One expects government agencies in big cities to be bureaucratic. But in a small town like ours? Unexpectedly (to me at least), one of the city’s departments, Finance, has chosen to be highly bureaucratic in its dealings with its residents.

On May 19, the city issued a Certificate of Occupancy for our new home. The next day I went to the Finance Department to open a utility account. I told the employee at the front desk that the city had issued a CO to me. She said that I could not open an account until she received a copy of the CO from the Community Development Department. Fair enough, perhaps verification is important (although why would anyone other than me want to open a utility account in my name?).

I then asked if she would call the Community Development Dept so she could confirm that the CO was issued. She declined. Does this employee think she is too important to take a minute of her time to help ordinary residents (who fund her salary)? I asked when she would receive the CO from internal channels. “About a week,” she responded. However, she declined my request to contact me when she had my CO in her hands.

The next day, I picked up a copy of my CO from Community Development, which kindly made a second copy that I could hand to Finance. However, Finance refused to accept this copy, saying it had to wait to receive the identical copy from internal channels. What? Does this city employee really believe I would spend hours trying to fabricate the certificate?

This practice is ridiculous. The only explanation I can think of why it would follow this practice is to increase revenues generated from parking meters. I have already used two quarters for my two unsuccessful trips to Finance. How many more quarters (trips) will I need to use before Finance will finally accept my application?

Our public servants can – and should – do better.

Jeff Bork

Durango