Team Pinata

It's time once again to turn out attention to Ventris Gibson, the beleaguered pinata at the head of the snake that is the FAA's Human Resource Department.  (Hint for you non-Indians...any time you begin to refer to human beings as a "resource," you better brace yourself.  A pink slip is headed your way, your job will be outsourced to Bangalore, and the next thing you know you will be calling the people you have safety oversight responsibility for "customers" like the morons at the FAA have been brainwashed into doing.)

Ventris, one of the pre-eminent players on "Team Pinata," the overstuffed, sugary clay pot that is the leadership group at the Failed Aviation Administration, has become so desperate lately that she is outsourcing the worst part of her job:  The public ass-kicking she takes any time she shows her mug to an audience of anything but Budddist monks.  And the monks ain't so fond of her, either. 

At this web page you can see the bid---until the FAA pulls it down.  Lucky for you Main Bangers I took the liberty of copying it down verbatim because it is so hilariously pathetic.  I mean....really, Ventris.  A "Special Assistant" to take your beatings for you?  Hmmm.  Those months at Base Ops in Guantanamo (also known as "air traffic experience" by liars who lie on their resumes) must have given you Post Traumatic Stress Disorder or something.  You just don't have the nerve, guts or fortitude to stand up for your own idiotic decisions.  Pathetic?  Yes.  Cowardly.  Certainly.  True?  Indubitably. 

Here's the text of the bid, followed, of course, by some sermonizing by yours truly:

Announcement Number :  AWA-AHR-08-AMB1111-09278 Opening Date :  Apr 22, 2008
Closing Date :  May 15, 2008
Position :  Special Assistant to the Assistant Administrator for Human Resource Management, AHR-1
Series :  301
Business Component :  Assistant Administrator for Human Resource Management, AHR-1    
Duty Location(s) :  Washington, District of Columbia  -  Vacancies:  1   
Salary Range :  $84,986 - $131,770
FV-J   Information about Locality Pay
Information about COLA
Information about Citizenship 
Who May Apply :  Current or Former Employees - Qualified Civil Service Employees - With status
  We are not accepting applications from non-citizens.
Job Status :  Full Time 
Appointment Duration :  Permanent

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

About the FAA

Financial Disclosure

Evaluations 

Description of the Position
Duties :   The selectee will serve as the Special Assistant and will report directly to the Assistant Administrator for Human Resource Management.The incumbent serves as a liaison between the Assistant Administrator for Human Resource Management and other offices to provide policy guidance or policy development. Represents AHR in meetings and/or conferences to justify or defend AHR's position on specific issues, present FAA recommendations and/or discuss actions affecting human resource programs. Leads, represents, or conducts special studies, projects, or programs having agency-wide impact. Monitors progress for adherence to timeframes and deadlines. Prepares proposals to solve management problems that may require extensive changes in established policies and procedures. Serves as a principal advisor and counsel to AHR senior level managers on administrative and human resource management initiatives.
Minimum Qualifications :  All applicants must demonstrate one year of SPECIALIZED experience equivalent to the next lower grade level (FG-13) or ( I band) in the Core Compensation system. SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE is experience which is in or related to the line of work of the position to be filled and which has equipped the applicant with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities to successfully perform the duties of the position. To be creditable, specialized experience must have been equivalent to the next lower grade or band in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization.

Other Job Requirements : 1. Ability to effectively establish and maintain working relationships requiring rapport, tact, confidentiality and diplomacy in dealing with senior level officials, both internally and externally.
2. Skill in communicating effectively and persuasively to present findings, ideas and recommendations on a broad range of Human Resource Management issues.
3. Knowledge of human resource management administration and management practices and how they relate to agency program goals and objectives.
4. Knowledge of and skill in analytical principles and methods and application thereof in order to lead, design, or conduct special studies or projects.
5. Ability to prioritize work and work independently on own initiative, with minimal to no supervision, to accomplish assignments and meet deadlines.
6. Skill in working on task force, committees, or groups, and in negotiating with senior management to accept and implement recommendations with senior management to accept and implement recommendations, where proposals may involve substantial agency resources or may be very sensitive or controversial.

I guess Venti really needs some help!  I may have to run a ChipIn for her.  The sad thing is, the person who stumbled upon this highly polished piece of dog shit was an AFSS guy who lost his pension after 20.5 years of faithful service to the government and the American public.  A man searching for a job to hold on to until he can maybe make it to a new, different, longer retirement cycle. 

These poor AFSS folks still can't get an answer from George Williams or Wanda Reyna about the rating criteria used to justify no hiring qualified AFSS over CTI, then offering the Flight Service people jobs AFTER the pay cuts went in.

George Williams is also the one that swore under oath that the FAA had people working on limiting the SNOWE AMENDMENT put together by Congress to help AFSS people get to their retirement.

Ventris needs somebody to take her bitch-slappings because there is NO ACCOUNTABILITY on the FAA ATC RATING PLAN and on ATC selections.  Pinata Gibson needs someone to take a boot in the ass for her because she doesn't support her own employees, undermines their attempts to remain employed, and has been an unmitigated disaster as Assistant Administrator.  In fact, I would say that Ventris Gibson has turned Human Resources at the FAA into a wasteland.  She makes Brown at FEMA look like a star, and if asked, she will tell you herself she is doing a heck of a job...right after she gives you the secret chest-thump Heil salute and boot-click.

A liaison between her and "other offices."  Federal.  State.  Local. Congressional.  "Other" offices.  And to do what?  JUSTIFY OR DEFEND positions that Ventris Gibson herself is too chicken shit to defend.  So she's going to blow 131,000 taxpayer dollars to hire another lackey to take her whippings for her.

Not the least bit surprising coming from Ventris Gibson.  In fact...totally in character.

Cluck, cluck. 

Comments

[Crude]

This is I liked best .... an assistant who will be paid more than the controllers!

>Salary Range : $84,986 - $131,770

Crude

[SA-TWF]

Don't forget that is for "Special Assistant to the Assistant Administrator" for that salary range!

[SA-TWF]

I guess I'll sit here with my $42,000 a year and like it. I make half of what an "Assistant to an Assistant" makes...Son of a Ventris!

[OBX beach bum]

I guess that would make them the third a**hole!

[ImGoneAndHappy!]

Come on, SA-TWF. Haven't you got the message: Controllers are pond scum. Worthless, lazy drains on the Ameircan Airl....., er I mean American Taxpayers. That 3/4 Trillion Dollars that the aviation industry pumps into our economy (nah, don't worry that you also contribute to the world's economy, our national defense, etc., etc.) is the result of the fine, hard 24/7 work that MS. Gibson, Bobert, Mr. Hankie, King Bruce, The Duche, Bad Day, and the rest of these super-duper folks.

Sheeeesh. No wonder us controllers get a bad rap when you folks whine, thinking that you actually matter to anyone except your bill collectors.

[ass to the ass]

http://www.governmentleader.com/issues/1_1/features/54-1.html

Its pay for performance you numskulls. If my assisstant dont talks my way out a trouble, I dont pay it. It puts the lotion on its skin! I was too a atc in gitmo! call me a liar, I'll fine tune your ass right out of this agency! Im sorry I overreacted- gotta go- the breakfast wagon just pulled up.

love and kisses,

Ventris

[Day Tripper]

It is important to note that this position would be Assistant ‘to” the Assistant Administrator for Human Resource Management in the FAA, not the Assistant, Assistant Administrator for Human Resource Management. It is just like the character Dwight Schrute (Rainn Wilson) on NBC’s “The Office”. He is the Assistant "to" The Dunder Mifflin Paper Company Scranton, PA, Regional Manager, Michael Scott (Steve Carell). Dwight is not the Assistant Regional Manager. Big distinction here. Ventris’ lackey needs to be as worthless and clueless as Dwight so the job titles have to parallel one another. Of course all the FAA puzzle palace players have a parallel sad sack character they resemblance played brilliantly by the actors in “The Office”. The sad part is that they are not actors at the FAA.

[Officefan]

sounds like a job for Dwight Schrute to me!

[EXFed]

I don't even think old Ventris is qualified for this position.

[John J. Tormey III, Esq.]

My favorite phrase in the whole posting?

"...justify or defend..."

As IF!

John J. Tormey III, Esq.
Quiet Rockland

[CHASEUS]

I forwarded this to you, so thanks for posting it.

Over 200 of us AFSS folks have formed our own closed blog on a YAHOO GROUP SITE, and we are forming a close knit group of people to write several articles and letters. These letters and articles will are being prepared to go to each of the major federal employment trade magazines, and to major newpaper media, along with some Congresspersons to demonstrate how short changed we were by AHR in this transition, and to get out the real end result of all of the work Ventris claimed to do on our behalf.

I have written, emailed, and called AHR countless times to get answers to a couple of simple questions, and the FAA SIMPLY will not answer me.

THEY KNOW MY EMAIL, AND MY PHONE NUMBER, AND I WOULD BE MORE THAN HAPPY TO TALK TO THEM AT ANY TIME.

We have copies of interviews and comments made by Ventris Gibson to various media outlets, and we are providing her public claims in contrast to the end result of these efforts on the part of AHR. She has made the claim that the FAA set a new standard on how to treat employees, yet the numbers, and the inconsistencies, and the secret rating systems will clearly speak for themselves.

I just want to know how CTI students were offered so many positions over me in FY2006, then after the pay cuts went in, then, and only then, do I get selected over CTI Students.

The FAA has made so many claims of doing all they could for the employees that lost their jobs in the AFSS transition, yet they cannot back up their claims, and so far, they have had zero accountability by hiding under an umbrella of secrecy, by claiming the rating criteria are secret "test" material that can't be released. Ventris even went so far in one interview when asked about employees losing retirement benefits that "it really isn't so", and that AFTER EMPLOYEES LEARN ABOUT THE DETAILS, THEY ARE OK WITH IT. Just a note to any FAA types, I am NOT OK with losing about 90% of my real pension dollars, and ALL OF MY SOCIAL SECURITY SUPPLEMENT, AND MY FEDERAL HEALTH CARE BENEFIT IN RETIREMENT. This, after working 20.5 years ATC GOOD TIME.

So they claim to have no accountability to explain HOW, when the FAA HAD AN OBLIGATION TO MAKE EVERY REASONABLE EFFORT TO PLACE THE FIRED AFSS EMPLOYEES, THAT THEY FILLED 1145 ATC POSITIONS IN FY2006, AND ONLY 22 OF THOSE JOBS WENT TO THE AFSS FOLKS. WE NEEDED JOBS, AND THE FAA SPENT A LOT OF TAXPAYER MONEY LETTING US LOOK FOR THOSE JOBS.

Not only that, but I was passed over many, many times by CTI STUDENTS FOR JOBS (so one would presume they were more qualified than me), but after the new pay cuts went in for ATC NEW HIRES (which the FAA considers us now), then suddenly, we were getting offered jobs OVER CTI STUDENTS. How is it that they were more qualified than us before, but now now. THERE SIMPLY HAD TO BE FACTORS OTHER THAN QUALIFICATIONS AT PLAY HERE, and the FAA will only state that it is a SECRET.

Unfortunately, like so many others, when I was finally offered a tower job, I had to turn it down because of the new imposed pay.

Then, when I started seeking answers, I can't get one.

20.5 years, and this is how we get treated.

I have sought an answer to this basic question from AHR for well over a year. Now I have Senators Obama and Durbin trying to get the answers, and the next step is this aggressive media campaign.

Thanks John for your support on our retirement issue.

[I <3 the FAA]

CHASEUS:

Good luck. But I think you already know the answer about why the FAA reconsidered your merit, versus CTIs, after the pay was adjusted downward. And short of a plane ticket to D.C. and a rifle waiting for you when you get there, the bastards who did it to you will get away with it, and collect a bonus for doing it.

Stories like yours are why I'm getting out, even after certifying. I'm not going to hate going to work for the next 14 years only to get told I need to work for a contractor until I die.

[OMG]

Lets have some fun EVERYONE THAT READS THIS BLOG SHOULD SPEND FIVE MINS AND SEND IN A BID. Just to keep em busy

[Goodenoughnow]

I applied for an AF job before we were privatized, I was qualified for the job, but they weren't allowed to hire me, even though there was an opening. I just got a letter asking if I was still interested in the job. Of course, this is after they screwed with AF pay and our save-pay expired. All of a sudden I'm good enough for the job? What scumbags!!!

[lowskillset]

From the above job description: "justify or defend AHR's position on specific issues..."

This announcement should be for two vacancies, not one. Anyone with that responsibility will have a full time job doing only that. And, at the advertised salary range, they will be underpaid.

Missing from the job description are the following important characteristics of the successful candidate:

1. Must believe that whatever Ventris does is correct. This belief must not be shaken by the application of common sense, an understanding of right and wrong, or a knowledge of applicable federal law.

2. Must be able to instantly display a glazed over facial expression.

3. Must have the ability to use large words and understand abstract (including nonsensical) ideas.

4. Must not get bogged down with undue concerns for employee morale.

[C$M4]

When is Booby getting a "special" assistant to take his beatings when he speaks at the Academy?

[Blue Eyed Buddhist]

I like how it's "justify or defend". It's as if they simply assume that HR's positions on specific issues are going to be attacked.

If they knew that the HR positions might simply be new, and need explanation, it would simply say "represent HR at meetings", but that's not it- you're going to have to defend HR.

As if there's any defending positions like "if we lose your paperwork you don't get the raise until we find it and we don't care when you were eligible for it". Sheesh.

I feel bad for the GOOD people in HR who have to work for the idiots in charge. I know they're out there; I've had contact with them and dealt with them, and just like much of the FAA, most of the people there just want to do a good job.

Unfortunately, they're led by people that don't care about doing a good job.

[A Frightened One]

Is this a foreshadowing of a change in policy? It sounds like things are going to get even shittier...

[SOS]

The "ASSistant to the ASSistant" is a product of the rapid expansion of the FAA HQ wennie rub and sycophant brigade and the new element discovered called "Governmentium" the heaviest element yet known to science.

The new element, Governmentium (Gv), has one neutron, 25 assistant neutrons, 88 deputy neutrons and 198 assistant deputy neutrons, giving it an atomic mass of 312.

These 312 particles are held together by forces called morons, which are surrounded by vast quantities of lepton-like particles called peons.

Since Governmentium has no electrons, it is inert; however, it can be detected because it impedes every reaction with which it comes into contact. A minute amount of Governmentium can cause a reaction which would normally take less than a second to take anytime from four days to four years to complete.

Governmentium has a normal half-life of two to six years; it does not decay, but instead undergoes a reorganization in which some of the assistant neutrons and deputy neutrons exchange places.

In fact, Governmentium's mass will actually increase over time, since each reorganization will cause more morons to become neutrons, forming isodopes.

This characteristic of moron promotion leads some scientists to believe that Governmentium is formed whenever morons reach a critical concentration. This hypothetical quantity is referred to as the critical morass.

When catalyzed with money, Governmentium becomes Administratium, an element that radiates just as much energy as Governmentium, since it has half as many peons but twice as many morons.

[Is "Sabatini" a bar in Jersey?]

more news tonight from Dallas: Ramp checks are down.

http://www.wfaa.com/video/index.html?nvid=242867

[loser]

Lowskillset, you forgot
Must like sheet cake.

[Under 150 Days]

Governmentium! Now that's funny, SOS!

Hopefully the mass conversion of peons to "free" radicals over the next few months will disrupt the normal half-life of this element.

[Blarion Makey]

Open to "former" employees... jeez, John, you should bid it! They'd have to interview you, there couldn't be anyone more qualified! How much fun could you have in THAT interview?