Public Servants

"Postcards from Israel - Postcards from America" ^ | July 3, 2010 | Ari Bussel

[Ari Bussel]

Criticism by Ari Bussel

No one likes to be criticized. When the critique is constructive and aimed at improving, a person must separate one’s emotions from the practicality and wisdom of the criticism and view it with a sense of detachment.

Critique can be used as a tool for improvement, yet most government employees will do everything possible to quash it when aimed in their direction.

In a recent meeting with a government representative, I pointed out there are complaints that telephone calls and e-mails sent to his office remain unanswered.

“Impossible,” was the adamant reply, “It is against regulations.” Delighted I was that actual regulations exist but unsatisfied at the same time. These complaints are not new, and are consistent from various sources.

I suggested a different approach: “How about maintaining a log, writing down every incoming call or e-mail, and having a separate column to indicate who followed up and when.” This would create a tool that would enable the office both to review its efficiency and ensure compliance with regulations. Equally as important, it could serve as a database from which trends might be viewed or extrapolated.

For instance, if there were a concentration of public inquiries regarding a certain issue, it would behoove someone to conclude that the issue is of importance to a certain demographic. This was the case during Operation Cast Lead, but the Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not maintain such logs. The questions remained unanswered, and Israel missed an opportunity to rebuttal Judge Goldstone prior to his issuing his report. The underlying currents continued to boil, until more recently the Turkish Flotilla of Aid to Gaza brought them to surface.

Can you guess the response to my suggestion? Remember it was nothing more than a tool to ensure compliance with regulations I did not know existed. The government official dismissed it altogether. Either my sources were not characteristic of the excellent service the particular office was extending, or I did not understand what a good job they were actually doing.

We have a tendency to call our government officials “bureaucrats.” Imagine the audacity a reporter may have or just a common citizen to suggest a method for improving operations!

Another government official was on an official visit, and we hosted him for dinner. I was excited and looking forward to hearing about the visit and the government’s actions at these very perilous times. Budgets are short, expectations by the public are overwhelming and discontent is rising.

At one point I was so dismayed by what I was hearing, by the attitude of the government official, whose salary we – the taxpayers – pay, that I asked about a simple solution to one of the problems.

“Why,” I asked, “don’t you cross the hallway and go visit this other department you so freely fault for all that is not going as planned?” Working together seems to be far more beneficial than spreading the blame. Again, I am the one who does not understand. It is always “they,” never “us.”

A fellow reporter once asked if I would put him in touch with an elected official to present a plaque on behalf of that official’s constituents. The organization that prepared the plaque was a veteran’s organization, and the official, you guessed correctly, is very high up. So elevated in fact, that the official whom we elected is separated from the masses by various protective layers, making it close to impossible to ever reach him.

I contacted a government representative whom I know and asked for assistance. “We will see what can be done,” I was told. Knowing that such a laconic answer means, without exception, that I was brushed off, I approached another government representative, though this time I pleaded with him.

The person who made the request felt it was important enough to utilize any contact to make it happen. He served in past wars, for us. His comrades served, many were wounded and even more fell, so that we can enjoy the life and freedoms we have today. The very least he deserved was the time of the day.

This government official did not say, “Let us see what we can do.” Instead, he gave his personal cell phone number and said when my friend arrived, to please give him a call. He met with him and made the veteran’s wish a reality.

In a meeting some months later, the first government official who’d refused, remembered my request and explained they have little time to entertain such appeals. Besides, according to the rulebook someone else is obliged to reply. The veteran needed not engage in so much effort. He should have searched the Internet, found the “contact us” field, and awaited a reply.

Are you familiar with “Thank you for contacting our office? Due to the overwhelming number of people contacting us ….”

Simple solutions are abhorred. A different way of thinking is taboo. Action is translated to “unnecessary work.” Do these government officials remember whom are they serving? Why are they there in the first place? Who ultimately pays their salaries and pensions?

Most of us commoners have to work for a living. No one guarantees that we will have a pension. Even if we are able to set aside money for an IRA or save some for a rainy day, it is often way too little. And the perils of Wall Street are well known. Tomorrow is uncertain, and the chances that someone will take care of us nonexistent.

Most of us, face a future of uncertainty. For our elected officials there are health benefits that only they are entitled to receive. An early retirement scheme is practiced by which one earns “overtime” during the last year before retirement, to enjoy a higher base and a life-long pension that never dwindles. The public will pay!

Those who are elected, appointed or chosen to serve us do a wonderful job for themselves. They refuse to hear our complaints, adamant at not changing things (other than protecting and increasing their own benefits), and they will deter any criticism, real or imaginary.

“You are just unhappy with Government,” the reader might say. An interesting observation, since the instances described above are drawn from various levels of bureaucracy: tree trimming in the City of Los Angeles, Medicare benefits in the USA, a County Supervisor who thinks the land is his to do as he pleases, a City Planning department that is more attuned to large businesses than to the needs of a community.

Whether City, State or Federal Government, those who are there to serve ignore why. These bodies must be trimmed to the very bare minimum. They seem to have forgotten they are “Public Servants” and not the other way around.

You laugh, “It is not only in America!” Indeed, Israeli bureaucrats and government officials are no better, full of self-importance as those here, creative with excuses rather than improving and learning.

I would add that it extends beyond government bureaucrats. There is a whole industry of non-profit organizations and the longer they exist, the less they remember why they were created. They may know how to recite their mantra, but in practice their existence is focused on perpetuating the organization’s many layers of employees. They spend millions or tens of millions every year, not on actual recipients or programming, but on professional fundraisers’ salaries.

They have created books filled with excuses for shirking responsibility and placing it on someone else. They have become experts in defending giant salaries and attacking mercilessly anyone who dares criticize them.

It is in their best interest for much is at stake—salaries and benefits, pensions and the good life. All is on you, the taxpayers’ or donors’ account!

### In the series “Postcards from Israel—Postcards from America,” Ari Bussel and Norma Zager invite readers to view and experience an Israel and her politics through their eyes, an Israel visitors rarely discover.

This point—and often—counter-point presentation is sprinkled with humor and sadness and attempts to tackle serious and relevant issues of the day. The series began in 2008, appears both in print in the USA and on numerous websites and is followed regularly by readership from around the world.

© “Postcards from Israel—Postcards from America,” July, 2010 Contact: aribussel@gmail.com