The last four months have been filled with political ads, debates, and a presidential election, and while we couldn't completely rid ourselves of this once-every-four-years event, we could approach it from a totally different angle. This issue of the journal takes an in-depth view of how the president and other leaders can set policy to improve government management, operations, and execution—on financial and budget reform, intergovernmental relationships, technology, transparency, and reorganization. If you were writing a memo to the president, what would you include?

As you all know, your jobs didn't stop during the election cycle, and won't stop during the transition. You're still dealing with challenges in workplace training, employee engagement and recognition, cultural competency, and change management. This issue examines the good and the bad of being a change agent, the debate behind revamping the federal pay system, how to recognize employees for their service, and how to create effective in-service training.

Change is hard. Making a change to a process, procedure, or technology affects everyone in the team or workplace. But to remain competitive in this business environment, where doing more with less is the norm, change is inevitable. Several articles in this journal explore how to manage change and create buy-in among employees and executives.

Paula Ketter

Editor, The Public Manager

[email protected]

In Memoriam: Paul T. Weiss (1945–2012)

It is with deep sadness that all of us at The Public Manager report the death on October 5 of our close friend and colleague, Paul T. Weiss. Paul was a long-time supporter, contributor, board member, and one-time editor-in-chief of The Public Manager. He passed away after losing his two-year battle with lung cancer, much to the surprise of many of us to whom he had barely let on that he was ill.

For those of us who came to know Paul during his many years in government or as he segued into a second career in public management consulting, we will remember him most for his overall humanity, his many contributions, and his unflagging commitment to making government work better. A senior colleague at LMI (where he consulted for the past 15 years) noted: "I don't know if there was a more considerate or thoughtful person on the planet."