A New York Congressman demands that Social Security reopen a field office it has closed in his district. I wish they’d get as excited about the agency’s operating budget. That’s what determines how much service that Social Security can deliver.
It would be good if the article said how many employees worked there and how many visitors they assisted per day, week or year. An office near mine closed and the 10 employees were sent to the two offices that split the former officer's service area.
Kingston and the surrounding Hudson Valley is a highly desirable area to live. Housing prices have almost doubled here since 2018 when I bought my home. The New York times listed it as one of the top 5 cities in the country with the highest migration during the pandemic. There would be no shortage of good employees -- the problem SSA has is attracting those workers with competitive pay.
That being said, I do not think adding a new office will fix anything. SSA needs to be much more creative in finding solutions. Simply throwing more bodies at the problem is not a long-term solution.
This is coming from an attorney who had to reach out to the regional communications manager at SSA in the last week to speak to two field office managers about the incompetence of their staff. None of the new employees are trained well, so they create more problems than they solve. Main benefit of bringing back the Lake Katrine office would be to enable my clients to resolve these issues in person.
There is some irony in all this. This is like the asinine argument over "wasteful" government spending. It's only wasteful if it isn't occurring in someone's district. Then it's a necessity to keep that service, military base, post office, etc open. I can't wait until the same group that wants to shrink the Federal Government also realizes that means less money for real estate rentals.
Laughable with the budget SSA gets. Maybe they should shutter more offices. That would cause congress to lose their minds
ReplyDeleteIt would be good if the article said how many employees worked there and how many visitors they assisted per day, week or year.
ReplyDeleteAn office near mine closed and the 10 employees were sent to the two offices that split the former officer's service area.
And I demand the funding to do so. Sheesh.
ReplyDeleteGood luck getting enough capable employees that want to live and stay in that area. Not the easiest feat to do in that area of NY.
ReplyDeleteA day late and a dollar short!
ReplyDelete@4:03
ReplyDeleteKingston and the surrounding Hudson Valley is a highly desirable area to live. Housing prices have almost doubled here since 2018 when I bought my home. The New York times listed it as one of the top 5 cities in the country with the highest migration during the pandemic. There would be no shortage of good employees -- the problem SSA has is attracting those workers with competitive pay.
That being said, I do not think adding a new office will fix anything. SSA needs to be much more creative in finding solutions. Simply throwing more bodies at the problem is not a long-term solution.
This is coming from an attorney who had to reach out to the regional communications manager at SSA in the last week to speak to two field office managers about the incompetence of their staff. None of the new employees are trained well, so they create more problems than they solve. Main benefit of bringing back the Lake Katrine office would be to enable my clients to resolve these issues in person.
There is some irony in all this. This is like the asinine argument over "wasteful" government spending. It's only wasteful if it isn't occurring in someone's district. Then it's a necessity to keep that service, military base, post office, etc open. I can't wait until the same group that wants to shrink the Federal Government also realizes that means less money for real estate rentals.
ReplyDelete