Doan says she's not going anywhere

Following up on yesterday's post about Lurita Doan's future, I got a call from Doan today who said, in no uncertain terms, that she is not leaving and has not been asked to leave.

There has been a growing buzz that Doan was going to leave -- either by choice or be forced out. And when she decided not to attend GSA's IRMCO conference, that really sent people spinning. Unfortunately these days, there isn't always a link between perceptions and reality. Doan said that she is taking a few days of vacation with her family. Originally, when she was asked about the IRMCO conference, she was going to cut her vacation short, but given that she was only giving an introduction, she decided not to cut her vacation time short. Sounds abundantly reasonable to me.

That being said, there is still considerable buzz out there that Doan's days are numbered -- one way or another. (One person here even suggested that Doan's call may have just been an attempt to throw us off the track.) If she decided to leave the post, would anybody really blame her?

I have had several opportunities to spend time with Doan. I genuinely think she believes in GSA and the work that the agency does, and I believe she wants to do what is best. But she also has a certain briskness and a strong desire to get things done that can take people aback.

In general, I think Rep. Jose Serrano (D-N.Y.), chairman of the House Appropriations Committee's Financial Services and General Government Subcommittee, got it right at the hearing yesterday:

"I don't want have to convince my committee members that this is the right thing to do for GSA," he said.

"This cloud has to be cleared out in a satisfactory way," Serrano said.