DEAR EDITOR:
This letter is regarding a story headlined "SCOPE didn't do its job." SCOPE is a valuable resource that must be preserved for the community. Bringing up the problems that ensued over time does not help to rectify the problems, and the past cannot help.
Any organization has problems. In the beginning a single person can wear several hats and do them equally well. Over time as the organization grows, it becomes increasing more difficult.
When that happens more funds are allocated to diversify the needs of the organization. In the case of a private organization, the management allocates funds for the new positions that are needed to run the business on a more efficient basis. However, in a business, and private or public, it is a business, and needs to be operated as such.
However, there are other rules that take place in a public enterprise than in a private business. Some background is needed for this analysis. Most businesses start out small, and if successful, they grow. This is where complications come into play. In the beginning it is possible for the entrepreneur to manage all the different affairs of the business as is the administrator of the public business. But as both enterprises grow, the dynamics change. The private business hires new employees to now cover the myriad of functions that are needed in now running a larger business.
This dynamic has no problem for the private business, but has a serious problem in the public sector. Funds in the public sector are provided for programs that have grown, and the manner in which those funds must be used is also delineated. It is solely for the implementation of the larger variety of programs that have grown and been increased. Here the change is now a big problem for the public administrator. His or her ability to manage the public enterprise has now reached a point where specialized talent is needed, but funds are not provided as the private enterprise can do.
Now the referenced article does not take into account the business aspects of the public entity, and is searching for something that does not exist. In the public enterprise, the management is still wearing several hats. Something had to go. To rehash what has happened, does not help to solve the still existent problems. A way must be found to provide funds to hire the specialized needs for the public business to operate in the proper manner. It must be run as a business, and funds must be provided for that purpose. There are now four entities in the senior citizens group. One person cannot do it alone.
Leonard J. Sainato
Warren