Doan Touts Transparency in One-Year Memo

Lurita Doan, head of the General Services Administration, sent the following memorandum Monday to the agency's staff. Doan writes about transparency in government and near the end of the memo writes what seems to be an acknowledgement that she has made some mistakes and is trying to move on. "There has been a learning curve for me â€" and believe me â€" I've learned and embraced this new environment and will continually strive to improve," she writes. She also writes:

One action I will take immediately is to establish a more substantive and visible role for the Office of Performance Improvement (OPI). I will expand the role of the OPI Associate Administrator to include serving as a sounding board for me and for other department heads to ensure that internal management controls reinforce our objectives and achieve the transparency, integrity and accountability that are the standard for all of GSA. In addition, I am in the process of forming a Blue Ribbon Commission comprised of outstanding career Government professionals, from other agencies to provide OPI and senior management with outside input on a host of issues.

I will also encourage a larger role for GSA's Ethics Officer. For instance, I will propose monthly briefings and updates for GSA employees, and increased participation between GSA's Deputy Standards of Conduct Counselors and GSA's office heads in GSA's planning process to ensure a greater degree of checks and balances.