There are many reasons Americans seem to hate their government -- most of them, to my way of thinking, illogical. I don’t buy the Libertarian argument that we’re well down the road to a grim culture of Socialism that will destroy our incentive to innovate. I don’t accept the Tea Party notion that spending our way out of this recession is going to leave our children shackled by debt.
But in my estimation there is one very good reason to have contempt for government. That reason is the contempt that government seems to have for us, the citizens who are its customers. That contempt is evidenced in poor customer service by government employees, and I’ve found it everywhere I’ve turned in my recent move to Miami.
I was delighted to find I could pay a traffic ticket online, until I tried to. Days of entering the ticket number in the Clerk of Court’s website produced no evidence that the ticket had been filed by the cop who wrote it. Finally, I called Clerk of Court Harvey Ruvin’s office to learn that there’s a three to four week backlog on entering tickets into the system that’s not explained on the website. Solution: Check every day to see if the system is working. And if your ticket is entered after four weeks, pay the additional penalty for late payment. I scrounged up a paper check, something rare in my digital world, and sent a letter to the Clerk of Court explaining the problem and asking for a solution. Ruvin’s response was simply to return my original letter, with no reply.
I was thrilled to receive a post card last week explaining that I could use the iPark program to pay for parking in Miami Beach, and that passes are now available at a local supermarket chain. But they’re not. The manager at the supermarket described the program as “a mess” and said deliveries of passes to his store are erratic, despite the costly marketing campaign saying they’re now available. No one answers the telephone at the Miami Beach Parking Department, but an assistant to Mayor Matti Herrera Bower suggested other places I might find the pass – no guarantees.
I found it useful that I could go online with the Miami-Dade Office of the Tax Appraiser for the information and form needed to file for my Homestead tax exemption. But then I found contradictory information on the site regarding the documentation required. A nice woman who answered the Tax Appraiser’s phone told me I had to ignore the website because the information wasn’t very clear or accurate. When I suggested that she and I would save time if that were fixed, she explained that that wasn’t her job.
I was happy to wait only three hours online in an office on Calle Oche to purchase my Florida license plate. I had a fist full of papers filled out and ready to file, but not the one document that the Motor Vehicles website neglected to mention was essential if one has a car loan. The nice clerk at the Calle Oche office explained that it’s a common problem. She offered to let me come to the front of the line on my return visit.
I want to like Miami, and so far I do. I love the people, the weather, the food, the diversity, the culture. But the government? If Miami-Dade were a retailer I wouldn’t shop there. But as a monopoly enterprise I have no choice but to waste my time and lose my temper dealing with it. It would be nice to be considered a valued customer when I enter a government office or visit a government website. It would be delightful if the people whose salaries my taxes help pay understood that they’re in a service business.
My Miami friends tell me not to hold my breath. Still, one can hope. After all, if the campaign to force Miami’s mayor from office is successful, perhaps we can convince a manager of a local Target or K-Mart store to campaign to succeed him. Now that would be customer service!
Henry E Scott, a former journalist, is a consultant focused on media companies. He moved to Miami Beach in December.
