Maryland congressman’s background shapes his approach to public service

Public service wasn't new to John Sarbanes when he was elected in 2006 to represent Maryland's 3rd District. The Democratic representative is the oldest son of former Maryland Sen. Paul Sarbanes. Before being elected to Congress, Sarbanes worked as a liaison to the Baltimore City Schools as part of a partnership run by the Maryland State Superintendent's office; as a private lawyer, he worked with nonprofit hospitals on health care costs. His dedication to improving the performance of public institutions has shaped the second-term congressman's approach to federal government.

The large number of federal employees in the 3rd District also has influenced Sarbanes' advocacy of telework expansion in the federal government, and of efforts to improve the diversity of the upper ranks of workers and to extend paid parental leave to employees. In the second of an occasional series with lawmakers, Government Executive talked with Sarbanes about the Obama administration's attitude toward management reform, and congressional efforts to improve government. The interview has been edited for clarity and length.

GE: Do you think there is a different attitude now among your colleagues in Congress toward management issues, even those who don't represent large numbers of federal employees, given the challenges the government faces on issues like the bailout?

Sarbanes: Every member of Congress, certainly the lion's share of the constituent service they do, is directed toward federal agencies. That's where we're able to intervene -- if it's a Social Security issue, a Medicare issue, an immigration issue, a tax issue. They come to us because we're their federal representatives. So every member is very keenly aware of where some of the bureaucratic hot spots and breakdowns are within these federal agencies…all of that manifests in a constituent's experiences. … Most of the constituents that I talk to, and it's refreshing in this regard, they really believe government can work, and they want it to work. They get frustrated when it doesn't work; they're not frustrated that it's there.

GE: What do you think the future of pay for performance is?

Sarbanes: I've seen it in my past life when I worked in education in Maryland. The school systems that had very strong professional development and continuing education programs, and built their evaluation systems on top of that, had good relationships between management and labor and were able to innovate. The ones where a performance system was sort of imposed with a punitive dimension to it and in the absence of a supportive professional development system lead to tremendous polarization and tension.

Sarbanes went on to say that programs to cultivate agencies' flexibility and employees' work-life balance can help agencies improve their performance cultures:

The agencies that have adopted telework have seen not only the morale and productivity of the workforce that is telecommuting improve, but across the entire agency, productivity is going up even among those workers who aren't necessarily telecommuting. That agency is learning new ways of judging and valuing performance that is more aligned with productivity than, for example, it might be with how much face time you're spending at a particular office. You learn new ways of judging performance and improvement in environments that are supportive and collaborative.

GE: What changes have you seen in the Cabinet's attitude toward federal employees?

Sarbanes: I was able to visit with [Interior Secretary Ken] Salazar when he went out to the Patuxent National Wildlife Refuge [part of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service] to meet with the employees there. He sent a very pointed and very personal, genuine message of support for what they do. I went with [Environmental Protection Agency Administrator] Lisa Jackson to Fort Meade, Md., to celebrate the anniversary of the environmental resource center, and the message was the same: We support you. Science is back. The resources are going to be there.

You have these federal workers who really want to believe this is true. They're going to reserve judgment until they begin to see the resources come and the policies that really are supportive. But I think it's a fair expectation now for them to have.

GE: What has the impact of a more activist executive branch been on Congress' approach to management issues?

Sarbanes: It's a partnership. I think it's put a heavier burden on us to demonstrate that we are ready to be part of that joint enterprise on the part of our federal workers, and that we're going to put authorizations and resources behind that new focus.

Click here to read an interview with freshman Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., on pay parity and telework.