USPS Gets a New Watchdog
When Karla Corcoran was appointed Inspector General of the Postal Service nearly a year ago, she started out with a staff of one: herself. Drawing on past experience, which includes guiding hundreds of employees at Air Force audit offices around the world, she has had to build from scratch an entirely new office within the Postal Service.
Corcoran describes herself as a non-traditional Inspector General who encourages creativity by her staff. The spartan, no-nonsense appearance of her office suite reflects a work still in progress. But Corcoran, friendly and gracious, has immersed herself in the postal culture, and she says she's impressed with what she's found.
"It's very, very different from what I would have ever thought of the Postal Service from the outside," says Corcoran, who is a former Assistant Auditor General for the Air Force and has held high-level management positions at several federal agencies.
"I basically thought of the Postal Service as being bureaucratic. While it touched your life and you received mail every day, I really had no idea about the types of products and services that it offered other than stamps and the delivery of mail," Corcoran continues. "It's amazing when you consider all the components, the people and the systems that have to work to process and deliver the mail. I've been very impressed with how postal employees are trying to drive the Postal Service into the 21st century."
The Inspector General is independent of postal management and reports directly to the nine presidentially appointed Governors. Corcoran was appointed to a seven-year term by the Governors. Prior to the establishment of this separate office, the duties of Inspector General were performed by the Chief Postal Inspector, who reports to the Postmaster General.
Nearly a year after being sworn in — January 6 is her anniversary — Corcoran acknowledges that the newly created Office of Inspector General continues to evolve. Staff is being hired. Responsibilities are being delineated. Corcoran has had to build the OIG infrastructure, which included assembling a transition team, developing a pay and benefits package for her office, and identifying those functions that will be performed by the OIG and those that will remain with the Postal Inspection Service.
Employees who want to report fraud, waste, abuse or mismanagement can call (888) USPS-OIG or [(888) 877-7644].