Service is Not Just a Buzzword: El Paso County Clerk’s Duties
I’ve been talking about service in the last couple of posts. Lots of people talk about service — who is really opposed to service? — but for me it’s more than just a buzzword.
El Paso County and Service
This is the most service-oriented community I’ve known. In some cities and towns, people are wrapped up in their own affairs, paying attention to money or status. Not here. So many of our citizens devote much of their lives to service beyond themselves — their country, their faith, their community, or a cause they care so deeply about. It’s odd then that we find that our local government often falls short when it comes to providing services well.
Service is at the core of what government does. In government, service is not a means to an end, like it is in a for-profit business, but rather it is the end in itself. The Public Trustee serves by protecting the property rights of both lenders and borrowers. The Clerk and Recorder serves by (among other things) protecting our right to choose our own government, and by keeping records of the documents that track property ownership.
While both offices charge fees for their services, fees set by state law, and both end up sending money to the County General Fund, neither exists to “make money” for the County. If a good steward of those fees can increase the amount of money sent to the County by reducing operating costs, that is good, but the reduction in costs must not come at the expense of service provided. Service is first.
Responsibility to Maintain Quality Service Practices
Not only must the service be maintained, we need to be providing “good service.” The value in that may be harder for some to see in the public sector than in the private. Poor service in the private sector may cause your customers to take their business elsewhere, hurting the bottom line — and thus service is a means to the final goal of profits earned. In local government, the customers cannot easily take their business elsewhere, so some may not be motivated to provide good service. But our customers are the citizens of this county. They can move away, or not live here in the first place. Granted, it is probably not going to be the Clerk’s poor service that drives people away (more likely it would be problems in public safety, parks, or transportation), but each government office contributes to the people’s sense of whether or not government is working for them, or just for itself.
I will always remember that I serve you first.
In these first few posts, I’ve been introducing the campaign and the office in which I seek to serve you. Over the next few weeks, I’ll talk more about how better service can be achieved and about my own service in the U.S. Air Force.
