There’s a better way of doing things

Published 6:02 pm Wednesday, January 14, 2015

Per an article in the Auburn Reporter and noise around town about a mistake on license renewal notices sent to business owners in Auburn:

I am surprised that with all the electronics at City Hall these days we did not have a message popping up on a telephone to explain and apologize for the error on the part of the City.

Our government is supposed to serve our residents and taxpayers, not frighten them with bills that are many times larger than they should be with no quick way to resolve the problem. Though many people make good use of computers when they are unduly startled by a piece of mail, many of us reach for the nearest telephone.

The City has very modern computer systems that do many things. Some of those systems are left up and running 24 hours a day, and public money pays to keep government-owned buildings operational (huge utility bills). I believe “efficient” and “frugal” should be key words in the vocabulary of our elected officials and the department directors who are in charge of the actual day-to-day operation of our City.

Research has proven that lots of man hours are wasted by private and public employees who spend unnecessary time “online.” However, maybe our finance department in Auburn would be happy to have a new “call receiving” application that would make their jobs even more “user friendly” and make sure that they have a way to respond quickly to simple errors.

We have many good employees at the City of Auburn, and if we can give them a better way of doing things, why not give it a shot?

– Virginia Haugen