From Harford County Government:
BEL AIR, Md., (June 16, 2015) – To improve service and productivity, the Glassman administration will begin this summer to restructure Harford County government – literally.
County Executive Barry Glassman announced on Tuesday that the county Department of Inspections, Licenses and Permits would be moving downstairs to the ground floor of the County Administration Building, where a more open workspace will be constructed to help citizens get everything from dog licenses to commercial construction permits, more conveniently than ever before. The move to create a “Permit Center” is the first phase of a major restructuring planned to make better use of county-owned facilities and save taxpayer money by reducing leased space. There will be no disruption in county services during construction of the Permit Center, which is expected to open by Labor Day.
“The new Permit Center reflects my administration’s focus on customer service,” said County Executive Glassman. “Locating the Center on our ground floor in a new workspace will improve transparency and productivity as we work to expedite permit approvals and licensing. Most importantly, it will save time and legwork for our homeowners, pet owners, contractors and businesses. As much as possible, our goal is to create a one-stop-shop for our valued customers.”
Currently, citizens seeking permits or licenses have to go up the second floor of the County Administration Building in Bel Air to fill out their applications. They then go downstairs to make payments at the first floor Treasury window, and go back upstairs again to show their receipts and collect newly issued permits or licenses. After the Permit Center opens on the first floor, citizens will simply walk down the hall to the Treasury window.
Inside the new Permit Center, citizens will be welcome to sit with a one-on-one guide who will help them through the permit process, from application to review and approval. In addition, the county employees who review applications will no longer be hidden from view and isolated in cubicles. Instead, the open floor plan will allow employees to coordinate and expedite their workflow as a team. For applications that can be fully reviewed at the County Administration Building, the Permit Center will streamline the process further by including representatives from the other county departments involved in permit approvals: the Department of Public Works and the Department of Planning and Zoning.
“I am excited about the open workspace that will allow us to offer more efficient and personalized service to the many citizens who come to our offices each day,” said Paul Lawder, director of the Department of Inspections, Licenses and Permits.
The Board of Estimates on Tuesday approved the contract award to construct the new Permit Center, including new energy efficient windows on the first floor of the County Administration Building. The new windows will save money on heating and air conditioning by replacing storefront windows installed with the original building in 1968. The $397,000 contract for the Permit Center and first floor windows was awarded to Centennial Contractors Enterprises as part of the purchasing cooperative National Joint Powers Alliance’s construction contract. Through the same contract vehicle, the Board of Estimates also awarded a $486,000 contract to Centennial to replace the building’s deteriorating mansard roof and third floor windows, which will be funded from the county’s capital budget for regular maintenance of county facilities.
Once the Permit Center project is complete, additional phases of the building restructuring project are planned, including relocating the second-floor public conference room to the first floor, and relocating the Treasury payment window to the Main Street side of the first floor, which will provide better public access and security oversight.
Both the Permit Center and subsequent phases of the restructuring project will be funded with savings from leases terminated at two locations, and their respective operations moved to county-owned facilities. The Department of Human Resources at 112 Hays Street will move to the first floor of the County Administration Building at 220 S. Main St., saving $75,700 annually. In addition, the Department of Public Works Construction Management Division will leave 15 N. Bond Street, and its capital projects functions will move to the County Administration Building; the remaining functions will be housed at the county’s “black box” building at 212 S. Bond St., saving $150,948 per year. The combined savings of $226,648 will more than offset $197,986 in annual debt service on $2.5 million in bonds to pay for the project, for a net annual savings of $28,662.
“As much as possible, our goal is to create a one-stop-shop for our valued customers” – The citizens of Harford County are not your “customers”. They are your constituents. You are selling permits and licenses. A permit or a license is nothing more than the Government taking your right to do or have something and selling it back to you. When the Government starts referring to its citizens as its customers, that same Government has forgot what its job really is. Government is nothing more than a corporation and that corporation wants nothing but the citizens’ money to pay for its own whimsical fantasies.
And that is exactly how this administrations views their capacity. They think they are the CEO’s of a company that can control and bully its employees and use it’s citizens as “customers” to get taxes, license fees or whatever else to fuel their agendas. They most certainly do not have the well being of county employees OR citizens at heart.
WOW!? Such critical and degrading commentary! Does anyone wish for there to be no change or attempt to improve anything concerning our government services? Let’s not be so demeaning and perhaps try to at least appreciate an attempt to save money and time – two things I believe we expect our ‘servants’ to strive for in the process of meeting our needs. Change is sometimes good – especially if we they can improve efficiency and make the red-tape process a little easier.
Theoretically it sounds nice and would be paid for. But the DMV is an open environment and you have half the government employees on break and the rest working at snooze speed. In reality it probably will turn out to be a crowded milling around area with confusion and nobody actually attending to anyone’s needs or even manning the booths or windows. For sure, they will construct all these extra contact slots with nobody there and long lines bumping into each other.
All this will not be because they don’t hire enough people… rather it’s the morons they hire – constantly call in sick or quit after a few months because they don’t like working even at a snails government pace.
The problem isn’t the Government it’s the people they hire and promote. Thank God Barry realizes this and is cutting out the dead wood finally.
On Jim there is so much you just don’t know… Look up the budget for the new and efficient housing office, bigger than ever by at least 6 new positions and Jim Richardson’s (HR director’s wife) as the new deputy for a dept never had a deputy prior…. Harkins is now in charge of landfill and no promise of costing less to run it in the future. Sure, right now labor force is being trimmed but landfill operations will cost about the same. I predict increased tipping fees in the future as landfill disclosed and trash gets shipped to Baltimore county. The blue bloods now rule HCG. Glassman is just a puppet as Boniface actually holds cabinet meeting while Barry hangs out in Annapolis. Pathetic, Boniface personally speaks and does Barry’s job while he tends to his sheep, goats or pays debts with patronage and backroom deals. Big real estate development law office got county $$$ to rehab Main Street building so other county department can move into vacated space at the tune of over 20k per month to sell connected old-time developer friend.
Not understanding the first couple of posts. A customer IS the boss. Why do you have an issue with the use of the term? Both a customer a Boss PAY you to do something. The government WORKS FOR US, just as a company you buy from WORKS FOR YOU. Why would you not pay for a permit? yes, taxes fund the government, but Permit fees are based on the work to be done, do the average taxpayer doesn’t have to subsidize building permits for others.
*so
“The two enemies of the people are CRIMINALS and GOVERNMENT, so let us tie the second down with the chains of the CONSTITUTION, so the second will NOT become the legalized version of the first.” – Thomas Jefferson.