E-mail from Acting Chief Operating Officer Marg Nelson, Dated July 15,
2002

\-\-\-\--Original Message\-\-\-\--

**From:** Nelson, Marg - D-7

**Sent:** Monday, July 15, 2002 2:57 PM

**To:** Wright, Stephen J - A-7; Hickok, Steven G - D-7; Bodi, Lorri -
A; Edwards, Christy - D-7; Roach, Randy A - L-7; Norman, Paul - P;
Maher, Mark W - T-DITT2; Esvelt, Terry - C-4; Stier, Jeffrey K - KN-DC;
Smith, Alexandra - KE-4; Curtis, Jim - DF-2; Marshall, Pam - KP-7;
Burns, Allen - PS-6; Delwiche, Gregory K - PG-5; Weedall, Michael J -
PN-1; Oliver, Stephen - PT-5; Johnson, Frederick M- TF-DOB1; Meyer,
Charles - TM-DITT2; VanZandt, Vickie - TO; Courts, Alan - TN-OPP-3;
Stelzer, Lynda Boetcher - T-DOB1; Whitney, Carolyn A - T-DITT2; Hunt,
Karen - KR-7; Mahar, Dulcy - KC-7; Dinan, Linda - D-7

**Cc:** Stauffer, Nicki - A-7; McElhaney, Judy - D-7; Newton, Tiffany -
PG-5; Yoakum, Ann - D-7; Willard, Barbara - L; Larson, Cheryl - P;
Stout, Debbie - T-DITT2; Newton, Susan A - C-4; Kerr, Mary - KE-4;
Davenport, Karen - DF-2; Kyle, Debra J - KP-7; Palmer, Linda L - PS-6;
Hyzer, Patricia - PN-1; Anderson, Paula L - PT-5; Missinne, E J -
TF-DOB1; Ricks, Sharon - TM-DITT2; Speer, Cheryl - TO-DITT2; Garcia,
Mary Alice - TN-OPP-3; Bryan, Gretchen - T-DOB1; Hilliard Creecy,
Jamae - T-DITT2; Hage, Bonnie - KR-7; Reuven, Karol-Jo - KC-7; Hiraki,
Ruth L - PB-6; Donaldson, Kathe - PB-6; Jeter, Jo - TB-DITT2;
Blankenship, Darcy - TB-DITT2; Eissler, Annie - C-4; Lee, Margaret -
CC-4; House, Kathyrn C - D-7; Cesario, Leanne - K-7; Steadman, Dixie L -
K-7; Lenz, Tracy - K-7; Magness, Debora - K-7; Rodriguez, Rachel - CH-1;
Custard, Susan P - CHP-1; Smithey, Roy - CH-1; Beckett, Godfrey C -
CE-1; Sunday, Germaine - L-7

**Subject:** External Hiring Review Process

> On June 19, I sent you all a suggested external hiring process and
> requested your feedback. Thanks to all of you who took the time to
> respond. Even though I am not addressing how I have used each of your
> comments (as our norms concerning being in the inquiry mode would have
> me do), I\'ll be glad to talk with each of you about that and will
> plan to address your comments more specifically when I return.
>
> As far as the comments I received are concerned, by and large, you all
> would prefer we not have to do something like this. However, most of
> you indicated that you understand the need to carefully scrutinize our
> external hiring and overall growth in staff. As you know, the
> financial situation we are in is a serious one, and our increased FTE
> is getting significant attention from external parties. This situation
> requires deliberate actions in response; therefore, I am proceeding to
> institute the proposed external hiring review process.
>
> Many of you have been invited by Terry Esvelt to participate in a
> series of discussions to look at other things we can do to contain
> costs; his effort will take the month of July to formulate a set of
> actions and/or guidelines. We have agreed, however, that there is no
> need to wait to initiate this external hiring process.
>
> Following is the approach I wish to use for Front Office review and
> approval before outside hires are made:

-   [Each Business Line (Tier 1) and Corporate organizations (Tier 1 or
    2 as appropriate) will meet with the COO to do a walk-through of
    their respective staffing plans]{.underline}. From this, I expect to
    become familiar with your staffing strategies and pressure points.

-   [Each organization will establish a list of any exempt
    positions]{.underline}, through the above discussions or as a
    follow-on to those meetings. For example, I will use TBL\'s
    infrastructure priority list (submitted to Personnel Services by TBL
    in late April, with updates provided as necessary to ensure that
    infrastructure/critical hire positions are clearly identified) as a
    starting point for establishing blanket exemptions. Other
    organizations can consider similar lists, if appropriate.

-   [Non-exempt positions]{.underline} for which external recruitment is
    desired [will be submitted to the COO for approval prior to
    submission to Personnel Services for action]{.underline}. E-maiil
    submissions are appropriate and should include justification for
    filling the position, citing where the position(s) fit in the
    staffing plan. I\'ll provide additional information on the process
    for submitting requests after my return to the office.

> This COO review process will take effect COB today. Front Office
> review and approval will be required before any further external
> selections or offers are made. This does not apply to internal, BPA
> selections. \[Note: Offers currently in progress (i.e., those received
> by Personnel Services and offered prior to COB today) will be
> completed. Vacancy announcements and recruiting bulletins that are
> currently open to applicants outside of BPA will not be cancelled at
> this time, but must receive approval to fill, using the process
> described above. Questions regarding current offers should be referred
> to Susan Custard at x3056.\]
>
> I will be out of the office until July 22. Please arrange to meet with
> me shortly after my return to complete the first two steps outlined
> above. As I mentioned in my earlier e-mail, I anticipate that this
> will be a process that will have a limited duration. At this point, I
> expect it will need to be in place during FYs 2002 and 2003.