I wish to take this opportunity to communicate directly to you just how pleased I am to be back at the Division of Administration and how much I look forward to working with you all. I also want to use this opportunity to share with you the principles and vision that will guide the work I do and the goals I hope to accomplish as Commissioner.

Quite simply, these goals, which I share with Gov. Bobby Jindal, are to help strengthen ethics in government administration, increase government transparency and accountability, and implement fiscal reform. In short, my vision for the Division is that it undertakes such initiatives that will help transform Louisiana government to be more efficient, more effective, and more responsive to the taxpayers it is intended to serve.

As you know, on his first day in office Gov. Jindal demonstrated the seriousness with which he views governmental and fiscal reform by issuing Executive Orders to assess the level of transparency and accountability throughout government, and to implement a statewide hiring freeze to allow for a prudent review of fiscal management practices. The Division will serve an integral role in the implementation of these Executive Orders, but moreover, must also take the lead in all government and fiscal reform efforts.

The starting point is transparency. The more Louisiana’s citizens are allowed to know how their government works and how it spends their money, the more likely they will be in a position to make sure government works better and spends wisely and with restraint. This information needs to be easily reachable, accessible, and searchable.

Similarly, by fiscal reform we mean to say that if government must spend tax dollars on certain projects or programs, it has an obligation to demonstrate to the taxpayer that the project or program is needed, that the money used is achieving desired results, and that those results are also being reached with the least amount of money possible. If those things cannot be demonstrated, government must then determine whether those projects or programs are still necessary, whether they conform to what government can properly or effectively perform, or whether the projects or programs themselves need to be reformed to achieve the results taxpayers are paying for.

This path toward greater accountability that I have just described will, I hope, become pervasive in state government, but it must begin here at the Division. With your help and a shared purpose for reinventing government, I hope to provide the type of leadership that sees the Division of Administration and all state government bring ever-improving service to every citizen of this state.

Because the work you do brings value to the citizens of Louisiana, please know how much I value the service you provide at the Division. Reforming government is an ongoing process requiring constant innovation, evaluation, hard work, and, above all, cooperation. I look forward to hearing your ideas and working as a team to provide the people of Louisiana even better service in the days ahead.