The Face of Government’s Landlord

W

hen President Obama nominated Denise Turner Roth to take the helm of the General Services Administration, he got a former city manager, legislative aide and efficiency crusader.

At 41, Roth is younger than most people who’ve led the agency. As deputy she helped consolidate GSA’s information technology, human resources, administrative and financial functions, at an estimated savings of $200 million over the next eight years. 

She plans to continue efforts to reduce the federal real estate footprint, streamline procurement, and promote more efficient office design. “Any work we do to collaborate and consolidate how we provide services is going to mean greater efficiency, cost savings and faster delivery,” Roth says.

Her new priorities include reforming GSA’s asset reporting structure and cultivating proactive partnerships with agencies, particularly through the use of technology to manage property.

Roth appreciates as well as anyone GSA’s role as an economic catalyst in planning federal buildings nationwide. But she says rivalries like the one between the Virginia and Maryland congressional delegations vying to land the next FBI headquarters do not deter her team’s impartiality. “GSA is one of the more apolitical agencies, where we focus on efficiency and meeting the needs of our customers,” Roth adds.

In GSA’s ongoing struggle to sell excess government property, she wants to “make sure we have strategic national portfolio planning of owned space or space available for disposal, and are being transparent about what’s available from the
public perspective.”

It seems morale at the agency could only rise after the 2012 flap over lavish spending at a Las Vegas training conference. “If we focus on the mission of GSA and make sure the resources are going to the mission,” Roth says, “then everyone will feel positive.”