HALLANDALE BEACH - When Al Cunningham, a disabled Vietnam veteran, needed help from the Social Security Administration, he drove the 2.27 miles to the agency's office.
His five-minute trip just got a lot longer.
The agency closed its Hallandale Beach office Jan. 1 and combined it with a larger one 11 miles away at 500 N. Hiatus Road in Pembroke Pines.
The move will save the Social Security Administration $4.61 million a year, regional commissioner Paul Barnes said. ...
Carlos Simmons, president of the Hallandale Beach Community Civic Association, said the closing was "not a good thing. A lot of the elderly folks used that office."
Hallandale Beach Mayor Joy Cooper said she's gotten several calls from upset residents.
"We're opposed to [the consolidation]," said Cooper, whose city offered Social Security administrators a "free satellite office" to continue service. ...
U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek, D-Miami, whose district includes Hallandale Beach, Pembroke Park and West Park, tried but was unable to stop the office's closing.
Michael Astrue, an agency official, told Meek in a Dec. 18 letter that combining the offices "will enable us to streamline our processes and provide a more effective and efficient way to serve the public."
Jan 21, 2008
Office Closure In Florida
From the South Florida Sun-Sentinel:
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7 comments:
OH my God you mean people will have to drive 8 miles farther?
Post Office took most of the mailboxes out of my neighborhood to save money, so now instead of walking across the street to mail a letter, I have to drive somewhere to find a box.
No reason SSA can't close a few offices to save money when the offices are less than 10 miles from each other.
In my experience, "effective" and "efficient" are usually diametrically opposed concepts. SSA is dismantling its field presence, letting offices get smaller through attrition, then closing the "small" offices. Eventually, most offices will be no closer than 50 miles apart, thus forcing people to use the internet. It is the "slippery slope".
I just want to know how often that poor man needs to go to the social security office and why does he need to go that often?
It's the same old story. People want an office close by but don't want to pay for it. SSA is not closing offices to force people to the internet. SSA is forced to close offices and go to increased use of the phone and internet because Congrees and President
Bush have refused to fully fund the administrative costs. SSA staffing in the U.S. is lower than it has been in 34 years while the workload continues to mushroom and SSA's computers bcome out dated.
If people can do something on the phone or Internet and it saves money, why shouldn't SSA close some offices or not hire more people. Having to drive 10 miles to get to an SSA office is not a great hardship. I drive ten miles to get to work.
Wow, where to start--first of all, SSI cannot be done at all by internet, and cannot be handled by the 800#--they repeatedly, consistently and predictably screw up SSI cases. You can save lots of money by closing offices so people cannot file for benefits at all, and, hey, wait a minute.....
Closing an SSA office is just like when a city closes a firehouse, the sky is falling, the city is going to burn to the ground, but in the end it much about nothing.
Having someone go 8 more miles to get to an SSA office is not the end of the world.
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