REPORT; DRUG-CONTROL OFFICE UNDERSTAFFED

Government: Mccaffrey Is Criticized For Not Filling Deputy Director
Posts And For His 'Military-Oriented' Leadership Style.

WASHINGTON - An independent review of the White House drug czar's
office has found an understaffed and troubled bureaucracy led by a
director who is a "high-pressure and military-oriented" leader,
driving many career professionals to quit.

A 53-page report by PricewaterhouseCoopers, obtained by the Boston
Globe, was mandated by a House and Senate conference committee, which
was concerned about reports of problems in employee retention and the
management style at the Office of National Drug Control Policy.

The General Accounting Office is overseeing the $125,000 report, which
is "still a work in progress," a GAO official said Thursday.

A final report could be issued next week and would include comment
from the drug-control office.

The report positively noted that the office has set clear goals for
reduced drug use around the country and is "results-oriented and
effective in performing its responsibilities externally." It called
the organization "generally sophisticated" in that regard.

But even with clearly defined goals, the office's own strategy report
issued this year found that it has come up short in the most important
measuring sticks of America's war on drugs. This year's report found a
record level of drug-related deaths in America and some of the lowest
prices ever for cocaine and heroin on the street.

The PricewaterhouseCoopers review of the office's troubled inner
workings is at odds with the public face of its often-charming and
articulate director, Barry R. McCaffrey, who spends 54 percent of his
non-office time involved in media events - making an estimated 386
public appearances a year, the report noted. In contrast, he spends 43
percent of his time in policy-related matters.

But in recent interviews, more than a dozen past and current office
workers have told the Globe that McCaffrey runs the organization with
the firm hand of the four-star army general that he once was, causing
morale among many to suffer.

Pancho Kinney, the office's director of strategy, declined to comment
Thursday on the PricewaterhouseCoopers report. "We would be happy to
comment on it once it is finalized," he said.

The report's authors, who based their conclusions on office documents
and interviews with 25 named employees with the office, found it took
the equivalent of 20 full-time workers to manage McCaffrey's schedule,
about one-seventh of the total office staff.

In a section titled, "Leadership Style: 'He's difficult to work for," an
often-heard comment from staff members - the report's authors said
McCaffrey's "leadership style has been described as aggressive,
high-pressure, and military-oriented. Under the current directorship, a
military structure has been imposed on a previously civilian culture. As
incompatibilities have developed, people have made the decision to leave."

In 1999, the office experienced a turnover rate of 27
percent.

This year, the report estimated that turnover could increase to 38
percent, a reflection somewhat of the high number of political
appointments expected to leave after this fall's elections.

But McCaffrey also has been unable to consistently fill his deputy
director posts, which have been vacant 73 percent of his four-year
tenure.

Instead, he has often used acting deputy directors, which the report
noted "serve at the pleasure of the director, but confirmed deputy
directors (by Congress) can only be dismissed by the President or
impeached by Congress."

One of the most bothersome aspects of the office's internal workings,
the report said, was the strong possibility of a loss of continuity
when McCaffrey leaves office.

The report said that if McCaffrey had deputy directors in place,
"there would be less risk to the overall continuity and long-term
benefit of the organization."

The number of deputy directors forecast by the end of the year, when
McCaffrey is expected to step down:

"Zero," the report said.