Always enjoy town halls at @NASA centers. Our @NASA_Marshall workforce will be critical for our #Artemis program. I’m grateful for the incredibly talented team here in Alabama! pic.twitter.com/hcT3acgfYx
— Jim Bridenstine (@JimBridenstine) August 16, 2019
Keith’s note: Several sources at NASA Marshall report that their managers sent them memos today that said that they would get 59 minutes of excused leave that they could use at any time next week *if* they went to the all-hands event in the MSFC auditorium today with Jim Bridenstine. Why 59 minutes? Answer: offering an hour or more of leave requires a different management approval mechanism. Other sources report that MSFC employees who were planning to work offsite via telework were told that they needed to come onsite today so that they could attend the all hands event.
I find it to be somewhat baffling that MSFC management was so paranoid that employees might not want to show up for an event of obvious importance to their personal and collective future at NASA that they sought to stuff the room with warm bodies as a show of support. Did they stop to think what NASA HQ would think? It is not as if these employees weren’t going to tell people that their management sent these memos all over the center. This also sets a bad precedent for future all-hands events at MSFC and elsewhere..
Word of these official MSFC management urgings first appeared a week or so ago. There is now a fire lit under the existing rivalry between Texas and Alabama with regard to the Human Lunar Lander program – one that extends all the way to the halls of Congress. As such it was probably not too smart in a strategic sense for MSFC management to be caught doing sneaky stunts like this. The Texas delegation was absent from the Huntsville event. They have publicly stated – bluntly – that they did not agree with this decision and that they intend to have a strong voice in how this all unfolds. As such I suspect that the folks at JSC won’t need management memos to prompt them to show up at events and rallies – if the occasion arises.
P.S. According to Sen. Cruz and congressional staffers from other offices, NASA’s Office of Legislative Affairs did not pre-coordinate all of this with the Texas delegation. This is not the first time this year that Code L has neglected to exert due diligence in coordinating with everyone in advance of a major announcement. Texas is a potential toss-up state in 2020. Alabama is not. Just sayin’.
And yet the 59 minutes of leave gag is deemed illegal at IRS for motivating the staff there. Hmm. Interesting how that plays out.
That’s interesting because I have seen it used at the Air Force.
Wonder if this idea originated with Prince Potemkin for villages Catherine the Great was going to visit.
No, they didn’t have to pay the serfs back then.
So it was, wave your cap, cheer, and bow or die? And that’s changed how?
Does this just not look bad in general, having to bribe people to do something? I’m just not sure the ethics and morals of this are up to snuff. Or is it just a sign of the times?
So now the overhead due to meetings just got multiplied by almost a factor of 2. Teleworking at home is so popular that the tax payers get cheated out of 59 minutes of work. Why can’t management simply say telework on that day is canceled unless specifically approved. Telework was never intended to interfere with the NASA mission. This is FWA.
Seems to me if worried about 59 minutes vs a full one hour, lots of luck getting back to the moon. Kind of like Korolev dealing with Politburo but never can get proper commitment of resources needed to accomplish a mission.
That sort of thing is fairly common. Hardware billed to NASA grants has to be in the budget if it’s over $5000. If it’s less, you can just buy it. It’s amazing how many scientists buy $4999 computers on NASA grants.