Yeah, Mick, and the interesting thing is that the majority of privatization under the Engler administration was done for the purpose of reducing the number of state employees. But there was a neat little accounting trick: employees hired on 'limited term contracts' (an appointment term of up to 2 years) didn't have to be counted in the official employee count. So, although the official count of state employees spiralled steadily downward, limited term employees suddenly appeared everywhere. I, for instance, retired and was replaced by TWO LTE's. But the 'count' went down by one, and though it's almost four years now, they are both still on the payroll. Hooray for MSJ (mean spirited John, the nickname coined by one of my co-workers for our illustrious governor)!

I've probably said enough to get myself on all sorts of investigative lists, but yeah, whenever there was talk of privatizing another program, state employees always speculated which of John's buddies was in line for return of a 'favor.'

But seriously, harp, is there anything we could do to help the situation? I'd certainly be willing to write a letter if it could do any good.