Former IG Dave Williams: Next Chairman of USPS Board of Governors?

Dave Williams Brings Something Governors Usually Don’t Have: Knowledge About The USPS

From the NPF Show Newspaper Edition of MAIL Magazine:

WASHINGTON, DC — President Donald Trump nominated three people to the U.S. Postal Service’s Board of Governors, which presently has no sitting Governors.

The nominations include Calvin R. Tucker of Pennsylvania, for the remainder of a term expirng December 8, 2023; Robert M. Duncan of Kentucky, for the remainder of a seven-year term expiring December 8, 2018, and an additional term expiring December 8, 2025; and David Williams of Illinois, for the remainder of a seven-year term expiring December 8, 2019.

The three nominees testified before a Senate committee in mid-April and confirmation is expected shortly. Two of the nominees are active in the Republican party, which is typical for governor appointments. But one nominee isn’t typical: business mailers may recognize Dave Williams who was the USPS Inspector General for over 13 years. He retired in 2016.

Williams brought stability and vision to a troubled agency. A veteran Inspector General who served in that capacity for five federal agencies prior to his current assignment, Williams replaced the first IG Karla Corcoran, appointed in 1997 when the OIG began.

Williams replaced her in August 2003 and set to work remaking the OIG. Today, it is a critical auditing and information source with a staff of over 1,000 employees located throughout the U.S. that conducts independent audits and investigations. It has undertaken hundreds of valuable studies on all aspects of mail.

An Ideal BOG Chairman

Currently the USPS Board of Governors is defunct, with no members to carry out its critical oversight functions. The last governor on the nine-member Board left in December, 2016. Since then the Postal Service has been managed by an Emergency Committee led by the Postmaster General (PMG).

The Board of Governors hires, fires, and sets the pay of the PMG as well as all other officers of the Postal Service. It establishes rates and classes for competitive products and authorizes rate and fee changes for market dominant products. It also authorizes the budget and some capital investments as well as other duties.

Dave Williams brings a wealth of postal understanding to the job and is the obvious choice to serve as Chairman of the Board. That position will be determined by the new governors once they are seated.

Williams Reached Out To Mailers

As IG, Williams reached out to business mailers. A regular at MAILCOM, he was just as comfortable talking to mail managers as congressmen.

“The Postal Service is an American infrastructure that enables citizens, innovators and steady old enterprises to succeed,” Williams wrote in his resignation letter in 2016. “It is an essential part of the new digital economies of America and the world.”

Williams impressive career as Inspector General includes appointments by President George H.W. Bush, President Bill Clinton, and President George W. Bush, including IG for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Social Security Administration, Department of the Treasury, Tax Administration, and Dept. of Treasury.

Williams is the recipient of the Bronze Star and the Vietnamese Medal of Honor for service in Vietnam. He began his civilian federal career as a special agent with the U.S. Secret Service.