Martha N. Johnson

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Nobody can tell me that there's anything particularly wrong with her. They're blocking her because of some unrelated matter. Don't hold this — this woman hostage. If you have an objection about my health-care policies, then let's debate the health-care policies. But don't suddenly end up having a GSA administrator who is stuck in limbo somewhere because you don't like something else that we're doing. [5]

Barack Obama

The full U.S. Senate voted 82-16 for cloture on Johnson's nomination on February 4, 2010. Immediately afterward, the Senate voted 94-2 (with four abstentions) to confirm Johnson. Subsequent to the vote, the two senators voting against Johnson, Jim Bunning and Jeff Sessions, asked to change their votes to "yea," making the confirmation vote 96-0. [6]

Bannister Complex controversy

In a letter to Martha Johnson dated November 30, 2010, Missouri Senators Kit Bond and Claire McCaskill and Representative Emanuel Cleaver assert that GSA Public Buildings Service employees failed to ensure and maintain a safe working environment for employees and tenants at the Bannister Federal Complex in Kansas City, Missouri. The letter directed Martha Johnson to take the appropriate steps to identify those responsible for the lax safety culture at the Bannister complex and take the appropriate steps to hold those individuals accountable. [7] [8]

The letter came after three weeks of phone calls and e-mails from NBC Action News in Kansas City to GSA media contacts. Despite numerous requests from NBC Action News for an interview with Martha Johnson regarding the health concerns at the Bannister complex, Johnson failed to respond to the requests for interviews. A Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request turned up documents that indicated senior GSA officials knew of the health concerns, including a list of more than 100 sick and dead former employees of the complex; however, senior GSA officials originally denied knowledge of the information. [9] Emails later obtained by NBC Action News proved that high level Public Buildings Service officials had actually obtained the list of sick and dead former employees three months before the NBC investigation began. In a later FOIA request from NBC Action News, GSA also withheld a letter from the Missouri Department of Natural Resources that was critical of the GSA's investigation into contamination near a day care center at the Bannister complex. After weeks of requests for interviews, Martha Johnson failed to comment on the situation regarding GSA's withholding of information or the subsequent Inspector General report that indicated GSA officials misled employees about health concerns at the Bannister Complex. [10]

Additional investigations revealed that GSA paid $234,000 to a Kansas City public relations firm to manage negative publicity that GSA was receiving as a result of mismanagement of the investigations into the Bannister complex. As a result, Senator Claire McCaskill announced that she would launch an investigation into the use of tax dollars used by federal agencies to hire public relations consultants to "spin" their images. In a November 2010 letter to Martha Johnson, Senator McCaskill reminded GSA that "publicity experts" cannot engage in "publicity and propaganda" unless authorized by Congress and requested a detailed report of the government's use of these services. [11] [12] [13] [14]

Resignation

Johnson resigned after firing two of her top deputies on April 2, 2012, amid reports of excessive spending at a training conference at the luxury M Resort spa and casino near Las Vegas in October 2010. Four Regional Commissioners involved in organizing the four-day conference were also placed on administrative leave pending further action. [15] The report revealed that the GSA spent $822,000 for 300 people to attend the training conference. The expenses included $147,000 in airfare and lodging at the hotel for six planning trips by a team of organizers. Among the other expenses were $3,200 for a mind reader; $6,300 on commemorative Recovery Act coin sets displayed in velvet boxes, $6,000 on canteens, keychains, T-shirts, and $75,000 on a team building exercise to build a bicycle. Additional controversial costs included $1,840 for vests for 19 "regional ambassadors" and other employees, and $393.90 for tuxedo rental for three employees who acted as masters of ceremonies at an awards dinner that cost $30,207.60. High ranking GSA officials also hosted several semi-private parties in their own hotel rooms or suites, which were catered at taxpayer expense. White House Chief of Staff Jacob J. Lew said that President Obama "was outraged by the excessive spending, questionable dealings with contractors, and disregard for taxpayer dollars," and that he "called for all those responsible to be held fully accountable." The White House named Dan Tangherlini to head the GSA following Johnson's resignation. [16] [17] [18]

F. Joseph Moravec, commissioner of GSA's Public Buildings Service during the George W. Bush administration, complained that the scandal fallout had unfairly tarnished Johnson, illustrating "why people with good reputations don't want to work in government." According to Moravec, Johnson's resignation "reflects wonderfully on her character" since she apparently had "not done anything wrong." Moravec continued, "Political appointees are there to serve not only their country but the president, so resigning is the correct and honorable thing to do if the president is extremely displeased." [19]

Later career

After resigning from GSA, Johnson self-published a novel, In Our Midst, [20] and wrote a nonfiction book, On My Watch, which has been described as "part autobiography and part leadership guide." [21]

References

  1. "GSA head resigns after scathing IG report". CBS News. December 8, 2010. Retrieved April 4, 2012.
  2. "Fedline » Martha Johnson, GSA Administrator in waiting, still waiting". FederalTimes.com. October 14, 2009. Archived from the original on July 13, 2012. Retrieved April 4, 2012.
  3. "BREAKING NEWS: Reid Files Cloture on GSA's Martha Johnson - Fedblog". GovExec.com. January 28, 2010. Archived from the original on February 22, 2012. Retrieved April 4, 2012.
  4. 1 2 "Obama sounds off on GSA nomination hold". FederalTimes.com. February 3, 2010. Archived from the original on January 23, 2013. Retrieved April 4, 2012.
  5. "U.S. Senate: Legislation & Records Home > Votes > Roll Call Vote". Senate.gov. Retrieved April 4, 2012.
  6. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on July 14, 2011. Retrieved December 9, 2010.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  7. Archived September 26, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
  8. "Papers Show Knowledge of Cancer Fears". Nbcactionnews.com. Archived from the original on September 27, 2011. Retrieved April 4, 2012.
  9. Ptacek, Russ (March 16, 2010). "Bond, Cleaver, and McCaskill target Bannsiter officials - GSA's Martha Johnson silent on death list". NBCActionNews.com. Archived from the original on September 11, 2012. Retrieved April 4, 2012.
  10. Rein, Lisa (November 25, 2010). "McCaskill panel to probe federal use of PR firms". Washington Post. Retrieved April 4, 2012.
  11. Archived 2 October 2012 at the Wayback Machine
  12. "Investigation targets GSA contract with Jane Mobley Associates". Kansas City Business Journal. November 22, 2010. Retrieved April 4, 2012.
  13. Pflaum, Nadia (February 7, 2012). "PR firm couldn't save GSA from embarrassment, but they spent tax money on it anyway". Pitch.com. Archived from the original on July 7, 2012. Retrieved April 4, 2012.
  14. "GSA Statement on Resignation of Martha Johnson, Ouster of Bob Peck". Washington DC: Citybizlist.com. April 2, 2012. Archived from the original on April 5, 2012. Retrieved April 4, 2012.
  15. Rein, Lisa; Davidson, Joe (April 3, 2012). "GSA chief resigns amid reports of excessive spending". The Washington Post. Retrieved April 4, 2012.
  16. DePillis, Lydia (April 2, 2012). "Tangherlini Named Head of General Services Administration". WashingtonCityPaper.com. Retrieved April 4, 2012.
  17. "'Wasteful' GSA Vegas Conference: The Highlights". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved April 4, 2012.
  18. Clark, Charles (April 6, 2012). "Former GSA public buildings chief calls conference scandal fallout unfair". Government Executive. Retrieved January 16, 2018.
  19. Hinman, Kristen (October 5, 2012). "From GSA to Gay Lit: Martha Johnson's Next Act". Bloomberg Businessweek . Archived from the original on October 7, 2012. Retrieved July 4, 2014.
  20. Cunningham, Lillian (April 25, 2014). "Resigned. The fast fall of a Washington career". The Washington Post . Retrieved July 4, 2014.
Martha Johnson
MarthaJohnson 160x200.jpg
Administrator of General Services
In office
February 16, 2010 April 2, 2012
Political offices
Preceded by Administrator of General Services
2009–2012
Succeeded by