Service First: 
What we were Promised - What we got

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"Myths of Service First" - What JEB said we'd get and what WE got

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The Governor called the following statements "myths" and said they were not true. His office sent a letter out to state employees after passage of "Service First." The statements from the letter are in italics and the comments follow. Scroll down the page, or follow the links below:

The Governor wants to completely eliminate career service and make everyone at-will
The Governor is taking jobs away from state employees
The Governor did not really listen to employee input
 There would be no protections under the proposed system
This is part of the Governor firing 25% of state employees
The Governor is eliminating the cost of living increases
There will be an adverse effect on retirement
DROP will be changed
Seniority and experience will mean nothing
The Governor does not value employees or think they work hard
This is part of privatizing as much as possible to get rid of state workers
Under the Governor's proposal, I will always have to fear losing my job

"Governor Bush has also kept his promise to provide smaller, more efficient government by instituting his Service First initiative, aimed at reforming and modernizing Florida's outdated civil service system, and by also employing technology to increase service while reducing cost. Service First will deliver better services to Floridians, while providing greater accountability and flexibility to our state workers, and, for the first time in our state's history, rewarding them for good performance."
.... from Meet the Governor at myflorida.com

Clergy leader sorry for Bush support
Programs hurt too many, he says -- The head of an influential Tallahassee clergy group apologized to black voters Sunday for three years of supporting Gov. Jeb Bush, saying "people are hurting" from his One Florida and Service First programs.

 


"MYTHS" ABOUT SERVICE FIRST

The Governor wants to completely eliminate career service and make everyone at-will

The Governor says this is a myth: "The Governor did not propose moving to an all "at-will" system. His goal, simply stated, is to reform the career service system so that a greater priority is placed on merit, employees are given greater choices regarding pay and benefits, managers are relieved of cumbersome personnel processes and practices, and state agencies are provided sufficient flexibility to compensate high performance.
"Service First" proposes moving all managers and supervisors as well as confidential employees (approximately 16,300 employees) into the Select Exempt Service. Career Service managers, supervisors and confidential employees identified for transition to SES but who are designated Special Risk would remain Career Service employees.
Managers, supervisors, administrators, directors and confidential employees would become at-will employees, and in exchange for increased accountability would receive the increased benefits of Select Exempt Employees.
All other state employees (102,525 employees) would remain career service, unless by way of collective bargaining employee groups seek voluntary at-will status with approval of the state."

Comments:
Florida already has the country's most efficient state government: it is the second smallest per capita and the least expensive at an annual cost of just $33 per taxpayer. (The current figure is assuredly lower, but the Bush administration refused to calculate the amount for last year.)

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The Governor says this is a myth:  Service First does not propose the elimination of any jobs.

Comments:

Bush officials defend state employee layoffs
TALLAHASSEE — Gov. Jeb Bush was just doing his job in cutting 10,000 state jobs since taking office in 1999, a Bush spokeswoman said Thursday. Katie Muniz, the governor's communication director, responded to a suggestion by a campaign spokesman for Bill McBride, the Democratic nominee for governor, that Bush was being hypocritical by faulting McBride for layoffs at his law firm while the governor was cutting thousands of state positions. 9/27/02
Hundreds laid off on Bush's watch
While Jeb Bush blames Bill McBride for layoffs at his former law firm, the governor never mentions the thousands of state workers laid off on his watch. -- 
At least 2,300 state employees lost their jobs since Bush took office in 1999, according to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics. Most of the layoffs were a result of Bush's effort to downsize government and privatize services, plus a weakening economy that led to budget cuts.- 
The governor proudly touts the 10,000 government positions he has eliminated, but only about half of those positions were vacant. Most workers eventually found jobs elsewhere in state government or the private sector. 
Still, others stood in the unemployment line. 9/26/02
...Just a month into the new budget year, the Agency for Workforce Innovation has released data that indicates that 3,723 state jobs were eliminated statewide with 2,269 of those coming from budget cuts, another 1,308 lost to privatization and 146 jobs chopped in reorganizations.
Roughly half of the positions cut - 1,253 - had workers in them compared with 2,470 vacant positions that will go unfilled, piling more work on the remaining workers....
...The state reported that 751 of those laid off found other state jobs, much of the time at reduced pay and without benefits; 105 went to private industry, often without benefits; 66 retired; 21 resigned; and 259 workers applied for unemployment compensation.
Service first no help to Florida workforce

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The Governor says this is a myth:  The Governor believes that the civil service system can be improved and had initially proposed conceptual changes, but did not made any specific proposals until reviewing thousands of employee e-mails and letters. The Governor and many staff members read through each and every e-mail received and incorporated many of the ideas. In fact, the following Service First proposals came directly from employee feedback:
*         Optional annual cash payout for unused leave
*         Annual "Pay for Performance" Bonuses
*         Consideration of applying some portion of unused sick leave to early retirement
*         Provide more money for permanent salary increases
*         Expand the Tuition-Free Public Universities program to Community Colleges
*         Provide greater accountability for managers, supervisors and confidential employees
*         Increase the probationary period for new Career Service employees
*         Eliminate Bumping
*         Streamline the Hiring process
*         Implement Broad banding or Job Classification reform

Comments:
Do you think State Workers had a say in "Service First". Think Again
I just wanted to let everybody know State Workers really didn't have any input into how "Service First" was set up. We already had the bill in our office (Human Resource Management) analyzing it when Jeb asked for input from State Workers. The emails are after the fact. Secretary Henderson chose not to use our bill analysis.  We had the bill in our office at least a month before he asked for input on the bill.  So tell me how could state workers have formed what was already there????
.... Just another State Employee, 6/8/01
Click here for more on the "7,000 emails"

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The Governor says this is a myth:  The Governor believes that any reforms should continue to protect workers against discrimination and patronage. Career service workers should not be concerned about their political party affiliation or their age, race or  gender. These are all basic rights that should not be abridged.
Under the proposed system, the new standard for discipline and suspension would be reasonable cause. However, reasonable cause would keep protections against patronage and discrimination in place.
Managers will not be able to arbitrarily dismiss employees. Employees will maintain the ability to appeal a manager's decision to the PERC.

Comments:
Service First again under microscope  
....The union filed suit Aug. 2, calling Service First an illegal end run around the collective bargaining system. Patterson separately filed a petition with the Public Employee Relations Commission, asking PERC to assert its power to determine what kind of work is “supervisory,” “managerial” or “confidential.”--- PERC doesn't want to. The three-member panel, appointed by Bush and administratively under his Department of Management Services, said it would wait until the lawsuit is resolved in Leon County Circuit Court. But AFSCME went to the First District Court of Appeal, which last week gave PERC 20 days to show why it shouldn't exercise its authority.
PERC, which leans a little to the management side, will no doubt come up with reasons....  11/25
PERC, The independent organization that is supposed to be looking out for the career service employees rights, is now going to be part of DMS.  How's that for independence and fair play!  I imagine they will really be objective working for that Master manager Cynthia
...Dusty,6/6/01 - PERC has been compromised
"(The Governor) wants to force state employees into a Master Contract wherein disciplinary actions no longer could be mitigated and hearing officers no longer could use precedents or disparate treatment in considering cases. Promotions and bonuses would no longer have standards.
In short, bosses could do anything they want and workers could do nothing about it.")
.... see AFSCME

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The Governor says this is a myth: Governor Bush and the Legislature asked all state agencies to evaluate the size of their workforce, and as part of the process for establishing program priorities submit proposals to streamline Florida's bureaucracy without negatively impacting core services. This guidance was provided only as an exercise, not a mandate. The Governor views this exercise as a means of getting state agencies to focus on a more efficient and effective government - not an end in and of itself. In addition, Florida state government currently has an annual attrition rate of approximately 12 percent. To illustrate how efficiencies can be achieved without displacing employees, consider the following: reducing the size of the state workforce by 5 percent each year for the next 5 years would decrease the number of permanent positions by about 26,000. However, over the same time period the 12 percent attrition rate would result in almost 60,000 vacancies. Assuming a normal rate of additional hires to fill these vacancies would still leave about 38,000 unfilled positions, more than adequate to absorb the reductions without employees losing their jobs.

Comments:
The Governor may be calling this an "Excercise" but for the agencies it's always been a Mandate.  Prior to the legislative cuts of the 2001 special session, the 25% reduction plans were made and being carried out.  Now the schedule is being   moved up - and we're not talking "attrition rate" we're talking "employees losing their jobs."  
If you think the Governor's not responsible - that it was the terrorist attack... think again.  Tax cuts during the Governor's term in office more than match the current "budget shortfall."  The Republican led legislature has consistently taken the Governor's lead.  But the bottom-line is simply that the cuts happened during his watch.  He blew the surplus. He calls himself the CEO. He has to take the responsibility.
... orlando, 11/24

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The Governor says this is a myth:  The Governor does not plan to eliminate the cost of living raises. Rather, the Governor wants to couple the cost of living increases with additional funding for performance pay.

Comments:
State workers received a 2.5 percent raise with a $600 minimum -- well below the inflation rate of 3.2 percent. This year, the average state worker will lose $241 annually against inflation.
"One of his (the Governor's) biggest whoppers is that he approved state employee pay raises out of the goodness of his own heart.
Here are the facts. Governor Bush only offered a 2-percent raise. It was the Legislature that bumped it to 2.5 percent -- barely above inflation and even less than last year's raises. Health insurance premiums rose by 15 percent. Bonuses have been canceled. And the state cut college tuition waivers by 98 percent. ..." (see AFSCME)

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There will be an adverse effect on retirement

The Governor says this is a myth:  The Governor has no intention of negatively impacting retirement. On the contrary, the Governor would like to provide more options for employees in terms of leave and benefits so that they do not have to wait until retirement to enjoy the fruits of their labor.

Comments:
"The governor has no intention of negatively impacting retirement" - Maybe so, but the Governor's good intentions aren't much help to the folks who were just a little bit short of meeting the 6 years employment eligibility requirement  when they were fired.   

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DROP will be changed (this is a pre-retirement plan for state employees) 

The Governor says this is a myth:  The Governor is not proposing to change or eliminate DROP.

Comments:
Time will tell...

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The Governor says this is a myth:  Seniority and experience are key ingredients of performance. To the extent that they provide employees with the ability to excel in their jobs, seniority and experience can provide a competitive advantage in a performance based system. The wisdom tenured state employees have gained from years of loyal service will continue to be a great asset to this state.

Comments:

It's a bad fall to the bottom of the pay range
In the upper-right corner of the state job application, a form many employees are becoming grimly reacquainted with, is a line that says "Minimum Acceptable Salary." That's a reasonable thing for a potential employer to ask, a common question in any company. But with state government cutting back, with layoff letters going out and hiring freezes setting in, even a routine question can have ominous overtones.
... And if you dare to think you are going to be able to stick around for a retirement, think again!  Managers look at people who have been around for 20+ years as "too expensive".  They can hire someone at a fraction of what they are paying the 20 year + person and have a nice little chunk of rate money to give themselves and their cronies.  Just ask DEP Environmental Crimes Bureau Chief Bobby Deemer.  He ran off a few old timers and it would be interesting to know where the rate money being paid those people went.
Being a state employee used to mean something!

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The Governor says this is a myth:  The Governor has consistently stated how proud he is of Florida's workforce. In many respects, we are the envy of the nation for the innovation and services we provide. At the same time, our excellence should not be an excuse for complacency. We should always strive to do better, and to provide taxpayers with the highest quality service possible at the most reasonable expense. Career service reform will help take Florida's outstanding workforce to the next level. The Governor credits the hard work and dedication of state employees for every success of his administration.

Comments:
Unfortunately, the "next level" under "Service First" is in the basement.  
... Florida already has the country's most efficient state government: it is the second smallest per capita and the least expensive at an annual cost of just $33 per taxpayer. (The current figure is assuredly lower, but the Bush administration refused to calculate the amount for last year.)
Service first no help to Florida workforce

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The Governor says this is a myth:  Career service reform is not about privatization. Rather, these reform efforts are focused on creating a system that provides greater accountability, greater choices, with greater rewards. As it relates to outsourcing and privatization, the Governor has encouraged state employees to compete to provide services, and will focus on leveling the playing field so that public and private sector employees can offer their services to the state in a fair and consistent manner. The goal is to provide the best possible services to our citizens. For any employees affected by the privatization of any state services, the Governor would require each agency to develop a transition plan to include job placement assistance.

Comments:

State personnel services go private
A giant Jacksonville company was chosen Wednesday to take over personnel services for state agencies - a massive privatization affecting the jobs of 1,200 state workers. - Convergys Corp. beat out IBM, Computer Sciences Corp. and Epix for a seven-year contract that will cost the state $39.8 million annually... 
The state is in final negotiations with vendors for privatizing the State's Human Resource functions. I'm in Human Resources and they are telling us it will be just a couple of more weeks and they'll get a contract signed. But our jobs in HR will not be available in the private sector in the same locations, like when they contract out maintenance or food service. There are three large computer corporations that the state is negotiating with (IBM is one of them) and they want to have a web-based HR service, so the work will be done from who knows where, probably from another state. That is great use of the state taxpayer dollars, right? Send the money out of state! Oh, Jeb is also hiding the fact that there has been no cost-analysis done EVER to show that this will or will not be cheaper for the taxpayers.
The other think that I am concerned about is that all the data that the private vendor will get it's hands on after it gets the contract (except for your medical information and your social security number) is public record! You bet, they will be selling your data to anyone and everyone who wants it. State employees will be on every mailing list and calling list there is! And this company will be making a profit off of it while I am job hunting and taking unemployment compensation benefits for the first time in my life.
... Almost Gone, 8/29/01
..."A second insight revealed by the awful gaping hole in the Manhattan skyline was how ill-served we have been by a politics that perpetuates the illusion that we are all on our own and, in particular, that holds the institutions of public service in contempt. For two decades, politicians of both parties have celebrated the pursuit of private gain over public service. Shrinking government has become a preoccupation of political leaders through deregulation, privatization, and cuts in public services....
(from Three things we learned)
...government agencies are charged with serving the public need. Private corporations are charged with serving the stockholders interests, which are often in conflict with the general welfare of the public. (Think Firestone, Corvair, Anderson-Columbia, Monsanto, etc.) 
This privatization effort that is taking place all over the country is especially hard hitting in Florida, where the Service First plan is the most aggressive such effort taking place, is an attack on civil rights, environmental responsibility, and democratic process. 
(from Privatization: A public disaster!)

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Under the Governor's proposal, I will always have to fear losing my job

The Governor says this is a myth:   Florida state government already has a number of proven at-will employment systems and employees, including the Legislature, Judiciary, Department of the Lottery and the Office of the Governor. All of these offices have changing political climates, yet Select Exempt Service employees and Senior Management employees serve at the pleasure of the Governor. These are generally positions that may be filled by a new Governor at his or her discretion.
However, of the 2,252 SES employees currently in the Governor's 14 agencies, 1,671 employees or 74% were hired by the previous administration. Of the 288 Senior Management employees in the Governor's agencies, 57% were hired by the previous administration.

Comments:

"Kimberly Westmoreland of Tallahassee never had a bad mark against her in three years as a state employee.
This week, the 30-year-old administrative assistant came in on Monday after being injured in a car accident and was told that she was fired. No reason needed; no appeal possible. Service First made her an "at will" Select Exempt employee.
Now, the mother of Ashley, 8, and Michael, 6, must find a way to keep health insurance for her husband Mark, 32, who battles a brain tumor.
Kim could be any state employee who faces layoffs, privatization or just a "Type A" boss. ..." (see AFSCME)
Well, after more than 15 years of career service in serving the state well, I sit on my rear end collecting unemployment and costing the state almost as much money as when I was working. When you count up my unemployment and the people's pay that are supposed to be helping me find work again it may even be more. Plus add all this to the fact that I was told right up to the day that I was let go by a lying supervisor that I would have a job. This wasn't supposed to save the state money, this was used to let supervisors get rid of people that they didn't want around any more. I found people breaking the law. I told the Democrat, when higher ups wouldn't listen, and they didn't even want to do anything about it. So much for investigative reporting.  .... Screwed in Tally, 8/17

(WF: This is not an isolated event - many senior state employees at the higher end of their pay scale have been let go -- saving the state money, and  eliminating old employees who might not be afraid to speak their mind when they see something they think is "not right." 
This frightens the remaining staff, and guarantees their silence.  Select exempt supervisors, no longer protected by career service, will be less likely to shoulder the responsibility and more likely to shift the blame for projects gone awry.  The atmosphere we are told has already changed to a more "cover your ass" mentality than ever. 
Moreover, the loss of high level expertise in the state system has been staggering and will not be easily replaced.
This is the "corporate" milieu we have been told will be more productive. We are just beginning to see what the state workers warned us about with JEB's "Service First".
But hold on to your reality.  Folks, the campaign's coming.  The governor's spinmasters and their propaganda press are already hard at work spinning their tales -- you can hear them at night whispering "You like Service First ... you like Service First...)

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