Word: gsa
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Sharp Whistle. A wealthy Chicago textile manufacturer, Mansure, 54, had run GSA since May 1953. In the process he had built a reputation as a money-saving, detail man. So meticulous that he separates the meat from the potatoes when eating beef hash, he saved paper clips, and put three-minute egg timers on subordinates' desks to shorten telephone calls. But Mansure's fine eye for housekeeping details (which won the praise of the Hoover Commission) was not always matched by a clear view of the bigger picture. He seemed to have one standard for office efficiency...
Last August FORTUNE, in a microscopic study of GSA operations, blew a sharp whistle on Mr. Mansure. He had stubbornly kept on the payroll, in important positions, many of the political hacks who had given GSA a bad name under the Truman Administration. What's more, there was evidence that his own personal political friends were scooping up some brow-raising favors...
...contracts after competitive bidding. Another time, said the committee, Strobel personally went to Ferrenz & Taylor, a Manhattan architectural firm which had hitherto done no business with his firm or with the Government, and solicited an $18,000 construction contract for his engineering company. Strobel also testified that after joining GSA he went around to the Army Engineer Corps and pressed a claim for $7,500 still owed his company by the Government. Said Strobel: "But I did it on my lunch hour...
After Strobel was through testifying, GSA Chief Mansure told newsmen that he would let Strobel resign. Said Mansure: "Strobel has done nothing really wrong, but he just didn't use good judgment." He added that Strobel had not only put off signing the GSA's standard no conflict-of-interest pledge for half a year, but that it also took months to get a list of his firm's clients...
Snapped Strobel, who has been fighting with Mansure over GSA procedures: "I didn't want anybody snooping around my private business. Besides, I had other things to do. I was working 12 hours a day. If they want to get rid of me, they'll have to fire me. I'm not the kind of man who runs...