(September 2006) The Democratic nominee to run for State Senate in Maryland's District 21 is Jim Rosapepe, who lists service in the State Department as one of his qualifications for the job. Voters should check those credentials closely before casting their ballots.
Jim Rosapepe was a back-bencher in Maryland's House of Delegates until President Bill Clinton tapped him to serve as Ambassador to Romania (probably reward for his service as a professional fund-raiser for Democratic candidates.) He arrived on the scene in February 1998. It wasn't long before the State Department Office of Inspector General (OIG) was on the scene sorting out reports of problems in the station. The OIG's September 1999 classified report paints a picture of ambassadorial incompetence. Titled Report of Inspection, Embassy Bucharest, Romania, ISP/I-99-29, much of this report has now been cleared for release to the public. The report's contents are reported below.
The release of this information was itself clouded by controversy. Though reference to the report is made in the press as early as December 1999 (by a Boston Globe article), the OIG stonewalled production of the report in response to a Freedom of Information Act request filed earlier this year. After statutory deadlines for responding to the request passed, the OIG illegally refused to give a mandated disposition on a request for expedited handling, filed on the argument that the press should be able to report a candidate's record so voters can make an informed choice. The OIG report was only made available on the afternoon of September 12 - the Primary Election, i.e., the very day when any information contained in the report could no longer factor in to a voter's decision. Apparently, the Bush State Department wanted to ensure damning information about a former ambassador would not detract from his electability.
So what was in the report? You can CLICK HERE to read for yourself. (It is a 76 page document we have scanned into a 10.7MB PDF document. A higher resolution, print quality, scan is available on request.)
Some of the low-lights are excerpted and transcribed below:
- "The Ambassador's misunderstanding of section and agency structures is disruptive and confusing. Stress levels are high, morale is not."
- "The Ambassador has set priorities at variance with key elements in a USAID [U.S. Agency for International Development ] strategic plan geared to transitional economies and has made decisions traditionally reserved to the USAID director and other senior USAID management."
- "The Ambassador's relations with the staff have also suffered from his strong personality and insistence on his own purposes. Not one to delegate easily or to welcome counter arguments, he makes assignments--not always clearly--and then pursues the details of implementation to a much greater degree than a manager should. His probity is not questioned, and his persona has many generous and engaging features, but there is an overwhelming consensus within the mission that welcoming disagreement is not one of them. Expressions of "dissent" can mean failing to appreciate the Ambassador's innovations; doubts about them are seen as a defense of bureaucratic turf. There is little in the way of inspiring, motivating leadership." [emp. added]
- "There is a strong consensus that the Ambassador's intolerance of disagreement, an intolerance that can be strongly voiced, can bring retribution. ... [This perception] chills initiative, stifles ambition, and at times causes officers and agencies to carry out assignments against their better judgment. Individual and collective performance recedes, and with it the mission's overall effectiveness. According to health unit statistics, stress and stress-related illnesses at post are unusually high."
- "In 44 personal questionnaires OIG received from all mission elements, the Ambassador scored an average of 3.28 out of a possible 10 in management/leadership categories. Scores in seven of them, those dealing with dissent, decisiveness, clarity, coordination, awareness, forcefulness, and objectivity were the lowest recorded by OIG for any of the 136 ambassadors, charges d'affaires, and assistant or deputy assistant secretaries rated by their staffs since 1991. Forty-one employees responded to questionnaires on administrative matters and ranked post morale last among 42 categories." [emp. added]
- "OIG finds that the embassy suffers from a confusion of ends and means, from too much direction and too little leadership, from a scattering of resources in unprioritized directions, and from a failure to understand its policy responsibilities towards Washington constituencies. The Department has not been successful or sufficiently firm in guiding and, when necessary, directing embassy efforts."
Even in the best light, it is fair to characterize the OIG report as painting Jim Rosapepe as an incompetent manager who lacked leadership skills necessary to serve the public in this capacity. In his short time in this role, he drove the Bucharest embassy into disarray and jeopardized US interests in the region. The State Department handling of our FOIA request ensures that voters in the Maryland Primary Election were protected from knowing Rosapepe's record. On that day he was nominated to the District 21 Senate race by Democrats who could not have known his history of incompetence.