MAINE’S GOVERNMENT IS MIRED IN A SWAMP OF ITS OWN MAKING.
As governor, I will implement a continuous improvement process. This is something that Maine’s government does not have and has never had. Maine elects politicians, bureaucrats, or businessmen for governor. None of these is focused on public service and how to run a government. Maine does not need a politician in the Blaine House. Maine needs someone who knows how government is supposed to work and who has the guts to do what needs to be done FOR THE PEOPLE AND THE PUBLIC INTEREST.
Here is one version of the continuous improvement process. As governor, I will start at the very beginning. First, we need people who are qualified and capable of overseeing this process. One of my first actions as governor will be to appoint a blue-ribbon panel of apolitical government experts. We will conduct a global search for some of the best minds on the planet and commit whatever resources are necessary. Reforming Maine’s rigged and dysfunctional government into a government that is democratic, efficient and effective is the most important thing we can do. It is something that I expect none of the gubernatorial candidates will even discuss.
The panel will have to start at the very beginning. Maine’s government has never had a reboot in its 200+ year history. The first step will be to map the process and establish the process by which the panel will conduct its business. The second step is critically important and will require extensive public input. We must identify the issues and problems. We must hear from Maine people about the problems they have encountered with Maine government. Listening to the people on such a holistic scale is something that Maine government has never done before.
Implementing changes will be perhaps the most difficult step in the process. Much of it will require legislative approval. Getting politics out of the executive branch does not mean that the legislative branch will follow. As governor, I will have no real legal control over the legislature. As we identify problems and solutions, it will be interesting to see if the legislature does the right things. I look forward to the challenge.
The last two steps of the continuous improvement process; review performance and optimize are virtually absent from Maine’s government. They are the checks and balances that are necessary to a properly functioning government. Maine’s government establishes programs and conducts little or no oversight, e.g. auditing of these programs.
As a nearly thirty year employee of the executive branch and as one who has tried and failed for decades to effect positive change in Maine due to a dysfunctional government, in my opinion, the legislative branch has little understanding of what is going on in the executive branch. The checks and balances between the branches of government effectively do not exist. Programs, policies and procedures in all branches of government must be periodically reviewed and optimized. This is continuous improvement and as governor, we will begin implementation of continuous improvement on day one.
