Other Californians are upset about the possibility of the opening of a Social Security office, but residents of San Pedro have the opposite concern. From the DailyBreeze.com:
The San Pedro office of the Social Security Administration shuts its doors today, angering local lawmakers who had been told the branch would remain open another year. ...
"To say that this is unacceptable to us and to the residents of San Pedro and Wilmington who will be unfairly inconvenienced is an understatement," said U.S. Rep. Jane Harman, D-El Segundo, in a letter to Social Security Administration Commissioner Michael J. Astrue.
Harman was joined by other representatives - state Assemblywoman Betty Karnette, Los Angeles County Supervisor Don Knabe and Los Angeles City Councilwoman Janice Hahn - in objecting to the closure, which they said comes a year before the agency's lease for the San Pedro office expires and flies in the face of an agreement worked out earlier to keep the office open awhile longer.
I find it amusing when Congressmen complain about the closing of SSA offices since it is Congress who has refused to approve sufficient funds for the agency. Despite a mushrooming claims intake, the trend in staffing the last several years has been downward. The agency has been trying to cut other costs to afford keeping a capable, experience staff. Besides, what good is an office if you don't have the personnel to staff it? When Congress funds the agency with a continuing resolution for an entire year (usually meaning funding is the same as the last approved budget) this is a cut when you adjust it for inflation in labor and other costs. SSA is being forced to centralize workloads and conduct as much business by phone as possible. The office I worked in for the last 12 years has seen its staff drop by 50% and claims for our area are being taken by phone from offices in our and other states.
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