Rotation Policy for SBA District Directors

The Small Business Administration (SBA) has been criticized in recent years for questionable personnel practices and program abuses. Allegedly, sponsorship by partisan political figures, political affiliations, and political clearances were factors in the selection of four district directors in SBA. In the absence of a viable staffing plan for district director positions, SBA permitted a personnel management vacuum to exist in which political interests were allowed to influence appointments to these key positions. A number of improper or illegal personnel actions were taken by SBA as a result of efforts to provide preferential treatment to some candidates and employees. In some cases, the personnel actions were based on considerations of political support. The Civil Service Commission recommended and the SBA Administrator agreed to develop and implement a merit plan for filling SBA district director position vacancies, and review and revise as necessary internal SBA policies on recruiting and staffing. SBA has generally taken actions to correct these irregularities, and most employees consider the SBA personnel program good or fair. SBA implementation of a periodic rotation policy for its district directors was widely criticized and raised new charges of political intrusion in personnel management at SBA. The rotation policy was implemented as a part of a series of management and organizational changes to improve the agency's efficiency and delivery of services to the small business community. These changes included reorganizing the central and regional offices and implementing a merit pay system and Senior Executive Service under the Civil Service Reform Act.