OSC Chief Won't Stand On Ceremony

Here's part of the statement Office of Special Counsel chief Scott Bloch prepared last week to honor Leroy Smith, who was named the agency's Public Servant of the Year for blowing the whistle on dangerous conditions in a prison factory:

For someone in Leroy Smith’s position, ... it takes real courage to stand up to one’s boss. Even more, to stand one’s ground when the boss â€" upper-level bureaucrats â€" won’t listen. That’s real courage and persistence.

Unfortunately, Smith apparently never heard Bloch deliver those words, because minutes before the ceremony honoring Smith was to start on Thursday afternoon, Bloch abruptly canceled it, the Washington Post reports today. Bloch said he made the decision because a key OSC staffer who worked on Smith's case couldn't attend due to a death in the family. But OSC employees think the real reason is that Smith was scheduled to go to a news conference with Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility -- a group that has criticized Bloch in the past -- after he picked up his award.