Future of the NWS

[Stan Rose]

Cliff has always welcomed controversy, and I'm guessing this post is gonna spark a few comments:

http://cliffmass.blogspot.com/2012/12/rebuilding-national-weather-service.html

 

[Mark Blue]

Cliff has always welcomed controversy, and I'm guessing this post is gonna spark a few comments:

http://cliffmass.blogspot.com/2012/12/rebuilding-national-weather-service.html

Thanks for sharing this information Stan as I hadn't seen it before and am glad you took the time to post a link. This indeed is a huge problem that needs to be addressed sooner rather than later. The only insight I can offer is this. I've worked in the government and the private industry most recently for roughly 9 years in each position. In the private industry (such as a corporation), if there is an issue it gets addressed and corrected as they cannot afford to lose or throw money after useless processes or big black holes. In the private industry, they hire the brightest and the best to fill positions, which is good as it generally lends itself to leaders and a workforce who are much more effective at what they do. Things get done and move much faster in the private industry versus a governmental agency, but that isn't any news flash for most who live here in the US.

In the federal government, it's a whole different ball game. They look for and prefer hiring those with military experience, and if they have some sort of service related disability, they get preferential treatment in the hiring process. I am not here to say there is anything wrong with hiring veterans, these folks deserve to have special treatment for serving their country and the price they pay is often bigger than one could imagine. What I am here to say is that I'd rather see someone running NOAA/NWS who worked their way up through the ranks and had meteorology degrees and well-documented and relevant experience to the position they are filling. The other issue with the federal government is the inability to implement change or policy quickly due to bureaucracy, red tape, union officials who want to fight just for the sake of fighting, and the list goes on and on. Another problem I noticed has to do with failures and the tolerance for it in the federal government. I've seen people in high places who repeatedly fail and they're never held accountable. It's almost as though it's acceptable to be a failure as the chances of you losing your job are very low. Typically they just reassign a person and let them keep their same pay grade or give them less responsibility and call it good. In my book a person should either acheive results or be sent packing if they can't cut the mustard.

It's going to take a maverick of a person to change what has become the behemoth of NOAA/NWS, and I hope it happens before the these agencies are privatized, because that would truly be a shame. I hope Cliff doesn't get in trouble because he appears to have outlined some decent solutions to the problems and has some unique insight that most of us do not have. Again, thanks for sharing.

 

[Jeff Duda]

I hope Cliff doesn't get in trouble because he appears to have outlined some decent solutions to the problems and has some unique insight that most of us do not have. Again, thanks for sharing.

In my opinion the most critical part of his blog. If we live in a society that punishes people for being honest and blowing whistles, then nothing will ever get accomplished no matter who suggests what or who does what. This is supposed be a country where people are free to voice their opinions and EOE requirements forbid employers from refusing to hire based on race, creed, gender etc. Why should people be fired for opinions (assuming they're respectful, and not of the nature of, "YOU WANT MY OPINION? YOU'RE A F--K--- C--K---K-R!")

 

[Mark Blue]

Just an FYI, the governmental agency I work for has required annual training that you take online about whistle blowers and that you cannot get fired for this type of activity. I always wondered about how much and how far a person could go, say, or do before retaliation would occur, but I've seen two Director's go down and lose their job for what certain tattle tales said they did to the likes of the Office of Inspector General (OIG). It didn't seem to me that they received a fair deal from where I sat, but who really knows when it gets down to brass tacks.

They also have required annual training about sexual harassment which everyone completes, yet there are still men who think like Neanderthals in the workplace that breeze through the training and say things to women that are so offensive and uncool that it makes me want to puke. I don't know why I brought it up other than it bothers me that they get away with it, whereas that stuff was dealt with swiftly and not tolerated in the private sector where I worked. Take it for what it's worth and your mileage will most certainly vary.

 

[Jeff Duda]

They also have required annual training about sexual harassment which everyone completes, yet there are still men who think like Neanderthals in the workplace that breeze through the training and say things to women that are so offensive and uncool that it makes me want to puke. I don't know why I brought it up other than it bothers me that they get away with it, whereas that stuff was dealt with swiftly and not tolerated in the private sector where I worked. Take it for what it's worth and your mileage will most certainly vary.

In my opinion, the online tests/training for sexual harassment are a joke. They never get to the heart of the matter, which is not to treat a woman differently than a man just because she's a woman.

 

[Eric Wind]

I'm pretty disturbed by the ideologically-driven suggestions in the comments, where it is floated that the NWS be privatized.