State's new administration director uses experience to meet challenges

Jeff Mohlenkamp brings a broad 25-year history in state government to his new job as Nevada's director of administration.

He'll need it to manage the most significant changes that department and the state's budget process have seen in decades.

First, the department is nearly doubling in size because of consolidations and reorganizations ordered by the 2011 Legislature. Effective in October, the department will add divisions including Personnel, Public Works and Information technology to its existing divisions.

He said that produces efficiencies by combining most of the state's internal services agencies under one roof, adding that the goal is to create "a cohesive department, not just a collection of agencies."

But more dramatic to most state agencies will be the changes Gov. Brian Sandoval has ordered for the way the state builds its budget every two years. The governor has made clear he wants the state to shift from a line-item budget process, in which each new spending plan starts from the current budget, to one based on priorities and performance.

"Where you start off is, 'What are the priorities of government?'" Mohlenkamp said. "'What are we trying to achieve?'"

He said that process started under his predecessor, Andrew Clinger, and won support from the Legislature last session. He said it will bring dramatic changes over the next two budget cycles as agencies learn to review what they are trying to do in each program, determine how well it's working and, in some cases, whether government should be doing that.

He said that even in tough economic times, government can't stop providing core services and, in fact, many of those services are in higher demand when times are tough.

"Part of performance-based budgeting is deciding 'What are those core services?'" he said.

Mohlenkamp, 48, started with the state in 1986 with the Gaming Control Board and worked his way up through the audit division to investigator in corporate securities. He moved to state Internal Audits, which he said gave him "a fairly wide exposure to state government," auditing how well different departments and programs were doing including DMV, Senior RX and Cultural Affairs.

He moved to the Division of Mental Health and Disabled Services as administrative services officer before becoming deputy director in the Department of Corrections.

Along the way, he said, he also gained experience testifying at the Legislature.

Sandoval tapped him to replace Clinger after the end of the 2011 session. Mohlenkamp said the job suits his nature, and he said he's confident he can work well both with the governor's office and legislative staff.

His style will probably be similar to Clinger's: "As a manager, one of the things I need to do is stay calm."

He said he learned much of that from the bosses he has had along the way, citing, among others, Dennis Neilander in Gaming Control, Carlos Brandenburg and Mike Willden in Health and Human Services, and Clinger.

"I'm very results-oriented," he said. "Process is important but results are more important. I pretty strictly hold people accountable."

He said the goal is to help state agencies do their jobs better.

"What I want to bring to the department is a customer-service mindset," he said.

Mohlenkamp said a core goal is reducing red tape and unnecessaryprocesses.

"A lot of regulatory processes and maybe some laws get created in response to some incident," he said. "Do those regulations complement each other, or are we just creating a redundant mess?"

If they don't help what the agency is doing, he said, "let's look at, 'Should we be doing that?'"

The pain of Nevada's current economic situation and the state's revenue problems, Mohlenkamp said, can actually help encourage change.

"Sometimes difficult times - in this case, difficult financial times - will force managers of the state and the Legislature to take a look at what we're doing," he said. "It does help push change."

With both his boss, the governor, and the Legislature backing the concept, he said he isconfident there will besignificant progress in changing how state government provides services. And he said he is hopeful the public will "better understand what we do and how we do it."