By Rick Pluta, Michigan Public Radio Network
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wkar/local-wkar-976054.mp3
LANSING, MI – Governor Rick Snyder says he will spend the next two months focusing on the executive side of his job. The former technology company CEO says the Legislature's summer break will give him the chance to spend more time on management.
Governor Snyder says he spent the first part of the year focused primarily on moving a sometimes controversial agenda through the Legislature. The governor says there's still plenty to do when the Legislature returns to work full time in the fall. But he says the legislative break frees him to pay more attention to the other half of his job - managing the departments and agencies that make up the executive branch of state government.
"When you're hiring a governor, people tend to overweight the policy piece very dramatically, and they spend all their time talking policy and very few people talk about the need to have a good manager as a governor," Snyder says.
The governor says that means culture-building within state government and eliminating tasks that are not directly related to serving the public. The governor says he already meets at least once a week with state workers directly responsible for delivering services to people.