Understanding How Local Government Works (Why Is No One Getting Back To Me)

*Note: This is our interpretation of the law and is simplified for the sake of being digestible. Nothing posted should be considered legal advice.

Recently, someone called my extension, and it was about another municipality, and I happened to be working from home that day, and in the conversation, I realized how little people actually know about the day-to-day of government employees. So, consider this somewhere between a rant and a genuine attempt to get people to understand what’s going on.

You Are Asking Questions We Can’t Publicly Answer

Let it be known that a good portion of the questions the public asks, we do know the answer to. However, asking us at work why this person doesn’t reply or pick up the phone is like asking a waiter what they clean with, how often, does the cook wash their hands, is this really meat, and doing so with the manager and other patrons being around.

Can we answer the question? Yes. But the walls have ears, and the honest truth could get us in trouble.

Take note, most of us are in hire and fire at will positions, and even those with tenure, like the Township Clerk, CFO, Tax Collector, and a few others, can be punished even if they can’t be fired with ease. So by speaking up, it could cost us our jobs, lead to a tenured employee losing staff as punishment, or even, for those of us who wish to get promotions, lead to us not getting said promotions because we talk too much and are considered troublemakers.

You’re Focusing On Who Is Accessible, Not Who Can Answer The Question

One thing I hear a lot of people do is that when they can’t get the person/department they want, they decide to go through the entire phone directory until they get a person. While the initiative is certainly worthy of applause, the problem with this is that it isn’t going to lead you to getting the answer you want any quicker.

For one, most departments don’t have a full grasp on what other departments do. We’re all trained pretty much on specific things, and even within a department, there are specialities that one person may do that the rest have an awareness of, but can’t do themselves. An example: Some Clerk’s departments have a Registrat of Vital Statistics in them. This may lead you to think that they work in your office, surely you know what they do and how to do it right? Not necessarily.

Like with any job, while cross-training is something that should be done, it isn’t something guaranteed. Because of the time needed to do such, turnover, or, as I’m sure you’ve seen, some people believing the more they know and no one else knows, that means job security, a lot of us don’t know other people’s jobs and responsibilities, we just know our own.

Then, when it comes to why another department doesn’t pick up? We don’t know and because, especially in the Clerk’s Office, we have to work with the majority of departments, it doesn’t behoove us to say too much for, never mind what management could do, but creating bad blood with another department will make it so when we need to have something rushed or have a question, if we burned a bridge, it means now we’re in the same position as you and having to escalate things, thus making them worse, to get stuff done.

I would also consider this: You know your taxes are high. Do you want them higher for more redundancy? A lot of times, taking note of each person having a speciality, that person can be on the other line, talking to someone who came in person, or focusing on a task that makes it so answering a call is not a priority.

Is it fair to you? No. However, many are juggling far more than what they were initially hired for, and so it is easier to prioritize what’s in front of you.

This may lead you to ask, “Why haven’t my e-mails been answered then?” Well, OPRA answers that question. You putting something in writing means that any response is subject to OPRA, and anyone who requests that conversation can have access to it. In addition, sometimes questions need to be forwarded or researched in order to give a correct response, and if that person doesn’t filter their e-mails, it can mean your e-mail being buried amongst all the things the county, the State, salespeople, and more send on a regular basis.

Which may make you wonder, “So, how do I get an answer to my question then?” Well, it is hard to say if we’re being honest. You could come in person, which isn’t the easiest option, since our hours mirror your job. Also, you could continue to call AND leave a voicemail. A lot of people don’t leave detailed voice mails, such as name, phone number, and your concern, which leads to not getting a callback. On top of that, when you e-mail, be aware that a lot of us have spam filters that, by nature, block certain things.

For example, for whatever reason, the word “Invoice” leads to messages going to spam for us, and other keywords that will even send e-mails from the State to our spam. So when e-mailing people, make your subject clear like “Citizen Concern” or “Question From Citizen” – which does create a bit of an alert. Also, even if frustrated, don’t be rude. Most of us know navigating government can be a pain in the butt, and understand your frustration. However, 8/10 your issue isn’t in our control, and we’re following laws and policies set forth without our input.

Why Isn’t The Mayor/Council Person/ Committee Person Getting Back To Me?

The short answer: Most of them have a day job. In some municipalities, being an elected official is a full-time job. However, for a lot of municipalities, elected officials may get a stipend, maybe $5,000 to $15,000 a year, if that, but not enough to fully focus on their duties. That’s why between the Clerk’s Office and Administration, they often redirect any calls, emails, or issues to those two departments to handle.

The Clerk’s Department works explicitly for the governing body and as the “Junk Drawer,” as some would call it, of Municipal government, if we don’t have the tools to handle an issue, usually we know who can from all the applications, permits, and other correspondence we handle on a regular basis.

Then, with the Business Administrator, because their position can’t get tenure, and they have to be reappointed yearly, and it is their job to handle administrative matters with or on behalf of the governing body/mayor, it behooves them to handle things promptly.

In Summary

Is it that employees don’t care about you, don’t care because they don’t live in the town, or anything like that? For the most part, I wouldn’t say we don’t care. It’s more so, like many people in the private sector, we have so many pressing issues that each person prioritizes the best they can, and with it being rare that any department has a notable amount of backup personnel, it means if one person doesn’t do it, it won’t get done.

So, whenever possible, give grace. More than likely, the person you are trying to contact is overwhelmed and trying to get done what they can during the work day, since overtime generally is not an option.