So, I looked through the list of derelict properties the county wishes to sell. I picked out a dozen or so streets to cruise in search of that gem in the rough. Dog and I bundled into the car, I put the list on the seat next to me with a route map to keep the trip efficient and concise. There were two stops on North Anthony that intrigued me. The numbers suggested good location, so we started there. Wow. Very nice houses. Both had lovely paint jobs, nice curtains in the window, good looking cars in the drive. Hmmm. I made a mark to call the county about those two. Something either was very wrong or I had found the diamond in the first shovel full. On to the next property. It was more of what I had expected. Boarded windows and the signs of long neglect. The foundation was lined with small and medium trees pushing skyward.
The next two places, both on Broadway, were close to a property I already own. I am a landlord. I stared at them. Unlike the Anthony properties these might just qualify. The Anthony properties must be an obvious mistake, I thought. So, I parked across the street from the addresses and surveyed the roof for wear, the foundation for bows and the rest of the exterior for missing storms, deteriorating paint, porch posts leaning precariously out of alignment. The paint job was in need of a redo, but otherwise the houses looked worthy of an inspection. My confusion grew though, because I spotted behind each house a garage and decent looking cars. Hmmm.
I traveled on. I found vacant lots, boarded houses, lonely garages to houses that had been consumed by time and neglect.
I also noted that street names were misspelled and some addresses listed did not exist.
I thought to call the county to clarify the situation. I had questions.
Yellow pages. Building Department. 449 7131 A robot answered. “Welcome to the Allen County IBR System. If you would like to talk to an operator press 0.” Each word was disjointed from the next. The presentation sounded like an early 1970s parody of prototypical systems, the worst of the experimental models. After enjoying a short chuckle and scratching my head about county government, I pushed 0 to talk with a human. I got a zombie. The poor woman who answered sounded in need of some iron supplements. Droll, bland, lifeless. Hold a mirror to her mouth and a slight fog would form, hold it to her face and there might not be a reflection…zombie and vampire together, but vampires have energy and verve. I asked zombie for the person in charge of the program dealing with the derelict property on the list I had been given by same office a couple months back. “They’re on vacation until December 30th,” the zombie slowly recited. Perhaps her voice had been used for the robot phone system, I wondered. Then, I wondered to her, out loud, whether someone else might be able to advise me. “No,” she drolled. No explanation, no offer of further assistance, just “no.” I thanked her and called Bill Brown, our affable commissioner, to leave a humorous message about my interesting experience. I don’t blame Bill.
Okay, we all know the county gets by on the cheap when it comes to customer service, that is dealing with the taxpaying public. But the phone system is laughable and not the sort of message that I would wish anyone to associate with my community.
Secondly, I was trying to buy derelict property. Property that was off of the tax rolls. I would refurbish it and put it back on the tax rolls. One would think that the county would have a back up in place when the person running the program takes a month plus a few days away. Just a thought. Zombie might also have invited me to leave my number, but she didn’t. I handed her the ball and she dropped it right on my toes. Zombie hung up. Perhaps to pay for the robot they have cut the post it note budget. Perhaps zombie can not write. Whatever. No private sector business I know would do any of what I have mentioned above and last long in the market place. Messy list, bad addresses, indifferent zombie, ludicrous answering system and a heavily dropped ball.
Oh, well, how do you encourage county government to reverse decades of indifference to the public? I called Bill Brown. I will also mention it to John McGauley. He and Bill seem to get it.
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Tags: Allen County Building Department, Bill Brown, John McGauley
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But Jim, it’s all my fault.
You see, I demand that my taxes be kept at the lowest rate possible. So, as you most eloquently point out, the County get’s by on the cheap when it comes to serving the “customer”.
It doesn’t matter about the waste and duplication among agencies, or the fact that some of the County higher-ups demand a new car each year (psychologists have named this “the Irving syndrome”). The County knows the best way to cut expenses is, and always has been, to reduce employee hours or positions. It’s simple, it’s easy, and it only costs one vote in the next election.
If I hadn’t been so insistent about them keeping costs down to minimize my tax liability, this would never have happened to you. How can you forgive me?
I was thinking as much, Doug. But it is true. We demand lower costs in government and are happy when our tax bills go down. We are not so happy when services are cut, especially to our favorite branch or program of government. So, politicians know that to suggest raising taxes is suicide and they employ the cut taxes strategy to campaigning and holding office. Perhaps we should have a base tax rate to pay for the fundamental services of government and then a check off for a second level of taxation so that we could direct forty percent of our tax bill to offices and programs we designate. I would spend mine on the arts.
My gripe was with the moribund attitude of the employee and the pathetic quality of the phone system. Both were laughable and embarrasing, or at least should be for the boss. A smile in a voice is easy to affect and a better message costs nothing more.
Jim:
I’ll be the first one to tell you that in my area, we have houses that have sat VACANT for YEARS….no tenants, no sale of property…just an abandoned house sitting year after year, becoming the next place for people to have sex, do drugs..whatever.
And recently vacate homes are the target of scrappers…or sometimes arsonists.
After all,. we ARE above the nat’l average on both counts for these crimes.
I believe there used to be about 400+ houses that were on the razing list…not seeing all that much demolition….actually none.
And little if any renovations on current properties.
Apathy reigns supreme apaprently.
If you’re looking for property that just might be “forgotten”…drive around down here…you’ll find ‘em.
This points to the inherent contrast between the business models of the private sector and the those of the public sector. There is, generally, no incentive for a public employee to strive to provide excellent service. Apparently there are minimums, and that, Jim, is what you are experiencing.
If 2 people of equal responsibility exist in an office and process 100 forms per day each, and one of them takes the initiative to process 150 forms per day while their co-worker maintains at the 100 forms per day level, the office manager will take note. In the private sector the over achieving associate’s efforts would be noticed and that associate would, most likely, will be rewarded by a pay raise or other benefit. In the public arena, the office manager would take notice and then recommend that the 100 forms-per-day associate be eliminated to cut costs while the over achieving associate would then be “rewarded” by having to pick up the additional workload of the eliminated associate.
What’s the answer? How can a public employee be “incentive-ized” to provide service that is, at least, on par with an average experience at a McDonald’s??
I have seen private business also cut a position, combine it with the work of a better employee and sometimes give the more productive employee a raise for doing double the work, seldom, however, is the raise double the pay. Ten percent hike in pay gets 100% more productivity.
Bob, I have tried to buy derelict properties off the economy, but they are often tied up in one way or another and sometimes impossible to find the owner. Could be some bank in Keokuk that is vaguely aware that they have a property in Fort where? The county has a program, Liz Brown suggested the other night at council that the city should have such a program unawares that the county is responsibile (property taxes) and has been doing this for quite a while. She has done that twice during my observations and I am not so well educated on other programs as I am on this and cable policy. In those two cases she might have done a bit of research before so strongly suggesting what was already being done. She might have simply asked a question rather than demanding action….
This reminds me of planning, zoning and code and how their functions tend to overlap just enough that they can pass responsibililty to another department without ever actually doing anything. There’s a person near me that is running a scrap yard in his residence, and none of these departments are willing to take responsibility. Apparently I have been enough of a paint in the ass about it that I no longer get returned phone calls.
So why am I moderated again?