Topeka — Gov.-elect Kathleen Sebeliusâ much-anticipated top-to-bottom review of government will be led by a group of people already on top.
Sebelius on Wednesday announced the formation of teams to audit state government and appointed team leaders, among whom are several officials who have had long ties to state politics.
She said she hoped the teams, which will include state employees, would make recommendations to save taxpayers money and make state government more efficient.
âÂÂWe want the recommendations to be as creative and strategic as possible,â Sebelius said, stating that her frequently repeated campaign promise to audit state government was âÂÂnot a P.R. gimmick.âÂÂ
Sebeliusâ team leaders include Howard Fricke, who circulates in powerful political circles and is chairman of Security Benefit Group, a Topeka insurance company; Lt. Gov.-elect John Moore, who has served in leading positions in state government; and state Sen. David Adkins, R-Leawood, who recently lost the GOP bid for attorney general.
The team leaders also include Pat Gaunce, incoming chairwoman of the Kansas City, Kan., Area Chamber of Commerce; and Adrian Polansky, former state executive director of the Kansas Farm Service Agency.
None of the five teams named Wednesday will focus on public school or higher education spending, which makes up two-thirds of the state budget. Sebelius said she would appoint a team later to look at that.
She also said she would announce later this week a Web site and toll-free telephone number for Kansans to provide suggestions.
The name of the review will be âÂÂKansas Best - Budget Efficiency Savings Team.âÂÂ
Sebelius said the teams would provide short-term recommendations to put into the budget proposal she will forward to the Legislature in January, and long-term proposals to reorganize state government that may be considered in the 2003 legislative session and beyond.
But she reiterated that she planned no action on the $310 million budget shortfall in the current fiscal year, saying it was outgoing Gov. Bill Gravesâ responsibility.
Sebelius said she was modeling her audit of state government on one that saved billions of dollars in Texas in the 1990s. The Texas effort unleashed an army of auditors to shake up the bureaucracy.
Greg Hartman of Austin, a key figure in starting those Texas audits, has provided some advice to Sebelius on the Kansas effort.
Hartman, now managing director at Public Strategies, a consulting firm, said the key to success in the reviews was getting everyone to challenge conventional assumptions.
âÂÂThe trick is you have to really make them feel they can take their best shot and there will be no retribution,â he said.
At this point, Sebelius said, the Kansas effort is going forward with no budget. The appointees are donating their time, and the state employees are participating as part of their normal work.
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