Article December 13, 2004 Issue

BETWEEN ROCKS AND HARD PLACES

Phil Davis

You know the saying.  And I know I've been in that uncomfortable place a few times.

Several years ago, the "rock" was a state agency with important responsibilities for the welfare of all citizens. The "hard place" was a federal department with the same responsibilities on a national level.

Without going into all the complexities, let's just say that those two offices were in conflict—and I was stuck in the middle between them—over a point that I had brought to their attention. To further heighten the tensions, there were hundreds of thousands of federal dollars at stake for the state agency.