If Modesto City Councilwoman Janice Keating has learned one thing during her seven years in office, it's that people are angry. Especially people who do business with the city, Keating says.
She believes there's a "chasm" between City Hall and the people it serves.
Keating wants to bridge that gap with a customer service program. The council's Economic Development Committee recently approved a pilot version of her plan.
Starting soon, people who interact with the city's planning division — by applying for a building permit, for example — will receive a personalized "we appreciate your business" letter. They will be encouraged to call Community and Economic Development Director Brent Sinclair directly if they have any problems.
After their business with the city is finished, City Manager Greg Nyhoff will send them a survey about their experience. He'll ask what the city did right and what could use improvement.
Some say the city needs to do more than send out friendly letters and surveys. Others say they've noticed a warmer attitude toward business, especially since Nyhoff took over in June 2008.
Keating's customer service program was inspired in part by her own brief stint as a developer in 2003, when she helped get a homeless shelter built. Working with the city was a "nightmare" that ended with her "throwing a hissy fit," Keating said.
The letters and follow-up surveys aren't just about putting a smile on people's faces, Keating said. She sees the program as a way to boost business and bring jobs to Modesto.
"If someone has a choice to go somewhere where they feel welcomed, and we're doing everything we can to get feedback, then they'll be back," Keating said. "And they won't move their warehouse business to Ceres, where there's a more business-friendly attitude."
'Is your city for real'
One local engineering consultant who's done business with the city for almost 40 years said he's glad officials are talking about improving customer service. The consultant didn't want to be identified because he didn't want his criticisms to influence how city staff treat him.
Doing business with the city used to be simple, the consultant said. Twenty years ago, he would sit down with one planner, flip through his plans and get them approved within a few days. These days, he said, he has to deliver multiple sets of plans to the city. Employees in several departments take turns chiming in.
By the time that's done, there's a long list of reasons he can't do what he wants to do. "Sometimes they seem to take pleasure in showing what power they have and what they can do to stop you," the consultant said.
One out-of-town architect working on a restaurant expansion was stunned by the number of hoops he had to jump through, the consultant said. The architect asked him, "Is your city for real? Are you guys nuts? What is this?"
The consultant said the city can't afford to keep up that kind of off-putting behavior.
"The city should be bending over backwards when someone wants to come in and put (an addition on a restaurant)," the consultant said. "That would put carpenters to work, that would put more people to work at that restaurant. They should be doing everything possible, but that's not what's happening."
He noted that the slowness isn't all the city's fault. Much of it is related to ever-increasing layers of environmental regulation and liability fears.
But he wishes the city ran more like a private business, with one person designated to lead each project. Now, every time he has a question "a committee holds a meeting to reach consensus" about how to proceed.
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