Here is what I gave the collector last night:
Here is what happened:
The DC's office went on tour of a far, far away part of the district, so the usual Thursday 11:00 AM hearing in the conference hall never happened.
I came back at 5:00 PM, sat my usual seat in the waiting area, and chatted with the usual sweet-natured, competent front office staff. There was a crowd by the front door, which is not unusual. I spoke with SSA staff waiting to discuss the latest with the DC, then I made a new friend who is a bureaucrat with a tax office.
At 5:05, the union boss for the office workers showed up. He demanded the front-office staff leave! As per their union rules, the work is 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM, but the DC works his staff until 9:00/10:00 PM. The union boss 1) either thinks this makes the rest of the office look bad or 2) thinks someone is actually unhappy at the DC's office. The little fellows of the front office shuffled all the paperwork into bundles for the overnight safe down the hall, cracked nervous smiles, and then pushed out through the crowd.
The crowd shifted a bit, but no one was anxious (except me). At 5:15 PM, the DC came out all by himself. He started to work the crowd. The crowed stayed respectfully still and waited in turn.
Thanks to my new friend, I was second in line. He read the four requests with unusual concentration, then said, "yes, yes." He kept the papers and moved to the next in the crowd. I started breathing again. Ismail was with me, and he said this was all a good sign and we'll come back on Monday to follow up.
Pressing the DC for help is the last thing that I want to do; he is massively overworked. At this point, there is no choice. The rest of the bureaucracy is shutting down to a shuffle - at best - due to the upcoming elections. The laws here restrict shifting of any bureaucrat for one year prior to elections, which are held in April 2009. My education officer was pushed upstairs to the state office in December. No one has replaced him. We do not expect anyone to replace him for another year. His staff, the hardest working office in the district, now sit with their hands folded. They do not like it, but they have a genuine Zen attitude about it.
And that is why so much was riding on this one-minute meeting with the DC. We'll see what happens next.
Here is what happened:
The DC's office went on tour of a far, far away part of the district, so the usual Thursday 11:00 AM hearing in the conference hall never happened.
I came back at 5:00 PM, sat my usual seat in the waiting area, and chatted with the usual sweet-natured, competent front office staff. There was a crowd by the front door, which is not unusual. I spoke with SSA staff waiting to discuss the latest with the DC, then I made a new friend who is a bureaucrat with a tax office.
At 5:05, the union boss for the office workers showed up. He demanded the front-office staff leave! As per their union rules, the work is 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM, but the DC works his staff until 9:00/10:00 PM. The union boss 1) either thinks this makes the rest of the office look bad or 2) thinks someone is actually unhappy at the DC's office. The little fellows of the front office shuffled all the paperwork into bundles for the overnight safe down the hall, cracked nervous smiles, and then pushed out through the crowd.
The crowd shifted a bit, but no one was anxious (except me). At 5:15 PM, the DC came out all by himself. He started to work the crowd. The crowed stayed respectfully still and waited in turn.
Thanks to my new friend, I was second in line. He read the four requests with unusual concentration, then said, "yes, yes." He kept the papers and moved to the next in the crowd. I started breathing again. Ismail was with me, and he said this was all a good sign and we'll come back on Monday to follow up.
Pressing the DC for help is the last thing that I want to do; he is massively overworked. At this point, there is no choice. The rest of the bureaucracy is shutting down to a shuffle - at best - due to the upcoming elections. The laws here restrict shifting of any bureaucrat for one year prior to elections, which are held in April 2009. My education officer was pushed upstairs to the state office in December. No one has replaced him. We do not expect anyone to replace him for another year. His staff, the hardest working office in the district, now sit with their hands folded. They do not like it, but they have a genuine Zen attitude about it.
And that is why so much was riding on this one-minute meeting with the DC. We'll see what happens next.
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