PERSPECTIVE FROM THE 19^TH HOLE: This is the title I chose for my personal blog, which is meant to give me an outlet for one of my favorite crafts – writing – plus use an image from my favorite sport, golf. Out of college, my first job was as a reporter for the Daily Astorian in Astoria, Oregon, and I went on from there to practice writing in all of my professional positions, including as a Congressional press secretary in Washington, D.C., an Oregon state government manager in Salem and Portland, press secretary for Oregon’s last Republican governor (Vic Atiyeh), and a private sector lobbyist. This blog also allows me to link another favorite pastime – politics and the art of developing public policy – to what I write.

Those who, like me, appreciate order and discipline rather than chaos in the White House were pleased a couple weeks ago when former General John Kelly was named White House chief of staff.

In a piece in the Wall Street Journal, this was an early take on Kelly’s arrival to replace Reince Priebus:

“In the Oval Office, a small group of senior officials talked with President Donald Trump about plans to take on Beijing over intellectual-property theft. When a side debate broke out between two top aides, the new White House chief of staff ordered the pair out of the room.

“Return, John Kelly told them, once your differences are resolved, according to a person familiar with the exchange.

“The move kept the meeting on track. It also signaled to top staff that Mr. Kelly, a retired four-star general, planned to bring new order and discipline to a West Wing that has been riven for six months with division and disorganization.”

A minor achievement you might say, but as I read this early example of Kelly’s discipline, I recalled my own experience in Oregon Governor Vic Atiyeh’s office now more than 30 years ago.

The chief of staff then was Gerry Thompson, who had joined the Atiyeh office when the governor called on her to take a leave from her post as a vice president at Blue Cross. The office had not been in a state of chaos when she arrived and, thus, it was not like Kelly’s arrival at the White House.

But Gerry did continue a record of order and discipline in the state’s top political office.

• She was able to strike the often delicate balance between two worthy objectives – (a) to give her direct reports room to offer suggestions about how to operate and what decisions to make, and (b) to assure that the staff spoke with one voice after airing differences. In other words, she did routinely what Kelly did in the example above: She avoided cases when the staff would argue about approaches when they needed to display agreement.
• After differences had been aired and agreements reached, she expected executive staff members to portray that agreement. In other words, get behind the objective for the good of “the team.”
• She gave all of us in key roles (mine was as the governor’s press secretary) access to the governor himself. We weren’t isolated from him. We had the chance – a great opportunity as I reflect back on the style of the last Republican governor in Oregon – to talk with him, give him our views and listen to his seasoned perspectives.
• When a decision had been reached by Gerry or by the governor himself, our obligation as staff was to get on board and reflect the agreement.
• Like the governor himself, Gerry’s commitment was to doing good work and not doing good work in order to get credit for it.

As we watch goings-on in Washington, D.C, it will be interesting to see whether the Kelly approach to order and discipline will prevail for more than just a couple weeks. It is one thing to expect a sense of order from those staff who report to him – and every top staff member in the White House does. It will be quite another to see if he can exert proper control and discipline on the president himself.

This week’s experience – Trump going off message in a press conference that was supposed to be dealing with infrastructure issues and descending again into rhetoric that seemed to condone the activities of white supremacists – was another indication that Kelly faces a tall order. In fact, controlling the president and getting him on message may never occur.

Gerry Thompson in Oregon did not face that same challenge when she was chief of staff to Governor Atiyeh. She worked for a governor who gave a lot to the state he loved. And she gave a lot in her role and expected a lot from her staff.

Reflecting back, it very purposeful to work hard for a governor who practiced a “what you see is what you get” kind of approach to doing the public’s business. Gerry mimicked his approach and it was a joy to work for her, as well.