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March 19, 2004 To: DHS Employees From: Gary Weeks, Director In this week's message: 1. Food Drive appreciation 2. Political activity 3. Oregon "Smart Buy" 4. Food for thought 5. Staff news Once again, DHS was an active participant in the Governor's State Employees Food Drive. This year, as the Food Drive celebrated its 25th anniversary, I am proud to say that this department continued to be seen as a leader not only in contributions, but also in innovative fundraising ideas. Recognition is due to all the site coordinators from each cluster and SDA who made this possible. Your creativity and commitment surrounding the numerous events that were held at our offices were evident, as was your compassion and generosity in giving. I'd like to also pay special tribute to the DHS Agency Coordinators, Eugenia Cox and Sheila Hitchen, both from our Office of Vocational Rehabilitation Services. Their efforts were truly exceptional, and their dedication and hours of hard work should be appreciated by us all. Results are still coming in from the field, but preliminary totals, with about 80 percent of all DHS sites reporting, show that DHS employees donated the equivalent of 375,461 pounds of food (This figure also accounts for cash contributions). Finally, we know firsthand from our experience in serving many of Oregon's most vulnerable citizens that hunger is a never-ending problem. Consequently, we have decided to maintain food donation barrels in the Human Services Building in Salem all year round. I encourage other DHS sites to make the same commitment. Your local food bank would be more than happy to assist you in this effort. You can find a list of statewide food bank sites on the Web site. Thanks again for your efforts to help this wonderful cause. Now that the political season is beginning, I thought I would remind you about the state's rules regarding political activity of employees. It's important that we participate in the political process, and I encourage all of you to do so. However, please remember that as state employees, we are prohibited from any activity while on the job during working hours that either promotes or opposes a political cause or candidate. Of course, you can attend any political function as a private citizen during your breaks or off hours. But, since it is important that your private participation not be confused with your official DHS function, I ask that you remove your agency name badge when you are present at any such function. And if you speak at a rally, whether to the crowd, a reporter or a legislator, please be sure it's clear that you are there and speaking on your own time as a concerned citizen, not as a representative of the agency. The entire state policy on restrictions on political campaigning by public employees can be found at the Secretary of State's Web site. If you have any additional questions on this policy, please see your supervisor. You may soon be hearing about a program called Oregon "Smart Buy," an important new initiative from Governor Kulongoski. Smart Buy is designed to provide substantial savings to state government by taking advantage of Oregon's vast purchasing power across all state agencies. It's a critical component of the Governor's effort to make state government more efficient and accountable. By working collaboratively with our agency partners through Smart Buy, we will be able to negotiate with our suppliers from a much stronger position. This should result in our obtaining greater volume discounts and increased levels of service, while retaining spending control at the DHS level. Right now, all agencies are in the first phase of the program, evaluating current procurement practices and looking at a number of high-impact spending areas. Soon, we will begin to obtain proposals from both current and potentially new suppliers in several of those areas. As our procurement practices change, we will continue to assure that there are opportunities for Oregon's women- and minority-owned small businesses. In some situations, contracts may remain with existing vendors providing the same goods and services, but at more competitive prices. In other instances, we may be able to obtain higher quality products and improved services by moving to other vendors. By centralizing the state's procurement efforts, Smart Buy will do more than just improve current procurement processes. It will also transfer best-practice knowledge to our purchasing people and provide them easy access to statewide spending data, making their jobs considerably easier. I was actively involved in establishing this project at DAS, so I know how effective it can be in achieving savings while still providing the best tools for you to do your jobs. But, as with so many other beneficial things, it will require changes for some of you. I ask for your patience and cooperation as our procurement team rolls out the program in the coming months. If you have questions about the Oregon "Smart Buy" program, you can refer to the DAS Web site or contact Jeremy Emerson, our contracting and procurement administrator, at (503) 945-6878. "The day that hunger is eradicated from the earth, there will be the greatest spiritual explosion the world has ever known." — Frederico Garcia Lorca View the current issue of DHS Staff news on the Web. Back to top |
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