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PAG LIN
1 1 SENATE RESOLUTION No.
1 2 BY BANKS
1 3 A Senate Resolution calling for the removal of
1 4 the deputy secretary of agriculture.
1 5 WHEREAS, the Department of Agriculture and Land
1 6 Stewardship is a major state agency of government,
1 7 responsible for encouraging, promoting, and advancing
1 8 the interests of agriculture; and
1 9 WHEREAS, the department acting over its
1 10 administrative units, is entrusted with an annual
1 11 budget of more than $25 million and employs more than
1 12 400 employees responsible for performing vital
1 13 functions essential to the economic security of the
1 14 state, including the conservation of agricultural
1 15 resources, regulating and supporting animal industry,
1 16 promoting agricultural development and marketing, and
1 17 ensuring sound agricultural practices, and safe
1 18 agricultural products; and
1 19 WHEREAS, in recent years the department has endured
1 20 an internal management style that threatens the
1 21 department's capability to develop and implement
1 22 policies that inspire public confidence in the long-
1 23 term future of agriculture as an economic activity as
1 24 well as a way of life, as required pursuant to section
1 25 159.2 of the Iowa Code; and
1 26 WHEREAS, the General Assembly considered
1 27 legislation during the 1995 session which eliminated
1 28 the position of Deputy Secretary of Agriculture; and
1 29 WHEREAS, the working climate of the department has
1 30 deteriorated to a point that on December 5, 1995, Dr.
2 1 Charlene Bell, Ed.D., a private consultant employed by
2 2 the department, submitted a letter to Secretary of
2 3 Agriculture Dale M. Cochran recommending that Deputy
2 4 Secretary Shirley M. Danskin-White be removed from
2 5 office, after Dr. Bell conducted interviews of
2 6 directors and other staff in preparation for a
2 7 planning session relating to the department's future;
2 8 and
2 9 WHEREAS, the department has been paralyzed by
2 10 Deputy Secretary Danskin-White's adversarial micro-
2 11 management of its functions, which has, as confirmed
2 12 by Dr. Bell, inhibited communications among the
2 13 agency's administrative units and created a climate of
2 14 fear of reprisals among its employees, to a point of
2 15 crisis; NOW THEREFORE,
2 16 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE, That Secretary of
2 17 Agriculture Dale M. Cochran is urged to remove Deputy
2 18 Secretary Danskin-White from the position of Deputy
2 19 Secretary, and immediately act to restore integrity,
2 20 confidence, and morale within the department necessary
2 21 for the department to carry out its purpose and to
2 22 position itself for the future; and
2 23 BE IT RESOLVED, That a copy of this Resolution be
2 24 sent by the Secretary of the Senate to the Secretary
2 25 of Agriculture Dale M. Cochran.
2 26 LSB 4209XS 76
2 27 da/sc/14.2
Text: SR00100 Text: SR00102 Text: SR00100 - SR00199 Text: SR Index Bills and Amendments: General Index Bill History: General Index
Iowa General Assembly
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