The Burlington, NC Social Security Social Security field office was recently closed. The Burlington Times-News reports that a meeting was arranged between local officials and Social Security's District Manager to discuss the closure. The District Manager was first concerned that there be no public forum. Even after he was assured that this was just a private meeting with local elected officials, according to the paper, he failed to show up.
I note that there is no indication in the article that the reporter tried to contact the Social Security district manager to get his response. It would be normal practice, and simple courtesy, for a reporter to do so. It is not difficult to imagine that the District Manager failed to show because of a simple misunderstanding -- as in, "I knew you were trying to set up something. I told you I could be there but you never got back to me to say that the meeting was definitely on."
In any case, this demonstrates just how sensitive office closures can be.
Speaking as someone who lives not that far from Burlington and who has relatives living on the outskirts of Burlington, this closure seems nutty. The population in that area is growing rapidly. That's obvious to anyone who passes by Burlington on I-85.
It's truly disgusting that the federal government continues to close more and more SSA offices. This government pisses away money left and right. It has tax loopholes for entities that do not even need them. It has hundreds of billions of dollars in uncollected taxes. Yet the solution to all this is to close SSA office so some poor grandma has to trek an extra 10 miles for services? Disgraceful.
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