One of the justifications that the Social Security Administration uses for closing field offices is population shifts. It may be painful but areas that lose population do stand to lose offices. However, now comes word that Social Security is closing its field office in Arlington, VA. Not only is Arlington not losing population, its population went up by 13% between 2010 and 2017. This is a sign of how serious Social Security's appropriations problem is. Forget the happy talk about how their appropriation just went up. That's all earmarked for contractors. Otherwise, the agency didn't get enough to cover inflation. They're still starved for the operating funds needed to keep field offices open.
And Alexandria is already a disaster as are two of the DC ones with the third one overworked as well
ReplyDeleteWhat is interesting is the building that the Arlington VA Social Security office is in----is the location of the parking garage in
ReplyDeletewhich "Deep Throat" met with Woodward regarding Watergate.
Back in the day (mid 1970's), when I worked in the Alexandria office, the Arlington Branch Office was considered a country club (i.e., an easy office to work in). So, too, was the Falls Church Branch Office. From what I hear from my few remaining friends in field offices, none are such quiet assignments any more. I was very surprised by the crowds at the Alexandria office when I visited for personal business about a year ago; I had fond memories of a steady, but overwhelming, flow of public traffic in my day. It was interesting to visit as a member of the public, and not as an agency employee (I made no mention of my past connection to SSA as a part of this visit).
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