92 replies to this topic

[Zorro]

VINCENT A CEFALU, on 27 April 2012 - 11:35 PM, said:

Is the "interactive grade/series exemption determination computation evaluation worksheet tool" for real? Say it ain't so. PLEASE.

It ain't so... but is it not believable on so many levels?  Can't you easily imagine a multi-colored spreadsheet with 12 formulas calculating the level of exemption based on some point scale.... or one of those flow charts with about 73 arrows and boxes on it?

[VINCENT A CEFALU]

You left out the $150,000+ to effect the permanent change of station transfer.I'm reasonably certain the subject incurred the cost of the plywood for the "Glory Hole" on his own dime. Congress is NOT enraged by these shenanigans with the hide and seek of the Crenshaw caliber CORRUPT managers, BUT they are outraged by some Agents going to a strip club????????????????   Is the "interactive grade/series exemption determination computation evaluation worksheet tool" for real? Say it ain't so. PLEASE.

Zorro, on 27 April 2012 - 06:31 PM, said:

Retired, Patriot, and Doc:

MANY employees are noticing the humiliating contrast in professionalism between ATF and USSS.  Obviously USSS recruits, retains, and promotes higher caliber personnel.  ATF would be cutting checks left and right to get the offenders moved, and in some cases promoted all the while denying that any incident occurred.  We have a GS-15 walked out of the office in cuffs for disabling a smoke detector (HEY - WE'RE THE ******* ARSON COPS) and criminal damage while engaging in a sex act (albeit allegedly no payment was in dispute)... HQ move @ taxpayer expense...."conduct prejudicial to the government".... aw what the heck, who cares, it's not our money - right?
  
The new disciplinary matrix was out today, but the accompanying interactive grade/series exemption determination computation evaluation worksheet tool was not included.  Must be "need to know basis" for that one.

You can't make this stuff up.  Proof that fact is stranger than fiction.

And just a little tidbit for the taxpayers:  a GS-15 with an arrest record who gets moved to DC on your dime pulls between $123,758 and $155,500 depending on time with the agency and that does not include insurance and retirement costs.

[VINCENT A CEFALU]

You left out the $150,000+ to effect the permanent change of station transfer.I'm reasonably certain the subject incurred the cost of the plywood for the "Glory Hole" on his own dime. Congress is NOT enraged by these shenanigans with the hide and seek of the Crenshaw caliber CORRUPT managers, BUT they are outraged by some Agents going to a strip club????????????????

Zorro, on 27 April 2012 - 06:31 PM, said:

Retired, Patriot, and Doc:

MANY employees are noticing the humiliating contrast in professionalism between ATF and USSS.  Obviously USSS recruits, retains, and promotes higher caliber personnel.  ATF would be cutting checks left and right to get the offenders moved, and in some cases promoted all the while denying that any incident occurred.  We have a GS-15 walked out of the office in cuffs for disabling a smoke detector (HEY - WE'RE THE ******* ARSON COPS) and criminal damage while engaging in a sex act (albeit allegedly no payment was in dispute)... HQ move @ taxpayer expense...."conduct prejudicial to the government".... aw what the heck, who cares, it's not our money - right?
  
The new disciplinary matrix was out today, but the accompanying interactive grade/series exemption determination computation evaluation worksheet tool was not included.  Must be "need to know basis" for that one.

You can't make this stuff up.  Proof that fact is stranger than fiction.

And just a little tidbit for the taxpayers:  a GS-15 with an arrest record who gets moved to DC on your dime pulls between $123,758 and $155,500 depending on time with the agency and that does not include insurance and retirement costs.

[Zorro]

Retired, Patriot, and Doc:

MANY employees are noticing the humiliating contrast in professionalism between ATF and USSS.  Obviously USSS recruits, retains, and promotes higher caliber personnel.  ATF would be cutting checks left and right to get the offenders moved, and in some cases promoted all the while denying that any incident occurred.  We have a GS-15 walked out of the office in cuffs for disabling a smoke detector (HEY - WE'RE THE ******* ARSON COPS) and criminal damage while engaging in a sex act (albeit allegedly no payment was in dispute)... HQ move @ taxpayer expense...."conduct prejudicial to the government".... aw what the heck, who cares, it's not our money - right?
  
The new disciplinary matrix was out today, but the accompanying interactive grade/series exemption determination computation evaluation worksheet tool was not included.  Must be "need to know basis" for that one.

You can't make this stuff up.  Proof that fact is stranger than fiction.

And just a little tidbit for the taxpayers:  a GS-15 with an arrest record who gets moved to DC on your dime pulls between $123,758 and $155,500 depending on time with the agency and that does not include insurance and retirement costs.

[Retired and loving it]

Doc Holiday, on 25 April 2012 - 11:14 PM, said:

Crenshaws integrity and ethical issues have created multiple six figure moves, termination proposal followed by re-reinstatement after embarrassing this Bureau as the head of our internal affairs and repeatedly as a SAC. But then again, we have watched Marvin Richardson be accused of lack of candor to the OFFICE OF THE INSPECTOR GENERAL, and continue to be shifted around and in fact promoted. HOW DOES THIS HAPPEN? The Secret Service Agents participated in embarrassing OFF DUTY conduct and they get HAMMERED. A large cross section of our leadership is guilty of waste fraud and abuse, gross mismanagement, discrimination, retaliation and abject failure across MOST of our directorates, and they don't even get days off? This begs to question, why are the Competent, Ethical and Productive supervisors and managers sitting silent and allowing their reputations to be sullied by a few of the Dirty ones?

Well said Doc.  I have had the same observation about the blatant difference between disciplinary action in the USSS and ATF.  It seems to speak to a management culture that cares about its organization (USSS) as compared to a management culture that does not care (ATF).

[Patriot]

To Crenshaw's credit and if memory serves me, he magnamously did not spend a PCS for his last move to DC, but rather took per diem and admin leave to travel back and forth from Seattle. So to sum up, leave the family behind, collect DC per diem(another way of supplementing income) and get your friend and boss Carter to authorize admin leave on Fridays to travel home. He must have missed the annual integrity training, but then I am not sure it addresses blatant theft, but heck he was the boss at OPRSO, so he was bulletproof. I may not have all the pieces of the scheme correct and maybe it is just a rumor. Webmaster should probably dump this post.

[Doc Holiday]

Crenshaws integrity and ethical issues have created multiple six figure moves, termination proposal followed by re-reinstatement after embarrassing this Bureau as the head of our internal affairs and repeatedly as a SAC. But then again, we have watched Marvin Richardson be accused of lack of candor to the OFFICE OF THE INSPECTOR GENERAL, and continue to be shifted around and in fact promoted. HOW DOES THIS HAPPEN? The Secret Service Agents participated in embarrassing OFF DUTY conduct and they get HAMMERED. A large cross section of our leadership is guilty of waste fraud and abuse, gross mismanagement, discrimination, retaliation and abject failure across MOST of our directorates, and they don't even get days off? This begs to question, why are the Competent, Ethical and Productive supervisors and managers sitting silent and allowing their reputations to be sullied by a few of the Dirty ones?

Zorro, on 25 April 2012 - 03:40 PM, said:

Thanks for the reminder Patriot.  Can't forget the dreaded PCS moves.  There's always money to get a manager to DC after getting caught in a criminal and/or ethical violation.  We even had a manager admit as much in the recent FOX News report on the employees distrust of leadership.  How much training, maintainance, equipment, staff, etc could have been provided with the money that has been spent protecting the indefensible?

Since we are in an appropriately named thread, wasn't Mr. Crenshaw involved in a chain reaction of PCS moves about 3-4 years ago?

[Patriot]

I can only imagine how much money would have been spent if ATF was faced with the scandal Secret Service is dealing with.  I admire the swift decisive manner with which they have dealt with the offenders. We would have lateral transferred everyone and then denied it happened.  It appears as though Secret Service management actually cares about the professional reputation and integrity of their agency.

[Zorro]

Thanks for the reminder Patriot.  Can't forget the dreaded PCS moves.  There's always money to get a manager to DC after getting caught in a criminal and/or ethical violation.  We even had a manager admit as much in the recent FOX News report on the employees distrust of leadership.  How much training, maintainance, equipment, staff, etc could have been provided with the money that has been spent protecting the indefensible?

Since we are in an appropriately named thread, wasn't Mr. Crenshaw involved in a chain reaction of PCS moves about 3-4 years ago?

[Patriot]

Zorro

I have to agree with you. We have never been as broke as management has conveyed over the years. We have consistently mismanaged the funding that we have. Top heavy management, uneeded admin positions, wasteful equipment purchases, executive travel for personal reasons, PCS moves to shuffle ineffective managers, bloated computer contracts, etc. We would never be working on a shoe string budget if the wasteful spending stops.

[Zorro]

madea,

You and will just have to part ways on one aspect of Tom Brandon.  If he is not begging for more taxpayer money he will be the first during my tenure with this agency and that is a good thing.  All others have equated success with spending more money.  Unfortunately, the country is broke and this generation is stealing from the next daily to keep up our lifestyle.  Every time government spending grows either the printing presses fire up more funny money or China gets tapped for another loan.  For all the mismanagement and waste, maybe we could make better use of what we already get like fewer agents in administrative positions = more making cases.  Cutting back on the travel to Vegas, France, or Denmark for executive conferences might squeak out a couple more bodies for the road, too.  A higher ratio of worker bees to supervisors.  Place a moritorium on inflating pay grades - by inflated, I mean same person doing the same job and the journeyman level just keeps climbing.  Most career fields have experienced it to some degree (and in some cases, we do have people that get paid little in comparison to others despite a greater demand in congressionally mandated workload and job knowledge) and while it's great for the individual employees, we need to accept that there should be fewer of us in return.  Reduce the cadre of SES pay grades - an excellent opportunity is before us this summer as we will be minus 3 over the next few weeks.... a chance to redirect some major cash if someone chooses to.  Trade a few HQ lawyers for arrest makers.  Something Mike Sullivan got right when he said  "It's not a matter of money, it's a matter of priorities".

I'll not jump on linking Brandon to the Detroit crime rate minus specific evidence.  I doubt he has been alive long enough to be such a great influence on a large population.  It's too close to jumping the shark.

[Winston Smith]

Patriot,
Good post.   Thankfully, in my current Division, I don’t see a majority of Agents who sit on their duff’s.  I see many hard workers, some slackers, and those who fall somewhere in the middle.  I feel your pain if things in your office are as bad as you described.

I hope the Director and AD realize that a large part of the problems hurting our agency can be fixed by making major changes to our promotion policy:

    This is the biggest problem we face.   When a slacker of an agent  scores 2 to 5 points better on the Assessment Center Test than the next applicant for a GS 14 position, guess who usually gets the job? Many of us question how is it that slacker agents scored well enough to get the GS job over a hard charging productive agent who actually cares about his/her colleagues?   We have some GS 14’s that have never testified other than in Grand Jury, have never written an affidavit, never run a complex or multi-defendant case, etc…..  These same slacker GS’ers grow up to cause problems and often become problem ASACs.  The problem is, why do we put so much faith in a test score?  Test scores should be reduced to pass or fail, with a requirement that agents must have 8 years on the job for being eligible to take the test.  At a minimum, Agents should have to provide 2 or 3 references such as AUSA’s and Command Staff from another agency who can attest to leadership potential, knowledge of laws and the ability to work with people from other agencies.   Poor agents usually make poor leaders.  As they say, you can't make chicken salad from chicken shit.  I think of folks such as Newell and other "stars" who were promoted way too fast in their careers.  The results speak for themselves.

I beg that the Director and AD take immediate corrective action on this area. Of course there are other areas needing improvements, but this is a good place to start.

[Patriot]

I have not worked in either of those Divisions, but my observation is that SAC's, even the bad ones don't have the stones to affirmatively tell agents to back off of cases. What I have seen is a culture that allows agents to show up, socialize in the office, surf the net, talk to friends and become non-productive without consequences. You all have heard the adage, in a group of ten agents, two will be superstars, five will be dependable and three will be totally useless. Here is where SAC's have failed. Because of all our politically correctness, "lets mirror the face of america", don't offend a minority class attitude, the three totally useless agents not only have survived, but have moved up and become totally useless managers. The remaining seven become the problem children because case work comes with problems that require decision making and we are back to the three useless agents having to make a decision that they are incapable of making. Sad that the seven who just want to do the right thing have become the "troublemakers", when all they want is to do what they are paid to do. Hang in there Mr Jones and you can get the seven down to four because even the best intentioned and motivated agents will surrender when there is no light at the end of the tunnel.

[Zorro]

madea, am I taking your posts in correct context - that Tom Brandon is responsible for the cultural and economic decay of Detroit over the past 40-50 years?

You don't need to be a rocket scientist to know the conditions in most major metropolitan areas are the product of a failed political philosophy that no law enforcement employee of any agency can cure.  I'm all for beating Mr. Brandon about the head and shoulders for the ailments at ATF which he can - or should be able to - control, but unless he has been running the mayor and city councils of Detroit, Chicago, DC, L.A., Oakland, New Orleans, Baltimore, etc. in his spare time I don't buy him having responsibility outside the boundaries of ATF.  I do not blame him any more than a beat cop, deputy, trooper, or federal agent for the criminal acts of a predator who makes free will choices to harm defenseless victims and whose actions can rarely be predicted or prevented.

However, if Tom Brandon had a hand in any of the crimes you mentioned - such as ordering ATF personnel to stop work on a case, calling an AUSA or other LE agency asking for someone to back off charges on one of the suspects which led to a dirtbag being loose commit one of these atrocities that might have otherwise been confined (ala F&F), that is big news and needs to be exposed.  

Maybe you can clarify?

[Doc Holiday]

Mr. Jone and Mr. Brandon,
     Either truly do NOT grasp the seriousness of our Bureaus problems or don't care. They have either NOT read the recent survey or again don't care. THEY formulated a field committee, and as soon as THEY didn't like the answers, Mr. Ceres began to fail to return calls to the committee. This is significant because almost Universally, the broken and at least the corrupt management can be directly tracked back to the actions of Chief Counsels Office. That unfortunately,is apparently the sacred cow. Every other directorate can be held accountable except CCO. That is compounded by Mr. Jones assertion in Atlanta that pursuing accountabilty for past abuses is just being small minded. One word Mr. Director...............NUREMBERG. You dont move forward EVER w/o cleaning up the past and holding those responsible accountable. The Director spoke of our "Border stategies", acknowledged each border field division as part of that stategy and NEVER mentioned OUR MEXICO MISSION. It was quickly pointed out to him, there IS NO border strategy w/o our agents in Mexico. Most disturbing is that Mr. Jones DIDNT KNOW THAT. Mr. Jones and Brandon, THESE CORRUPT BOSSES, are here on the job still. And you want us to move forward? STOP.

[VINCENT A CEFALU]

Amazing how much ONE decision can cost the leadership their integrity. However, Mr. Brandon has made some heroic reversals of some of his questionable decisions in the past. Maybe, this one too will be handled transparently. GET HIM OUTTA THE FIELD SIR. And dont just promote him to DAD for the quick fix. Everybody see's that play for what it is.  On a lighter note: I apoligize to you LEADEROFTHETARDS. When I first saw the screen name, I thought it was Wilfred "call me Larry" Ford, based on the moniker. Thats another one we are scratching our head about. But not being all knowing, it COULD be possible that his leadership is so great that hes gonna significantly impact violent crime in Chicago in the 5 or 6 months he will be in Charge before retiring, thereby requiring yet ANOTHER paid transfer of the third Sac in town within 12 months. AM I missing some new master plan of consistent leadership in this move?

leaderofthetards, on 05 April 2012 - 06:45 AM, said:

Kelvin Crenshaw, the universal comparable. It doesn’t matter what you’ve done, he’s done worse times 10 and been cleared (or not even investigated). Not only that, it doesn’t matter who you are, whether you are an employee, an FFL, or a taxpayer, the Crenshaw Standard has something of interest for you. Again Tom, that was a great move. I predict Kelvin will be the gift that keeps on giving. Nope, you just can not make this shit up.

[VINCENT A CEFALU]

You don't know how it pains me to agree with you 100%, Madea. But that's an AWESOME idea.Why wouldn't you let the accused respond 1st to the allegations, then secondly to the proposal. There's NO national security or L.E. sensitive implications, and WOW, might even prevent unnecessary litigation's. At the end of the day, the Agency could still pursue the adverse action if they believe it is still justified. Win, win. But of course, then they couldn't say they didn't know OR bully negotiated deals where Agents give up their right to appeal. Again, Madea, BRILLIANT. Are you listening FAAP?

madea, on 02 April 2012 - 09:47 AM, said:

Vince, good post but I have to disagree with you that this is a step in the right direction. The focus should be whether the secret society (PRB) has ALL the evidence BEFORE they make a proposal. Under the current system, they only have the evidence that I.A. decides to develop. Remember, we have examples where the subjects statement isn’t even included in the ROI. We have examples now where the subjects have developed extensive additional evidence that I.A. thought wasn’t important. Of course all of the additional evidence helped the agent. Having the names of the secret society members is nice, a step in the right direction is being able to plead your case to the secret society before a proposal is made. There may be no decision to terminate if the PRB sees BOTH sides of the story. That’s not happening under the current system. And wouldn’t it be nice Vince to have a few agents on the PRB to balance the board? That would be a step on the right direction. Sorry Vince, the panel only gets 1/2 star on this one and I’m being generous.

[VINCENT A CEFALU]

Sandy is correct. I asked that very question of G Elaine Smith before her corrupt self was run out on a rail. What ensued was about 10 emails passin the buck. In fairness, I did finally reach Todd Martin, then head of the PRB who agreed that due process would mandate the accused having this information. At the end of the day, there were HUGE conflicts of interest related to several of the board members, which they summarily ignored. BUT, back to the point. Press for that information. If I have tracked this correctly, the NEW policy is to provide the identity of the board members to the accused. After the fact, (kinda like putting the toothpaste back in the tube), it doesn't really allow for a transparent operation, but its a step.

Sandy Davis, on 01 April 2012 - 11:56 AM, said:

Posted for yet another agent afraid to log onto CleanUp. Nope, no one thinks retaliation goes on in this agency......


This BDO system is an attorney trick that removes an act of retaliation further from the one initiating it. It makes it easier for the OCC to win if later litigation ensues. And does anyone really believe that if your manager wants to screw you, he/she isn’t picking up the phone to the PRB? And aren’t these members all managers? Oh, that’s right, we don’t know who they are. Hell, do they even exist? The FAAP panel wants to reform the PRB system. I think it needs to be completely done away with. This was supposed to be a pilot program. Well guess what, it doesn’t work. Not for the agents anyway. Works great for the managers and attorneys though. I keep reading about ‘due process’. Isn’t this also a due process issue. Shouldn’t an employee have the right to face his accusers? And by the way, don’t think that when you get to a hearing or into court, you will find out who these secret members are. ATF will simply say they don’t remember. Yes, you didn’t misread that, they have done that very thing. And don't let them tell you you have the right to face your accuser because that doesn’t happen until you are looking at the BDO. Isn’t that just a little too late? Ask the agent who found out in his decision letter that I.A. intentionally omitted his sworn statement from their report. That agent didn’t learn that fact until he was already before the BDO. What if the PRB had heard his side of what happened? We won’t know because the BDO refused to send the case back for reconsideration. The agent got a 14 day suspension which means he was shut out of his appeal rights to the MSPB. Nice move. Think of this, you have I.A., the PRB, and the BDO all working together like a smooth machine. That’s how secret societies operate.

[Doc Holiday]

Marvin lied to the OIG. Their words not ours. Why is he still in a leadership position? Ford signed multiple lies to Congressional inquiries and allowed PGA under his leadership to knowing lie to the American people. Why is he still a SAC? We can go on and on. Have they pulled Newell, Gillette, Voth, McMahons guns and badges? Anybody know?

BeenThereDoneThat, on 31 March 2012 - 07:19 AM, said:

Madea, if memory serves me right, while Marvin Richardson was a Special Agent in Dallas, he found himself the focus of an Internal Affairs investigation when he was using his G-Ride for personal use.  You see, Marvin was going through a divorce (his wife got the car) and he used his government vehicle to attend a party.  It seems that while at the party, many people saw Marvin drinking alcoholic beverage(s), then he drove home.

Many sympathized with Marvin Richardson's situation, however, when the IA finished the extensive investigation, Marvin got a few days off.

I wonder if Marvin would have terminated himself, if he was the deciding official for his antics?

[BeenThereDoneThat]

madea, on 30 March 2012 - 07:42 AM, said:

Oh Tom, I found another proposal letter in my purse. This one involves an administrative employee. I can barely read it through the tears running down my face from laughter. That Marvin Richardson. He really is a jokester. This employee made 6 unauthorized cash withdrawals from an ATM and cost the government under $20 in ATM access fees. Marvin Richardson found this to be “outrageous behavior” to warrant a proposal of a 7 day suspension. Off with the employee’s head! Now Marvin words the same thought a little differently. He says, “your actions in this matter violated the above cited policy (use of the government credit card), demonstrates a lack of sound judgement on your part, and calls into question your trustworthiness as an ATF employee”. Is that not the funniest thing you have read in a long time Tom? Trustworthiness as an ATF employee? I wouldn’t leave spare change laying around the office if Kelvin Crenshaw was there. This administrative employee did days off for a minor infraction and Kelvin was cleared with no suspension. Isn’t that hysterical? I like your new ‘Crenshaw Standard’ for misconduct Tom. I like it. By the way Tom, this case involved a charge of poor judgement also. No one could find any reason to charge Kelvin with poor judgement? Well, it’s just Madea’s humble opinion, but I think there’s a whole lot of poor judgement in the Crenshaw case. Mostly yours.

Folks, keep those decision letters coming in!

Madea, if memory serves me right, while Marvin Richardson was a Special Agent in Dallas, he found himself the focus of an Internal Affairs investigation when he was using his G-Ride for personal use.  You see, Marvin was going through a divorce (his wife got the car) and he used his government vehicle to attend a party.  It seems that while at the party, many people saw Marvin drinking alcoholic beverage(s), then he drove home.

Many sympathized with Marvin Richardson's situation, however, when the IA finished the extensive investigation, Marvin got a few days off.

I wonder if Marvin would have terminated himself, if he was the deciding official for his antics?

[Doc Holiday]

Suggestion to posters on CUATF, JUST a suggestion.
The issues and potential solutions identified during the FAAP (Field Agent Advisory Program)have been posted to ATF employees. These are very sensitive, and critical to the survival of this Agency. We hope that all will show restraint in posting the particulars as the information is embarrassing and our potential enemy's inside the industry and out, ie. FBI will undoubtedly use the information against us. We should speak in general terms but keep the specifics in house until we know if its just smoke and mirrors. Thus far, the FAAP hit the nail(s) on the head. And remember, these are guys and gals HQ approved. THEY DID A GREAT JOB

[Jaime3]

Very good points Vince!
It's all the same Smoke & Mirrors and CYA agenda in play for them.

Thank you for your continued battle to keep the TRUTH alive! Thank you ALL for staying in the battle, whether it's directly or indirectly.  

Because they really feel if they can remain silent until election time, make you feel your situation is not bad, or make a few changes we will go away and shut up!

[VINCENT A CEFALU]

Is it possible, that Jay Dobyns and myself are NOT just disgruntled malcontents with an axe to grind? Not outlaws or junkyard dogs? Is it possible that Delgado, Berger, Casa, Jaquez,Forcelli, Arraguetta and Canino arent just angry trouble makers? Apoligy accepted Mr. Jones and Mr. Brandon. READ THE ATTACHED SURVEY. WE DIDNT COMMISSION IT NOR DID WE CONTROL THE RESULTS. Suggestion: Perhaps you rescind the current survey, get a couple months and maybe a few successes under your belt, and consider if THEN, you may get some good will from the field. As it sits right here today, we have hit ROCK bottom on the issue of this survey and the new results will probably not be all that constructive.
Feedback on ATF Senior Leadership Needed Isnt that what we have been doing through every legal mechanism for the last 5 or 6 years, Sirs? Wouldnt it have been far more prudent to listen to all of us, and NOT have to go to these extremes?
Within the next few days, the Office of Human Resources and Professional Development (HRPD) will be issuing a survey to all employees concerning ATF’s senior leadership. Late last year, ATF received the results of the 2011 Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey (EVS). We wonder if we have in fact dropped below number 41 on the list of best places to work? OUR Previous LOW. A key area in which ATF fell short was leadership. Most troubling were responses to the question – “My senior leaders maintain high standards of honesty and integrity.”
The honesty and integrity of senior leadership is fundamental to the success of any organization. Given recent changes in ATF senior leadership, (What Changes) we want to reassess views on this issue and gather information on the specific behaviors which influence both positive and negative responses to this question. Responses will be anonymous, but will be shared with the ATF Executive Staff and field leadership. The Executive Staff is committed to using the feedback from this survey to determine what actions should be taken to address this critical issue.
The survey will take only 3-5 minutes to complete and responses are requested by March 30, 2012. This survey is intentionally narrow in focus and is not intended to replace the more comprehensive OPM Employee Viewpoint Survey which will be issued for 2012 in the coming weeks. Your feedback to both surveys is desired and will help shape the future direction of the Bureau.

Late last year, ATF received the results of the 2011 Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey (EVS). The survey, done annually by OPM, helps us listen to our employees and focus on employee perceptions that drive job satisfaction, commitment, engagement, and ultimately contribute to the accomplishment of our mission. In particular, the survey helps us identify and expose problem areas which, while at times uncomfortable, are essential to improving our operations. A key area on last year’s survey in which ATF fell short was leadership. Most troubling were ATF’s ratings in relation to the question: “My senior leaders maintain high standards of honesty and integrity.” The honesty and integrity of senior leadership is fundamental to the success of any organization. Given recent changes in ATF senior leadership, we want to reassess employee perceptions on this issue and gather additional information on the behaviors of senior leaders which underlie responses to the Employee Viewpoint Survey question. Feedback from the survey will remain anonymous (Forgive us if we DONT believe you) and help the ATF Executive Staff as they seek to address this critical issue.

http://townhall.com/...deny_gunwalking

Jaime3, on 21 March 2012 - 06:21 AM, said:

Madea, I totally agree.
Discrimination should be totally unacceptable.

We all know these behind closed door decisions are being made with precise calculation to help refute current and future litigations.
It's time to open the door and turn on the lights!

This is all being written in the playbook, so when Election time is here, the AD and DD can say-Well there were problems and areas of concerns, but we put certain mechanisms (newly created groups) in place to address the problems.  Now everyone is happy, you can see the effectiveness through our New Survey results.
BS!

The same old political BS!

[Jaime3]

Madea, I totally agree.
Discrimination should be totally unacceptable.

We all know these behind closed door decisions are being made with precise calculation to help refute current and future litigations.
It's time to open the door and turn on the lights!

This is all being written in the playbook, so when Election time is here, the AD and DD can say-Well there were problems and areas of concerns, but we put certain mechanisms (newly created groups) in place to address the problems.  Now everyone is happy, you can see the effectiveness through our New Survey results.
BS!

The same old political BS!

[Jaime3]

Although I do agree that the reverse discrimination is disgusting, I can't help but to think they are using reverse psychology on us all.

Think about it, if you save these handful of black guys, what does that do for over a dozen of black men & women who have legitimate complaints with EEO, Ombudsman, etc?

We must not forget, they are thinking like Attorneys!

And Hell yes, those few minor indiscretions of those few individuals will be overlooked to make certain offices within ATF appear to have done their job to the fullest.

What should be examined are the exonerations within Pay Grades!

Just saying-

[Patriot]

We have tip toed around this topic since the law suit was settled in the mid-90's. Right or wrong leaders became terrified to take any disiplinary action for fear of being labeled a racist. Not a problem that is unique to ATF, but we have made no attempt to correct it. Why? See below.

[VINCENT A CEFALU]

Agreed Madea. Brandon had a host or choices he could have made. He could have simply said that "the appearance of impropriety" is such that Crenshaw needs to be placed in an assignment where he cant corrupt the field any longer, but he didn't. He could have said outright, Mr. Crenshaw, your repeated incompetence and abuses as a manager force me to place you in Tobacco diversion, but he didn't. Their seems to be a theme here. Crenshaw, Horace, Mc Lemore, Ford. What is the common denominator? Besides lack of accountability I mean.

madea, on 19 March 2012 - 06:48 AM, said:

TECHNICALITY MY ASS! Madea is tired of hearing that Brandon HAD to bring Crenshaw back because of a technicality. If there had been a technicality, Tom could have sent the case back to the PRB or even back to I.A. to further investigate. READ the manual orders Tom. And hey folks, it’s not as if ATF had a deadline. One agent sat at home for 4 years.

If this due process technicality were even close to being true, then explain to me why it wasn’t a problem when I.A. intentionally pulled an agent’s statement from his investigation. The reason given for the intentional act was that I.A. didn’t like a paragraph the agent included in his statement. I.A. ADMITTED they intentionally took out the statement and then LIED about the reason. And folks, when this same agent, through his own efforts, found evidence  to prove the allegations against him were false, he asked I.A. to investigate these LIARS. Well, these LIARS happened to be managers. And, the esteemed head of the OPRSO has REFUSED to open an investigation on the managers. Why? Because the agent, not the managers, is now retired. Forget the fact that the request for the investigation was made WELL before the agent retired. Ok, wouldn’t that be a due process technicality Tom? Now, the report went to the PRB with no statement from the agent. But don’t worry folks, this I.A. agent littered the report with HER interpretation of what the agent said. Tom, do you see a problem here? PRB proposed a 30 day suspension and DEMOTION. The agent was a supervisor. Now that went to the deciding official who was told what I.A. did with the agent’s statement. The BDO, Steve Mathis, had no problem with what happened. Nope, not a big deal. It didn’t stop him from giving the agent 14 days off, not at all.

Now let’s look at another recent case. We have one agent who received an I.A. investigation that was so bad that he spent the year he was sitting at home investigating his own case. He came up with sworn statements that cleared him. When he tried to give it to the BDO, Elaine Smith, she said it was “TOO LATE”. Is this a due process problem Tom? Knowing the disaster that Elaine Smith was, do you feel compelled to reverse any of her decisions Tom? And now there are even more agents who are investigating their own cases because of the crap reports prepared by I.A.

So hey folks, stop buying into this B.S.! Crenshaw had no technicality. He had an investigation. Was it crap? Yeah probably. So was everyone else’s. Did Crenshaw get a proposal letter? Yeah. We think it was delivered to him by two of his buddies. They sat around with their SES decoder rings and came up with a secret message from HQ, ‘don’t sweat it’ (Crenshaw came up with ‘don’t sweet it’, but there were two other SESers there to give him the right answer). And finally, Crenshaw got a decision letter. Show me where there is a technicality violation. I see preferential treatment.

Folks, stop believing this crap. Every year agents are fired, and trust me, ATF doesn’t care about their rights, if they did, you would be allowed to bring your attorney to the I.A. interview.

Think about that folks before you give Tom Brandon a pass on Crenshaw.