re: Apparently there is some micro-managing at LA DEQ

The new DEQ CEO comes from a federal agency which has a long and strong culture of trying to control communication. "Whistle blowing" is a minor concern. The day-to-day problem is preventing the flow of sender bad information or receiver misunderstanding of good information.'=

That said, such control is hard unless the agency has little to do and little need to communicate... not La DEQ.

Monitoring correspondence between fed employees and the outside world used to be an important practice to avoid legally troubling misunderstandings. Often the outside people have no idea who in an agency has actual commitment authority. Now, blanket pre-approval, however, is just a control trip and a sign of admin incompetence.

Forty years ago (!!!) correspondence was hardcopy prepared by a clerk typist who routinely collected necessary approvals before mailing. Today, most correspondence is digital. Clerk typists have vanished, and most employees have a word processor and internet access. Control of correspondence is very difficult.