The Man Who Runs Georgia

Georgia COO Jim Lientz should be on your speed dial.

Tim Darnell

December 1, 2007

Jim Lientz had been on the job 100 days as Georgia COO ... which really wasn't that big a deal, to him, at least. To a man who'd spent almost his entire career in the private sector, running organizations such as Bank of America, being on a new job a little more than three months wasn't a momentous occasion.

But in the world of politics, 100 days is a milestone, particularly when your boss, the newly elected Gov. Sonny Perdue, was marking the same legislative landmark, as were a slew of new Republican representatives and a GOP-majority Senate, all of who eventually would dominate state government for the first time since the Civil War.

At one point during that day, Perdue turned to Lientz – whom the new governor had handpicked to turn Georgia's state government around – and said, "Well, we've been here 100 days now."

Lientz replied, "It feels more like four years."

Ordered to transform Georgia's pretentious, entrenched, entitlement-rich governmental bureaucracy into a model of customer friendliness and prompt service is akin to rolling a 2-ton boulder up Brasstown Bald. But Lientz also stepped into a job that had no formal description or precedent. And he took office during arguably the state's most politically tumultuous atmosphere in history.

But after more than five years on the job, Lientz – more than any other administration official – is known to political and business insiders as the man who runs state government. Any service that state government delivers from water permits and prison beds to driver's licenses and Medicaid checks – Lientz tries to make sure it happens faster, friendlier and easier. If you want to do business with Georgia or in Georgia, James R. Lientz Jr. should be on your speed dial.

"In terms of identifying and working on things that will leave the state government better than we found it, I'd give us a B-plus or even an A-minus," says Lientz, whose patient, unassuming, "I'm-a-better-learner-when-I'm-listening manner" is more reminiscent of a 1950s south Georgia mayor than a man who runs a 21st century, $18-billion organization employing more than 110,000 people. "In terms of actually working on those problems, maybe a B-minus. There's a lot of change involved. Processes, technology, organization ...

"Has everyone bought into this? Probably not," he adds. "I feel confident the majority of our workforce has been inspired by our emphasis on customer service, and I don't know of any other state emphasizing this as we are. I hope most of our employees know about our quest to be the best managed state in the nation. We've tried to change the culture in the quickest way possible; the CEO – Sonny Perdue – bought into it, his senior leadership bought into it, and they're pushing it down to their middle management. But it certainly isn't perfect yet."

Lientz wasn't the only former executive Perdue tapped to help bring a private sector mindset to Georgia's public sector. The state's first-ever CFO, Tommy Hills, spent years at Wachovia, and the Commission for a New Georgia brought in a Who's Who of Peach State business leaders to recommend improvements in virtually every executive branch.

"Our quest is to make Georgia the best managed state in the nation," Lientz says. "At the time we took office, that sounded either audacious or ridiculous. Our driver's license lines were broken; we weren't delivering services; we couldn't get our financial audits out on time; and we'd suffered back-to-back revenue declines for the first time since the Great Depression."

Lientz will know how far he – and Georgia – have come early next year, when the Pew Center on the States, a division of the Pew Charitable Trusts, releases its scorecard on all 50 states' policy approaches. The last grade Georgia received was a "B." Lientz is hoping for an "A."

Lientz can point to a litany of improvements in state operations over the past five years, but chances are, you haven't heard about them. They're not exactly the sort of news items that make screaming headlines:

• The fleet of state vehicles has been reduced by almost 10 percent – 1,867 vehicles – and saving $2.7 million in operating costs.

• The sale of surplus equipment and vehicles has generated $8.9 million.

• Georgia's first state property officer has produced the state's first comprehensive inventory of government land, more than 19,000 buildings, and all leases.

• Surplus real estate has been identified and sold for more than $20 million; renegotiated leases have redirected $7.7 million on rented space.

• Uniform best practices are reducing project costs by $12-$20 million a year.

• Telecom rates for high-speed network and phone services have been renegotiated, saving $6 million a year.

* New collection processes have captured $250 million in delinquent taxes.

• Annual savings from new procurement practices that leverage the state's purchasing power will total $135 million, with the first wave of new contracts now being awarded.

Lientz also has been involved with the Governor's Office of Customer Service, designed agencies to make state services faster, friendlier and easier. "Many times ‘customer service' and ‘ government' aren't in the same sentence," Lientz says. "But in late October we gave our first set of customer service awards. We've been working on service delivery for about two years now.

"These are small things. We've dramatically diminished the cycle time for issuing environmental permits. But most service delivery items are very small things."

One not-so-small problem that immediately hit Lientz's radar was the absurdly long lines at most every Georgia driver's license office. "Our wait times were unacceptable, and that got a lot of attention," he says. "We consistently emphasize holding people accountable, and we've installed data-driven decision makers and metrics to hold people accountable. A perfect example is that we measure transaction time metrics at each driver service location. Some are better than others, and if a particular location is moving backward, we have the data to support a management change." The state also offered a $5 discount for online, mail and telephone renewals; free licenses for veterans until age 65; a new office for downtown workers; and additional hours of operation during the week. In 2005, the state also included $1.5 million for almost 50 additional driver's license examiners.

Performance-based metrics are another given in business, but rarely are found in government. "And a lot of these metrics came from the private sector," he says. "There was a lot of accountability at places like Bank of America; I can attest to that. When I started [as Georgia COO], I was surprised the individual leaders of these agencies didn't work together on a regular basis. I was surprised that teamwork wasn't emphasized more, and surprised there wasn't more communication. "But what we've found is that people want that. They want to work together and be held accountable. Any organization has their share of ‘lone wolves,' and that just doesn't work. But most people want to be part of the team."

Lientz still has regular conversations with business leaders throughout the state. "It's not my primary role, but I take anybody's calls," he says. "One of the things we emphasize around here is service delivery. If they have a problem and ask my help, I certainly deal with them. I also work with many of them on policy issues. I have a very open relationship with the entire business community, as does the governor.

"The Commission for a New Georgia has a very heavy business focus. And a lot of people in the business community call me on myriad issues. They don't always get what they want, but the business community is very proud of their state and want it to be the best it can. Business emphasizes issues like transportation and education because those things are in their own best interest."

There are some aspects of government that Lientz still finds constraining, to say the least. The bureaucracy "drives me crazy. It's not as nimble as the private sector's," he says. "Our decision cycles are longer. I've learned there are some good reasons for that, and some decisions require a legislative cycle. But the biggest thing that bothers me is that it takes a lot longer to get things done. An organization like this doesn't move on a dime."

Lientz is committed to seeing his role as COO through the next election, and he hopes the new governor – be he Republican or Democrat – will enable the office to continue its existence. "I'd like to be sure that what we've done isn't erased, and that will happen if the next administration doesn't make this office a focus," he says. "If I could ensure one thing, it'd be that  the positive changes we've made continue. Because there was never a job like this before."

Photography by Lance Davies

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