Wednesday, June 1, 2005
Contact: Jessica Robinson, (573)751-0290
Blunt Eliminates Redundant Services; Commends Commissioner for Cost Savings
JEFFERSON CITY - Gov. Matt Blunt does not think Missouri families should pay multiple state employees to perform overlapping jobs. Office of Administration (OA) Commissioner Mike Keathley applied this philosophy to dump wasteful staffing policies of the past.
"The tax and spend philosophies of the past have allowed the state bureaucracy to grow unchecked for too long. Outdated organizational set-up has cost Missourians too much in unneeded staff," Blunt said. "I commend Commissioner Keathley for using common sense in his office to find real cost-savings for Missourians."
Keathley improved personnel management by reorganizing staff and responsibilities in the Commissioner’s office. Keathley’s changes reduced his staff by 10 full time positions without reducing services to taxpayers.
"There were overlapping job descriptions and duplicate services with different employees paid to do the same job," Keathley said. "It was simply a matter of considering the best possible way to spend every state tax dollar, because if I am not getting all I can for every dollar, I am not doing my job for the people of this state."
Keathley also plans to look for additional savings throughout OA’s operating divisions.