Archive for January, 2008
Not Quite SOP at OPR: Update from Vermont Secretary of State’s Office
Yesterday I finally received an update from the Office of Professional Regulation (OPR) in the Vermont Secretary of State’s Office (SoS). It turns out that they had sent me a couple of emails prior, but emails from addresses that once arrived without a hitch were apparently getting caught by my spam filter. I appreciate the [...]
29Jan2008 | Deborah Alicen | 0 comments | Continued
Greater Transparency in Mental Health Care
Today’s Times Argus has a good story on the ways in which mental health organizations and professionals are insisting on transparency regarding pharmaceutical company money that they accept, and in some cases cutting ties with pharmaceutical reps entirely.
27Jan2008 | Deborah Alicen | 0 comments | Continued
Two Weeks and Counting…
It has now been two weeks since the referenced meeting, and I’ve gotten no word yet on the outcome of the meeting.
26Jan2008 | Deborah Alicen | 0 comments | Continued
Lawmakers look at quality of state’s human services: Times Argus Online
Today’s Times Argus has a story about the DCF Family Services Division undergoing some restructuring. An excerpt: Lawmakers look at quality of state’s human services: Times Argus Online Vermont’s family and child welfare system is restructuring itself after a federal review last fall was highly critical of how the Department for Children and Families’ Family [...]
26Jan2008 | Deborah Alicen | 0 comments | Continued
Porn viewing runs amok at DC agencies – AP Story on Charlotte.com
Now here’s one to inspire confidence in bureaucracies! Porn viewing runs amok at DC agencies The Associated Press WASHINGTON – An investigation of city computers found that dozens of employees frequented pornographic Web sites at work and clicked on thousands of images, the mayor said Wednesday. The D.C. powers-that-be are to be commended for taking [...]
24Jan2008 | Deborah Alicen | 0 comments | Continued
First in the List of Bills to Watch
This is the first of a series of posts that will feature bills introduced in the current session of the Vermont legislature that have implications for how well or poorly state bureaucracy may serve the public. The first bill to watch is H. 66, AN ACT RELATING TO INTERNET PUBLICATION OF STATE AGENCY RULES. Here [...]
23Jan2008 | Deborah Alicen | 0 comments | Continued
Goodbye to a “Good Government” Republican
Vermont has lost one of its best public servants. State Representative Cola Hudson has died at the age of 81. The accolades and memorials are flowing all around the state, and they can’t be too generous. Here’s from Rep. Chris Pearson on the blog of the Vermont Progressive Party: Cola represented the best of a [...]
22Jan2008 | Deborah Alicen | 0 comments | Continued
Star Quality v. The Constitution of the United States
There’s a companion piece over on American Street by Thomas Nephew to Allyson Villars’ story, cited here a couple of days ago in Encountering the Constitutional Twilight Zone. It’s about John Nirenberg‘s walk from Boston to Washington to meet with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi about reconsidering her decision to take impeachment of Bush and Cheney [...]
21Jan2008 | Deborah Alicen | 0 comments | Continued
I’ll Be Watching Sargent Shriver Tonight
I’ll watch tonight, to be reminded about how government can be made to be good, to be a responsive and beneficent partner in people’s lives, to increase and safeguard liberty rather than limiting the options of those who are below the top 5% income tier or who disagree with governmental powers-that-be.
21Jan2008 | Deborah Alicen | 0 comments | Continued
Encountering the Constitutional Twilight Zone
Green Mountain Daily has a story that really should be getting national attention because it is such a succinct and glaring illustration of how seriously eroded our Constitutional sensibilities have become under the Bush administration.
19Jan2008 | Deborah Alicen | 0 comments | Continued
Guilty Verdict in Patricia Scoville Murder Owes to Parents’ Citizen Lobbying
…the slaying went unsolved for years. Meanwhile, her parents lobbied to get Vermont lawmakers to establish a DNA databank.
DNA submitted by Godfrey after a 1996 aggravated assault conviction in an unrelated case was tested by an FBI laboratory in 2005 and matched his DNA profile, leading prosecutors to charge him.
18Jan2008 | Deborah Alicen | 0 comments | Continued
Not Yet–and Another Chapter
When I was told that I would be informed “soon after” last Friday’s meeting of the state’s decision in my main OPR case of interest, “soon after” apparently meant something longer than a week. Ah, the wiggle room of bureaucratese! While the wait continues, I thought I’d touch on another chapter of the Secretary of [...]
18Jan2008 | Deborah Alicen | 0 comments | Continued
Today? Maybe?
I really should have known better. I mean, really–after years of experiencing the excruciating slowness of Vermont’s Office of Professional Regulation, what basis did I have for thinking I would have heard by early this week of a decision that was made at the end of last week? I’m an optimist by nature, and said [...]
17Jan2008 | Deborah Alicen | 0 comments | Continued
Sweet Words from the Democratic Debate
I’m not really caving to temptation here and going back on my resolve not to give over to general commentary about the presidential race by commenting on last night’s Democratic debate. Hillary Clinton made very specific comments about the need for transparency and accountability in bureaucracy, and a president who would pay attention to making [...]
16Jan2008 | Deborah Alicen | 2 comments | Continued
State Ombudsman Proposal
Though I took a long break over the holidays, not all of it was lounging on a beach in the Caribbean. Well, none of it was lounging on a beach in the Caribbean, but the thought is a nice one to conjure. In any case, while I wasn’t lounging on a Caribbean beach, I was [...]
14Jan2008 | Deborah Alicen | 0 comments | Continued
Good Things in Threes?
Waiting to find out if there will be a third good story involving bureaucracy to start out the New Year. The news could come today, but early next week for sure.
11Jan2008 | Deborah Alicen | 0 comments | Continued
Victory in Charlotte-Mecklenburg–No Private Prison!
The main campaign team (Pam Pompey, Les Schmidt and myself) will be meeting first thing next week to talk about next steps for keeping for-profit private prisons out of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County permanently, and for achieving significant reform in the County’s prison and criminal justice systems.
11Jan2008 | Deborah Alicen | 0 comments | Continued
The Way It Should Be
First, a celebration of a terrific bureaucrat, who should be a model for all bureaucrats everywhere. Someone who does a flat-out excellent job of providing excellent service to those with whom she works. Her name is Alyssa R. Chaffee, and she works in Vermont’s Agency of Human Services, in the office that deals with child support.
11Jan2008 | Deborah Alicen | 0 comments | Continued
