Perhaps you have never had the opportunity to visit the Building Department. I have a half-dozen times for a variety of reasons. Typically, I would go in, walk to the counter and eventually be confronted by a frowning face who would slide a form to me with a curt, “fill this out.” I chalked it up to bad coffee and that surly attitude government workers get because 1) there is no competition, and 2) the boss lets them be rude to the public.

Well, over the past year, not sure when, the Building Department lobby has been remodeled, at our expense. So, now, you enter a lobby where one or two or more clerks work behind a new counter with parapets looking not unlike the defensive walls of a castle. On the other side of the counter, where the barbarians (the customer) stand there are stanchions and ropes to keep you in line as you wait.

Yesterday, at the appointed time I went into the lobby to purchase a parcel of vacant land in the center city. There were two women clerks working behind the counter and one man at one of the windows. He was talking with one of the clerks. I waited patiently for the second clerk to invite me to her window. There were two signs taped to the parapets that read something to the effect that my patience would be appreciated as they had switched to a new computer system and things were not going well. I smiled. A few minutes more passed, but neither of the two women looked up or said anything to acknowledge my presence. I waited a few more minutes and still no recognition. No one said a word to me. Soon there were four more people behind me. Then five, then six. We all waited, neither of the two women looked up nor spoke to any of us. A simple, “we will be right with you” would have done.

Other men came into the lobby area, walked passed the line and entered a door to the left. Hmmm. I could hear conversations behind that door, over the wall. They came and went. Still, there was no movement from the two dull women behind the castle walls, no recognition of the growing line.

Then, another woman entered the area. She observed us with a look for mild disgust, said nothing, and waddled through he lobby and into a different part of the building.

Finally, I saw a man who looked to be the man with whom I had come to transact business. (I was there to buy a vacant plot, to put it back on the tax rolls.) Fifteen feet away, he did not look toward the counter, toward me, but stood near a door behind the counter chatting with someone in an office. He leaded against the door, he was wearing casual clothes and acting equally relaxed. A minute later he walked into the office and I could hear parts of that conversation, too. Quite amiable. Relaxed, varied in topics.

I had waited, patiently as the signs had requested, for twenty minutes at that time. I was still number one in the waiting line hoping that either one of the two women at the counter to look up. Neither did.

Then the waddler came back. She ambled behind the counter, plopped down in her chair, looked toward me and spat, “next.” I walked quickly to her and asked to see the bureaucrat with whom I had the appointment. I told her I had seen him enter the room behind the wall just behind her. She curtly responded that he did not work in that area. I explained what I had seen, again. She reluctantly waddled to the door, stuck her head in and returned to tell me he was in a meeting and to take a seat. Twenty-five minutes and holding.

Still, neither of the women at the counter looked up, still one man stood at a window, still seven people were in line. No one acknowledged their presence, no one looked up. The waddler waddled off in a different direction. I got up and left. Thirty minutes.

What irritated me was the indifference of the government workers in the Building Department. I had seen this before, but, in the days before remodeling, there were other workers close by, visible, who might, given a moment of community spirit, jump in to help when customers were in excess. The remodeling had separated the majority of workers from the public, probably the goal. Two inured women sat there, behind their wall, indifferent to the public. I would guess Dave Fuller, the head of the Building Department, had created the new environment, at taxpayer expense, not with the public in mind, but the comfort of his workers, so they would be undisturbed by contact with scruffy taxpayers. It worked. The lobby area is small, has four windows and the workers had that dull, I-don’t-give-a-damn look on their faces.

That is the impression that I have formed over the years whenever I have visited that office: the workers are sour . The public is a nuisance. It would be nice to be greeted with a smile and a “may I help you.” Not in Dave Fuller’s office. Apparently, Mr. Fuller should take a customer service class so he could instill in his workers a politeness and respect for their clients. But, 1) there is no competition, and 2) Mr. Fuller doesn’t seem to care.

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 15th, 2009 at 9:33 am and is filed under City & County Government. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.