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U.S.
Senator Member of the Agriculture, Energy and Veterans Affairs
Committees |
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For Immediate
Release May 11, 2005 |
CONTACT: Cody Wertz – Press Secretary 202-228-3630 Jen Clanahan – Deputy Press Secretary 303-455-7600 |
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SENATOR SALAZAR AND CONGRESSMAN BEAUPREZ
URGE USGS TO KEEP JOBS IN COLORADO
In a joint letter to USGS Director Charles "Chip" Groat with Congressman Beauprez, Sen. Salazar noted that the USGS proposed A-76 reorganization of USGS' geospatial activities and establishment of the new NGTOC would potentially save taxpayer dollars and lauded the USGS for their effort. "Colorado's workforce is second to none, especially when it comes to the kind of specialized training the USGS needs and the public expects. Before the USGS goes looking elsewhere for help, I suggest they start by looking right here at home," Salazar said. "The work done at the Rocky Mountain Mapping Center is just one example of the exciting things happening at the Denver Federal Center. Before the USGS does any reorganizing, I'd sure hope they take a closer look at the quality of work being done here in Colorado and make the decision to keep the work right here," Beauprez said. Salazar's and Beauprez' letter comes on the heels of reports that the USGS is preparing a reorganization of geospatial services, including outsourcing many of the cartographic production duties to independent contractors. Up to 500 USGS employees are up for A-76 competition, including an estimated more than 100 jobs in Colorado.
May 5, 2005
It has recently been brought to our attention that the USGS is exploring implementation of an A-76 reorganization of its national geospatial activities through the establishment of the National Geospatial Programs Office. We understand that this process may competitively contract-out some cartographic production duties currently performed by USGS employees in the Denver, Colorado metropolitan area through the establishment of the National Geospatial Technical Operations Center, or NGTOC. We strongly urge the USGS to ensure that current USGS employees have a role in this competitive process. We also strongly urge the USGS to consider the Denver metro area as a superior site for the NGTOC, because of its highly skilled workforce and proximity to existing USGS facilities, particularly the Rocky Mountain Mapping Center. As Congressional members responsible for enacting a fiscally-sound annual federal budget, we applaud your efforts to save tax-payer dollars. In some circumstances, contracting out through an A-76 process may save taxpayers' dollars. To ensure that a complete analysis of the competitive advantages of contracting-out is accomplished, we believe it is very important that current federal employees have a seat at the table along with bidding contractors in any competitive A-76 process. If federal employees can provide a superior service at an equal or lower cost, they should have an equal opportunity to compete. Before the USGS makes a decision to contract out substantial tasks, such as cartographic production, data model development and support of geospatial standards currently done at RMMC, we expect the USGS will be able to demonstrate that such contracting out will reduce costs and produce a work product of equal quality to that provided by USGS employees. The USGS Rocky Mountain Mapping Center is presently located in the Denver Federal Center, near the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. This facility was renovated a short time ago into a modern, spacious facility and is situated close to other agencies, federal labs including NOAA, NREL and NCAR, and major GIS-oriented companies and corporations. The Denver metro area is serviced by one of the largest and most accessible airports in the United States and is centrally located near the concentration of federally administered lands. The RMMC employees, who include experts in many disciplines, continue to maintain high standards in their mission to provide the highest quality mapping to the nation's public. We respectfully ask that the USGS provide a clear explanation of the goals and necessary steps of this reorganization, including any justification for a proposed move of the RMMC, and an explanation of how existing federal employees will be treated through the transition. Finally, we urge you to consider consolidating the NGTOC in Denver so that the USGS may continue to provide geospatial services at the highest level of reliability and cost-effectiveness, with the RMMC as its hub.
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