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USDA relocation plan

On July 24, USDA announced a broad reorganization plan. The email to workers and the public announcement came out at the same time, blindsiding many of us, including apparently much of the leadership, even more than a few levels above me. There is a lot in here that is going to cause long-term problems for USDA and the people we serve (read: everyone). The building I work in, the George Washington Carver Center, is explicitly named as one of the locations that will eventually be vacated.

It's possible they'll tell me I have to start reporting downtown. Based on what has been shared - which is mostly the announcement itself, some quotes to a range of media outlets, and the Deputy Secretary's testimony to the Senate Ag committee that is so full of gaslighting I threw my headphones down in anger in less time than it takes to make ramen - it seems likely they'll ask me to move to Raleigh or Fort Collins. Those are both nice places, but as I said in the inaugural post, I'm not moving.

USDA set up a mailbox to receive feedback, specifically identifying USDA employees as eligible to provide it. Sure, it feels like a trap, but I feel like I was able to provide perspective and information in a way that can not (reasonably) be used to justify any personnel action. See what you think; below is the email I sent.

**************

Subject: A current USDA employee’s perspective on the proposed USDA reorganization plan

To:          USDA reorganization mailbox (reorganization@usda.gov)

Cc:         Senator Van Hollen (submitted to their website)

               Senator Alsobrooks (submitted to their website)

               Representative Raskin (submitted to their website)

               MD Senator Feldman (brian.feldman@senate.maryland.gov)

               MD Representative Fraser Hidalgo (david.fraser.hidalgo@house.maryland.gov)

               MD Representative Qi (lily.qi@house.maryland.gov)

               MD Representative Foley (linda.foley@house.maryland.gov)

               National Association of Federal Veterinarians (nafv@nafv.org)

Thank you for the opportunity to provide my feedback and perspective on the proposed USDA reorganization. I am Steven Rekant, a public health veterinarian with USDA APHIS. I have been with USDA since graduating veterinary school, starting as an ORISE Fellow at the Plum Island Animal Disease Center almost 12 years ago. I have been a federal employee with APHIS for over 9 years. I have held positions in APHIS that have taken me across the country and back. I will include general feedback in this letter because it is important to stress the far-reaching impact this plan could have, and I also want to share my personal story and perspective. This is a value I and the others who live and work in the National Capital Region (NCR) can provide.

The proposed reorganization plan is bad for me

The proposed reorganization plan, including the lack of communication about the details and timelines, is bad for me and for other workers in the NCR. The lack of transparency creates an unstable, uncertain situation. After 10 years of choosing to follow work opportunities even though they took me across the country and back, my wife and I moved to the NCR for reasons beyond work. We wanted to settle down and start a family, and we wanted to be close to our families and friends. If my duty station stays in the NCR, I plan to stay with USDA. If it does not, I will not. USDA has been a great place to do good work; I remain dedicated to the mission of USDA to protect, feed, clothe, and fuel the American people. However, I cannot pursue that at the cost of the person I am outside of work.

The proposed reorganization plan puts USDA workers in a bad spot

The proposed reorganization plan is bad for USDA workers: it disrupts community, and it makes working for USDA less desirable or viable for many people. The churn of moving, even when it was my choice, can limit one’s ability to create a community, both at work and outside of it. I have seen this first-hand every day since I was moved into the George Washington Carver Center in Beltsville. Being forced into the office in a rush, the rounds of deferred resignation options, and now this proposed reorganization plan make it impossible to create a positive work culture. How can you build relationships when you don’t know where you will be or who will be there? We all rely on multiple sources of motivation to fuel our work. For me, working in a comfortable, reliable setting with a positive work culture is a complement to my dedication to the USDA mission. That makes me more effective and efficient, which in turns helps my coworkers, my customers, and the American people.

The proposed reorganization plan and USDA’s discussions of it, including Deputy Secretary Vaden’s testimony, make frequent references to the cost of living. Here is a table with information on the locality adjustments for salary, the median income, and the median home price. 

State

County

Locality adjustment

Income

Home price

MD

Montgomery

33.94%

$100,044

$671,492

MD

Prince George’s

33.94%

$57,096

$445,727

DC

District of Columbia

33.94%

$106,816

$775,191

VA

Alexandria City

33.94%

$115,144

$778,834

CO

Larimer

30.52%

$71,359

$595,965

IN

Marion

18.15%

$70,999

$269,471

MO

Cass

18.97%

$52,006

$330,273

MO

Clay

18.97%

$52,329

$317,709

MO

Jackson

18.97%

$49,775

$255,895

MO

Platte

18.97%

$73,531

$399,940

NC

Wake

22.24%

$81,322

$533,344

UT

Salt Lake

17.06%

$71,787

$599,151

(Note: It looks like I have to learn HTML to make the table not be weird, so it'll just be weird. It was fine in the email.)

The salary a USDA employee can get in each location is not the only factor we must consider. There are certainly areas in the NCR where it is difficult to buy a home, but there are locations easily within the community area that are reasonable. I include the median income because many people have a partner. If their earning potential is limited because of the locations of the new hubs, forcing USDA employees to leave the NCR will result in families living apart or people deciding their new duty station is untenable.

Instability and unnecessary churn are bad for the people USDA serves

For the past 7 years, I have worked in interagency coordination, developing and strengthening relationships and perspective about how partners across the federal government, state government, and other organizations can collaborate and coordinate to achieve efficient, effective results for the American people. While the American people and farmers and ranchers are my customers, my most direct customers are other federal agencies. Moving my job to another city makes it harder to do my job effectively. In turn, I cannot support my team as well, and we cannot support our extensive, talented field staff as well.

Everyone suffers by destabilizing these positions. USDA has already lost many talented people with long-standing connections to broad, sweeping programs used to reshape the Department. This proposed reorganization plan will further hamstring the Department in many ways. As was shown in the report from the non-partisan Congressional Research Service on the relocation of NIFA and ERS in 2019, relocations like the one in the proposed reorganization plan significantly disrupt the agencies’ ability to function, ultimately harming producers and ranchers and the American people.

The current leadership has encouraged workers to proactively leave government for “more productive” jobs. One of the entities that will be significantly impacted in the proposed reorganization plan is the Beltsville Area Research Center (BARC). The value of basic research, like the work done at the BARC, has been proven over and over again. Acknowledging this was published prior to the current President’s term, this post from the White House about the value of basic research highlights a seemingly irrelevant topic that is vital today. Research into the mating habits of the screwworm helped develop the Sterile Insect Technique, which is being used today to help repel the incursion of New World Screwworm. The work done at the BARC is vital: from hydrology and remote sensing to microbial food safety to developing sustainable agricultural practices and beyond. Ranchers and producers need this research for the US to remain competitive and to help feed the American people. By closing facilities like the BARC and communicating to potential workers that this is an unstable work environment, the proposed reorganization plan will weaken American production and push the most talented researchers away from the government.

For more on the impact of basic research, I encourage you to read these (and many other) sources:

The proposed reorganization plan is bad for USDA

Losing trained, talented workers will have a compounding effect on USDA and the people we serve. Current employees will leave, and prospective employees will see an organization that wantonly destabilizes their work environment, making USDA a less attractive place to work. This will, both quickly and over time, erode the skills and expertise of the USDA workforce. This, in turn, will provide USDA’s front-line field employees with less support. By cutting jobs in the NCR, the proposed reorganization plan is also hamstringing the USDA field force, making USDA less efficient and less effective.

Thank you again for the opportunity to provide my perspective and thoughts on the proposed reorganization plan. I've been able to help people and do fulfilling work at USDA, and I sincerely look forward tot he chance to continue doing that. The proposed relocation plan would likely force me to leave federal service, would negatively affect current and future works across USDA, and would weaken USDA, preventing us from protecting, feeding, clothing, and fueling the American people to the best of our abilities. I urge you to reconsider the proposed reorganization plan.

Sincerely,

Steven Rekant, DVM MPH DACVPM

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