Even Top Government Executives Should Be Screened

One of the many roles of the Chief of Staff is to act as the COO of an organization. After it was discovered that his chief of staff did not have a background check, New York Governor David Patterson ordered background checks on all his executive chamber employees.
Chief of Staff David O'Byrne was found to owe $300,000 in taxes. The debt has been repaid with interest and penalties, however the discovery was cause for alarm in Patterson’s eyes.
Patterson said he just learned that “over 60% of executive chamber employees never had completed background checks.”
Background checks are not required by law for these officials, but a policy of checks had been created by Patterson’s predecessor, Eliot Spitzer.
Taking a person’s resume at face value and trusting your instincts when hiring top executives just isn’t feasible in our changing world. It is best to make sure the person you hire has no conflicts of interest for such a high level job, and a thorough background investigation can help ease your mind that you truly are making the best decision possible.
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