The need to improve communications between the governed and those who govern has never been greater.
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by Jack Stapleton, Jr.
State government provides the largest number of public services to the five and a half million citizens of Missouri. The need to improve communications between the governed and those who govern has never been greater. But if you believe the lines of communication between these two groups are open and immediately available, think again.
I recently conducted a brief experiment that would in some degree replicate the efforts of John Q. Public in securing state governmental information and assistance. And I can tell you from first-hand experience, John Q. has his work cut out for him. It’s not only hard to find the correct person to call or the correct agency to locate, but even more importantly, anyone at all to discuss an important problem of a citizen.
Missourians are growing more and more wary of government and its ability to resolve their concerns and problems. This negative response to our democratic form of government manifests itself in a wide variety of ways. You see it in the negativism of citizens who write their hometown newspapers to express their distrust, even hate, of government. You see it in the lack of public participation in elections and public-community life. Even if we were governed by regular town hall meetings (a form still utilized in states such as New Hampshire and Vermont) it is unlikely a legal quorum would attend.
Participation in community events, while fluctuating depending on the subject, is reportedly decreasing both here in our state and elsewhere around the country. Citizen concern has increasingly been overlooked or neglected, primarily because of the growing distrust of political parties and their destructive partisanship. To continue this path means the divide between the governed and their governors will intensify, with unknown but extremely dangerous results.
Missouri has traditionally given the job of public ombudsman to the office of Lt. Governor, which means that services vary from occupant to occupant, and which also means it is under the direction of an elected official. There is no Democratic or Republican way to run the office. Even the most enlightened official finds it difficult to play the schizophrenic role of both partisan and public servant.
The present ombudsman director is Lt. Gov. Roger Wilson’s chief of staff, John Robinson, a bright, energetic and talented young man who has done his best to give meaningful services to distressed citizens. Despite these efforts, and with less than nine full-time employees, the office is deluged with requests for assistance to such an extent it cannot handle the volume. The office needs to be a statutorily independent agency, with employees given merit system protection, and provided with sufficient funding to offer the services needed. Toll-free numbers to this agency should be widely publicized in all telephone directories and e-mail services installed.
Beyond this, the office should be headed by a career communications director whose tenure would not be subject to election vagaries and who viewed his work much as a missionary. Robinson, by the way, would make an excellent director for such an agency.
Trying out numerous hotlines that some state agencies provide the public, a few of which are even listed in phone directories, I found that approximately 40% are answered by a machine. In the view of a citizen with major, even life-threatening problems, is no answer at all. I could not find the Lt. Governor’s ombudsman number in any directory, not even the state’s own phone listings. I finally got the number from the central information operator.
Missouri has a chance to perform a major service to its citizens and, more importantly, has an opportunity to reduce growing public doubt that anyone in government is listening.
[Missouri News & Editorial Service, Inc. Copyright (C) 2000 MNES Corp.]