “ ‘But from my perspective she was displaying qualities that are often missing in our modern times.’ ”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/federal_government/public-employees-honored-with-week-that-says-government-works/2015/05/10/d4603950-f59c-11e4-bcc4-e8141e5eb0c9_story.html