U.S. Office of Personnel Management
Speech by Janice R. Lachance, Deputy Director

Honoring Jim King

Indian Treaty Room
August 25, 1997

This is a sad day for all of us at OPM, but it also a time to celebrate the great record of accomplishment that Jim King leaves behind.

We all knew, back in 1993, that there was going to be major change in government and at OPM. The only question was how it would be handled.

Thanks to Jim King, our change at OPM was carried out with intelligence and decisiveness and compassion.

Jim is a friend of working people, and he was determined that our downsizing would treat each employee with the utmost possible respect and consideration and concern, and he provided the leadership that made that possible, and because of him we can all be proud of our record during a difficult time in government.

There isn't time to praise Jim's record in detail, but let me mention a few highlights.

When it was determined that OPM's investigations unit would be privatized, those seven hundred employees could simply have been riffed. That was what a lot of people expected. But Jim kept asking, Isn't there a better way to do this? And there was. Thanks to his determined leadership, we used an ESOP, an Employee Stock Ownership Program, to help those employees start their own, employee-owned, private company, US Investigations Services, Inc.

And as I hope you know, USIS has been successful beyond anyone's wildest predictions.

This happened because of Jim's leadership and we believe the privatization of our investigations program, through an ESOP, is going to be the model of many other privatizations in the future. People said it couldn't be done, but Jim was determined and it was done.

As chair of the National Partnership Council, Jim provided the strong leadership that has opened up a new era in federal labor-management relations, and the entire Clinton Administration is in his debt for that leadership and that progress.

He's given the same strong leadership to enforcing the veterans preference law, and the statistics show that veterans have done far better under this administration than they did in the four years preceding it.

I could go on, but I have other awards to present. Just let me say its been a great personal honor to work with Jim King. History is going to remember him as one of the strongest,

most creative, and most successful directors in OPM's history.

Now, as you may know, Jim has been much in demand as speaker, because he is funny and he is candid and he has an important message to deliver about this Administration's reinvention of government. He traveled this nation coast to coast delivering his message, and I think he's in large part responsible for the higher esteem in which federal employees have been held in the past four years.

Jim, its a privilege to present you with a bound collection of some of your speeches as Director.

I think everyone knows that Jim is a patriot. He believes in this country, this government, and our way of life. Often, when he's honored federal employees, he's presented them with an American flag, to remind them that they are defending our way of life and our Constitution.

Jim, now its your turn to receive your country's flag. It flew over the OPM building just today, and we want you to keep it with you, wherever you go. No one ever deserved it more.

Now I'm going to present Jim with a plaque from his colleagues at OPM.

Let me read the inscription.

THE OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT AWARD

TO JIM KING, DIRECTOR

OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT

APRIL 2, 1993 -- SEPTEMBER 1, 1997

YOU RESHAPED OPM AND WERE A LEADER IN THE REINVENTION OF GOVERNMENT.

YOU WERE A CHAMPION OF BETTER CUSTOMER SERVICE, WORKPLACE PARTNERSHIP, VETERANS PREFERENCE AND THE MERIT SYSTEM.

YOU WERE A HAPPY WARRIOR, INSPIRING OTHERS WITH YOUR INTEGRITY, COURAGE , HUMOR AND COMPASSION.

YOU LEAVE BEHIND A STRONGER CIVIL SERVICE AND COUNTLESS FRIENDS.

WITH THANKS AND AFFECTION FROM YOUR COLLEAGUES AT OPM.

AUGUST 25, 1997

Now, finally, its an honor to read a letter to Jim from someone who greatly admires him but wasn't able to be with us today.

This letter is from President Clinton. (Janice reads the Clinton letter)

Jim, we've all had our say. Now Id like to invite you to say a few words to your friends and colleagues.

 

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Web page created 23 October 1997