Famous words of Ronald Reagan. It was said that he used the words before every meeting with the Soviet Union on the INF Treaty and was called down for using the phrase so often. Reagan's reply--"I like it."
And I like it too. This is exactly what our Commission should be doing when Staff brings them a proposition to spend any taxpayer money. In this case, it is the Customer Service Department for Lake Worth Utilities. Last night it involved extending the contract with Government Services Group for 30 days because our Customer Service has literally gone to hell in a hand basket (grand theft ((property valued at $100,000 or more)) for starters) and there is no return to normalcy or to just, well, customer service.
We haven't had service there for years. No one knows what it means. The City has tried to turn the department around hiring one manager after another to no avail and even providing educational courses. The Unions actually manage it and there lies the problem. It is impossible to get rid of incompetence. It thrives there like a mold on your bathroom wall. This incompetence runs rampant throughout government in general, not just Lake Worth. Why do you think we are in the state we are in?
There was at one time a "customer service" representative named Suzie. At the side of her desk was a flier for all to see that read: This is God. I will be handling all your problems today. I will not need your help. So have a nice day. I hope Suzie no longer works there. This attitude was and is prevalent to this day. We all have had our horror stories regarding Lake Worth Utilities Customer Service, a department that at times takes in excess of $1/2 million dollars a day in revenues that has always treated the customer like dirt. How did they get away with it? Their Unions. To even discipline anyone, the city had to go through hoops.
On July 19, the situation was discussed at length at a city commission meeting to outsource this department. The Commission had some sort of problem then and they had the same problems last night--they even asked the same questions that were answered by staff in exactly the same way as they did on July 19. Commissioners, if you don't understand something, please demand the back-up before a meeting and come prepared.
Now, the entire issue will come back for the third time this Thursday. Trust but verify and extend the contract in order to immediately straighten out this department in order to go forward with out-sourcing. Lake Worth utility customers deserve it.
11 comments:
Once again I read Lynn’s web site and am so aggravated I am finding it difficult to write this. She finds the unions an easy target and the constant target of her opinion of ALL the ills of LW, and never seems able to identify the real source of the dysfunctional performance of LW as poor leadership and management. If she and others believe that the outcome of LW are strictly a byproduct of the unions they are woefully wrong.
For example one of the former customer service managers, who was another beneficiary of the early buyout along with the former CM, how’d that work for the city, she went to work for the gas utility, within three months she was demoted and within six months she as terminated for incompetence, now she’s the number two person for the PMSA and PEU union.
The issue at LW is a culture of ineptness, and individuals who are unqualified to hold the positions they currently do, the good people go to work at LW and generally leave after they realize just what a mess the place is, that is not a union problem.
Many electric utilities are unionized and don’t have the issues that LW has, who negotiated and approved the contracts, the leadership, it takes competent individuals to mitigate being held hostage.
Look at the pensions alone, many of the private sector utilities have gone from defined benefit to cash balance to correct the future obligations issues, yes in union shops, it can be accomplished, it called leadership. Why have they not implemented the cash balance plan at LW, would correct many of their so called unfunded liabilities.
It is easy to look to others to blame, in this case the unions, but the city is collapsing around their ears and they continue down the same failed path, look at the millions of dollars wasted on the 26kV conversion, millions and the same individuals are still in place and expected to manage the 13.2kV conversion, don’t these individuals have an epiphany, how long would individuals last in the private sector squandering millions in waste due to incompetence.
It will take millions of dollars to correct what they did in the past on the conversion, that is not a union issue, that is a failure of hiring competent individuals to run your operations, leadership has no idea what is going on under their noses, incredible.
Thanks Union Lover above.
The city needs the ability to fire and replace those not doing the job...those talking on their cell phones to friends while a customer is kept waiting. When you have the Union filing a grievance about a situation such as that, it is clearly the Unions that are the problem when you can't manage employees to put in a full day's work for a full day's pay plus tremendous benefits to boot. they know they are protected by their Union and have been getting away with "murder" as well as grand theft.
One of the things that we forget is that the people who sit on the commission are not professionals. They are regular folks who find themselves making decisions that are way over their heads. They need good experts to explain things so that they can make the important decisions that affect us all. I firmly believe that most of the mess that we find ourselves in comes from a lack of good legal advice. We can't fire people because we entered into bad union contracts. We spending millions of dollars defending lawsuits that did not have to happen. I have watched commissioners spend an hour talking about a subject or problem that requires legal knowledge and our city attorney simply sits up there and says nothing. It is only when a commissioner asks for help that a response may come from our attorney. Until our commissioners figure out that they need a top law firm with lawyers who are experts in many areas of law we are going to repeat the same mistakes that have been made over the last 10 or more years.
John--Absolutely 100% correct. We only hire the top lawyers AFTER we get into trouble.
I got a bill for over $1,000 and they told me to check my hot water heater that it was probably the problem. They gave me no encouragement other than it was my fault. Awful place.
Oh my, sounds like a Union rep to me. Let us chuck that noose that has been around our neck where management has been relegated to impotence and has been stomped into the ground. Get people to do their damn jobs. How dare some Union rep spout off and we're supposed to cower in fear and believe how wonderful they all are. They are the biggest problem businesses have today to be successful. I am a small business owner and I thank my lucky stars every day that I am still surviving and making a living.
You and I became acquainted over a utility bill. The man or woman here should take the bill, find the current reading and go outside to their meter and check to determine if the billing reading is correct. Meters are easily read, and anyone who questions their bill should do this first. Then, take a photo of the meter to prove the current reading and take both the photo and the bill back to city hall and address the issue. Most utilities will not give you a refund, but they will take the excess off of the next months bill.
Checking the lower heating coil of any hot water heater is essential to keeping your monthly bill low. If the lower unit has malfunctioned, the upper unit will work 24/7 to keep the water at a set temperature. If the upper unit has malfunctioned, the lower unit will work harder, but since heat rises, it will not work nearly as hard to maintain the temperature.
How come you are quoting dead people?
Unions and their members should never forget who pays them. Those with good,honorable parents' upbringing, would do an honest days work for OUR(not Unions') honestly made money with many years of dedicated work!
Disrespect begets disrepect, Unions!
Dereliction of duty is not what our hard money is paying for,not doing your job is stealing our money!
The truth is not popular ,but that is what I am a strong proponent of.
You should not have to depend on the missing leadership.Be happy that you have a job!
Dee McNamara
The dead are quoted because the leadership of Lake Worth shows it to be true! Dysfuntion and dishonesty, lazy,disrespectful,rude workers,not appreciative of having a job(Union guided behaviour????)No work, No pay!!!!!.
Commissions out of touch, no indepth knowledge of our business,agenda items,loss of millions by Commissions unverified Consent Agendas.The voters wanted it.
Honesty,real professionalism,discipline in all Departments, guarantee good work.
Only this, accompanied by good manners instead of arrogance, would revive the City!
it is again business as usual!
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