WasteWatchers success stories

Social Services  Transportation  K-12  Higher Education Local Government  Budget & Taxes  Health Care Audit Reports  Complete List Celebrate with us as government sheds pounds! These inspiring stories show how some state officials have successfully implemented principles of true accountability. Their programs and departments never looked so good! Have a success story to share with us? School board stands strong Teachers in the West Valley (Yakima) school district are filing a grievance against their school district because the district refuses to let teachers make up a work day for their unexcused absence on January 14th...more Basic Health drops 20,000 under new accountability rules New requirements resulted in HCA re-screening 63,000 individuals on the Basic Health Plan last year, with nearly 20,000 being taken out of the program when eligibility could not be verified...more Pierce County Health: Refocus, privatize, compete It's not often you hear about a government agency actively finding ways to provide more services with less staff, but this is exactly what Dr. Fredrico Cruz-Uribe has done as Director of the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department...more Bangor Sub Base makes waves In 2002, Washington's Bangor Naval Submarine Base was named the World's Best Naval Base. Bangor's secret? Contracting out, competitive bidding and core principles...more King County drops dishonest election supervisor Speaking of swift and tangible consequences for wrongdoing, King County recently fired the election superintendent responsible for the county's absentee ballot debacle last year...more

Successful diet tips . . .

School board stands strong posted on 04/08/03 - SS5 Teachers in the West Valley (Yakima) school district are filing a grievance against their school district because the district refuses to let teachers make up a work day for their unexcused absence on January 14th—the day many teachers attended the "Day of Action" rallies around the state. The school board had decided not to grant teachers a day off to attend the rallies, but 169 of the 254 teachers had other ideas and decided to skip. Now those teachers want to make up their unexcused absence by working an extra day. The teachers' union is filing a grievance saying teachers were not adequately informed their pay would be docked for missing a day of work. Too late, said the school board, the teachers who did not show up for work are docked a day's pay and are unable to make up the missed time. Some just wish they could live by different rules than the rest of us. Call or write the West Valley school district officials and tell them to stand strong against the teacher union. Contact: Peter Ansingh, school district superintendent 8902 Zier Road Yakima, Washington 98908-9299 (509) 972-6000 Fax (509) 972-6001 top   Basic Health drops 20,000 under new accountability rules posted on 01/31/03 - SS4 Taxpayers benefit when state agencies are held accountable. Remember when the state auditor revealed last year that 37,000 individuals receiving benefits on the state's Basic Health Plan had not provided proof of eligibility? The agency overseeing the program, the Health Care Authority (HCA), couldn't say how much it had overpaid to ineligible individuals, and nothing was being done to stop the problem or restore money wrongly distributed. That has changed. Legislators responded to the state auditor's findings by including new requirements for eligibility verification for HCA in last year's supplemental budget. These requirements resulted in HCA re-screening 63,000 individuals on the Basic Health Plan last year, with nearly 20,000 being taken out of the program when eligibility could not be verified. 17,000 did not respond to requests for verification, 1,200 were dropped because their income was too high, and 1,400 dropped out voluntarily rather than provide documentation. Accounts with documented overpayments are also being pursued and these efforts should be aggressive until the state has collected all repayments. We commend the legislature and HCA for taking these important steps to remedy the problems identified by the state auditor and restore the trust of taxpayers. Call the office of the Washington State Health Care Authority (360.923.2600) or use their online feedback form and thank them for re-screening benefit recipients to provide more accountability to taxpayers. top   Pierce County Health: Refocus, privatize, compete posted on 01/31/03 - SS3 It's not often you hear about a government agency actively finding ways to provide more services with less staff, but this is exactly what Dr. Fredrico Cruz-Uribe has done as Director of the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department. Dr. Cruz has shifted the agency's mission to focus on preventative care, put county health services up for competitive bid, and contracted many services out to private companies to broaden the availability of services and increase efficiency. The results of Dr. Cruz's work speak for themselves: In 1997, the first year of contracting out, the department saved $650,000 and eliminated 109 unnecessary staff positions. By contracting with thirteen clinics, nearly twice as many patients were treated. In addition, Pierce County is now considered a model for tuberculosis treatment. Immediately following privatization, the cost of treatment fell nearly $200,000. The percentage of patients treated in accordance with national medical standards increased from 79 percent in 1996 to 100 percent today. Treatment is now available 24 hours a day at many different locations. Overall, the department's reforms have reduced administrative costs from 28 to 16 percent of expenditures. And Dr. Cruz's approach has not just saved money, it has saved lives. E-mail Dr. Cruz and congratulate him on a job well done. top   Bangor Sub Base makes waves posted on 01/28/03 - SS2 In 2002, Washington's Bangor Naval Submarine Base was named the World's Best Naval Base. That prestigious award followed on the heels of several others. Bangor's secret? Contracting out, competitive bidding and core principles. As with most organizations, two of Bangor's largest and most controllable costs are maintenance and facility operations. These are important jobs, but naval personnel do not necessarily need to carry them out. The operations have instead been competitively bid to Johnson Controls, a company well known for its capable handling of such tasks. This outsourcing of routine operations has allowed Bangor Naval Base personnel to focus on their primary duty: the maintenance of U.S. submarines for national defense. The base's competitive outsourcing has saved millions of dollars. In 1982, twelve hundred people were employed at Bangor to carry out services similar to what Johnson Controls now handles with eight hundred people and fewer resources. In addition to employee savings, Johnson Controls continually modifies, upgrades and improves equipment to save energy and maintenance costs. Read more about Bangor's smart management practices and encourage state officials to practice the same effective principles. top   King County drops dishonest election supervisor posted on 01/23/03 - SS1 Speaking of swift and tangible consequences for wrongdoing, King County recently fired the election superintendent responsible for the county's absentee ballot debacle last year. In a letter from her boss, Bob Roegnor, dated December 30, 2002, Julie Anne Kempf was notified of her termination for what her supervisor called a "pattern of dishonesty ranging from fabrication to significant distortion of important facts and events." Thousands of King County voters failed to receive their absentee ballots in time for the 2002 elections. The excuses offered by Kempf ranged from production problems to the Maryland sniper attacks to the need for a computer terminal. An investigator in the case discovered Kempf instructed her subordinates to keep quiet about the problems, post-dated a FedEx shipping form to deceive her supervisor, and made "false and misleading" scripts for her staff to recite when fielding calls from voters who hadn't received their ballots. King County did the right thing. Give these folks a call and let them know you appreciate a job well done! King County Council (commissioned the investigation): (206) 296-0100 or you can email comments from this page. top   Click here to return to the summaries page

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