Bonuses abound in public sector, too
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The Oct. 19 front-page story "Top aides to Obama upbraid Wall St." reported on hefty bonuses for senior executives of financial companies.
I believe that the Obama administration's concerns are on target. But the administration should also look at itself. Last month, the Office of Personnel Management released information on fiscal 2008 performance, salaries and awards for senior executive service (SES) personnel in the federal government. That information shows that 76 percent of SES personnel received awards. Major federal agencies that provided bonuses to more than 90 percent of their SES staff were: the Department of Housing and Urban Development (99 percent), the Office of Personnel Management (98 percent), General Services Administration (94 percent), and the departments of Defense (93 percent), Labor (92 percent) and Agriculture (90 percent). In addition, almost 50 percent of SES members received the highest performance rating in 2008 (in most cases, an "outstanding").
When almost all staffers receive awards, the bonus-award process is diminished, and the system lacks meaning. I am especially concerned that the agency that is responsible for monitoring the process, OPM, seems to be among the primary offenders.
Ken Schwartz, Garrett Park
The writer was deputy associate director at the Office of Management and Budget from 1986 to 2005.
