From the Mnanging Editor:
No way to run a business
How many businesses last for long with waste and duplication of work as part of the management scheme? How many
good businessmen would hire three people to do the work that could easily be done by one? How many successful businesses
refuse to change in the face of changing economic conditions and base that refusal on the need to keep unneeded employees
on the payroll so they won’t be unhappy? Are good business managers running in a popularity contest?
Now, obviously, all astute business people know the answers to all the above. So why pose such no-brainer questions?
Well, the point needs to be made that in any business, tough decisions are just a part of the job if success is the goal. Sure,
if Uncle Sugar has a gazillion dollars and just needs tax write-offs, then he can keep Aunt Susie and all the little ‘uns on the
payroll even though they are causing the company to go broke. But if you and I are the prime investors in such a company -
and none of us has even close to a gazillion dollars to lose - then we have got to blow a whistle somewhere along the line.
And that in simple terms is what Governor Haley Barbour is trying to do for that often unheard from group of investors
known as the taxpayers of Mississippi.
It is incredible to imagine that when a mega-successful business executive is voted in by the shareholders (read “taxpayers”)
to take over a struggling company (read “the State of Mississippi) that he is blocked in any way from making those
business decisions that he feels will put the company back on firm footing. And yet, as I write this, the legislature has still
not acted to approve Governor Barbour’s proposal to take some employees temporarily out from under the protection of the
Personnel Board so that he can reorganize his workforce and eliminate what his business sense tells him are unnecessary
positions. No successful business could survive long when its CEO is not allowed to make changes. The legislature can debate
tax cuts, tax increases, and budget items ad infinitum, but when it comes to running the personnel side of the business of
state government, surely the CEO should be given some leeway.
We can all certainly sympathize with state personnel who feel their jobs are threatened and struggle mightily to influence
the legislature to keep them on the payroll. But we are all riding on a ship that is threatening to sink in a sea of red ink if
we don’t make some tough choices. And Governor Barbour is simply proposing a temporary suspension of Personnel Board
policies so that he can make those hard choices. If he was floating along with a budget surplus and simply wanted to replace
Democrats in posh positions with his Republican friends, then this debate wouldn’t be happening. No one would support cronyism
and the use of executive power to punish political opponents.
The Governor has made abundantly clear, his proposal is only about making the business of state government conform to
rules that any freshman taking Business 101 would understand. And if the legislature won’t approve his proposal, we hope
that he will go back to those shareholders and ask them to demand better service from their elected representatives. Mississippi’s
budget woes are well documented and unlikely to disappear unless quite a few hard choices and painful decisions
are made.
We elected Haley Barbour based on his promise to bring his business expertise to bear on the problems that have put us
in the shape we’re in. If entrenched politicians trying to repay political debts block his efforts, then we, the shareholders,
have a right to call their hands and demand that our CEO be allowed to operate in what he sees as the best interest of the
state.
The old admonition to “...lead, follow, or get out of the way” seems appropriate. And since past legislative actions have
led us to the current precipice upon which we teeter, it would seem that for the current lawmakers, only the last two options
make any sense. DBJ
Joe Meek
Managing Editor
