CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION SEMINAR 315

those agencies is a very important one, and I think practically every
one is, but there may be other important agencies which would cer-
tainly be of cabinet rank and level. I certainly think the State Roads
Commission is a more important agency to the Governor than the
Department of Motor Vehicles at the moment. Now this may not
always have been true, but we're talking about the number of em-
ployees, the amount that's spent and the activity of the agency.

So much for the existing law, and I've merely tried to touch very
lightly upon what I have summarized as those provisions of the exist-
ing Constitution which touch most heavily upon the Governor's office.
Now for a few remarks about the present organization of the Gover-
nor's office and some of the Governor's obligations and responsibilities,
which I give you because you may perceive, by having this informa-
tion, that certain changes may be desirable in a new Constitution.

The routine duties and responsibilities of the Governor are, first of
all, his administrative responsibilities. I tried to list a few. They in-
volved personal meetings with the administrative and legislative lead-
ers to conduct state business and establish state executive policy. And
you can well imagine, with 240 separate agencies, admittedly some not
large and some not formal, there is a great deal of conferring to do.
Now another thing in the line of an administrative responsibility is
something that I have done, and I understand other governors have
done before me, and that was to establish an open-door policy, so that
members of the legislature at any time during any regular or special
session would have the Governor available to them. My procedure
was to indicate to the legislature that if any member wanted to see me,
he would simply see my secretary. I would see him as quickly there-
after as was humanly possible, but I would certainly see him that day
if he was willing to wait around long enough to talk. Other things
that occupy the time of the Governor are conferences with key ad-
ministrative officials on current State problems, such as sessions with
the State Roads Commission Chairman-Director to resolve the con-
flicts on the design concept team relative to the construction of the
North East Expressway. Certainly the many questions of the manage-
ment of revenue bonding are the sort of thing that goes on all the
time. It's very time consuming; however, it is very important. We're
dealing with millions of dollars of the State's money.

The Governor spends much time in being briefed by his personal
staff on major state issues. For example, where you have a crisis re-
quiring clearance of the Board of Public Works agenda or a crisis in
a correctional institution. I spend much time with the Attorney Gen-