SATURDAY, MAY 31, 2014 • THE BULLETIN
Hotel
Who might replaceShinseid?
'/,
Pete Chiarelli — The retired four-star general served asArmy vice chief of staff from August 2008 to January 2012. He rose through the ranks after completing ROTCtraining at Seattle University, eventually commanding at every level, from platoon to corps. Chiarelli now serves asthe chief executive of One Mind, which promotes awareness and research of brain injuries and mental illness. Heled the Defense Department's efforts to address post-traumatic stress, traumatic brain injuries and suicide. Stanley McChrystal — This retired four-star general helped craft the Afghanistan war strategy as commander of U.S. forces in that country. Obama dismissed him from his job after a Rolling Stone article featured his disparaging remarks about some of the president's senior civilian advisers, including Vice President Joe Biden. The White Houseappears to have madeupwith McChrystal, having quickly invited him after the dismissal to lead the Joining Forces Initiative, which supports military families. Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I• — Reedknows Congress and the military, having served in both. He is a former Army ranger andU.S. Military Academyalumnus, making him one ofonly eight U.S. senators in history to graduate from WestPoint, according to his website. It is unclear whether Obama iswilling to put Reed's Senateseat in jeopardy during what is expected to be atough election year for Democrats. Mike Mnllen — A retired Navyadmiral who served aschairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff for the Bush and Obamaadministrations, Mullen turned to the private sector in 2013, joining the boards of General Motors and Sprint Nextel Corp. Patrick Murphy — Murphy is a former Democratic congressman from Pennsylvania andthe first Iraq war veteran to serve in the House,but he lost his seat after two terms during the 2010tea party wave. Hehas aregular series on MSNBCcalled "Taking the Hill," which focuses on veterans issues. Murphy, who practices law in Philadelphia, said Friday that Shinseki's replacement should besomeone who "will inspire confidence in veterans, whowalked in their ranks ... has an intimate understanding of veteran policy, and hasthe leadership ability." He declined to say whether hefits that description. — The Washington Post
Veterans Continued from A1 But all this was apparently a secret to Secretary Eric Shinse-
ki, perched 12 levels above 'Ituner in the VA's towering bu-
reaucracy. Somewhere underneath Shinseki — among the undersecretaries and deputy
undersecretaries and bosses and sub-bosses — the fact that clerks were cheating the system was lost. On Friday, Shinseki resigned and was replaced byhis deputy. But his departure is unlikely Matt Eich I For The Washington Poet to solve the VA's broader prob- As secretary of Veterans Affairs in 2013, Eric Shinseki tours the lem — a bureaucracythat had VA Medical Center-Hampton, in Hampton, Va. Three times a year, been taught, over time, to hide Shinseki spent a solid week meeting with each regional VA medical its problems from Washington. director, but, apparently, his message of openness wasn't enough. Indeed, as President Barack
The Bates, who also have
a marketingcompany, expect the sale to close soon and hope to r eopen the
hotel by next spring. No current tenants will be displaced, Bates said. He de-
clined to give the sale price, but 18 months ago co-owntel on the market for $2.7 million. The city is considering the couple's hotel redevelopment project for its Jumpstart Loan Program, which comes with a $1 public money match for every $4 in private funding — up to $500,000 — for projects expected to provide a catalyst for economic growth
Joe Kline The Bulletin
early in the application pro- generations, offering apartcess. The city has asked the ments, hotel rooms, banquet Bates for more information space, a billiard hall, shops and, once received, the city and restaurants. will begin an extensive unThe New Redmond Hotel is derwriting process to mea- significantly larger than The sure the likelihood of suc- Orenco, but that doesn't worry cess for the project. Bates. "The committee that reviewed the application is
couple a long list of architects, engineers and restoration ex-
perts accustomed to historical buildings. Whether the hotel will be
m arketed primarily to t h e business or leisure traveler re-
mains to be seen, Bates said, as " Whether it's 14 o r 4 0 0 they "roll around in the data" rooms, it's the same: Set stan- and analyze the best uses for
excited about the project, dards and keep them up, esit's gotten a good response tablish operating procedures overall but it's a lot of mon- and make sure staff underey and the city takes its re- standsyour requirements," he sponsibility to taxpayers said. "The key is to make it so seriously," she said. flippin' cool that people walk "I'm not sure if we would out and can't wait to tell their have done t hi s w i t hout friends." It's too early to say exactly the loan program," Bates said. "While we've always what changes the Bates will planned to retire to Central make to the hotel, outside of an Oregon, we weren't plan- upgraded HVAC system and ning on buying a hotel. repairs to its vast inventory of The loan program is very windows. But a few ideas are attractive because it's hard already being tossed around, getting a loan for an empty including a rooftop bar and unused hotel." possibly a soaking pool in the The second and t h i rd basement. floors of the New Redmond The rooms themselves are Hotel have 48 rooms that
in decent shape, Bates said, but
have been primarily empty for 10 years. The ground
everything needs upgrading,
floor has retail, office and
r e placed a
wooden predecessor that
the building, which he considers Redmond's living room. "Positioning, voice, performance, marketing — t h at's
what all hotels need, and everything we do in our marketingbusiness for hundreds of hotels we can use for our own," he said. "Having the hotel be empty has made it like a home with a big hole in the middle of it." — Reporter: 541-548-2186, Ipugmire@bendbulletttt.com
WILSONSof Redmond 541-548-2066
Adjustable Beds
REDN OND
restaurant space, all of which are leased. because it
cessstory.In the 1990s,reformers had cut back on its middle
vibe in the historic hotel.
1 927. The including many vintage archiHe a t h - 43,000-square-foot structure tectural features. Luckily, their er Richards, community has been a dominant feature ties to the McMenamins and development director, it's of Redmond's downtown for past projects have given the
c ommand. Gould
VA last year. Gould said that
new owners areshooting for a less grandfatherly, more "cool,"
A ccording t o
news did not reach Shinseki's
— 200,000 employees. And I'm having to approve reimbursement: Until recently, the VA had ments for somebody." been seen as a WashingtonsucKizer set out to change that.
the lobby of the New Redmond Hotel. The hotel's
process is not complete but, if approved, the loan has the potential to be forgiven if all criteria is met. burned down i n
The hotel was dubbed "New R e dmond H o t el"
level at all. This is an ironic develop-
jl I
downtown. The approval
years as Shinseki's second-in l ef t t h e
A grandfather clock graces
er Brad Evert had the ho-
Obama said, one of the agency's key failings was that bad this multibillion-dollar organization with — at that time
Pl
Continued from A1
Slean Glheen — President Obama has named himthe acting head of the agency. During the third-generation veteran's time in his previous position leading the USO, net fundraising for the group grew by 90 percent, according to his VAbiography. Obamaawarded himwith the 2011 National Medal of Arts for "lifting the spirits of service members andtheir families through the arts." "He's a great leader whogets what's going on," said Iraq andAfghanistan Veterans of America official Tom Taran tino."He'salwaysbeenanamazingand dynamicleader." Lawmakers havepraised him as well. "He certainly has a very strong background," Sanders said. "He has the commitment to veterans — hewouldn't have been the headof USOif he wasn't."
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Shinseki tried hard to show he
was open to bad news. Three times a year, in fact, ShinseHe cut back on staffing at VA ki spent a solid week meeting headquarters in Washington with each of his regional VA and atregional headquarters. medical directors.
management and started using performancedataso m anagers He cut out layers in the chain at the top could keep abreast of of command. Andhe embraced problems at the bottom. the idea that statistics could alThen that success began to lowthe agency's leaders to peer unravel. around those middlemen and As the VA's caseload in- see the bottom from the top.
That was 63 separate four-
hour interviews, every year. But, apparently, his message of openness wasn't enough: In those hours of meetings, nobody told Shinseki what so creased during two wars, the If patients at a certain hospi- many people in his system apagency grew thick around the tal were waiting too long for ap- parentlyknew. "I find it shocking that anymiddle again. And then, when pointments, they wouldn't have the people at the bottom started
to wait for the news to travel
one could believe that they
sending in fiction, the people at the top took it as fact. "Shinseki goes up to Capitol Hill, and says, 'I didn't know anything.' I find it perfectly believable," said Paul Light, a professor at New York University who has studied the bureau-
from a scheduling clerk to a
were expected to dissemble"
supervisor, from the supervisor to a chief, from the chief to the
about performance measures,
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Gould said. This is how the system was pital director to the region, and failing: As the VA's patient from the region to Washington. load grew, new layers of midInstead, Washington could dle management slowly rejust watch the numbers and see appeared. And all the way at cracy of the VA and others in for itself. the bottom of the VA's 12-level Washington. "And that's a real In theory. chain of command were the problem." Today, 15 years after he left schedulers — the ones who had
Badbeginnings
hospital director, from the hos-
the VA, Kizer said he's frustrat-
ed to see that one of his solu-
For decades, the VA was a tions — that numbers-based byword for bureaucracy itself, system — became the problem seen as Washington's ultimate itself. Instead of alerting the paper-pushing, mind-bending bosses to problems in the field, hierarchy. That reputation was ithas been perverted to cover rooted in the VA's history: It themup. "The measures have become came about because the agency's first leader was an auda- the end," Kizer said in a phone cious crook.
interview from California, "as Charles Forbes was chosen opposed to a means to an end." to head the Veterans Bureau
by his poker buddy, President Warren Harding, in 1921. He was a poor choice. Forbes took kickbacks. He sold off federal supplies. He wildly misspent taxpayer money — once buying a 100-year supply of floor wax, enough to polish a floor the size of Indiana, for 25 times the reg-
Care versuswait times
Today,even after a ma ssive influx of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans that increased
the number of VA patients by nearly 2 million, the VA health system still does many things well. The satisfaction rate for patients who have been treated
ular price (apparently as a favor by the VA is over 80percent. to a floor wax company). But in many places, veterans Forbes was eventually con- were waiting too long to get the victed of bribery and conspira- care they needed. "When you actually get in cy. But afterward, the VA's next leaders built in layers of bu- the room with a d octor, it's reaucracy and paperwork — to OK. But it's what it takes to get be sure that nobody would ever to that point that I think is the have the same freedom to steal. problem," said Stewart HickSeventy years after Forbes ey, national executive director was gone, the place was still of the veterans service group wrapped in that red tape.
That was clear on the day that Kenneth Kizer — a reform-
er appointed by President Bill Clinton — arrived at the VA's
health service. "I had to approve reimburse-
to match veterans with doctors.
There were too many veterans. There were too f ew
doctors. So what should they do? One choice was to tell the truth — tell the computer how
long veterans were waiting for an appointment. That was
what Shinseki said he wanted, 12 levels up and miles away in Washington. But, accordingto people with experience in scheduling, it
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lower-level bureaucrats wanted. In some cases, local officials' bonuses depended on the
numbers looking good. So, at some point years ago, they began asking derks to change the numbers — with practices like "zeroing it out." Cheating was
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made easier by the VA's ancient
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computer systems, designed decades ago. For many derks, the choice between the bureaucrats they knew and the secretary they
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didn't was obvious. "They would say, 'Change the "desired date" to the date
PTW
AMVETS. 'You're sick today. Three weeks from now, you're
ment of a secretary ... purchasI n recent years, the V A ing a cable for her computer. health system started to fail
der to lie wasn't worth it. "You know, in the end, the
that test. veteran got the appointment "That's what, to me, makes that was available anyway," the $11 or $12," Kizer said. There was a form. He had to sign it this event so shocking," said employee said. "It didn't affect personally. "Here I'm running Scott Gould, who spent four the veteran's care." I think it was something like
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was often the opposite of what
of the appointment,'" said one employeeknowledgeable about scheduling practices at a VA either cured oryou're dead." medical center. The employee, One great test of any bureau- who spoke on the condition of cracy is whether it can effec- anonymity for fear of retaliatively deliver bad news to the tion, decided to go along with top of its chain of command. those requests. Fighting the or-
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