OC Treasurer Chriss Street's office sent over this op-ed yesterday, for our readers perusal and consideration:

How Am I Driving?
By Chriss W. Street

Few people take pleasure interacting with any level of government bureaucracy.  Sometime untangling the web of government agencies can be just as challenging even for elected officials.  All too often the answers found at the end of the government maze are unsatisfactory.  Burger King's customer friendly slogan of "your way, right away" has yet to trickle down to many government offices.  But, it doesn't have to be this way.

Supervisor Bate's effort to apply private sector customer service principles to County government is forward thinking and is to be applauded.  Traditionally, government has not focused time and resources on measuring success and failure.  Whereas corporations can often simply check their stock price to see how they are performing, government has no comparable benchmark. Supervisor Bate's idea of providing the public with a "How Am I Driving" phone number may go a long way in quantifying both government success and failure.  

Contrary to popular myth, my experience is that the vast majority of County employees take pride in their work and strive to provide excellent service.  They rightfully want to see themselves as public servants and are sensitive about being called bureaucrats.  In the effort to streamline and improve government services timely feedback is critical.  These goals, coveted by the public, and public servants alike, will be furthered with additional public input.

In the last week my office has had personal contact with over 60,000 of our customers, Orange County Taxpayers.  Roughly 55,000 taxpayers utilized our Customer Service Hotline for questions and payment, while another 6,000 paid in person at our public counter.  Our dedicated public voluntarily gave up portions of their weekends and worked extended hours to assist the public.  This alleviated some of the mad rush that naturally accompanies taxpayer deadlines.

Since taking office, our team has succeeded in drastically cutting the average wait time on our Customer Service Hotline.  Even during peak hours customers spoke with a live person in an average of five seconds.  Our efforts at the public counter have been met with similar success.  Unlike in year's past, there were no lines out the door.  When given an opportunity to shine, public servants consistently rise to the occasion.  The Treasurer-Tax Collectors' Office is grateful for the opportunity to interact with our stakeholders and appreciative of the compliments and kind words received from many of our constituent customers.

This is a tough time for many Orange County taxpayers and our office is committed to assisting those financially squeezed by the recent economic downturn.  Now, more than ever, it is important we maintain our high level of customer service.  Enacting Supervisor Bates' proposal will assist department heads, like myself, ensure our customers receive the benefits they have rightfully earned with their tax dollars.