Did we realize that we appreciate government work?

I worked on this blog entry in the later days of the government shutdown after hearing stories that federal employees were becoming demoralized from their perceptions that they weren't valued.  Well,  I went back to work, got paid, and quickly became consumed by all the catchup I had to do from the shutdown.  So my I almost, but didn't quite, finished the blog.  Now I did and thus posted now.  Perhaps it's not quite in step with the news cycle since we averted a following shutdown.  But I think this is an important takeaway from the shutdown.  We are appreciated.

I recently saw a post from a friend of mine during the shutdown that he heard of NASA scientists being recruited away to Silicon Valley companies and not looking back.  I'm not sure when this happened but I could imagine that during the shutdown a lot of government researchers were thinking of doing the same.  After all, why would anyone want to hang out without pay doing research in the government when they could be making multiple times that amount working for some hot company?
I'm pretty sure that Ronald Reagan quipped something to that effect in this quote  “The best minds are not in government. If any were, business would steal them away.” 

President Reagan may have said many valid quotes in his tenure, but I'm going to say that this one is not true.  I've been around long enough to know amazingly smart people that remain in government.   Why?  Because money isn't the number one motivating factor that governs their happiness.  There are other motivating factors.  In the world of meteorology where I ply my trade, most of my colleagues, many as smart as anybody in the private sector,  do research and forecast the weather in NOAA.  Most of them haven't run away or have been snatched by the private sector.  They'd prefer to advance the science and make the best forecasts they can because they believe in protecting life and property and advancing related missions in NOAA.  None of them mentioned they want to make more money, only enough so that they can focus on their mission and not worry about their quality of life.  I believe this to be true of many sectors of government, however, I would have to say that for my career, working in NOAA ranked as high as any government agency in satisfaction.

We've had our shutdowns in the past, big ones happened when Newt Gingrich led Congress into a budget battle with President Clinton for 21 days back in 1995-1996.  Or how about when Senator Cruz did the same with President Obama for 13 days?  None of them resulted in entirely missing a paycheck.  And when it did happen this time, I've heard many stories about demoralization around the news media.  The most demoralized seem to come from those working for the least pay, like in the TSA or the IRS.  I can certainly emphasize with them considering that they were running out of funds to pay for basic life necessities.  It's hard to think about your job when you're not getting paid and you're running out of money.  Even better-paid employees were wondering about whether it was worth staying in the government, even without the shutdown.

You see, it's because the shutdown brought to light the years of vitriol that we've heard since 1980.  Another Ronald Reagan quote came to mind that goes like this:  “Government is not a solution to our problem government is the problem.”  Now he might've been focusing on larger aspects of government and not the individual employee or his/her worth to society.  But the negative impressions of government employees from certain sectors of the US seemed to grow from there.  Think about quotes like 'We're from Washington and we're here to help', or that government employees are overpaid and lazy.  This kind of attitude strikes hard at the very core of why we work in the government.  We work in the civil service because we're service-oriented. Our mission is to serve American people or push the frontiers of knowledge.  Our sense of importance is not dependent on how much cash we can earn but by making a difference to someone's lives for whom we serve.  It's that simple.  So imagine how these quotes above can attack at our sense of service?  For this reason, the shutdown that lasted this long could have had a strongly demoralizing influence on civil servants, no matter if we got paid or not.  There is plenty to show that scientists in federal labs are being pushed out because they feel unappreciated, or worse, perceived to be an annoyance by half of the American public.  This is especially true when certain pundits proclaimed that a shutdown only inconveniences a few tourists because a national park gift shop is closed.  I'll let you know if who if you want.

But this shutdown showed another thing that I think never came to light as strongly previously – an awakening about how much civil servants are appreciated.  If there's one good thing about this shutdown, it's a reminder of what this society would be like without us.  

First off, there were the news media reports that alarmed everyone about the negative impacts on the country that multiplied every day there was this partial government shutdown.  One story after another warned about the immediate impacts, like commercial air travel, and general aviation. Perhaps the biggest story on the aviation side was what would happen if large numbers of TSA agents and air traffic controllers failed to show up for work? The answer would surely be a crippled travel infrastructure.  The reported ground stop at LaGuardia and travel delays in Philadelphia and Newark airports surely seem to go along with the higher than normal absences of air traffic controllers.  But that's just scratching the surface.  There were numerous stories about IRS workers taking emergency leave and the threat to the US from a hobbled FBI.

In my world as a National Weather Service employee, there were plenty of stories about the negative impacts of the shutdown on the NWS.   Already, reported by WRAL, some broken down river gauges were not repaired because of the shutdown in North Carolina.   Not just equipment but new stories described the sinking morale of forecasters such as by KTVQ in Billings, MT.  Fortunately, the dedication of NWS forecasters working without pay meant that the US was spared the much starker consequences of a shutdown with no weather services.  However Longer term impacts were starting to build up because training and forecast improvement work was stopped, and federal employees were furloughed.  NPR documented what hurricane preparedness planning was lost for an entire year.   It doesn't end there because the NWS lost over a month of training new and experienced employees in all aspects of doing their jobs, and developing new improvements to forecasting such as the new global model called the FV3, and an improved forecast guidance system called the National Blend of Models.  These impacts were not lost to the media (from KTVQ to TIME).   Step out a bit to a more broad scale, and one can see how much impact there was.  Take the comments from Marshall Shepherd (Head of the Atmospheric Sciences Program at University of Georgia) about how the shutdown affected his student's ability to do their research using NOAA and NASA data.  These impacts may not seem as dire as shutting down airports but multiply these by thousands and they become much larger.

"1. Several NOAA websites with data that I use in lectures/student assignments are down. I had to completely restructure assignments this week.

2. One of my doctoral students has a NASA civil servant on his PhD committee. We are trying to schedule his proposal defense this Spring, but the NASA person is furloughed and will likely be backed up when it is over. 

3. Several students in our Department planning to graduate in May are unable to complete senior projects, theses, or dissertations because they cannot access data needed from NOAA or other shuttered websites.

4. I have pending grant proposals to NASA and NSF. If funded, they bring $$ to UGA as overhead/indirect. Additionally, it allows me to offer research assistantships to new graduate students. The longer I wait for a decision from the Agency, the more likely UGA is going to lose this talent to some other University.

5. Our Atmospheric Sciences students were not able to meet with federal scientists at our biggest discipline conference in Phoenix because NASA, NOAA, and NSF colleagues couldn't go. This limits Georgia students' access to potential jobs, internships, fellowships, and so forth."

So these are the negative impacts and perhaps they give us federal employees that our work is vital and potentially damaging if missed.  Perhaps there's a more important reason to consider when our importance is in doubt.  It's the realization that our work was appreciated. Our stakeholders and the public empathized with our travails, and the kindness of our stakeholders displayed support of our livelihoods.  Again, this appreciation was widespread.  I take examples from my most familiar corner of civil service – the NWS.  Numerous stories remarked on the fact that the NWS stayed open and its users, gratified.  Look in particular on the story from Montgomeryadvertiser about the accurate tornado warnings provided by NWS Birmingham forecasters literally saved lives.  The USAToday  highlighted how forecasters stayed on the job to forecast blizzards across the northern US.  FOX40 reported on residents in Sacramento talking of their appreciation that the NWS Sacramento office was open and providing information on a storm that knocked power out to thousands.  The good stories appeared daily in the media, ranging from local to national news (like CBSnews).  Amidst all of this, I've been heartened to see too many examples to count of local government agencies and broadcasters bringing lunches to their local NWS offices in appreciation of their work and with a bit of solidarity.  I pasted only the tip of the iceberg below as examples of generosity expressed throughout the NWS.  Heck, even our sister agency, Environment Canada, provided meals across borders to offices in Montana, Alaska, and elsewhere.  Our work was appreciated, and this is just my narrow view from the NWS.

Overall, the partial shutdown of the federal government demonstrated that we were wanted, appreciated, and its partners and people across the US expressed dismay at how we were treated.  Not only that but the evidence also appears in surveys, such as that conducted by Pew Research, that federal programs are valued by the public and partners.  I note that both republicans and democrats favor keeping federal spending at least the same levels for every one of the topic areas except providing foreign assistance. Close to the backyard where I work, I find it heartening that 94% of Democrats and 80% of Republicans do not want a decrease in scientific research.  

So, while optics sometimes appears to show that the American public don't favor federal employees, the evidence shows otherwise.  That's the evidence.  I also share just a small sample of pictures and stories posted on social media by my colleagues from around the country.  This should give you a sense of NWS partners giving their thanks.  I'm sure this is repeated throughout the various agencies of the federal government.

NWS employees keep providing service amidst hardship

John De Block posted this article from the Montgomery Advertiser. .  

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2019/01/12/national-weather-service-forecasts-winter-snow-storm-government-shutdown/2558998002/?fbclid=IwAR10g9ZzjAQ44onGy_TnUIUdsl5TOv6ymT_kSi9xkCSh3bRXGYCqoTbmkIg

https://fox40.com/2019/01/07/nws-meteorologists-still-monitoring-storms-around-the-clock-despite-government-shutdown/


Appreciation of government work

http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/05/26/few-americans-support-cuts-to-most-government-programs-including-medicaid/

Food was delivered to the NWS at PeachTree City, GA

Here at my place of employment at the National Weather Center, there was enough generosity to nearly break a table in half.

The Webster Parish Police Jury delivered BBQ to the NWS Shreveport office.

I think this caption says it all.  Others show their support when they understand someone else is in need of a hand.

The city of Roanoke, VA posted a list of services willing to help furloughed federal workers.

The city of Indianapolis provides a community resource expo for furloughed and excepted feds.

The Coconino County Roads Public Works team shared lunch with the NWS Flagstaff office.

The Mad River Glen ski resort offers free skiing to federal employees during the shutdown.

Dave Snider sent this post of the lunch at the Alaska Aviation Weather Unity, Volcano Advisory Center, Alaska Pacific River Forecast Center, and the Anchorage Weather Forecast Office made possible by Environment Canada Edmonton.

Kate Shawkey posted this free lunch at the NWS Hastings office.

Rick Smith posted a picture of their wall of appreciation at NWS Norman, OK.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2019/01/10/government-shutdown-freebies-deals-and-help-furloughed-workers/2523404002/?fbclid=IwAR0x5sKYlOo-NkE5Y1qeDcO387QMB8_ew-MZMNdrbeNLCgxftnEAWui8fjg


Realizing that government support is important
LA times: Shutdown showed America's dependence on the federal government (Read the full story)

Air travel
https://www.washingtonpost.com
https://nbaa.org/aircraft-operations/the-government-shutdown-and-business-aviation/impact-of-the-government-shutdown-on-general-aviation/

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/01/23/boeing-warns-shutdown-could-hurt-business-and-aviation-industry.html

https://thehill.com/policy/transportation/425326-airline-industry-fears-bite-from-shutdown

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/blue-flu-tsa-agents-skip-cannot-afford-work-free-212415393.html


Weather Readiness
http://time.com/5492377/weather-forecasts-goverment-shutdown/?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=social-share-article&utm_content=20190103&fbclid=IwAR10hwn-M_9yd71LrqR31kO8OwECdBsARxVxwccwTvKkeCkUUwTEJJY9W4s

https://www.abcfoxmontana.com/bozeman/as-government-shutdown-continues-federal-employees-in-western-montana-face/article_074550f8-0f02-11e9-850d-1b427a0c1c4f.html?utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook&utm_campaign=user-share&fbclid=IwAR23OJltPLHkVfu6ghnUN5COw3e6hbfn5VQ0uiigdV75VYeUS3kwR16qOpg

https://www.cbsnews.com/live/video/20190123023148-with-much-of-the-country-experiencing-extreme-winter-weather-a-look-at-how-the-national-weather-service-is-handling-the-ongoing-shutdow/?fbclid=IwAR1g2i3j4FgjE-conGyUOd5xLV8YKTUs3AvItdq_ccgoroLzxXcoMuEk6Uk

https://www.wral.com/weather-service-employees-forecast-difficult-times-ahead-if-government-shutdown-doesn-t-end/18139361/?fbclid=IwAR1Zr7R6Fe9z9Ctj_Xyqtv2GEMyp9MGfgg18mwSRlKPPEoI7i535-D7Q6Ns

https://ktvq.com/news/local-news/2019/01/24/amid-snow-storms-forecasting-in-billings-takes-hit-during-government-shutdown/?fbclid=IwAR03PjS1RQ1RKznEfv4893108ROfLVcsH5hP0583YQt73AkhO873SFHyUIA

https://www.npr.org/2019/01/15/685414053/government-shutdown-stalls-preparedness-for-upcoming-hurricane-season?fbclid=IwAR1ITSkVBbe5a3lsi-2iy0TBtBsUHND8f30rBvzdFJw-NH3mfhtQW5bqR5g

Law Enforcement
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/federal-law-enforcement-officers-association-writes-letter-to-trump-shutdown-has-become-extremely-dangerous/


Support

Lending Institutions
AMEX, Avadian Credit Union, Bank of America, Boeing Employees Credit Union, Capital One,

Chase, Citibank, Congressional Federal Credit Union:, Credit Union 1, Coast Central Credit Union, Department of Commerce Federal Credit Union:, Discover Card, ENT Credit Union, Fed Choice Central Credit Union, First Command Financial Services, First Oklahoma Bank, Hebrew Free Loan Association of Greater Washington, Icon Credit Union, Boise, Justice Federal Credit Union, Landmark Credit Union - Wisconsin, Lending Club, Lowes, NASA Federal Credit Union,  Navient, Navy Federal Credit Union, Paypal, Pentagon Federal Credit Union, PNC Bank, Quicken Loans, San Diego Fed Credit Union, Service Credit Union, Stockman Bank - Montana, SunTrust, Synchrony Bank, USAA, US Bank, US Employees Credit Union, Washington Federal Bank, Wells Fargo

Auto companies

Chrysler, Ford, Lexus, Subaru, Toyota VW

Utilities

Alabama Power, Chugach Electric, Enstar Natural Gas, Dominion Virginia Power, GCI, Matanuska, Montana Dakota Utilities, Pepco, Memphis Light Gas and Water, Washington DC Gas

Cellular, all major companies

Insurance

Geico, Country Financial, Safeco, State Farm

Assistance Programs

United Way, Food Bank, catholic community Services - UT, St. Vincent de Paul - Seattle, Mercy Food Pantry - OKC

James Brotherton shared this link of hundreds of food places offering free food to furloughed federal employees.

Julie Campbell shared this link of shutdown services from Montgomery Co., MD.

Things to do

Rosetta-stone gift offer, Anchorage Museum, Alamo Drafthouse Cinema, Adler Planetarium, American Bar Association continuing ed credits, Boulevard Brewing - KC, Enchanted Alaska, Oregon Zoo, OKC National Memorial adn Museum, Miami Free Admission to Museums, Harlem Globetrotters, Dallas Symphony, Utah's Hogle Zoo, U of Alaska SeaWolves games,  https://payitfurloughed.com/#pabst 

and this is the tip of the iceberg.